I'm looking for any info there might be about Miracle Shooter. Two of the players in the group have decided they want to be the best there is at it, and I'm curious what that would entail.

The info in the books consists of a couple of brief mentions with no real mechanical detail.

In other words, really nothing. It's background fluff.

If it was to appear anywhere, it should have been in Attitude, but nope.




-k

It's an FPS you play IRL. Does any more need to be said?

OK, fine: Laser Tag you play with invisible lasers against random people in the street.

Yes, they look like dorks. But they're having fun while doing it!

Don't forget the people playing it look like totally geared out whatevers to each other. Make them scared

I would say it is mostly there to try and bring a bit of the wageslave side of the SR world into the runners point of view.

In addition, Ares puts it out. It's a good way to train their citizens in "Shoot/No Shoot" situations and urban combat in case they ever need to draft up a military fast, and make money while doing it. Take some basic AR software designed for their security/military forces, put in civilian lockouts, remove some of the more offensive code, and call it a day. Cheap, clean, effective, and marketable.

Also, I bet it wouldn't take much to drop some Psycotropic IC into someone's chip and have a completely deniable assassin handy. All trained up and completely explainable, especially after the Technomancer/AI Scare that gives them a perfect scapegoat to pin the "Digital Assault on the Assassin" on.

Heh, a AR version of Americas army?

In addition to the actual game play mechanics, remember that the denizens of persistent online (in this case AR) universes tend to organize into guilds/clans. Your knowledge skills should probably reflect your deep knowledge of gearing, spec and tactics associated with the game. Miracle shooter may have AR rewards that are of use in game or just for show, but I would assume that there is the ability to augment/modify you avatar in some way or it wouldn't have the elements in place to keep people playing/addicted (random but regular reward/reinforcement...like gambling). You also may want to have a working understanding of stats/math. In addition, if you're one of the better players in the world, you're probably a guild/clan leader or officer which entails all sorts of time consuming interactions with other people (training, recruiting and what have you.) It wouldn't be unreasonable to take the 10/15 point day job quality (with or without any income) or a mid to high media junkie quality to reflect the time needed to game at the highest level. On the plus side, you probably have dozens of contacts that, while they wouldn't take a bullet for you, might let you crash at their place or provide information. At the top level you'd most likely be able to reap some benefits, such as sponsorships, invites to tournaments, etc. but that could also warrant the distinctive style quality. All of this I know from personal experience as I was an officer in a top 250 world of warcraft guild for five years.

Sounds like Dependent, Day job and indeed Distinctive style.

It kinda sounds like the most boring game, too. We have VR! Play something fun, instead of the 2070 version of Wii Sports.

Expect lots of Tacticool gear.





-k

TactiCool, Custom Avatars... Probably shop at Weapon's World to get "Ares-Line Civilian Commando" outfits in order to look cool when not in AR.

You know: Douche bags.

Why try to hack the server when you can just hack the other team, upload fakeMSicons.exe and give them more things to shoot at than they can handle, then take them out while they're overwhelmed. Expect the best players to partially be that way because they've got the best firewalls and IC.

I'm also picturing some of the richer players rigging walker drones. Matrix speeds let you keep up with or even bypass the razorguys and adepts.

Not to mention all the bundling that must occur...

"Get a random unique weapon upgrade with your purchase of any Ares-Line Civilian Commando clothing item or accessory!"

"Earn double points all this week at Pike Place market!"

"Eat at Stuffershack today and get 5 extra lives!"

"Buy NERPS, get grenades!"

Plus the mandatory in game advertising, such as AR pieces of cover plastered with ads, respawn points being set to places to eat/buy, and branding all over your AR avatar...

"All I got for getting to Level 30 was this lousy T-Shirt and a First-Generation Ares Predator!"

Hey now, that gun is a collectors item!

Well, then you should be able to sell it for a hefty sum on squeeBay... And earn a new custom skin for your primary weapon!

Also, don't forget Wednesday is free trial day down at the Pike Street Metro Station!

