Whatever Happened to Captain Chaos? Options

[Grinder]

hmm checking on... Ancients files (guess It was Ancient, have to check again)... that was planned for Attitude (I guess, have to check):


>>> access backup cluster 986X-107
>>> scan file
[SCAN COMPLETE—FILE TYPE JACKBNIMBLE]
[FILE DAMAGED—DO YOU WANT TO REPAIR Y/N]
>>> Y
[REPAIR COMPLETE]
>>> execute file
[COMPLETING IMPRINT]
[MEMENTO PROTOCOLS RUNNING … ]
[RECALLING COMPLETE]
[USER KAOS HAS LOGGED ON]
Kaos: Hello, world.
Icarus: CC?
Kaos: Renny? You upgraded your icon. Ghost, look at the resolution in this node.
Icarus: It’s a whole new Matrix, Cap.
Kaos: Yeah. Thanks for bringing me back, kid.
Icarus: Good to have you back, Captain. “Kaos?”
Kaos: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

It started nice, but the end is too obvious, too boring. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleepy.gif)

[Abstruse]

So, AH...who the hell is Renny?

[redska]

oh wait I know who Renny is... or I can guess... checking in System Failure... ..... ehm. IDK.. but I read his name somewhere. Guess confused with Ronin, the one guy in Deus Bot net who sparked the intependant bot party

[Bull]

Kaos: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

It's also a throwback to older editions of Shadowrun. That was the history chapter heading in 2nd edition, IIRC. Possibly 1st edition as well. Don't think they copied it over to 4th ed. But it's a phrase I first became familiar with while playing Shadowrun, and it's permanetntly linked to such in my brain.

[Bull]

So, AH...who the hell is Renny?

Heh.

Go read the 1st edition Virtual Realities. That's where Renny starts off his career at. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And I will say, I'm a bit bummed that the Untethered Life isn't seeing print, mainly because AH name dropped a certain Ork Decker... It would have been his first official SR4 sighting. Guess I'll just have to use him in Missions instead (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Bull

[Nemo]

hmm checking on... Ancients files (guess It was Ancient, have to check again)... that was planned for Attitude (I guess, have to check):


>>> access backup cluster 986X-107
>>> scan file
[SCAN COMPLETE—FILE TYPE JACKBNIMBLE]
[FILE DAMAGED—DO YOU WANT TO REPAIR Y/N]
>>> Y
[REPAIR COMPLETE]
>>> execute file
[COMPLETING IMPRINT]
[MEMENTO PROTOCOLS RUNNING … ]
[RECALLING COMPLETE]
[USER KAOS HAS LOGGED ON]
Kaos: Hello, world.
Icarus: CC?
Kaos: Renny? You upgraded your icon. Ghost, look at the resolution in this node.
Icarus: It’s a whole new Matrix, Cap.
Kaos: Yeah. Thanks for bringing me back, kid.
Icarus: Good to have you back, Captain. “Kaos?”
Kaos: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

That's a very long shot from 1st and 2nd Edition

[Sengir]

Go read the 1st edition Virtual Realities. That's where Renny starts off his career at. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And for those of us who can't get ther hands on that particular piece of antediluvian parchment? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

[Cardul]

And for those of us who can't get ther hands on that particular piece of antediluvian parchment? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

Did that not go up on the Battleshop/Drivethru RPG recently?

[Sengir]

Nope, just the 3rd Ed Matrix.

[redska]

soooo who is renny? anyone got the whole story on him? Perhaps he is still a future big player... just like the Big D

Keep the .... hope. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Blade]

Because you know, good (as in not evil) characters can't stay dead. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohplease.gif)
Next thing you know, he'll be teaming up with resurrected Matador and Hatchet-man...

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

It's also a throwback to older editions of Shadowrun. That was the history chapter heading in 2nd edition, IIRC. Possibly 1st edition as well. Don't think they copied it over to 4th ed. But it's a phrase I first became familiar with while playing Shadowrun, and it's permanetntly linked to such in my brain.

Love that intro story. It was what hooked me up to shadowrun when I was kid.

[PaulK]

Love that intro story. It was what hooked me up to shadowrun when I was kid.

As do I. Even now I periodically re-read it in my slightly battered copy of Virtual Realities. If I can get some time tonight I'll try and post a complete synopsis of the story.


/Paul

[darthmord]

Renny... *sigh*, that brings back some memories. I too have a copy of Virtual Realities. Been a while since I read it.

As I recall, it was a story about a child who was raised entirely within the Matrix. He was taught how to manipulate the Matrix, to do things in the Matrix. Ultimately, he ended up being better at using it than his caretakers/jailers suspected.

He also befriended a decker (part of the staff) who taught him about things not part of the official curriculum.

It's very much in the same vein as the Man & Machine story with Hatchetman & Priest but deals with the Matrix and Deckers.

Quality writing all in all. If you are a sentimental sort, it certainly brings back a lot of memories.

