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Fortune
Erika is also mentioned (but not fully detailed) in DotSW in pretty much the same capacity.

I still think that Loffie wouldn't take this lying down. He has too much to lose.
Lucyfersam
I don't expect Lofwyr is takeing it lying down, all signs point to him fighting it, but he is not as all powerful as he acts, he has some pretty powerful opponents (including another great dragon), and is pretty short on allies. All in all, I like the WMI if for no other reason than it will hopefully be Lofwyr finally loosing a fight, and that's been a long time coming.

Plot line and reason aside though, just looking at the potential impact on the game world, I think if handled well it could work in very well into the cyberpunk feel. As has been mentioned, it should be pretty easy to physically locate anyone using a wireless matrix link, just as it is to locate someone using a cell phone. This effect makes physical jack points even more important for a decker who doesn't want a security team on them in minutes. You also have what amounts to a whole new type of physical jack point, the wireless receiver. It's harder to get to but the benefits of directly jacking into a wireless hub could be huge. First, there is just the sheer amount of data that flows through them and all that can be done with that. Then you have the fact that once your in you should be able to reroute your data trail to any of the poor saps connecting to it over wireless, it would make corp sec look pretty bad if a couple time in a row the bust into some poor slots house with assault rifles to find him searching for porn rather than hacking their sever.

Overall, I think the WMI keeps the bleeding edge of technology feel that is crucial in my mind to make cyberpunk work, and doesn't neccesitate sacrificing any major elements of the feel of it. I won't say for sure until I see what they do with it, but for now I will put my trust in the writers to do a good job of it.
Kagetenshi
Lofwyr's been losing left and right, and it's getting old fast. It's starting to feel like the writers have a grudge against him rather than that he's really making errors.

~J
Kanada Ten
To me it seems more that he reached a climax in power and now must fight to maintain it. Lofwyr has always made mistakes (notice his lack of presence in most of the world), but he keeps on top and that hasn't changed. He lost the WMI for now, in one region, to another great dragon. The fact that his battle has become so public is a result of Natchmeister's actions. Think of all the set backs caused him by Aden since the Awakening, then add a growing list of enemies, it's not hard to see how it culminated at this point. I highly doubt he's out for the count - he did win the with the NEEC after all.
Jérémie
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
Lofwyr's been losing left and right, and it's getting old fast. It's starting to feel like the writers have a grudge against him rather than that he's really making errors.

Don't know where you're taking that from...

Of course he's not über powerful in everyday's life of anybody... and that's good. Of course he has zillions of pretty smart and powerful opponents, it's easier to take the throne than to keep it, that sort of stuff.

But I don't remember reading anything so far that would change my view of Lofwyr from day 1 (well yes, one : the end of Technobabel, putting back the gifted elves in place... below).

He seems (to us, not the pc/npc) now the most powerful single being on the planet, and he's holding 100% of he greatest group (including nation) ever. That's pretty good from my point of view, keeping it that way is a full time job even for a great dragon, neh ?
Kanada Ten
One thing I just considered, what if Lofwyr lost the WMI intentionally... He knows it will face some resistance anyway, and with S-K as the primary partner it would be stalled everywhere and debated to death in corporate backrooms. With his so called enemy beating him to it more people will support it simply because they support Lofwyr losing. But once the project goes forwards, S-K is bound to get wrapped up in it and Lofwyr's claws will go unnoticed. Seriously, think back to how he became king in the first place - while Zeta-Chem was busy trying to expand by eating Transys (what a coincidence, eh?) he took control of heavy industry. What if Celedyr and Lofwyr are not the enemies they appear to be?
Skarn Ka
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
Lofwyr's been losing left and right, and it's getting old fast. It's starting to feel like the writers have a grudge against him rather than that he's really making errors.

~J

Disagreed.

Lofwyr survived an assassination attempt through Alamais (Ragnarok)
In most peoples' games he's still the Loremaster.
He kept his edge against Oakforest (even though he lost his Tir seat).
He managed to implement the NEEC.
According to Corp Download, SK is THE big boy in the Middle-East and Europe.
He's still limited to Europe and the Near-East, but Ares is limited to North America and Japanacorps are not so powerful in Europe, rather in a fex select countries.
He offed Nachtmeister and, well, did pretty well in the Proteus mess (Schockwellen campaign, mail me for details).
According to SOTA 64, Spinrad is in hospital. An accident, certainly.
He got rid of Leo (not necessarilly killed him, but took him off the picture).

