 Reality Filters, anyone use these? |
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 Oct 28 2007, 02:39 PM
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#1
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Prime Runner  Group: Members Posts: 3,577 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gwynedd Valley PA Member No.: 1,221  |
anyone else remember the 'reality filter' for deckers? I wonder if anyone encountered/used them of if it was an idea from developers that never really took off.
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Oct 28 2007, 03:10 PM
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#2
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Prime Runner Group: Banned Posts: 3,732 Joined: 1-September 05 From: Prague, Czech Republic Member No.: 7,665 |
The Reality Filter was a key and awesome component of the original Virtual Realities story. And it really works there. However, since then it's never really had the rules support or story support you'd want. Every so often some node designer would go off about how everything in such and such a server was masked in thinly veiled Celtic imagery and this somehow made things at all difficult for people who weren't elves but did have the encyclopedia britanica stuffed into their headware memory. And that was kind of insulting honestly. But mostly they didn't even bother with that much. Through the various editions, the Reality Filter has always been there, but the costs and benefits have never really caused people to care. I've yet to see a single Decker or Hacker actually make the roll to attempt to force the Matrix to appear genre-appropriate for their character. There just isn't much reason to. I'd much prefer it if Reality Filtration had no rules at all and was just a character choice. Acting like it makes a damn bit of difference whether the IC looks like a cow or a fighter jet seems to undermine the whole point of the Matrix. That was, after all, not what it did in the original story where it was cool. -Frank |
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Oct 28 2007, 03:27 PM
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#3
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Prime Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,577 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gwynedd Valley PA Member No.: 1,221 |
In generral it was a character choise in that you installed it and it didn't change how the programs worked but just how they appeared to the decker. The anthology of short stories included one with a decker named "Jack the Ripper" who put things in a victorian imagry.
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Oct 28 2007, 05:59 PM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 5-December 05 From: Crying in the wilderness Member No.: 8,047 |
Yes my group uses them.
In SR3 the intiative boost is pretty cool, though the loss of MPCP running power hurts. It has allowed the PC decker to nuke a sec decker before he could move. The relative cost to speed bonus makes a good difference on the lower end decks and the filter metaphor can be really useful to the ref. You can perfect one set of descriptions instead of needing a entire new set for each run. The dramatic effect of seeing IC in what ever guise for the filter can really scare the hell out of the player too. |
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Oct 28 2007, 08:37 PM
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#5
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Awakened Asset Group: Members Posts: 4,464 Joined: 9-April 05 From: AGS, North German League Member No.: 7,309 |
We did away with Reality Filters as a program (under SR4). Everything your system has analysed can be represented by an icon of your choice. A desktop theme so to speak.
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Oct 28 2007, 09:51 PM
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#6
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
That's actually the bit I hate most about them—they take the idea of unique, tailored appearances for each host and stomp all over it. ~J |
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Oct 28 2007, 11:21 PM
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#7
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
The Reality Filter was good for the novels as it was part of characterization for deckers. I think it was in the rules just to support the novels.
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Oct 29 2007, 01:16 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 976 Joined: 16-September 04 From: Near my daughters, Lansdale PA Member No.: 6,668 |
But doesn't it make the matrix into what the decker wants and can relate to? Otherwise it is what the corps want it to be? |
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Oct 29 2007, 02:05 PM
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#9
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
That's what cyber-vandalism is for.
~J |
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Oct 29 2007, 04:37 PM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 830 Joined: 3-April 04 From: Columbus, Ohio Member No.: 6,215 |
Maybe we were misreading the rules, but in my 2e group (I can't remember whether we were using 1e or 2e Virtual Realities), I think the reality filter gave my decker an initiative increase when it was on, but it caused problems when I went into a sculpted system. Because in the "normal" matrix, it turned everything into something I was more familiar with, so instead of having the same type of node be represented 50 different ways in 50 different places, for me it was always represented as something I was already familiar with. But when I went into a sculpted system, where form was more closely tied to function, my reality filter was telling me to use things in ways they weren't intended. The end result was that I ran the filter most of the time (Great Gatsby themed, where I got to be the party prince of the Matrix, because the character was cocky as hell), but when I went into a sculpted system, I lost MPCP unless I turned it off.
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Oct 29 2007, 08:10 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 29-August 03 Member No.: 5,553 |
In 4th Ed, they can be pretty useful. Win a test, load almost twice as many programs in your commlink.
;) |
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Oct 30 2007, 01:14 AM
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#12
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Uncle Fisty Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928 |
I used them a few times in the past, and they were interesting. But they weren't really that needed. And once the tech curve was said to support scuplted systems everywhere, it became a pretty moot point. On the plus side, for your GM, they didn't have to make a sculpted system design every time.
On the down side though, it took some of the wonder and danger from the Matrix IMO. If the IC alwasy looks like angry devils for example, there's little chance of you being suprised by an otherwise unassuming piece of IC cleverly concealed in the system's architecture. It seemed like it was supopsed to add some sort of flavor, but just ended up being counter productive. |
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