 So... What about Philly?, Philly 2070! |
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 Oct 19 2006, 11:23 PM
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#1
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Shooting Target  Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629  |
I was trying to think of a good city to base a campaign out of ... I wanted something UCAS, but not something like Chicago, DC, or New York. Boston and Detroit are done...
But then I hit Philly. I think that this one is going to have potential, but, first, I was curious if anyone had anything on teh current status of teh City of Brotherly Love circa 2070. Anyone? Anyone at all? |
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Oct 19 2006, 11:27 PM
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#2
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Blackjack had a detailed campaign set in Philly way back in the '50s. Seems I can't access his webpage though, so ... :(
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Oct 19 2006, 11:30 PM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 12-August 06 Member No.: 9,097 |
Yarr.
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Oct 19 2006, 11:33 PM
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#4
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Bonus. For some reason it didn't work for me when I tried to get there the first time. :)
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Oct 19 2006, 11:40 PM
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#5
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
Woo! A good start, tho not neccessarily where I'll be going with it. Anything official? I'd imagine that they absorbed a TON of refugees after the NYC quake, for example, and probably decayed pretty badly in the process. |
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Oct 20 2006, 12:07 AM
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#6
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CosaNostra Deliverator Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 346 Joined: 29-January 05 From: Philadelphia, PA Member No.: 7,034 |
I believe there two SR novels that are at least partially set in Philly (Striper Assassin and Who Hunts the Hunter). While I never liked either of them, they do provide a little background on the city.
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Oct 20 2006, 02:14 AM
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#7
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 18-October 05 Member No.: 7,855 |
As true today as it is in 50-odd years.... In all seriousness, I'm impressed and depressed at how plausable this is, and how acurate it is.
Wow, SEPTA prices are in for a drop soon! :grinbig: |
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Oct 20 2006, 02:23 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 750 Joined: 9-August 06 Member No.: 9,059 |
The one piece of published canon on Philadephia is that Matador used to shoot his shotgun off his porch there when he was a kid. Really, what more do you need to base a campaign there?
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Oct 20 2006, 02:37 AM
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#9
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
That's per block! ;) |
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Oct 20 2006, 02:40 AM
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#10
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
The Striper books do count as canon, some would say unfortunately. |
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Oct 20 2006, 11:26 AM
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#11
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Shooting Target Group: Validating Posts: 1,618 Joined: 29-January 03 From: Montevideo, Uruguay. Member No.: 3,992 |
Anyone remembers if NAGNA covers the city?
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Oct 20 2006, 12:28 PM
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#12
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,078 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 67 |
NAGNA does not cover Philly, as much as I can remember.
I don't think Who Hunts the Hunter covers Philly either; the majority of that book takes place in NYC (and is not a very good portrayal of that either). |
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Oct 20 2006, 12:45 PM
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#13
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
True. Pretty much only Striper: Assassin then. |
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Oct 20 2006, 01:13 PM
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#14
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
*raises hand* Here! Here! The books sucked. To Philly: I heard it's the leading city in the USA in murders per year? Like 400 killed people per year or so? Is it as depressing as Detroit which seems to be really run-down city today? |
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Oct 20 2006, 02:59 PM
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#15
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
....somehow I have difficulty with the concept of a Philly Soy Cheese Steak.
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Oct 20 2006, 06:22 PM
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#16
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CosaNostra Deliverator Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 346 Joined: 29-January 05 From: Philadelphia, PA Member No.: 7,034 |
No disrespect intended to Detroit but Philly is not that bad. I live here and yes, it has a ton of problems but the city is doing okay. There is a lot of gentrification, investment and new construction and property values are way up. And unlike most cities, downtown Philly is abuzz with nightlife and has seen steady population increases as more people move back.
That being said, there are lots of very run bad parts of town. The murder rate has always been high but it's seen a jump this year. Crime wise, it's probably in the same order of magnitude as DC, Baltimore, Atlanta, Houston etc... However, nearby Camden NJ (which is right across the river from Philly) is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. |
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Oct 20 2006, 10:57 PM
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#17
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
I was playing with that very notion earlier, in fact. The main Cheeseteak houses are smoe of teh rare places that still serve real meat, tho this makes their foodstuffs a rather luxurious item. The second-tier ones sell a "Cheesesteak" which is actually soy, but at a price the common working schlub can afford. Also, Shadowruns against the prime shops are strictly forbidden. Only made sense. :) |
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Oct 21 2006, 01:40 AM
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#18
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...definitely a means of gaining more Noteriety. |
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Oct 21 2006, 06:48 AM
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#19
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
