OK, if the 'preview' is just the art, it's a nice piece of artwork.

*deleting double post*

Wow, you really want that poster, don't you?

Wow, you really want that poster, don't you?

Didn't I already rant about your rough draft for that piece?

[/edit]I did. I originally wanted to take it apart line by line, but restrained myself.

I will say that "magic cyberpunk noir" is the stupidest description Shadowrun's ever had. I mean noir? At what point do we go "Down these mean streets a metahuman must run who is not himself mean"? Bullshite.

Anyway, Shadowrun is definitely leading in the torrent competition according to me.

Which one is the SWA cover art? I thought it was the third piece in the article (after the SR4A and Runner's Toolkit covers); is it actually the magazine cover piece as Wandering One thinks?

Awesome! In that case, I second Sheala. You should totally release that piece as a poster.

And your involvement in the torrent scene is purely academic and limited to the purpose of gauging the relative popularity of Tabletop RPG brands, I trust?

I thought covers on trade magazines were bought as advertising? Is this not right?

And your involvement in the torrent scene is purely academic and limited to the purpose of gauging the relative popularity of Tabletop RPG brands, I trust?

Didn't I already rant about your rough draft for that piece?

[/edit]I did. I originally wanted to take it apart line by line, but restrained myself.

I will say that "magic cyberpunk noir" is the stupidest description Shadowrun's ever had. I mean noir? At what point do we go "Down these mean streets a metahuman must run who is not himself mean"? Bullshite.

If we're going down the route of sexy-woman covers, I prefer that of the Runner's Companion - that woman was a beautiful and mean looking girl with arms that looked like they could throw a punch, reclining in a "this is my turf" sort of pose. The woman on the new cover looks like she's posing for the cover of Weapons World 2069 - collagen lips, big eyeshadow and a "display-cabinet" rubber top. And her pose is a real magazine cover one. Seriously, here's a home experiment worth trying: stand in the position that woman is standing in and see what persona you feel you're putting on - really, try it. Then you'll find her as funny as I do. Make sure to get the lean forward and the slight inward knee.

I don't completely dislike the cover - it's massively better than Augmentation for a start.

As regards the description of Shadowrun as "magic cyberpunk noir", I don't dislike the noir so much (though that only covers one style of Shadowrun play), but I dislike the description "cyberpunk". Cyberpunk is a small sub-genre that flowered briefly in the Eighties which was thirty years ago. And it was cheesy then.

Obviously opinions are my own.

K.

The 6WA cover is the one next to the text describing 6WA; the cover piece will be the cover of another project.

If we're going down the route of sexy-woman covers, I prefer that of the Runner's Companion - that woman was a beautiful and mean looking girl with arms that looked like they could throw a punch, reclining in a "this is my turf" sort of pose. The woman on the new cover looks like she's posing for the cover of Weapons World 2069 - collagen lips, big eyeshadow and a "display-cabinet" rubber top. And her pose is a real magazine cover one. Seriously, here's a home experiment worth trying: stand in the position that woman is standing in and see what persona you feel you're putting on - really, try it. Then you'll find her as funny as I do. Make sure to get the lean forward and the slight inward knee.

I don't completely dislike the cover - it's massively better than Augmentation for a start.

As regards the description of Shadowrun as "magic cyberpunk noir", I don't dislike the noir so much (though that only covers one style of Shadowrun play), but I dislike the description "cyberpunk". Cyberpunk is a small sub-genre that flowered briefly in the Eighties which was thirty years ago. And it was cheesy then.

Obviously opinions are my own.

K.

I don't completely dislike the cover - it's massively better than Augmentation for a start.

That being said, I'd be interested in your take on the article. Especially since I now wonder in what way JM Hardy's personal opinion might color future releases (esp. the 6th World Almanach).

