I still don't get it. Corporate Court? Megacorps don't fight?

Well, basicly, IIRC, the Corporate Court was created byt the Big 10 after two of them got into a knock-down,d ragout fight, and someone started threatening to bring nukes to the party..and they kind of decided that open, full scale Corporate Warfare was a Bad Idea. So, the Corps put together Corporate Court as a sort of United Nation, where they could settle things without having to go to full scale warfare. Now, they use Shadowrunners for small scale stuff, and they DO do small scale attacks, but no full scale "We are using everything we have on you! RAR! DIEDIEDIEDIE!" warfare anymore.

I think this thread came off the rails. It originally started as a discussion about whether Horizon was evil enough to be considered cyberpunk. Then it diverged into discussions about corporate-military power and comparisons to Aztechnology, neither of which is very useful to the original question.

To the first question, there are a few important things to consider. The first is that the corporate book is not out yet. The presentation of Horizon thus far has been secondary to the purpose of the books it appears in, and is often particular to the primary purpose of that book. So when you list Horizon's Los Angeles assets, you are doing exactly that, listing Horizon's Los Angeles assets. It is not the entirety of the corporation or even a deep analysis of the corporation.

The second is the assumption that the shadow community trusts Horizon. Trusting a corporation and not yet having substantial dirt on them are two different things. Even a corporation as dirty as Aztechnology was not exposed right away and even then, a lot of assistance came from the Sixth World's immortals. No matter how many shadowrunners mistrusted Renraku, no one saw Deus coming. Shadowrunners may be skeptics, but they are not omniscient.

Third, the nature of dystopia is shifting. This goes back to the long debated cyberpunk versus post-cyberpunk debate. Which isn't to say Shadowrun has thrown out the cyberpunk-style antagonists, but instead of rehashing what has been done, Horizon is something different. It may not be your flavor of antagonist, but those are still around. And it may appeal to another GM in a way the others do not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GzA9Xu_oEo...feature=related
yes google IS cyberpunk, and evil..

For me, Horizon is one of the creepiest megas on the block. Like Disney, they have nothing but positive press--and work to keep it that way. Eventually though, I know something is going to come out. Working for the Rat is the best job in the world until you become a liability and then your entire existence is swept under the rug.

If you read the adventure ideas in the back of Corporate Enclaves, it is obvious that Horizon is willing to take the same steps that any other mega is to stay ahead of the game. The security team is ready to kill a teenage girl, who is the daughter of a lead researcher. Why? Because she knows something that is not supposed to be known. To keep the runners from getting any wiser, they are patted on the back for a job well done, paid and have their PR rating boosted. No runner would backtalk the corp who gave them a job, built them up and sent them on their way with more than they asked for.

I hate you so much for that song being in my head right now. I guess I need to go back and watch that part of the special features again.

Oh yeah, and Horizon in my game is going to be protected by Clerics, cause nothing says happy fuzzy love Corp like Gun-katas.

...I for one am a GM who enjoys the insidiously evil.