Been looking over more of teh Philly stuff that was pre-designed and I noticed something odd ... he had Camden Inc (Great concept) as being firmly in Yak hands, rather than the Mob. Seems a bit off, in my mind's eye, but, I'm guessing that he's a natice and had more insider knowledge than I had. Still, I'm curious, as I would have flipped it, sticking the mob in Camden, but with a fairly loose hand on Philly ... since Camden was a "Made Town" for lack of a better term, they wanted the vice market to go there for, say, gambling intrests, thus kept Philly as a no-gambling zone. They keep control of the docks and industrial area, but don't have much to do with the slum areas. A low end family has control, here, and is chomping at the bit to do more, but those above aren't interested. A second family (Or more likely two or three smaller ones) is in the corporate sector and the middle class/upper middle class region, where they're nigh-legitimate ... Mob Incorporated, in essence. They make with insider stock trading, nepotism contracts, and other "Old Boy Network/Business as Usual" deals, butdon't have an intrest in street-level crime. They deal some in BTL, but realize that junkies are bad for business and, well, they want to make a profit. This leaves a few options. In Chinatown, you get the Triads, who pretty much have it locked down, and who are looking to expand a bit, here and there, but really have to absorb blocks culturally before moving in. The Yaks are the Vicelords, filling the gap that the Mob has raised itself out of. They're heavy into the slums and low lifestyle areas, with drugs, BTLs, and prostitution. They tried to dig into gambling intrests a few years ago, but this brought The Wrath of Camden down upon them and the new Obyan wants none of that, thank you very much. They've largely rebuilt since then and are starting to rub elbows with the one low end family (The one chompnig at the bit mentioned earlier), but, it hasn't broke into a full war yet. Skirmishes, sure, but that's all. The Camden Boys don't seem to care overly much at this stage, but, the Obyan isn't willing top press the issue too hard... in fact, he's trying to reign his crew back, since they're getting cocky. The Street Gangs are all over the place, with a handful being officially backed by the Big boys, the rest being loose associates ... Several gangs buy BTLs from the Yaks, for example, then sell them on the streets, scrapping with one another now and then for territory. The Yaks wouldn't step in to save either group, but they *do* have one "Pet Gang" for when they need foot soldiers. Ditto for the Mob, and the Triads. The rest of the gangs do their own thing. But, that's just me brainstorming. I'm curious why he had it virtually reversed from that. |
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Oct 21 2006, 11:51 AM
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#20
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CosaNostra Deliverator Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 346 Joined: 29-January 05 From: Philadelphia, PA Member No.: 7,034 |
If I recall correctly, the idea of Camden Inc (including the Yak parts) is actually from the novel Striper: Assassin.
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Oct 21 2006, 12:05 PM
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#21
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,547 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
Philly rates well below DC and Baltimore. Depending on who you ask, Baltimore rates somewhere between 2-4 and DC closer to 6-10, with Detroit and New Orleans generally rating in the top two to four spots and, surprisingly enough, sometimes Milwaukee. However I wouldn't be surprised if Philly is in the top 20.
Philly WAS however rated 'the most depressing city in the US' by Men's Health magazine, based on things like availability and use of health clubs, sale of depression medication, so on and so forth. |
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Oct 21 2006, 02:39 PM
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#22
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
I have no idea how dangerous today's bigger US cities are, but I heard and read several times in the alst months that Philly is on top of it.
Maybe you can give us foreigners here a brief overview about life in Philly, Detroit, Atlanta, DC and all the other "dangerous" cities? Can one walk around at night? How is the chance to get shot by a junkie/ ganger/ whatever for your sneakers? Is there a violent atmosphere? All that. You know, german cities tend to be really safe, even at night. Only a few quarters of the bigger ones are dangerous, but I have the feeling that it's nothing compared to the US cities. |
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Oct 21 2006, 03:53 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 750 Joined: 9-August 06 Member No.: 9,059 |
Here are 2003 crime statistics, including murder rates, for some US cities. Of those listed, Philadelphia has the seventh highest murder rate, which is roughly half or less that of the top three.
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Oct 21 2006, 05:17 PM
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#24
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
IIRC, in all major US cities you have a lot lower chance of getting mugged then in London. Even homicide tends to be confined to fairly well defined areas and subgroups inside them. (So gang members involved in drugs tend to be very disproportionately represented in homicide victims in violent cities). If you live near a bunch of gang members it does increase you chance of someone accidentally killing you while shooting at them (Gang members typically can't shoot worth a damn). I worked in Chicago while it was the (numeric) murder capital. I traveled all over dealing with our customers. In most of the city I felt pretty safe. Downtown, the loop, Lincoln park, Halstead etc. I never got robbed, threatened or assaulted in the 5 years I worked there. I did fair amount of walking around at night in many of these area and felt fairly safe. I have no idea how it was wandering around drunk, as I didn't do stupid things like that (had a coworker who got rolled and dumped unconscious in a snow bank when he staggered home blind drunk from a company party once - would have frozen to death if the "the pigs" he hated hadn't called an ambulance when they spotted him.) But there were places that were not really safe. I was a member of a National Guard unit at 52nd & Cottage Grove, which isn't a very unsafe area, but it's close to areas that were not safe. Down around the Projects on 51st and on State I certainly didn't feel safe. Other areas around there I tried to avoid going through after mid-morning. So I'd typically go out of my way to not drive through the ravaged neighborhoods on the way to the expressways in the evening. These are the places where the only businesses (among the burnt out buildings) are chicken & fast food, liquor stores, beauty shops, and drug stores, with the occasional convenience store. Black guys I knew who lived there all had stories of being threatened by gang members. One had three guys from Gary chase him in their car, hop out and aim shotguns at him and his friend and ask for their leather jackets. Which they delivered. The lady who saw this from her house called 911, and no cops ever showed. But this is not the typical experience in most of Chicago. Gary Indiana (a pretty small city) was the per capita murder capital, and it was certainly not a place that made me feel safe the few times I went through on city streets. Mostly all closed or burnt out storefronts, etc. I knew a guy who lived there who had his house burglarized three times in several years. After the first two times (when they broke in via the back door) he had his back door really hardened. The third time they used a chainsaw and cut open the back wall. |
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Oct 21 2006, 11:24 PM
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#25
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
*jot jot jot*
Good info, there. |
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