[X] My Assistant

[MYST1C]

As for releasing previews this early, dunno about the SR side, but the BT side has released previews well in advanced of the release of the product.

Previews are normally only given for the next book in line and only when that book is finalized and a street date set...

That fact alone made me regard this "preview" as nothing but a joke from the start on.

[Fuchs]

I don't think it was terribly funny or anything, but I don't think it's worth getting your panties all in a knot about. There are governments deceiving people about far more important issues with far more regularity every day, and we've all gotta pick The Great Dragon Hoax of '08 as the place we draw out line in the sand and start demanding honesty from folks?

Seeing as this is a Shadowrun forum, and we're not supposed to debate real life politics, or anything else of similiar real life importance here, I'd think it's more than appropriate to discuss the Shadowrun product line, and the antics of its devs.

[knasser]

I don't think it was terribly funny or anything, but I don't think it's worth getting your panties all in a knot about. There are governments deceiving people about far more important issues with far more regularity every day, and we've all gotta pick The Great Dragon Hoax of '08 as the place we draw out line in the sand and start demanding honesty from folks?

Yeah, I'm still waiting for Tony Blair to appear on TV and say: "You know that dossier about WMD that was our entire basis for the invasion of Iraq and which I presented to Parliament to get the MPs to approve an invasion... SURPRISE!" So I get what you're saying - let's all remember that no mass deaths or regional instability resulted from the posting of the Dragon PC rules. I agree. Just noting that other people obviously do care and that I personally didn't think it was very funny either way.

Ho hum. Moving on now...

-K.

[Malicant]

Peter Taylor is an Evil Man. Which is good, since this annoucement provided me with more stuff to laugh at. Like people going all apeship about it. Ah, the true spirit of a good prank, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[ornot]

Heh.

So it was a joke. And what a fuss it has caused. :rolls eyes:

[Rotbart van Dain...]

Well, some of the 'obvious' hints - aren't:

Obsidimen: We have repeatedly told people — iirc the latest SR Dev Chat being the most recent instance — it’s too early in the manacycle for them to be popping up if they did survive the downcycle.

Of course that did not keep them entirely out of SoA. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

The asterisks in the Dragon Attribute Table are all over the place.

We all remember the Spirit Reaction values. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Dragons and Technology offers two completely different prices for dragon-compatible nanotrodes.

Arsenal even offers two different names for the same rifle. (hint - it's a sniper rifle from Ares) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

The Dragons and Ranged Combat Modifiers: “they may apply a modifier between +2 and +4 (gamemaster’s discretion; standard of -3)�

A - instead of a + - simple typo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

so, who is up for turning them into full fan rules?

There isn't much left to do, given they extend the rules from DotSW to SR4 and chargen.

[Larme]

I don't think it was terribly funny or anything, but I don't think it's worth getting your panties all in a knot about. There are governments deceiving people about far more important issues with far more regularity every day, and we've all gotta pick The Great Dragon Hoax of '08 as the place we draw out line in the sand and start demanding honesty from folks?

Yes, because it takes so much time to complain about a stupid unfunny joke that we won't be able to do anything about the political situation. In fact, everything less important than national politics ought to be ignored everywhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohplease.gif)

[Critias]

Yes, because it takes so much time to complain about a stupid unfunny joke that we won't be able to do anything about the political situation. In fact, everything less important than national politics ought to be ignored everywhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohplease.gif)

I'm not saying to ignore it. I'm saying to drop the dramatics, get your fist out of the air, and save the heartfelt righteous indignation for shit that matters.

This was an April Fool's prank. Was it a great one? Not really, but it's not like it was done out of hatred, it's not like they lied to our serious detriment, it's not like they lied and fleeced us for a zillion bucks, it's not like they posted the preview and opened pre-orders (and then told us what was or wasn't really in the book), etc, etc, etc. It was a joke that some folks didn't think was funny.

No blood, no foul. People may or may not have appreciated the attempt at humor, but genuinely holding it against the folks is taking life in general a little too seriously, is all I'm saying.

[Adam]

Don't quit your dayjobs guys.

I'm glad you enjoy the work I do at my day job, Catalyst Game Labs. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[masterofm]

I was shocked on how many people thought that it was real. I mean the first thing I thought of was "Why would dragons even team up to do shadow runs? Is it even a workable concept to have multiple PC's as dragons? Wouldn't having dragons just break the balance of the game if anyone could play them?" I laughed, but only at the mental image of a huge dragon trying to infiltrate into the front entrance of a facility.... by creating a big enough hole for them to fit into the facility in the 1st place.

As to the comments on why it wasn't released exactly on April 1st. Common they are writers and writers never release anything on time! If they were able to do it on time the whole world would up and explode.

Take it for what it is and move on. Also who is to say people won't just take that whole thing on dragons, tweak it a little bit, and use it anyways? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Maelwys]

Previews are normally only given for the next book in line and only when that book is finalized and a street date set...

That fact alone made me regard this "preview" as nothing but a joke from the start on.

