Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: State of Gaming in Shadowrun
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
CanRay
All right, folks, what do you think the state of gaming is in Shadowrun?

One of my PCs had his Shadowrun MMORPG Guild as a Contact, which got more than a chuckle out of me. But other types of video and role playing, think it's still around?

I can totally see a Shadowrun Decker Hangout being host to a LARP!
Draco18s
There are specifically Matrix Games in shadowrun. Very generic and Only One Of Each Kind, that is, there's Only One MMO, only One Online FPS, only One Sport, etc.

But they exist.
Semerkhet
With the way the console game market has grown in the last decade or so, I can't imagine that gaming will have gone away in 2072. If anything, I think the boundaries between PnP, console, and PC gaming will have disintegrated entirely as Moore's Law progresses. The current MMO model of many people doing the exact same "adventures" will become unnecessary. The ability of a small group of people to share a consensual VR adventure, guided either by another person or by some sort of licensed expert system, should be ubiquitous. See the "Middle Kingdom" VR MMO in the first volume of Tad Williams' Otherland series for an example of what I'm talking about. As miserable as existence is for many people in the SR world, I'd think there would be huge numbers of people immersed in these sorts of games to escape reality.
Wesley Street
love.gif Glitterworld!!! love.gif
Warlordtheft
In the books it mentions AR games like assain, where players score points for assisinating other players while in AR. I'm sure the games in SR are ultra realistic (compared to the button mashing of today), and probably run the gamut of full blown Sci-Fi, Fantasy Historical/Modern, historical, and kids learning games. Games hosted at Decker hangouts woul be a little dangerous to play for the non-decker (Hacker-sorry! smile.gif ).

You can also use AR to change your setting, tired of dreary and drab seattle, change it to nice and warm Honolulu. Becareful though, tricking the body to feel warm when it is freezing out may mean frostbite or worse and you won't even realize it. Anyway, as I recall with some of the fluff in Unwired there is a great deal on this.
Backgammon
Kanada Ten has got you covered
paws2sky
QUOTE (Backgammon @ Apr 29 2009, 12:36 PM) *


Very nice.

I can see "casual" games being a big thing, even 60+ years in the future. Simple, quick to play, sometimes even challenging. They're great time wasters and usually not so attention intensive that you can't do other things at the same time (like, eat or IM or whatever).

Card games (spades, poker, strip poker, etc.) never go out of style, even when they're AR and VR. Best of all, anyone can do it.

(Case in point, I work with an older guy IRL who has a computer just so he can play online poker and check sport stats. He claims he doesn't even use it for email...)

-paws
Semerkhet
QUOTE (Warlordtheft @ Apr 29 2009, 10:26 AM) *
You can also use AR to change your setting, tired of dreary and drab seattle, change it to nice and warm Honolulu. Becareful though, tricking the body to feel warm when it is freezing out may mean frostbite or worse and you won't even realize it. Anyway, as I recall with some of the fluff in Unwired there is a great deal on this.


Again resorting to non-SR fiction, take a gander at Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. He uses AR extensively in the novel and also has an example of using AR to create fantasy games in actual physical spaces rather than in full VR.
Larme
I think a lot of gaming in Shadowrun won't be so much gaming as a form of sophisticated LARPing. There was a bit of fiction in the SR4 core book about a German guy who works at a really boring job, but he has a sleep regulator so that once he gets home, he can change into his AR persona with his a virtual house on the beach and virtual supermodel girlfriend, and then he goes out to live a life of virtual excitement as a virtual Shadowrunner. A lot of gamers won't just be sitting at home in front of a console, they'll be interacting with the AR overlay of the game world on top of the real world. It's like LARP if instead of rock paper scissors and imagination, you had all the graphics and physics engines and suchnot of a videogame.

And though the SR4 developers can't write it in because White Wolf are litigious biatches, I'd bet my ass there's a thriving Camarilla in most cities, with awesome looking virtual vampires with actual virtual powers. Though such people are very much a fringe nowadays, I imagine that by 2070 it's pretty common for teens and adults both to be involved in some sort of virtual world or another.
Semerkhet
QUOTE (Larme @ Apr 29 2009, 11:08 AM) *
I think a lot of gaming in Shadowrun won't be so much gaming as a form of sophisticated LARPing. There was a bit of fiction in the SR4 core book about a German guy who works at a really boring job, but he has a sleep regulator so that once he gets home, he can change into his AR persona with his a virtual house on the beach and virtual supermodel girlfriend, and then he goes out to live a life of virtual excitement as a virtual Shadowrunner. A lot of gamers won'g just be sitting at home in front of a console, they'll be interacting with the AR overlay of the game world on top of the real world. It's like LARP if instead of rock paper scissors and imagination, you had all the graphics and physics engines and suchnot of a videogame.


I'm imagining the potential absurdity and story hooks that could result from a group of "LARPers" who wander around urban areas locked into their own consensual fantasy AR overlay and causing all sorts of mischief for those that don't see what they do. Then again, what is the world of Shadowrun but a giant AR overlay of a fantasy game on top of a cyberpunk dark future?
Writer
Check out the ad for Play Station 9
I couldn't find the one that mentions it will be out in 2078, or something like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHOP8h911I...feature=related
Murrdox
A sub-plot of the campaign that I'm running right now centers on a player of "Street Fighter XII", a version of the game played in full VR. It has real money to be won and lost, just like boxing, etc.

The player is a bit of a celebrity, but also has a bit of a gambling problem. His gambling problem led him to hastily hire a local cell of The Yellow Lotus triad as body guards, but you can guess that isn't working out too well for him.
Draco18s
QUOTE (Backgammon @ Apr 29 2009, 12:36 PM) *


I love that thread.

Edit: I'm a terrible person. I parodied another independent game I played recently in that thread.

QUOTE (Writer @ Apr 29 2009, 01:18 PM) *
Check out the ad for Play Station 9
I couldn't find the one that mentions it will be out in 2078, or something like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHOP8h911I...feature=related


You mean at 8 seconds in?
Poison Shadow
In the BBB, it mentions an AR shooter MMO that's played in real places, it's called Miracle Shooter or something. (Away from books right now)
Writer
QUOTE (Draco18s @ Apr 29 2009, 02:06 PM) *
You mean at 8 seconds in?


Ummmmm ... yeah ... smile.gif

Okay, so sometimes night shift doesn't agree with me!
Draco18s
Hehe
stevebugge
As bad as real life is in the 2070's for most, I would think virtual games would be absolutely huge, and as a great way for the corps to seperate you from your nuyen there would be games for every taste (if you can imagine it someone sells it). For the less well heeled, those going for a certain subculture look, or the very traditional physical playing cards, Chess Sets, Go, Dominoes, and dice probably are still around. However I suspect that actual pen & paper games (much like actual pens and paper) are not terribly common in 2070.
hyzmarca
Would playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game be too recursive?

When your PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC gets geeked, how long do you spend pouring over the books to design the perfect replacement?
Draco18s
QUOTE (hyzmarca @ May 2 2009, 03:43 AM) *
Would playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game be too recursive?

When your PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC gets geeked, how long do you spend pouring over the books to design the perfect replacement?


http://xkcd.com/244/
AllTheNothing
QUOTE (hyzmarca @ May 2 2009, 09:43 AM) *
Would playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game about shadowrunners playing a Shadowrun game be too recursive?

When your PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC's PC gets geeked, how long do you spend pouring over the books to design the perfect replacement?

QUOTE (Draco18s @ May 2 2009, 09:52 AM) *

smile.gif LOL!!! smile.gif
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012