on shdowrun they got it as December 24 2011. I have heard others say it was 2012 and just the other day while i was helping the wife pack for her work trip to massacheutes "decoding the past" episode 74 was on and the whole episode was about the date which they put is December 21 2012.

so who is right?

when magic comes back and I become the most powerful magic user I want to prepare so I can start my training right away. Those hot super models won't know what hit them! "you want to give yourself to me". Awesomeness

I guess that the writers of Shadowrun were off by a year, because they set it in 2011. Maybe they just figured there was a slight margin of error in the Mayan calculations, which do predict the end of the world in 2012, though.

If by "end of the world" you mean "end of one cycle and the beginning of the next," then yes.

Well, it's the end of the Fifth World.

"It's the end of the world as we know it,
And I feel fine."

Oh, we'll just do what we always do in these cases. Retcon the crap out of it and pretend the mistake never happened. SCIENCE!

According to the detailed page at Mesoamerican Long Count calendar (Wikipedia) the exact date is not considered known for sure, but the most commonly accepted date is 21 December 2012.

Furthermore the article states that according to the Mayan's we are currently in the Fourth World, and therefore 2012 will begin the Fifth World.

Of course for the "real" world of Shadowrun we know that the date was actually in 2011, and that that year was the transition from Fifth to Sixth World. I.E. the elves that know more than the Wikipedia editors waited until after magic returned to correct the details as we know them.

I remember reading an article attributed to Ehran the Scribe that gave dates for the previous age of magic (I.E. Earthdawn)

i dont' want to have to buy a few months provisions to hole up somewhere and practice my magic, very costly, but it is for a worthy cause so i guess i'll just be ready both times.

I could have sworn that another couple of RL books I have read indicated we were in the 5th world and heading into the 6th per the Mayan and Incan calendars.

Then again, those same books and other sources also state their dates may be off due to translation issues and disagreements over what certain things translate to.

But yeah, the current world is scheduled to end and the next one begins sometime in December of 2011 or 2012.

my world's changing!
and i don't like it! ;_;

Hyperflies! And New Gods! Who are people!