Define Grit., We talk a big game, time to back it up. Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[KillaJ]

One of the things that has been coming up consistently lately is a desire to see a grittier environment. I agree 100%, but the question of what a grittier environment would be like is (seemingly) rarely addressed. I am very curious as to what specifically you think the writers should do to give the game more grit. Here is what I would like to see.

Lone Star
Lazy, crooked, racist, underfunded, undermanned and with almost no one looking over their shoulders to make sure they are doing their jobs. I like the idea of the star abandoning certain areas of town and brutalizing the SINless. A bloated beauracracy unconcerned with fighting crime and focusing their efforts on maximizing profits.

The Corps
I tend to think of the corps as being (for lack of a better term) untouchable. I like the idea of them as having once been ambitious and bold but now that they are so deeply entrenched becoming complacent and relying on their massive resources to quash any upstart companies rather than sound business principles. They should control virtually all media and broadcast little other than propaganda and I like everybody knowing that it is all bullshit but having no real alternative. I dont like the thought of regular citizens (or even national governments) having any sort of legal recourse against them. The corps should be the system and it should be in place to uphold the status quo. Someone else (cant remember who sorry) said it very well someplace else when they described them as being like Walmart, but more(!) callous and concerned with nothing but the bottom line.

National Governments
Existing only because the corps allow them to and only to mop up the corps messes. Crooked from the top to the bottom and up to their necks in organized crime.

Wage Slaves
Every waking minute they would be bombarded with subliminal messages from their parent corp. No dissention tolerated and constantly under surveillance from "sleepers" lurking in their department. Treated shabbily by their employer but what is the alternative? Corp A should be just as bad as Corp B. Terrified of losing their comparatively comfortable life so they keep their mouths shut and their nose to the grindstone.

SINless
Allowed to exist soley in the barrens and similar locales. Second class citizen in every sense of the word. I like them not having any real rights and the ones they do have frequently tossed aside by whomever decides it is more convienent to do so. In spite of all this I think that in some ways they have it slightly better then the wageslaves as they are largely ignored and are at least allowed to go about their business as they see fit.

Runners
I like to think that most runners are not the super criminals that they are portrayed as, but more like real people who are frequently involved in shit that they would rather not be but forced by cirumstances to take the insane risks that many runs entail.

There is a lot of areas I didnt cover and alot of what I want is already in the game but I think that it is clear what I look for in a "gritty" game. Now I want to know what you guys think of when you say gritty. Are my views way too over the top? Sound like candyland compared to your version of the sixth world? Enlighten me.