Honestly, I fail to see a loser's résumé in this.
Kagetenshi
He's the Loremaster only because Hestaby handed the title to him. He lost that contest but good.

~J
Skarn Ka
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
He's the Loremaster only because Hestaby handed the title to him. He lost that contest but good.

~J


Well, let's rather say it's left open. If the runners chose to stay on Hestaby's side, then that's what happened. If they chose Lofwyr's, on the other hand...

Still: Hestaby may have won on a symbolic level ("Now look and see you have to change your ways"), but she recognizes he's the most suited for the role of Loremaster (as Dunk did), acknowledging his leadership over dragonkind.
I wouldn't really call that a harsh defeat in the long run.

And anyway, besides this point, where/when did Lofwyr really suffer a major setback that would put him or SK on a downslope (and validate your opinion the writers like to bash him) ?

I forgot another victory he scored: the takeover of many Swiss banks during the corp war.
Kagetenshi
It's left open aside from the fact that all further books assume that Hestaby wins. Just like Brainscan is left open to the players completing their job and blowing Overwatch to kingdom come, but damned if you'll find a sourcebook that includes that future.

By canon, Hestaby won.

Other than that, I've got more examples but I'm at work now; I'll post when I can get a good look at my books.

~J
Skarn Ka
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
It's left open aside from the fact that all further books assume that Hestaby wins. Just like Brainscan is left open to the players completing their job and blowing Overwatch to kingdom come, but damned if you'll find a sourcebook that includes that future.

By canon, Hestaby won.

Other than that, I've got more examples but I'm at work now; I'll post when I can get a good look at my books.

~J

Agreed, but it doesn't unvalidate my point.
Actually I'm aware some people consider Lofwyr has suffered setback after setback recently and I'm genuinely surprised because I don't have this feeling.


Synner
Given Lofwyr's MO you can expect that if he seems to be suffering a setback somewhere, there's also a fair chance he's actually distracting you from quiet victories elsewhere. Either that or something really is wrong with Golden Snout. devil.gif
Blue eyes
I do agree that there has been quite a few setback for SK recently. But I think these can be attributed to the fact that Lofwyr's focus is on other things, his recent responsibility of Loremaster and his possesion of the jewel of memory which contain a great amount of info/wisdom has resulted in this change. I believe that Lofwyr as the Loremaster will be taking his new responsibility very seriously and this will lead into a maturing of his persona and his agenda moving him more towards the kind of philosophy that Dunkie had.
This all might be wishful thinking, but if there is a dragon out there that can take over after big D it's definitely Lofwyr, he has the age/experienced and means to do it - maybe with the aid of Hestaby, which could be a possibility considering the end of Survival of the fittest.

Anyway one can't deny that Big D. feels Lofwyr has it in him to be Loremater and that he believed that Lofwyr has it in himself to change and become more concerned with the broad picture rather than his own schemes..... more like the Big D. (portfolio page 29).... smile.gif

I hope we will see a development concerning Lofwyr in future releases. eek.gif
fistandantilus4.0
I kind of doubt we'll see any kind of an about face in lowfyr. maybe some more involvement with dragon kind in general, as opposed to sitting and plotting in his lair. Should be interesting to see if this new distraction gets big enough to cost sk the top seat of the aaa's. Last time Lowfyr went into direct involvement, he trashed nachmeister. Time before that was alamaise, and Lowfyr faked his own death (novel ragnarok).
I think Hestaby is more liekly to try to fill dunkelzhan's role. She's all excited about stepping up to the plate (dosw), and it seems that she had the Big d's blessing and support too (sof). The one that interests me is the return of Ghostwalker. Anyone familiar with 'dollmakers' last .... incarnation, in Earthdawn era, knows that he was a pretty big player. With him and Lowfyr butting heads... could be fun!
Fortune
QUOTE
Last time Lowfyr went into direct involvement, he trashed nachmeister. Time before that was alamaise, and Lowfyr faked his own death (novel ragnarok).