Makes one wonder what the outcome would be of a truly armed society

Ask the Swedish or Swiss.

I thought the canadians were pretty loaded up too, or don't?

Not so much. Despite the persistent (usually unsourced) quote about Canadians having more guns per capita than Americans, it doesn't really contribute to a citizenry that's very "loaded up". The only people I can think of that I know on a personal basis that have guns, out of a group of hundreds, are an uncle and a cousin...both of whom are police officers. And only have their service firearms, not collections in addition to them.

Obviously, there are plenty of Canadians that have guns, but the overwhelming number tend to be rural, the guns tend to be long-arms, and they don't tend to go about with them in public in any capacity (thus, the odds of someone you piss off in traffic pulling a handgun from their glovebox tends to be a bit less likely). There are outliers that break those trends, but they tend to be rather rare due to gun-control laws in this country, even setting aside the long-arm registry.

The Swiss tend to keep their rifles at home under lock and key, so while they are, in theory, armed, it's rather unlikely for many Swiss people on the street to suddenly whip out "their piece".

Now, an Ares citizen? Somehow, they do seem very likely to be armed as often as possible and with a handgun they keep in the built-in concealed holster that's part of their suit. That's just part of being a responsible citizen, never know when a corporate spy or bug or commie might pop out of the woodwork in a board meeting.

Reminds me a friend who keeps a round chambered in his pistol beneath his pillow while he sleeps.

Don't. I. Wish.

The Swiss and Swedish folk have this thing where every male of able body and mind is either in the active military or on reserve (Not sure if they got women in that yet or not. I'm going off of old info of a Swedish family friend that kept his citizenship and went back to serve his military time.). They are required, by law, to keep their military weapon available as well as a cache of ammo, and to practice with it. So every household, practically, has a military rifle or SMG in the dwelling, BY LAW!

Needless to say, their home invasion rates are fairly low.

In Canada, as stated above, firearms ownership is mostly rural, and almost completely longarm, typically bolt-action. The "Firearms Registry", however, is seen by a lot of Rural Canadians as the first step towards the draconian Firearms Laws now passed in England and Australia, luckily, in typical Canadian fashion, it's a total and complete frag up. (These are the same families that kept the "Dry Years Of Prohibition" in North America as wet as possible. I'll let you do the math.).

While most Corporate Citizens are probably content with their security forces protecting them from the evils of the world (Terrorists, Shadowrunners, Other Corporations), I do bet that Ares citizens are fully happy with a Soyturkey in every fridge and a pistol to go with every outfit.

"Honey, does my pistol make my hoop look big in this dress?"

I used to do that.

Well, for me, not under my pillow, but next to my bed where I could get at it easy. Under the pillow is asking for an accident.

But then I moved to NY.

Getting gun licenses in NY is a horrific nightmare. So I sold them off before I moved from Texas.





-k

Sorry to hear that KarmaInferno...

Neither of those do handgun carry much, iirc.

That is the basic problem with gun debates, the word gun do not separate pistols and revolvers from rifles and shotguns.

Hell, Norway used to have the same system until there was some troublesome events where a father would use said gun to kill his kids, wife and them himself. These days i think they are issued breach locks, and the key is held by the home guard officer of the area. Still a fair number of rifles and shotguns around tho, for hunting season.

Have a headboard pistol, and in true gun nut fashion I worked out a drill for drawing and clearing my bedroom with it and practiced. Suddenly I feel so much more comfortable with my friends claiming I would be an Ares citizen.

Not really, after all it is assembled from used and surplus parts. The smartlink protocols were updated to work in the wired world of today, and worst of all somone nickeled it poorly post production. Value: 150 Nuyen--tops!.

Discussion at Army Surplus/FLGS: "I'm all for Gun Control, actually." "Ray, what the hell?" "There is no reason whatsoever for a civilian to have an artillery piece, or a cannon on a ship. Firearms, however..." "You had me going there for a moment, Ray. Good one."

