First Edition: Released in 89, replaced in 92. Age at retirement: 3 years.
Second Edition: Released in 92, replaced in 98. Age at retirement: 6 years.
Third Edition: Released in 98, due for replacement in 2005. Age at expected retirement: 7 years.

now see if you stay on track that means the progression should be 3 years 6 years and then 9 years or 2007 for 4th edition lol.

How much did each move the time forward in-game?

Until 4th edition, the timeline is supposed to be 61 years in the future. This has somehow being nudged to 62 with the Ghostwalker book.

So first to second eds were basically year for year advancement, second to third eds was close, and now we are getting into a bit of a time warp...Its just a jump to the left...

Is the 5 year gap only in place to justify the rebuilding of the technological infrastructure?

That's he largest reason, AFAIK. I think it's also an oppurtunity to wrap up whatever other dangling plotlines there may be in fiction, and launch a whole slew of new ones.

It gives Rob and Co a chance to lay out the playing field to their liking, to let them prep for what they want to do in the future without the burden of years of accumulated plot cluttering things up, I guess.

Bull

Not a bad way to bring in something that's a good bit different while still keeping the past history that the game world has.

So where is the fiction going to be? Novels? Online at the FanPro site? In the Core book (I hope not)?

N O V E L S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEHE sorry but I miss the novels alot I liked them all.

I'll second the request for more novels.

If the developers really want to attract new flocks of Shadowrun gamers and give the game a facelift, a few good novels would really lay the groundwork for the changes in the setting. When I was learning to play Shadowrun it was the good novels (in particular 2XS and Into the Shadows) that really made the setting seem an interesting place that I wanted to game in.

I second that. We need good quality novels.

I really enjoyed the novels too, even though many were not that well written. AS RPG novels, they weren't bad.

I think it's important to stress 'good quality'. We got a lot of really sucky ones.

Anyway, I was under the impression novels barely sold.

Wasn't it the Insane Novelization Brigade that doomed TSR, way back in the day? I'd think people were a bit more leery of gamin' novels these days.

Some of the old novels were at least decent (The Changeling being the jewel), but the newer ones were, ummm ... not really good. There is a market for such novels, though, at least in Germany. Don't know about the US. But novels are key, really - at the very least, a novel or maybe a series of novels (like a triology) covering SC/CE, to set the tone for the new edition.

The English novel rights are currently being held by WizKids. While it is possible that FanPro might get permission to pursue novels to go along with SR4 (haven't heard anything about it either way), I wouldn't necessarily hold your breath.

IIRC the SR novels were not profitable in english. I have no idea why I remember reading that, but I don't think I pulled that fact out of the blue.

I would love to see a section on the FanPro website for transition times fiction. I like web based fiction....