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Inncubi
Link

Check out the article. Its good, if not very extensive.

Now check what /gear/ a prostitute carries, what she doesn't carry and why.

Do the same excercise for your favourite character. Discuss. Learn. Enjoy.

P.S: I love the cellphone they carry and why. Also the reasons to have certain bill denominations.
James McMurray
I highly recommend the entire Freakonomics book, and its sequel Super Freakonomics. Lots of neat ideas and suprising info floating around in both of them.
CanRay
Well, Shadowrunners are just prostitutes that can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning. Most of the time.

Then again, there's always the infamous Lesbian Elf Stripper Ninjas!

And how many characters went the Molly Millions route, and worked a Bunraku parlor to get the cred to cyber up?
Sengir
QUOTE (CanRay @ Feb 18 2011, 05:13 PM) *
Then again, there's always the infamous Lesbian Elf Stripper Ninjas!

And lesbian ex-vampire otaku empresses biggrin.gif
CanRay
I still want BISEXUAL Elven Stripper Ninjas, myself...
tarbrush
Facebook: Enabler of revolutions in Islamic countries and New York prostitutes. Isn't the internet wonderful.

CanRay
I don't know, we're seeing possible reform in one country that could turn positive or negative due to the Internet.

People keep forgetting, this is a SOCIAL EXPERIMENT. We don't know the full effects of the Internet and Mass Communication on Culture. Cyberculture is just the tip of the iceberg.
ShadowPavement
QUOTE (CanRay @ Feb 18 2011, 07:15 PM) *
People keep forgetting, this is a SOCIAL EXPERIMENT. We don't know the full effects of the Internet and Mass Communication on Culture. Cyberculture is just the tip of the iceberg.


It's only an experiment if there is a control variable. There is no second earth without an internet for comparison.
CanRay
I didn't say it was a very good experiment. nyahnyah.gif

Honestly, this has been picking up steam since the Telegraph lost the need to have wires. In one way, I'm happy to see what's going to come about. Hell, I'm happy my Father is here to see it, he's been a Sci-Fi fan from way back!

Now, what does a Joytoy need in Shadowrun? A Burner CommLink (With a second hidden away for the same reason as the second cell phone), and a RFID Tag with rates shown, eh?
Method
Very interesting read. Some great material to draw on for a high end pornomancer character.
Glyph
Interesting article. Questionable accuracy, but some nice little details that a GM or player can use.

The world of Shadowrun has changed even more, though. You have:
> Most of the mainstream sex trade is not illegal any longer
> Ubiquitous surveillance and IDs embedded in nearly everything
> A permanent desperate underclass of people who don't even officially exist
> Virtual reality and simsense technology
> Bodily modifications that can enhance or even remake someone
> The ability to turn people into meat puppets or rewrite their brains
> The rise of magic, offering new sensations but also new dangers such as possession or mind control
...and probably a lot of stuff that I forgot.
CanRay
Astrally traveling through a polyamorous family's orgy alone...
Bastard
QUOTE (Inncubi @ Feb 18 2011, 07:24 AM) *
P.S: I love the cellphone they carry and why. Also the reasons to have certain bill denominations.


Besides stopping stds, do they work as birth control?

And is it only Blackberries, or do all smart phones offer this same protection?
Method
QUOTE (Bastard @ Feb 19 2011, 09:11 PM) *
Besides stopping stds, do they work as birth control?


Only if you have the right apps. biggrin.gif
Bastard
QUOTE (Method @ Feb 20 2011, 05:01 AM) *
Only if you have the right apps. biggrin.gif
What about an aftermarket case?
Sengir
QUOTE (Bastard @ Feb 20 2011, 04:11 AM) *
Besides stopping stds, do they work as birth control?

If you crank up the output power a bit and then aim it at the prospective client's crotch...
hyzmarca
One thing I got from this article: Shadowrunners should make Facebook pages to attract business. In the modern high tech world of the wireless Matrix, the Fixer has become obsolete.
PoliteMan
QUOTE (hyzmarca @ Feb 21 2011, 08:53 PM) *
One thing I got from this article: Shadowrunners should make Facebook pages to attract business. In the modern high tech world of the wireless Matrix, the Fixer has become obsolete.

I wouldn't go quite that far. After all, a Johnn is unlikely to send death squads after you. Anonymity is the difference between life and death for a Shadowrunner, where a prostitute, especially a high-end one like those described here, is likely to depend on repeat business to a certain extent.