EDIT:
You're supposed to use the Handgun to get to the Rifle that you never should have been away from in the first place, or so I've heard.

I'm all for firearms SAFETY licensing.

Being required to undergo a minimum safety knowledge course on how not to shoot yourself or your kids and neighbors by accident.

Proper handling, storage, that sort of thing.



-k

Any chance we could move the gun talk to another thread and get this one aimed back at Miracle Shooter?

A few things I'm thinking:

• As you level in the game your accuracy and damage increases. Since it's an AR game the accuracy increase is done with software that enhances your aim, or rather it downplays your poor aim by letting a near miss become a hit.
• Eventually it would degrade into a hacker vs. razorguy battle. If the razorguy sneaks up on the hacker he can probably one-shot the guy. If the hacker sneaks up he can probably screw with the other guy's comm and mess him up, even if he can't hack Miracle Shooter itself.
• The really great players will be both fast and dangerous in the matrix, or have insanely high end defenses on their comms. They'll also be rich, because that's how you get the coolest upgrades.
• There's probably some sort of worldwide tournament that starts locally and build up to the Miracle Shooter World Championships. It would have solo, duo, quad, and zerg sized formats.

I can't recall which, but there is one Denver Mission where the group meets with the Johnson (a blond female russian from the Vory if that helps sort it out) in a "laser tag" bar, I recall having rules where both your shooting skills and hacking skills help you. I was the hacker of the team and ended up winning the game against a gunslinger adept and a street samurai.

That sounds pretty cool. Do you remember if it was in one of the free ones?

Yes, it is one of the Denver Mission.

Took a time but found it.
Mission 13 - Take out Service.

Blah, just read it. It only mentions shooting
Probably our gm made rules on the fly for hacking.

Thanks! I know what I'll be running the next time I don't have something prepped.

I know I'd sleep easier with what amounts to a very small armed bomb under my pillow.

Nah, between the baseball bats, the daisho, and the Great Pyrenees, I don't think home defense is an issue.

Ahhh... But do you have a weapon readily at hand in every room? You can never be too sure...

While being good at real shooting might give you an edge in Miracle Shooter, the game likely wouldn't be very good at teaching Joe Wageslave how to fight for real. Depending on how realistic it looks, or how it's marketed, Joe Wageslave might or might not be aware of that.

I wonder how Miracle players were shot because it "looked like they were about to attack someone"?

Not as difficult to do as you might think. It's all about preparation and what you'd consider an effective weapon.


See my posts above about the likelihood of Ares having laws that allow them to draft their citizens in "Times of Emergency".

"OK, Joe Hiezenburgstein, it says here that you're an expert in Close Quarters Combat Situations. Here's a SMG and go onto Team HtH-Bravo. July Hiezenburgstein, excellent shot-to-kill ratio! Sniper for you! Little Billy Hiezenburgstein... ... ... You fraggin' hacker, 120% hit percentile? Signals."

It would not necessarily be about making people good shots, but it can give tactical experience and work on reacting to contact. It's like a futuristic version of paintball, but less messy

btw: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/su...cophony-of-war/

Indeed... It Always helps to be prepared...

I would imagine players would have "THIS IS A GAME SIMULATION" AROs that cops see.



-k

If that's the case, then I imaging many runners do too, and cops ignore it because there's no quick way to tell if it's real or not.

Unless you are in places that you should not be, of course...

If you want them to have that sort of thing in your game, they'd probably use specific training programs to do it, rather than relying on Miracle Shooter. After all, anyone can buy Miracle Shooter! If it's as useful in a real fight as your above example seems to imply, then it means Ares is in effect giving away their tactical secrets to the opposition.

I think Miracle Shooter itself would probably be like a slightly more active Team Fortress 2. "Wacky fantasy explosions" instead of "ultra-realistic tactical simulation". Someone with real training playing Miracle Shooter would use cover and tactics in a sensible in the game. Someone whose only "training" comes from the game would try to do the Miracle Shooter equivalent of rocket-jump in a real firefight and die .