It's an advert, which is fair enough. It's a bad advert because it starts out by telling fans why to hate the product. It boils the blood a little to read it because most of the people that wrote those books their pimping have left Catalyst, but that's on the personal side. The way the article is trying to spin SR4A as a "new" product at this point is misleading, and there are several other really bizarre and cringeworthy terms thrown in there ("magic cyberpunk noir," "warrior of the streets," "piles of binary data") and a distinctive lack of actual Shadowrun terminology (street samurai, riggers, metahumans, etc.). The description of the Sixth World Almanac is a blatant lie (I could go on and on about the decisions regarding that one, but "depth" is not a word I would use for the information offered). The last I heard Phaedra had been sitting on her first draft of her novel for months and months now because she hasn't been paid yet.

Jason is weirdly obsessed with the whole Facebook thing. Yes, it's a wonderful way to promote the game, I get that, but he seriously talks about getting X number of fans to join the group like it's a some kind of personal achievement as line developer. Sorry, getting slightly off topic here.

The Seattle 2072 blurb is fine, though I might have killed the second paragraph (one missed period isn't the end of the world).

Dev Cmts - I worked on the book too, and I could tell you stories about that map. Jason probably was excited about the book, but...I don't want to go there. There's still some bad blood over 6WA. Hey, look, another Facebook reference.

Why don't you write it better?

Mesh

No offense to Knasser, but cyberpunk has always been Shadowruns default description. And always will be. It's the basis of the original game, and still the basis of how many of us play and view the game.

Jason is weirdly obsessed with the whole Facebook thing. Yes, it's a wonderful way to promote the game, I get that, but he seriously talks about getting X number of fans to join the group like it's a some kind of personal achievement as line developer.

Sorry, getting slightly off topic here.

Shadowrun has long been valued for the total freedom it offers players in creating characters. With several races, attributes, and skills to choose from, players can customize their character to suit their vision. They might want to be a sword-slinging, sharp-shooting warrior of the streets, or perhaps they’d rather command a small army of spirits to do their bidding, or maybe they want to master the Matrix and get access to the secrets buried under piles of binary data. Whatever they imagine, they can be.

With respect to "magic cyberpunk noir" as a description for Shadowrun – "Cyberpunk noir" has been a description for Blade Runner since the film came out. "Blade Runner with Magic" has been a description for Shadowrun since the game came out. So while "magic cyberpunk noir" may not be the best description, it certainly has history and validity.

and yeah, I think "magic cyberpunk noir" sounds retarded.

But as silly as the term may sound, it is an accurate, if oversimplified description of SR. I think it might have been better served to not have been oversimplified quite that much, though.

I don't completely dislike the cover - it's massively better than Augmentation for a start.

I quite like the Augmentation cover, except for the fact that the artist apparently thinks orks = Uruk-hai.

Bull: You mentioned in the blog introduction you wrote for shadowrun4.com and on Dumpshock that you view Shadowrun as "Magic Cyberpunk Noir". Can you explain or expand on that at all?

JMH: I like that phrase because it captures three things I really enjoy. I love fantasy, I've been reading fantasy for decades, and anytime there's fantasy around I'm much happier than when it's not. I also love cyberpunk and the way it kind of blasted a hole in the '50s image of science-as-progress, where the future keeps getting cleaner and better and all that. Cyberpunk says that technology can only make the world as good as we are, and that we're pretty screwed up. I'm actually more optimistic than that, but I like a good clean breath of cynicism every now and again.

The noir captures the fatalism in Shadowrun, and the view that the world is stacked against you, which is the classic noir point of view. But noir also has this fantastic energy, the fast-paced, deadpan patter, that I've loved. My computer desktop is a movie poster of The Big Sleep, because I love how people in that movie talk. So you throw magic's wildness in with cyberpunk's raw energy and noir's fatalism and wit, and you have an unbeatable combo.

Fedoras and trench coats abound in SR just as they do in noir--and I love it!

Bull: Ok, that said, Magic Cyberpunk Noir... The question then is, Blue Mohawks or Black Leather Professionals, as the kids like to compare styles these days?

JMH: Why choose? I'm in favor of both--it's a big world out there. And people can wear black leather and have a blue mohawk, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm not a big fan of the "Here's the right way to play Shadowrun" arguments.

In the interest of establishing clarity and getting my actual opinions out there, rather than guesses at or interpretations of my opinions, here's an excerpt from an interview Bull did with me for the first issue of Dumpshock Data Haven.

Jason H.