Is it just me or is anyone else surprised that the writers could keep this under wraps for so long? I mean this is something you would expect to see rumors about months in advance of its release, but there was absolutely no warning with the announcement of SR4. Or maybe I’m just out of the loop… -->

I think its a testament to the degree of coordination between the writers/editors/freelancers that nothing was leaked, and it makes the announcement so much more sensational.

I'm not sure I'm too excited about an all new core system (call me a old fashion but I bought SR1 the day it hit the shelf), but I for one would like to commend them on their hard work.

It's not like a screener of a movie being leaked. There is a relatively a small number of people involved, and I can't imagine where one would go to leak it that wouldn't come back to them.

Well just think of all the people who visit these forums. Some of them are here *all* the time. And nobody even expected that anything this world-altering was coming down the pipe...

Sure people made references to a new edition every now and then, but most thought it would be years, if ever- certainly not months....

Nah. Some of us figured that after this long it was inevitable.

expected, hell. i've been putting together ideas for SR4 for at least a year now.

Well, that too.

Well you guys are more acute than me...

I personally thought that Fanpro was going to ride SR3 into the ground and then let it die.

Grinder: NDA as in Non-disclosure Agreement?

Good point there. I also think that in this day and age (with .pdf piracy and what not) its just smarter to maintain "radio scilence" unitl a release is eminant. Games Workshop got burned on that about two years ago and went to a press blackout ever since...

Being quiet about it also makes it easier for the writers to work. I mean, look how many personal opinions have been posted here since it was announced on Tuesday. Not that personal opinions are a bad thing, but when writers sit down and write, they don't really want to be muddled by a million voices.

So yeah, it can be hard to keep things quiet, but sometimes you're so focused on ideas you have and brainstorming and writing and working that you like the quiet.

A million voices? What, do people on the internet coming busting down peoples' doors with suggestions?

no, they don't just bust down the doors, they spam them, they track down their Phone numbers, their IM Screen names and their mailing address.

and then send 5 messages through each, in the hopes that one of the random letters the writer looks at is theirs.

I personally aggree (and I'm not a writer so this is just opinion) that keeping silent about it is far better than having all of us nutjobs (myself included) spamming the writers for our ideas.

That was hyperbole! But still, this forum is pretty crowded with opinions. I can't even keep up with all the threads.

Well I think thats only natural (the opinions that is).

I think we all feel a little bit of ownership in the game. I personally have been playing SR for over half my life so I can't help but feel some emotional investment in this new evolution (even though I have no say).

But I can appreciate the need for writers to work in isolation. This board has assploded just in the few days its been up. I can only imagine how much crap they'd have to deal with if we all knew this was coming...

Very good point Method. There is a lot of speculation going on here, and it is hard to keep up even if you are logged in all day.

I think we have a small amount of influence with the development of the line only because we are engaged and active on a board that gets visited by insiders periodically.

Absolutely. I know I've been swayed by good arguments on this board before, which have ended up shaping some directions I write in or ideas I try to pitch up the line. But there's also the point where I've gotta be the guy sitting down and writing and it's gotta be my stuff (otherwise, you're all getting ripped off when I get paid ) and it helps to not have a whole lot of voices competing with your own internal muse during that process.