I don't think Facebook is a threat to the fixer. Craigslist and those kind of super anonymous classified postings are a greater threat to the traditional fixer. Note, however, that agencies are the most common way of finding clients, specifically because of they grant a certain perception of profesionalism, trustworthiness, and security. Needless to say, those are all pretty important to a Shadowrunner. Agencies and fixers simplify the whole process; of course you have to pay them so taking that anonymous posting is riskier but you should be keeping an extra 20-30% cut.
Sengir
QUOTE (hyzmarca @ Feb 21 2011, 01:53 PM) *
One thing I got from this article: Shadowrunners should make Facebook pages to attract business. In the modern high tech world of the wireless Matrix, the Fixer has become obsolete.

Nah, according to the study escort agencies and referals still play a major role, and that is more or less the kind of service fixers offer. In other words, runners get even closer to prostitues and seedy strip joints don't even attract streetwalkers any longer...won't somebody think of the seedy strip joints!
Wounded Ronin
QUOTE (Inncubi @ Feb 18 2011, 11:24 AM) *
Link

Check out the article. Its good, if not very extensive.

Now check what /gear/ a prostitute carries, what she doesn't carry and why.

Do the same excercise for your favourite character. Discuss. Learn. Enjoy.

P.S: I love the cellphone they carry and why. Also the reasons to have certain bill denominations.


QUOTE
BlackBerrys. To clients, this symbol of professional life suggests the worker is drug- and disease-free.


That just shows you how stupid people are. Someone is being ridiculous if they think they have any good way to guess whether or not a sex worker has some kind of STI. I mean, if someone looks hideous, then there's a good possibility something is seriously wrong. But, in women especially, STIs are often asymptomatic.

That's why it's stupid to partake in illegal prostitution. Instead, go to Pahrump, NV where prostitution is legal and prostitutes are medically screened. I just don't understand why someone would risk permanently messing up their life with something like herpes, HIV, or hepatitis. What could possibly be worth it?


EDIT:

QUOTE
Condoms and lubricant. If the client wants to skip the condom, there’s usually a 25 percent surcharge.


Yeahhh....no.
CanRay
Unlubricated condoms are useful in underwater demolitions from my understanding, BTW.
Inncubi
About the obsolescence of Fixers, in some Shadows of the world they actually have.

If I'm not wrong, and my memory fails me, the caribbean league runner's work on their own more often than with Fixers. They hunt for possible targets, locate the Johnson interested, do the run and offer /him/ a deal.

The article, and I agree, may have some accuracy problems. I think that part is irrelevant in this case, because its use in these forums is more as a cool inspiration tool, rather than bringing up facts.

And for 'runners and Facebook... I almost think its mandatory for every character to have computer 1 or 2 and data search 2 or 3. Its a house-rule, but if you think into it, in the Sixth World, not having those is equivalent to being inilliterate today: you are severely handicapped.
Now, with those skills, having a front in social pages is good... certain social pages. To be honest I don't like "The Exchange" idea form the books, and its potential use as a 'runner's facebook, I do, instead, love the old "Shadowland" idea... And /there/ is where a runner keeps a secure profile. Or a couple, to make sure. As do fixers.

However think of a contact: Former Fixer, current Janitor. Makesa very interesting NPC.



Wounded Ronin
QUOTE (CanRay @ Feb 21 2011, 12:39 PM) *
Unlubricated condoms are useful in underwater demolitions from my understanding, BTW.


I can't tell if you're making a sexual double entendre there or not. Underwater demolitions. Heh.
Sengir
Ever tried using a condom under water (for ots intended pupose, duh)? "Useful" is not the word which comes to mind biggrin.gif
darthmord
QUOTE (Sengir @ Feb 21 2011, 01:13 PM) *
Ever tried using a condom under water (for ots intended pupose, duh)? "Useful" is not the word which comes to mind biggrin.gif


That sounds like you are speaking from personal experience...

For the record, I have not. I imagine though (given the nature of the lubricant), there'd be some *issues*.
Sengir
Slippery affair, let me tell you that...
CanRay
QUOTE (Wounded Ronin @ Feb 21 2011, 12:42 PM) *
I can't tell if you're making a sexual double entendre there or not. Underwater demolitions. Heh.

I wasn't. Underwater Demolitions is a tricky bit of business that requires special training, and a lot of equipment that wasn't designed to work underwater, or even if a little bit wet.
Mardrax
They're also useful in a pinch for keeping injured digits clean and dry. Or even hands/feet.
BookWyrm
What's wrong with Bisexual/Lesbian Elf Stripper Ninjas?
Or lesbian ex-vampire otaku empresses?

It's the Sixth World. Weird is what makes it.....interesting. wink.gif
Udoshi
Damn straight, Bookwyrm.

But, ,an, supporting cast is where its at.
Fine, i guess that's it! Next character's getting a Nartaki Masseuse as a contact.
CanRay
One of my PC's wanted a Nartaki Cab Driver/Tech Support Specialist as a contact. He does both at the same time.
Sixgun_Sage
QUOTE (CanRay @ Feb 21 2011, 10:19 PM) *
One of my PC's wanted a Nartaki Cab Driver/Tech Support Specialist as a contact. He does both at the same time.



