 Wiki, What some authors think... |
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 Apr 20 2005, 03:19 AM
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#1
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 144 Joined: 11-April 05 From: San Antonio, USA Member No.: 7,317  |
I was just bouncing around the wiki and ran across the Shadowrun entry. It gave a basic rundown of the game and such, but what caught my attention was the fact it stated that William Gibson did not like Shadowrun due to the fantasy races. Checked out some of the other entries leading from the entry, including Mr. Gibson Blog. His remarks about Shadowrun are near the bottom on May 8, 2003. Well, you can't please them all. I still find it ironic that the author who had the most to deal with the cyberpunk genre(IMO) dislikes the only Cyberpunk RPG to stand the test of time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun |
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Apr 20 2005, 03:29 AM
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#2
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Target Group: Members Posts: 95 Joined: 15-April 05 Member No.: 7,335 |
Cyberpunk as a literary genre has been long dead.
William Gibson is just being ornary. |
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Apr 20 2005, 03:43 AM
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#3
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935 |
<shrug> He's entitled to his opinion. I mean, you might could see how he would dislike a game that blatantly "borrows" from his work mixed with something as antithetical as contemporary fantasy. The Tolkein reference probably didn't help any.
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Apr 20 2005, 03:44 AM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 485 Joined: 25-October 04 Member No.: 6,789 |
Actually he is performing an action for which authors should be hanged. Reading a book by the cover.
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Apr 20 2005, 05:11 AM
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#5
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Target Group: Members Posts: 95 Joined: 15-April 05 Member No.: 7,335 |
I think William Gibson should be much more worried about things that he's written rather than things that borrow from him...like the screenplay for Johnny Mnemonic for example.
(Don't get me wrong, I kinda like the movie...but Cyberpunk fans hate it and consider it the death of the genre) |
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Apr 20 2005, 05:19 AM
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#6
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,129 Joined: 11-June 03 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 4,712 |
So you dislike Johnny Mnemonic for the screenplay, or the rest of the shite that composed the film (ie acting, direction, editing, cinematography, a dolphin, etc.)?
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Apr 20 2005, 05:22 AM
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#7
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,901 Joined: 19-June 03 Member No.: 4,775 |
Please. It's been done to fucking death.
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Apr 20 2005, 05:25 AM
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#8
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,129 Joined: 11-June 03 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 4,712 |
So have a large number of discussions on DSF. Give it a break.
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Apr 20 2005, 05:45 AM
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#9
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Target Group: Members Posts: 95 Joined: 15-April 05 Member No.: 7,335 |
The only reason that Gibson doesn't like it is because he's not making a lot of money off of it.
I believe that's all that needs to be said on the matter. |
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Apr 20 2005, 05:53 AM
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#10
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,901 Joined: 19-June 03 Member No.: 4,775 |
Why, thank you for that preternaturally insightful commentary. I sure am glad no one thought up that bit of well thought out criticism of Gibson before. I am so glad that you managed to maintain your composure and objectivity in recognizing and responding to those criticial of Shadowrun, and it really is good to see calm, rational Shadowrun fans not getting defensive when someone disagrees with them. Good work!
And I think it is further worth pointing out that no one is making a lot of money off Shadowrun. It is rather unlikely that Rob is driving to GenCon in his brand new 997 Carrerra. |
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Apr 20 2005, 06:10 AM
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#11
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
that's right. he's saving that for the autobahn!
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Apr 20 2005, 06:21 AM
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#12
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,144 Joined: 22-September 04 Member No.: 6,690 |
Sorry, play again later. From the experince I've had with people who like both Gibson's writing and SR, they tend to be rather enthusiastic about both. So it doesn't take any great leap of faith to imagine that Shadowrun is something that fans mention to him not all that infrequently, and from my own experince in fandom circles, these sorts of exchanges can be highly embarassing to observe. Given his work with Cyberpunk 2020 I don't think he dislikes it because it's an RPG, but more because it's a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid that is only related to his own work in the most tangential of ways, and yet keeps getting brought up in front of him. I think it was pretty silly that this fact was brought up on the Shadowrun wiki. The fact that he doesn't like SR really has no bearing on anything. He probably takes the work he invested on writing his books pretty seriously, and hearing frequent comparisons between it and a game with minimal 'cyberpunk' elements, and a heavy does of fantasy would irk me too. |
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Apr 20 2005, 06:58 AM
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#13
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
Oh, well, shit. I guess they might as well just go on ahead and close down the thread, then, huh? You've spoken, end of conversation, right? Nevermind that he might just not like it because he doesn't like it. There's no possible way he can be telling the truth when he says he just finds it distastefull and amusing to see his work mixed with Tolkien -- no, sir, that's quite simply not possible. He's obviously just anti-Shadowrun (and, having spoken about it twice in twenty years, he's obviously a rabid hater of SR and all those who enjoy it) because he's not rolling around naked in stacks of cash money from it, like that megalomaniacal multigazillionaire, Rob Boyle. |
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Apr 20 2005, 05:49 PM
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#14
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Target Group: Members Posts: 95 Joined: 15-April 05 Member No.: 7,335 |
Sorry, I was in a really spiteful mood yesterday and I'm not the biggest fan of Gibson's...
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Apr 22 2005, 03:39 AM
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#15
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,129 Joined: 11-June 03 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 4,712 |
There's no foul in stating an opinion. I'm not a big fan of his work either and find his remarks borderline smug, considering that he doesn't hold the patent on a dystopian future.
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