It was Alamaise that faked his own death, not Lofwyr.
Cynic project
Um, nope Golden boy was sent a trap,and then hid himself in talon. He then fought his brother,won and his brother walked away.
Crimsondude 2.0
To sum it up: Both faked their deaths at different times. Alamais (post-Night's Pawn), and Lofwyr (Ragnarock).
Fortune
Right ... d'oh! smile.gif
Crimsondude 2.0
Well, I just didn't see the need for another page of clarifications.
Fortune
Just to clarify ... biggrin.gif

When I said 'd'oh', I was refering to my memory lapse, and not the fact that the knowledge was a given. smile.gif
Demonseed Elite
Lofwyr is a great dragon, and a powerful one at that, but he's not a god. He's not perfect, omniscient, or omnipresent. He wins and loses (but he's good at winning). When he does suffer a setback, it's at the hands of beings nearly, if not equally, as good at the game as he is. And that happens. But Lofwyr knows better than to let a couple setbacks stop him. It's all part of the game.

Also, on the WMI stuff, keep in mind that one of the more central concepts of the cyberpunk genre is "obsolesence." The implications of being obsolete and the pressure to keep ahead. Applying this pressure to the way decking is done now keeps with that theme, though it is probably the hardest cyberpunk theme to handle in a game (because you have constantly have to one-up yourself; easy in a novel because it exists in a vacuum, extremely difficult in a developing game).
Zen Shooter01
SOTA.
Kanada Ten
To me, one of the coolest things about Wirless Matrix is the possibility (and I really mean eventuallity) of intergrated sense-simsense technology. The merging or one's noraml sight, touch, hearing, ect with simsense data in real time without that horrible +8 penalty and instead a +2 like Astral Perception for the distraction has been a long time coming.
Jrayjoker
I recall a comercial of a guy sitting in a plaza in Rome(?) talking to himself:

"Sell, sell, sell...BUY! BUY! BUY!"

As you pan in closed you see he has a headset and projection glasses and he is accessing the stock market.

Kinda like that you think?
Kanada Ten
QUOTE
Kinda like that you think?

Yeah, though it gets even crazier when you start IM'ing people and such. Imagine a club where nobody seems to be saying anything, all invoulved in heavy petting. Your wife is all over you, but she's really flirting with the guy the next booth over - or some icon in Kansas. Not that it matters since you've just interviewed several hitmen at the same time...
Crimsondude 2.0
Sounds like the Link club.

Which is a concept behind the SOTA in some of our games where the first idea you mentioned (1-7-05, 10:53 AM) is closer to what's available.
Kanada Ten
Intergrated Wireless Simsense - Now with Real Time Reality Filter technology.
See your wife life in a whole new way.
Crimsondude 2.0
I rather like the idea of going into a club and jacking into a simsense system that lets you perceive a rainforest instead of the standard Seattle nighclub while you interact with your fellow clubgoers, who may be perceiving the club as a 17th century Japanese village, or something.
Kanada Ten
And you can choose the Dirty Dancing simsense remake, streamed where you can play the guy and she can play the girl. Suddenly, you can dance... (Streaming knowsofts anyone?) Those Eratz! concerts could be played in any venue if they all went wireless...
Kanada Ten
Virtual antidepressants and diet programs, with live feedback. Black market BTL modifications for your Trixman or internal Trixhead...

Legalized Black IC protecting every brian. Meet the new mage...
Kanada Ten
Oh! You could watch yourself from third person! Like those clubs with cameras everywhere (hell there are cameras everywhere). It'd be like playing Resident Evil; talk about detached...
Kanada Ten
And the military use as advanced tactical computer power in the hands of every solider. Enemies and friendlies "painted" over your normal vision, induced alertness, pain resistance; combat decker suddenly takes on new meaning... The veteran to the kid "Don't go by the paint alone, kid; it only takes one good hack to screw the whole thing."
Crimsondude 2.0
Yes.

BTW, there's this new feature. I think it's called "Edit Post." And, IIRC, you can edit your posts so you don't post four consecutive posts each containing one statement.

*thumbs up* Yeah, dude!
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