In bad Indian Accent: "Hello and thank you for calling Horizon Tech Support my friend fook you, cut me off! Fook you! Yes, Hello my friend and what seems to be the problem?"
CanRay
Yeah, that was pretty much it.
Sixgun_Sage
Atleast you didn't have crazy Achmeds Falafel & WMD Emporium to deal with.
CanRay
QUOTE (Sixgun_Sage @ Feb 23 2011, 12:30 PM) *
Atleast you didn't have crazy Achmeds Falafel & WMD Emporium to deal with.

No, I had Paddy of the Irish Republican Army in Exile and his "Bus".
hermit
What the article completely fails to mention is that this new, more upscale/wellness oriented prostitution works because there's the money to go around with it. If the city was as poor as 20 years ago, there'd not be enough customers to support that trade.

Nothing surprising about what the girl carries and why, though. SR4 characters who don't have at least 2 commlinks, at least one of them well concealed, are doing it wrong anyway.

QUOTE
One thing I got from this article: Shadowrunners should make Facebook pages to attract business. In the modern high tech world of the wireless Matrix, the Fixer has become obsolete.

A lot of Iranian and Lybian dissidents would warn you about the security problems of that approach, if they weren't dead. Even moreso in SR4's insta-hax matrix, where you carry either a rating 8+ firewall or just don't bother because it has no effect anyway.

If anything, the security chasms of SR4's Matrix make word-of-mouth repzutation and hence, social connectors like fixers, more powerful, because you cannot just post anything on the Matrix and expect the cops not to almost immediatly know about it.

QUOTE
QUOTE
BlackBerrys. To clients, this symbol of professional life suggests the worker is drug- and disease-free.

That just shows you how stupid people are.

Especially considering the cocaine and other drug consumption rate among the world's upper end businessmen. But it generates a "one of us feel" that probably makes the upscale coke-heads think the prostitute is one of them (whether or not that's an insult to the prostitute is anyone's guess).
CanRay
I wouldn't guess that. I figure Prostitutes are a hell of a lot more honest about things than any upper-end businessman.

At least when they screw you, you feel good about it.
hermit
A very good point, brilliantly put, Sir.
X-Kalibur
QUOTE (CanRay @ Mar 2 2011, 08:15 AM) *
I wouldn't guess that. I figure Prostitutes are a hell of a lot more honest about things than any upper-end businessman.

At least when they screw you, you feel good about it.


That's all she wrote, folks. We've got the winner right here.

I always figured at the very least that prostitution was more honest than dating. At least with prostitution you get what you pay for.
hermit
QUOTE
At least with prostitution you get what you pay for.

Indeed. Try to be cheap, and it might bite you in the near future. Quite literally.
Bastard
QUOTE (X-Kalibur @ Mar 2 2011, 02:05 PM) *
I always figured at the very least that prostitution was more honest than dating. At least with prostitution you get what you pay for.


Spoken with the knowledge of a gentlemen, and the wisdom of a scholar.
Bastard
Double post... stupid phone.
Faraday
QUOTE (Bastard @ Mar 4 2011, 07:29 PM) *
Spoken with the knowledge of a gentlemen, and the wisdom of a scholar.

I see what you did there.
CanRay
Maybe the same experiences in dating that I've had. dead.gif
X-Kalibur
Well, when you figure the average "dinner and a movie" (do those dates even exist anymore? good lord...) would probably cost me anywhere from $60 - $100... I could've had a hooker for less and been more satisfied. Unless it was a good movie, I have a soft spot for those.
martindv
QUOTE (Inncubi @ Feb 21 2011, 12:41 PM) *
If I'm not wrong, and my memory fails me, the caribbean league runner's work on their own more often than with Fixers. They hunt for possible targets, locate the Johnson interested, do the run and offer /him/ a deal.

That's pirates, and they make a very clear distinction between themselves and runners.

Pirates are seafaring entrepreneurs, adventurers, heroes. They are communities and families. Runners are whores.
CanRay
So, Fixers would be Pimps and Mr. Johnsons would be Johns, eh?
Epicedion
QUOTE (Inncubi @ Feb 21 2011, 11:41 AM) *
To be honest I don't like "The Exchange" idea form the books, and its potential use as a 'runner's facebook, I do, instead, love the old "Shadowland" idea... And /there/ is where a runner keeps a secure profile. Or a couple, to make sure. As do fixers.


Too bad Shadowlands has vanished into the aether.
CanRay
RIP Captain Chaos.
X-Kalibur
*Pours out a 40*
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