For those who haven't seen/heard, comments from FanPro about 2006 and plans for 2007:

FanPro 2006 Year In Review

Regards,

AJC

Seems like Unwired has officially been postponed to 2008.

Holostreets is "on indefinite hold."

Hmm... I guess they won't be the ones releasing SoLA, then.

I really hope that gets worked out somehow. I would love to read SoLA.

Considering that SoLA is supposed to be "done", maybe we'll see it released on its own later this year. I always thought that linking SoLA to Holostreets was more about trying to get the program going.

I'm really disappointed about Holostreets, but suspect it has to do primarily with time (or the lack there of).

AJC

SR's been translated into Japanese. I wonder how popular it will be there? It doesn't paint Japan in very warm colors.

UNWIRED is probably delayed again because not even the game designers understand how the wireless matrix works.

so basically, we're going to get 1 or 2 books this year, just like last year. that kinda sucks. In SR3 most of the "core books were out within a year and a half or so iirc. I hate to say it, but if fanpro doesn't start putting out more products, they're going to lose people who are interested in the game.

It's interesting how people's memories condense times in the past like that. It feels like less time remembering waiting for a sourcebook than it did feels like waiting.

Thanks for the input...would hate to see you give us your real opinions...

AJC

Dude, whatever. I hate what has been done to Shadowrun in the last two years that it has made me stop playing the game. When I see the company supposedly responsible for keeping it alive and pushing it forward, and instead fumbling around and fucking up left and right, it's just... sickening.

There. How's that for a fucking opinion?

Fair enough. You have your opinion, I have mine and they differ.

AJC

You know what's funny? The notion that a business is somehow morally obligated to do things the way a particular consumer wants them to. Rather than, you know, doing things however they wish and facing the consequences of the market.

Thain is my new hero.

I'd also like to note that FanPro has a large stable of volunteers who help run games at conventions, write Missions, etc. When you take the Missions and various one-shot adventures that these GMs put together, you will find that the page count is on par with a lot of the early adventure modules.

Look, Fanpro has royally fucked up in how they make books. They farm out chapters to way to many writers and don't go far enough for them to make sense. Let's take spirits.

The fact is that you could do all the threats and the way they do spirits and magics with like two pages..Nope.Gota make new spirits for no reason. The insect spirits could have easily been handle by and your mentor spirit does X to your spirits. Toxic spirits are the same way by being toxic cause you spirits to do that. The 10 spirits type can cover just about anything you think of. But rather than saying that and then saying toxic, and insect magic is just magic with another flavor.. They made more rules. Hell you could have gone a middle ground and added spirit templates...

Farming out parts of books to many arthurs who do not do not share the same view point leads you to well pragmatic books at best.Wile that can be good it rarely is the best.

Shadowbeat is a personal favorite, and one I recommend, but not quite as fundamental as the NAG's.

That said, I think the Rocker is a archetype that was wrongfully overlooked in SR3 and SR4.

I agree with Thain on that. Shadowbeat was a terrific sourcebook. SR4 would benefit from a page of rules governing artistic skills, because it would make a fascinating option for PCs and NPCs alike. Also that 21st century media saturation element could use some more emphasis in 4th.

I just want to toss in my 2 cents on whole matter, my kudos to the small company representing fanpro and our game. If it wasnt for us they wouldnt be working so hard. And if it wasnt for them we'd be high and dry with an extinct game line and out of print sourcebooks. (gods only know how many hundreds of rpg books I have boxed up and how many of there parent companies no longer even exist).

I'm just as rabid about seeing books released as everyone else and I have my own opinions on how things have come out so far. But all in all I'm happy with 4th edition and if the fact that after a 2yr SR break my group can talk about nothing else but sticking with this game for awhile (we would normally switch settings every few months, trying new games or playing old ones).

Been running games for more years then care to even mention and been running SR since I saw first edtion in my wargames west catalog hehe yea no flgs no internet just old newsprint catalog to preview and buy your games from. I hope SR is around for many more years and fully intend to support the company that keeps it alive.

Now that said I desperately would love to have on my table arsenal,augmentation and unwired. I have ton of other material can easily convert ( too many sr books to count). I 've been led to believe Emergence will be huge help and hope it is, but even given restraints of publishing and cash ( I know all about cash restraints) I would hope to see unwired kicked out before 08 ;(.

Core material is needed and imo hate to see more fluff before core products.

I like pie. Pie is good.

