Which is why we've been sitting with ISP2 previews since last Gencon, and yet the products released since have been TR3050U and TR3039. We're looking at previews almost 9 months before the book is released (it still hasn't been released). Granted, its not common, but it does happen. IIRC, Runner's Companion is supposed to be released in the 2nd or 3rd Quarter, I certainly don't think its too early to put out an unpolished preview.

As a joke, that could've given it a hint of respectability...if someone had said on April 3rd or 4th "April Fool's!" instead of 2 weeks later. Especially considering we had writers/mods/whatever popping in with little smileys and cryptic comments (something the authors/playtesters got smacked down for on the BT forums).

It could've been funny. It got lame.

[hermit]

Whew.

[CircuitBoyBlue]

Ha! I joke where the developers of the game get its loyal fans to engage in vitriolic flame wars for two weeks, CLASSIC! Man, this was even more clever than that time my friend's 5 year old brother pushed her down the stairs for April Fool's day. Senses of humor like this are why Shadowrun and gaming in general are doing better than ever.

[Prime Mover]

Phew and here I thought I might actually have to buy an edition of Runners Companion this time around.

A prank in bad taste at the expense of players not a simple fools day joke... A book full of options with some fresh and limit pushing options (For minute I got that warm and fuzzy feeling I had when I played world saving plots of 1st edtition.) no, it's just how to be a furry elf or a paramedic rules...no thank you sirs.

[Zen Shooter01]

This prank damages the relationship between Catalyst and its customers. Mr. Taylor, the official line developer, released an official looking preview, through the official website, on a day that was not April 1st, then laughs at us for believing it. If the preview had been for dragon PCs flying spaceships, race cost 5 bp, special powers of "Immune to guns, knives, and name-calling, severe allergy to Japanese animation," then everyone would be laughing at the joke. Instead, Mr. Taylor has abused his power so that he can laugh at us.

Young adult dragon PCs were surprising, but not outside possibility. Especially in light of radical changes to Shadowrun that have happened in the past, like Bug City, shapeshifter PCs, the Year of the Comet, the wireless matrix, and especially drake PCs. And after all, we'd been told that Runner's Companion would contain new character options - and we have a new line developer.

And, as has been mentioned, if typos make a preview a joke, what does errata after errata make the entire game line?

The message was, "Aren't you dumb! Now give me your money for Unwired. Which is a real product. Promise. Doesn't it look real?"

[Malicant]

The more angry you are, the more proof the prank worked, hrhr (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Particle_Beam]

... or that it didn't, because of the bad reputation of the game designers, which is even more hilarious, hur hur hur. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[apple]

then everyone would be laughing at the joke.

No. No one would have laughed. Everyone would have complained about this lame joke and how much better the april jokes from other companies are.

SYL

[suppenhuhn]

Imo the joke was okay and i fell for it, nothing epic and mind bending but still okay (best part was that it was released after schedule for april 1st jokes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) ).

What puzzles me a bit is the overreaction in this thread. It's not like they charged money for the preview or something like that after all.

[swirler]

What puzzles me a bit is the overreaction in this thread. It's not like they charged money for the preview or something like that after all.

yeah I don't get the anger, or the feelings of betrayal or the feelings of entitlement.
it's not like they offered a preorder at the same time and people paid up because of the preview. People are acting like they cheated on them or stole their dogs or something.

[Moon-Hawk]

This was an April Fool's prank.

Critias, you're backsliding from your admission on a previous page! Call it a joke, a prank, a stunt, shenanigans, tomfoolery, antics (zany or non-), but it was most certainly, by definition, not an April Fool's prank. This was a prank perpetrated on one of the other 364.25 days of the year, all of which have an equal validity for prankage, which is not the same as the prankage level of 4-1. This is just as much an April Fool's joke as if they'd done it in November.

That said, man, I went back and forth so much. All in all it would be disingenuous to claim that I knew it was a joke. I fell for it. There was always that seed of doubt, but as Rotbart spelled out, none of the reasons we should've seen it as false were inconsistent with other actual products which we have paid money for, so I couldn't dismiss it. Although, the Leviathan was way overpriced. I mean c'mon. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

So Catalyst will be playing random pranks on us from time to time. Okay, I can deal with that. I will bear that in mind for the future and perhaps be less gullible.

[Fuchs]

Wer einmal lügt, dem glaubt man nicht, und wenn er auch die Wahrheit spricht.

(Who lies once won't be trusted, even if he speaks truth.)

[hobgoblin]

a variant on the cry wolf saying?

meh, how about we say the joke was to well done and leave it at that?

[Fuchs]

Too well done? Hardly. It was too late, not over the top enough, and generally too serious to be a good joke. And the icing on the lameo-cake was that they did not even comment on it for weeks, letting people discuss it in a rather heated way.

All in all the "joke" is on Catalyst's rep.

[Malicant]

So what? You still play the game and this move will not stop you from buying their stuff. At least the stuff you're interested in.