QUOTE (Stahlseele @ Dec 17 2010, 04:06 PM)
second part of franks review is out by the way.
Also read that. I've just started getting into the new swag.
I was interested to see Battle Rifles added, which do not
say they use the Automatics skill, but as they are automatic rifles - that's the skill they use. It wasn't a terrible leap of logic, but one not versed in the lingo could see how that's confusing.
The bits about
Sangre del Diablo are both intruiging and plain scary. These things are supposed to be rare and in the deep Amazon, a vile foe for talisleggers looking for its benign counterpart and finding only horror. I can get behind that. There's a sweet Indiana Jones-style adventure there. Now it sounds as if about a fourth of Bogota has been seeded with these trees and socked full of Miracle-Gro. To me, it shifts people away from the war itself - who's going to want to run a game in this setting?
That is, I suppose, the largest issue I'm having with this book. It's clearly meant to be an adventure hook for a mercenary company theme, though the information on Bogota would make it a Latin American Barrens where one goes from hip club to
favela to mansions in as many blocks. It's meant to be the hook, but it doesn't know that. It's not sure what it
wants to be.
To be honest, I think this book needs to be pulled and repurposed. I believe the creative team needs to sit down and ask themselves "what does this book want to be?" It has a wealth of information on Bogota that could've gone into 6WA or a revised Shadows of Latin America, gear that should probably be looked at for game balance issues, and a fresh look at the new rules for game balance issues.
If the book is to be titled
War!, then let us sit and make this book about
War. Right now, it doesn't seem like it is.
So, here's what I know:
This war has been simmering between the Azzies and the Zonies for a while. Caracas and Venezuela was meant to be a buffer between the two, with Bogota as some sort of 'border city' where everyone could play at being nice while hiding their knives behind their backs.
The flashpoint, it seems, was when the Azzies caught a Zonie black ops team in one of their facilities. I'll have to go back and verify exactly what happened, but the 'gardening' reasoning that Frank offered will work for now. Not 72 hours after the Azzies declared war, the troops started rolling in with full logicstical and administrative support. This suggests it had been in the works for a lot longer. The Azzie
teocallis were used in a massive linked blood ritual that suppressed the nature spirits (and nature itself) in the Amazon at the same time, depriving the Zonies of their usual magical backup. However, this would not last.
Aztlan made several gains into Colombia and Amazonian territory, opening the city of Bogota up to the other megacorps. Notables include Horizon, Ares, and S-K. As far as I can tell from here, both armies are in a stalemate.
Looking at this overview, there's some serious Idiot Ball handling going on here. Heavy-ass battle rifles in close-quarters combat? Stick with carbines and subs, they're lighter and you want rate of fire over stopping power(for the most part). Seeding the area with
Sangre del Diablo? It's Awakened WMD, not the move you make if you want to hold the area. Bogota's a city, with
people, and people have
needs. You're killing your market share - most literally.
AZT seemed to be doing all right taking over Bogota by economic means. They're working on the same process in the PCC - so why did they decide to throw a bunch of mans and blood spirits at the jungle? Are the resources in the Amazon
that good that it warrants spending billions in mans and equipment to level it?
Finally: Editing, editing, editing. I will yell at a newspaper for it, and I will shout until my voice is hoarse (and then start typing) for sourcebooks. Editing is the luxury trim, the coat of paint, the polish, and the shining 20-inch rims of publishing. You can build the greatest, most dependable motor this world has ever seen, but people aren't going to buy it if you try to wrap it with a Pinto frame.
I understand budgets are tight and deadlines must be met, but the quality of product is
suffering because of it. Reallocate if you have to. Push back a release date if you have to. Please, for all the love that is holy, do
not skimp on the editing process or the customer is going to think the production staff isn't taking this seriously. It must be done right.