What books detail the Matrix Crash? I haven't heard anything about this at all. Is this new for SR4, or contained in another book somewhere?

The upcoming campaign books "Critical Error" and "System Crash" will do that, but the whole action will still be building up in SoA, SoSA and the secret societies book.

As indicated in the current FanPro catalog, the books previously presented as Critical Error and System Crash have been condensed into an event/campaign book called System Failure, which will likely be the final release under SR3.

Condensed? I was hoping for a long, 200+ pages campaign book and an equally informative source book ... sheesh, condensed ... that'll bridge the 5 years gap.

Well, keep in mind that a rules sourcebook for SR3 would be kinda pointless coming out right before the release of SR4.

Sure, wasn't thinking of rules, more like background and a timeline of major events so my group will at least have an idea what will happen in those Five Dark Years, and we won't just timewarp our characters. And maybe some adventures involving the major events, too. You know, like RA:S and Brainscan, just a bit thicker. A worthy finale.

Of course, I realise publishing rules in that book would be absurd.

And to that end, I don't imagine it's going to be thin.

Don't have the 2005 Catalog, but picked this at RPG.net:

System Failure™ - Stock #: FPR 25014
The year is 2065, and all is not well. Apocalyptic terrorists strike around the world, a struggling megacorp makes a drastic decision to stem off impending doom, and an AI thought to be dead rises again. System Failure gives players and GMs the details leading up to and following these dramatic, world-shaking events, providing numerous scenarios for runners to play a role in the biggest shakeup the Shadowrun universe has seen in decades.

2005 release schedule:
Loose Alliances™ - Stock #: FPR 25006
Shadows of Asia™ - Stock #: FPR 25007
Shadows of Latin America™ - Stock #: FPR 25011
System Failure™ - Stock #: FPR 25014
Shadowrun Fourth Edition™ - Stock #: FPR 26000
SR4 Gamemaster’s Screen™ - Stock #: FPR 26002
On the Run™ - Stock #: FPR 26003
Street Magic™ - Stock #: FPR 26004

Stem means stoping or slowing down. Stave means avoiding. According to my dictionary.

stem could also mean branch I suppose. I´m not a native english speaker.

Nice to see you back, 32.

Could you say "stem impending doom"?

Not really. To stem, as mentioned before, is generally used when you want to slow down or impede, usually with things that flow, like water (to "stem the tide") or some other similar metaphor. You can't really stem a specific, final event or incident like the one implied with the phrase "impending doom". You either stop it, or you don't.

Does it matter at this point?

Most of them are source material not mechanics, so it really won't matter too much whether they fall in 3rd edition. For instance, I still use my Aztlan sourcebook a lot, even though it's not 3rd edition.

i think what he was trying to say was that he had a first print of the "new seattle" book...

What I find as the major strike against SR4 is that they're scrapping all the good Magic rules that have come before; Magic In The Shadows is a damn fine book, and something I re-read on occaision.

I like the idea of a wireless Matrix, but calling them 'hackers' is going to have serious repercussions. Again, I'll wait until the book hits & I can have a look at it.

Exactly. All we've been told is that the rules have been streamlined, not broken into a million pieces.

Although (and I'm just being cynical here) there is nothing to say the the developers decided that in order to streamline the rules they had to be broken into pieces and glued back together again.

Personally, I think we should all wait until we have some more info on the changes, or *gasp* just wait until the new book comes out. But then again, this is dumpshock and if there's one thing we do well it's speculate and make up new rules.