That said. I've got nothing against the current relase ratio of the new books. I may be dissapointed at books being pushed back etc. But still. Look at other developers. Look at say.. how manybooks Palladium has put out this past year? In previous years? Look at how many books they said would be out at such and such a date and still 2, 4, 6 years later have NEVER surfaced? Some infact resurface with later release dates. Others.. just.. sort of vanish. Like the several times promised Australia 2 book.

And their a popular RPG company. So is SR. DP9 is relatively and I've seen even fewer new books from them, but their still kicking around and doing ok it seems. Even with D&D alot of the newer material I've seen is totally independant stuff published under the OGL. I havent followed it hard core or anything but I'm sure you'll see similar results there too.

That isnt to say I didnt wish Augmentation and the like werent out RIGHT NOW! But if they were I'd buy em, then wish for the next book to be out RIGHT NOW! too.. That isnt going to happen. And I would much rather that the publisher put out properly edited books with good and reasonably well tested material than a rush job thats sloppy. Palladium has done that a few times with some of their books. Like their 3 Rifts world based Novels. The first one is horribly choped up and has totaly random nonsentical crap poping up in it even due to some editing error that several reprints later they STILL HAVE NOT FIXED!. Which.. sort of boggles my mind. I even sent them a letter to bitch at em about it and got an appology. But they still havent fixed it. Oh well..

The main explanation for the problems with the first novel? They rushed, some one screwed up. Had they NOT rushed they'd have had a properly done product from the get go, rather than one that has the most glaring editorial errors I have EVER seen in my entire life of reading books of all sorts. And that folks, is ALOT of books. I routinely go through at -least- 10 novels a year and thats not counting the RPG books or other books I read at all. It's been that way since I was about 10. Probably earlier.

In comparison, alot of the SR books have been -very- well written. I might not like certain parts, and others might take alot of re-reading for me to fully grasp (Such as SR's magic system and SR3's matrix system took abit of getting used to as well) but in the end I've found them relatively well thought out. And the fluff is usually quite good as well. I might wish there was more of it, but at the same time, one must realize it's not an easy task to accomplish.

The only other example I can give would be my mother's attempt at publishing my grandfaters manuscript about his voyage on the St. Roch. over 1100 full legal pages (Actually larger pages than modern legal) all single spaced, small lettering. It took him several years to write it before he died. And it's taken several years of work between the other demands of real life to computerize and edit the doctument. It's -almost- done. But then it has to be sent off to a professional editor for review and then we'll STILL have to find a publisher for the book.

That there's at least a limited market for the book there is no doubt. Afterall his previous book did quite well. ANd we'd reprint that too if we could track down who ever owns the other half of the copywrite to it. (There's some other legal red tape involved too beyond that). But having been involved in helping convert the doctument in the first place I can easily understand even just some of the difficulties an author may face.

In the end, relaly with those who are bitter about changes to SR.. well. Sorry guys. But as much as you play in it. It isnt really -your- world at all. You've certainly shared it. But you are by no means alone in it. And ultimately what happens to that world is really beyond your control. You may manage to influence it. You may even manage to some day have a direct hand in it. But unless you manage to some how actually gain the legal rights to SR. You cant possibly have any 'real' control at all.

For one, I am actually quite satisfied with consistency and mechanics in all the SR4 books. I love to be playing shadowrun again and I think the people at Fanpro have been doing a responsible job.

I am, of course, quite eager to see Arsenal (for vehicles and rigging) and Unwired out, as both areas of the game need lots more development right now. However, I want those books to be as well written as possible because I'd hate to be put off this edition by undetected munchkin fodder or frantical, poor writing.

I rather wait a little longer to see a well checked book than rush to buy something unbalancedly put together for the hungry print. (d&d 3.5?)

Just don't take very long, he?

Cheers,

Max

(Quick aside: It was with a bit of gentle sarcasm that I said BESM 1e was published in Mark's garage. I actually have first printing BESM, HRGB, and BRCS all autographed by the authors. They were definantly "small press" back then, but not as small press as... say... me.)

I beleive that SR4 is, at the present time, probably the most internally consistent RPG in my collection. Be it from a AAA publisher (WotC, AEG, GW), a second teir company, or a small-press or botique studio.

Now, if the developers can avoid things like Rigger 2's (in)famous Flux Rating, then all will be good.

Gah, third post.

Also, on SoLA, I can't say I know the details, but from what I can gather, the whole thing is more complicated than most know. At first glance, it'd be pretty simple to slap the writing into a PDF and post it on the the Shadowrun website, but it seems like there are other entanglements that would need to be worked out first before that could be done. Not that I've been told so, but that's the feeling I've gotten talking to the devs.