So I wanted to buy the New Seattle Sourcebook, but alas, they are gone. Now Stiggybaby still has some copies of the old sourcebook. Is it worth it to buy it? I mean if I get it will it have enough info not found on the New Seattle? Or should I just wait and buy the New Seattle Sourcebook?

I mean its pretty cheap, but I don't want to spend money needlessly. I really need material that describes the atmosphere of Seattle. I have enough plot hooks from other sourcebooks. Some in my group are more dependent on vivid descriptions of places. So I heard older SR books do this better.

Taking that into consideration I appreciate any help from you guys.

Thanks.

It would work fine.

The only problem with it is that it is a couple decades out of date universe plot wise. I think I actually like the old book better than the new one.

I prefer the original Seattle SB.

It's especially fun to go through it and connect the dots to later plotlines and events, of which there are quite a few.

The only downside is that time marches on, and even beyond the events of RA:S/BS, the mob war, '57 election, corp war, Halley's Comet return, SURGE (assuming you believe in that) and everything else... Time marches on. Many of those places might not be there any longer. Some of those places shouldn't even exist in SR in 2050 based on RL events after 1990. But since that is a moot point, it's fine. The book definitely has a panache that New Seattle is sorely missing.

Buy it. What else are you going to spend your money on?

Keep an eye on eBay and amazon for used copies of New Seattle. I picked one up off of Amazon for $5 or so a couple weeks ago.

After reading through it, and reviewing my old copy -- I prefer the original. There's a lot more place information in the original, and the art (especially the color photo spreads) is much nicer.

However, the game world and rules have changed, so the update is useful too. In a perfect world, it's good to have both.

The new edition is like a digest revamped to integrate 13 years of background evolution...as other people said, the old Seattle Sourcebook is choke full of anecdotes, details about small bars and dives, npcs, maps...just look at the number of pages...I think the new one is a nice supplement to the first guidebook...
Plus as one said, it is nice to discover how things have changed in 10 years in a few places (quite like what was done in BUg City with excerpts from NeoAnarchists' Guide to North America)

Thank you for the replies.

I think I will buy it. It is pretty cheap at $7.20.

As for "what else I will spend my money on?", instead of this book I was going to buy Sota2063, but instead I will get this and either Cyberpirates or Underworld Sourcebook, along with Mr. Johnson's LBB and the BBB (I indefinitely borrowed a copy from a friend, which automatically made me GM for life).

I think Cyberpirates is a great source book since it reveals a lot of details about "the world out there": the Philippines, the Caribbean, coastal Africa and a lot more places around the globe...Underworld Sourcebook isn't bad either , definitely useful if you are planning to run the Mob War...but don't forget SOTA63, a good sourcebook with info about social trends on top of the usual technical/scientifical/magical advances...

The original Seattle Sourcebook is interesting, though more than just the in-game 'information' is out of date. However, for 7.20$ you won't find much better. Between SotA63, Cyberpirates, and Underworld, I suggest State of the Art 2063 to complement the Seattle Sourcebook as it updates trends in magic, culture and mayhem quickly without all the bore of New Seattle or overdepth of the Sprawl Survival Guide. Next would be Underworld which is one of the tightest Shadowrun books in terms of use per word. I'd hold off on Cyberpirates simply because, while a good read, for the size the direct use is low.

The original Seattle SB is one of my favorite suppliments. even though the "plot' satuff is out of date there are all sorts of places of interest and bars and clubs and contact that are missing form the later books. it's just a fun read.

Thanks again for everyone's input. It's been very helpful. I think I am going to get Underworld + Seattle SB. I have some limited access to Sota '63 and Cyberpirates. I just wanted to have those two books to read at my leasure.

As I thought the Seatle SB does exactly what I want: it gives me some place descriptions and as a bonus extra contacts. I can even come up with some cool stories to fill in the time lapse if I want.

Also TSS will 'soon' release a Seattle 2063 update that is designed to update all that information and locations using the Seattle Sourcebook format. It should be killer.

'Soon'. tee-hee-hee!

I was going to say that, but I figured I'd give you the benefit of the doubt.

I own both the old and the new sourcebooks. To be honest, I use them both at the same time; the new one gives me a fast overview and some information the old one didn't, the old one is chock full of interesting places and people to stage games with (and has been rather extensively hacked into by player characters, along with my SSC and FOF ).

Kicks Adam

Yeah soon.

I think if you liked the original Seattle like I do, this update we put together will rock for you.

We should do Chiplex next. From Woodstock to Colument, Joliet to Round Lake. Aim for 2070 and we might get it done in timeline.

Chiplex: where Machine meets Mantis