[Ancient History]

<- Sentimental to a fault

[Dread Moores]

I haven't had a chance to look at Corp Guide yet, but I might be the lone dissenting voice. I was actually appreciative to see some new names in the Shadowtalk, and moving away from the old. While the ties to Renny and the return of Captain Chaos are are interesting view backwards, I'm actually more of the (minority, probably) opinion that the view should be focused a bit more forward.

[MindandPen]

hmm checking on... Ancients files (guess It was Ancient, have to check again)... that was planned for Attitude (I guess, have to check):


>>> access backup cluster 986X-107
>>> scan file
[SCAN COMPLETE—FILE TYPE JACKBNIMBLE]
[FILE DAMAGED—DO YOU WANT TO REPAIR Y/N]
>>> Y
[REPAIR COMPLETE]
>>> execute file
[COMPLETING IMPRINT]
[MEMENTO PROTOCOLS RUNNING … ]
[RECALLING COMPLETE]
[USER KAOS HAS LOGGED ON]
Kaos: Hello, world.
Icarus: CC?
Kaos: Renny? You upgraded your icon. Ghost, look at the resolution in this node.
Icarus: It’s a whole new Matrix, Cap.
Kaos: Yeah. Thanks for bringing me back, kid.
Icarus: Good to have you back, Captain. “Kaos?”
Kaos: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

So here is my question, is Icarus Renny (from the whole Lucifer piece of fiction from Matrix 2.0)?

-M&P

[Ancient History]

That was my take on him, yeah.

[MindandPen]

So here is my question, is Icarus Renny (from the whole Lucifer piece of fiction from Matrix 2.0)?

-M&P

To answer my own question:

In Virtual Realities, there is a short story (okay, it's half the book) in which a decker by the name of Lucifer runs into Renny in the Matrix. As I recall, Renny is a kid being experimented on by Dr. Halberstom (sp?) who has been raised in the Matrix. If I remember correctly, Lucifer gets Renny extracted before he (Lucifer) is killed.

This is all from memory, as someone borrowed my Virtual Realities book, and it is one of the only books missing from my collection.

BTW, who wrote that piece of fiction?

-M&P

[MindandPen]

That was my take on him, yeah.

Thanks AH.

[Ancient History]

BTW, who wrote that piece of fiction?

Chris Kubasik. Required reading for all my deckers.

[hermit]

Renny is Icarus? Wow.

What happened to the adult Otaku from Psychotrope, while we're at this topic?

[Ancient History]

Well, most of them - Bloodyguts, Dark Father, etc. - were killed during System Failure.

[Blade]

I kinda agree with Dread Moores.
I don't have a problem with old characters. I'm fine with Damien Knight still being CEO. It makes sense and there are little reason to have him replaced for now.
I don't have a problem with old plots/characters surfacing when it makes sense. I'm fine with Halberstam working on different related projects and resurfacing from time to time.

I do, however, have a problem with two things:
- Easter egg abuse or facts thrown in just to tell old players "*wink* look how I know about some obscure facts from a book released 15 years ago *wink*" or just to insert a reference to some long forgotten character/plot that nobody cares about. One is okay but when a chapter is full of them (mixed with references to pop-culture) it starts getting on my nerves.
- Unability to go forward. The end of Fuchi, the death of Captain Chaos, these are two great events: they have a big impact (both in game and on the reader) and they show that nobody's safe from harm. Bringing back Captain Chaos would be like bringing back Fuchi, "it was pretty bad but we got better eventually". It'd feel like a comedy show where the state is exactly the same at the beginning and at the end of the episode.

An example of these two points combined is Theresa Montgomery as the new Ares magic R&D director. (If she really is the Theresa Montgomery, sister of Dirk Montgomery). I don't mind Ares having an insect spirit at the head of their Magic R&D. I do mind Ares choosing a former BTL-addict, sister of a Shadowrunner and I do mind the choice of putting an old character just as an easter egg for the few players who've read one of two out-of-print (at least back when the book came out) Shadowrun novels instead of having a new character, with subtle hints that could lead to her being an insect spirit so that new GM could use that and old player could be surprised when upon discovering it.

Thankfully it has been kept under control, but it still made me feel sometimes (on the top of my head the Seattle section of Runner Havens and the 'On The Run' plot) like the author was a fan trying to max his reference count rather than someone trying to create new and interesting things.

[darthmord]

- Unability to go forward. The end of Fuchi, the death of Captain Chaos, these are two great events: they have a big impact (both in game and on the reader) and they show that nobody's safe from harm. Bringing back Captain Chaos would be like bringing back Fuchi, "it was pretty bad but we got better eventually". It'd feel like a comedy show where the state is exactly the same at the beginning and at the end of the episode.

Just remember the old theme that graced the covers of SR1 & SR2... the more things change, the more they stay the same.

That's the nature of the dystopia. No matter how much you try to make it better, it stays the same. The King is dead. Long live the King.

Honestly, I'm quite okay with that.