The Exchange, newest patch Options

[Ancient History]

- I'm pretty (99.9%) sure that 'The Exchange' is lifted almost in its entirety from a Bruce Sterling story in his anthology A Good Old-Fashioned Future.
I'm torn between thinking that it's really cool that they're 'honoring' a cyberpunk legend like that, and feeling a bit like they're ripping him off.
[EDIT] I think the story is called 'Maneki Neko.'

This has been pretty much admitted from the first time it appeared, the current crop of authors are just taking the ball and running with it kind of thing.

[AllTheNothing]

- I'm pretty (99.9%) sure that 'The Exchange' is lifted almost in its entirety from a Bruce Sterling story in his anthology A Good Old-Fashioned Future.
I'm torn between thinking that it's really cool that they're 'honoring' a cyberpunk legend like that, and feeling a bit like they're ripping him off.
[EDIT] I think the story is called 'Maneki Neko.'

I know that neko means cat but I haven't the fogiest idea on the meaning of maneki.
Just curious what it means?

[hobgoblin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko

[Shadow]

I would prefer that the people writing the meta plots actually have some concept of how the rules work. I mean if I was writing the books for say, the Star Trek RP game, I wouldn't have deep involved emotional plots for the Vulcans.

[kzt]

While that does seem like pretty reasonable request. ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[Ancient History]

In its defense, the author or authoress probably meant that the source of the commlinks was untraceable (i.e. "this thing just showed up one day") as opposed to "This commlink cannot be traced in the Matrix!"

[Dumori]

IIRC the exchange used to be a program and played witch stocks and such basing it of runs as well as dishing out random missions to its members. So the current exchange is likely the evolved now AI version of this program though as the old exchanges aims where unknown there now even harder to find out.

[crash2029]

At least one of my players' characters have a copy of the Exchange. Last run they were doing some very boring stakeout work in their van, trying to decide who was gonna make a snack run. While they were deciding there was a knock on the passenger window, it was a delivery guy with coffee and croissants. I enjoyed their slightly paranoid conversation until they realized the sammy, Nagafa, was a member of the exchange and the refreshments were courtesy thereof.

[hobgoblin]

heh, they didnt start to wonder what the payment would be?

[Tiger Eyes]

It would be kind of nice if this was deliberately misleading (as it's pretty obviously not allowed by the rules), but SR often includes implausible to impossible plot devices that are integral to the metaplot. Idiocies like geostationary sats reentering using their station-keeping system feature heavily in System Failure.

Err, sorry. As the person who wrote this, I'd like to point out that the blurb quoted is from a sidebar titled: Matrix Urban Legends. The entry above it states that wireless signals give you brain cancer and that you can download your soul onto a chip.

A more realistic description of the exchange (not what the mindless-masses believe) is found on pg 83 of Unwired.

[TheOOB]

If a player I have takes an exchange commlink, I give them simple, but annoying and out of the way jobs to do from time to time. If they complete the job adequately, I give them a point, if they don't I take away a point. I then as a GM spend their points(or negative points) to aid or hinder the players in small ways, usually a point is something like getting some food or a map or something, while 2-3 points is something like finding an ammo clip when you need it, or finding that the stop light is hacked so you can't get through the intersection.

[Xerxos]

It's a awakened version of THIS!
We're all doomed! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[AllTheNothing]

It's a awakened version of THIS!
We're all doomed! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

What??? It's a corporate cospiracy from MicroDreck??? NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dead.gif)

[kanislatrans]

I am so going to use this!...hmm,

*Team Hacker is introduced to geeky persona in 'trix meet*

Hacker-" Pleased to meet you, Mr. Johnson"

Mr.J-" We're all friends here, you can call me...(sinister pause)...Mr.Gates" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

[MaxMahem]

Heh, I used the MS Exchange symbol as the symbol for the Exchange in my games/podcast.

Little did we expect the (not so) sinister form all those exchange servers that went down in Crash 1.0 would re-emerge in after Crash 2.0!

[crash2029]

I don't know. As nefarious as the Shodowrun world usually is, my gut tells me the Exchange is relatively benign.