As GM , I've run more combats than I care to remember and they always degenerate into these last man standing and sometimes hunting down the survivors .

I find my self bored and uninspired when running them or playing . The fights are more to assuage the players desire . What to do to liven things up any suggestions folks

describe the average party and the average opposition you use

• Take a break.
• Watch some movies.
• Read some books.

Look into massive military situations, such as merc games.

Try Urban Brawl or Combat Biking games, where killing opponents loses points. Where the goal is to score and support -not murder.

don't center the game around combat any longer, have most runs only pay if the run went by undetected, stress the social aspects of getting a job done instead. SR is not just combat.

have the bad guys surrender, once in a while. or just plain retreat, when it becomes obvious who's gonna win.

Well, this could be bad news.

There are essentially 2 or 3 stages of gaming.

Stage 1 in which the game is about racking up points and loot, AD&D style hack and slash, faceless dungeons that blend one fight into the next and all anyone is interested in is killing it and taking it's treasure.

Stage 2 is when you realize it's not about the loot and the xp, it about your character, the player is interested solely in situation that directly apply to him as a character and instead of just plain "loot" they are now interested in "Munchkin Magic" and maximizing everything and always having the best everything without any regards for logic in reference to the game.

Stage 3 is when you realize it's not about anything but the story. That your characters are part of a tale and that everyone is included in the telling. Characters actions and behaviour are now dictated by the player perception of his characters reaction to situations but usually keeping an eye on the bigger picture, "The Scene". When you reach this stage, you can have entire gaming sessions, where everyone is involved and having fun yet by the end of the night, you suddenly realize you never even took your dice our of your bag.

Sounds to me like you may be stage 3 and your friends are stuck in stage 1 or 2.

It is entirely feasible you have outgrown them as a gamer, it happens... some people never get to stage 3, you should know better than us if you're playing with such people.

You may need a new crew...

Sunday.

Or you could just need to add some visual stimulation. Try watching a couple of classic SR movies, Matrix, Ronin, The Professional, The Replacement Killers etc... Really get into setting the scene and describing each moment. Encourage your players to do the same. I find it gives a very cinematic feel the game when I tell them....

"The glass shatters into a million tiny fragments that all seem to hang in mid air, and then are thrown forward as round after round of lead fly toward you"

I have noticed in my games that I get burned out and find myself saying things like,

"the bad guys open fire".

Blah.

Be creative! And if you need to take a night off or two to recharge your batteries do so.

I also like being descriptive.
They took a moderate wound after soaking? Like hell they did!
The desperate guard bought his shotgun, a flicker of fear and pain from the wound in his leg crosses his face as he screams and the shotgun explodes, you feel the pellets rip through your armoured jacket and your shoulder feels like it's on fire as pellets dig into your skin, some even hitting bone.

Taking a serious wound after soaking?

The troll ganger swings the machette down and you desperately try to avoid it but just arent fast enough. The sharpened metal gashes across your thigh, chewing through bone and flesh with equal ease, the force and shock sending you crashing to the ground as you try to gasp for breath, your body numb, shock sending you blank for a moment from the massive trauma....

and so on.

It certainly makes things interesting when you do it lik ethis, because the players usually try to avoid combat in a bid not to be on the recieving end of such damaging attacks.

Yea, but the downside to all that description is that it takes you 25 minutes to finish saying it to the players, and now you have another 6 initiative passes to do except everyone fell asleep waiting for you to descibe stuff.

Description is important and has its place, but Id have to say its decidedly not in combat. Simple one liners like "the guard shoots wildly at you" work wonders without slowing the game down to the pace of a snail on depressants.

If youre getting burned out on combats that all end the same way, try changing the scene/scenario so that the bad guys have cover or get the drop on the players. If the field is less even it can turn the fight from a slugfest of soaking into something a bit more chancey and tactical. If that wont work describe your problem/players specifically for a more tailored idea.

On descriptions...

I usually run through everyone's action, they tell me what they're doing, they make all the rolls, I make all my rolls and then I describe the entire pass, everything that's happening all at the same time, it let's me get out the cool descriptions and make sure everyone is listening, since somewhere in there, I'll be describing their action and it's result, so no one falls asleep...

Sunday

Take the combat to your group for once. Start the night off with them catching hell from all sides from an assortment of drones and S.W.A.T. boys. Shadowrunners don't have the luxury of fighting last man standing against a corporation. Teach them to run from fights. Once you get away from tenaciously holding onto a fight until someone wins the game opens up considerably. unfortunately, you may have to send some of the PC's to the dirt farm to do this.

Combat is only interesting as long as there is something to loose.

Another obvious solution is to tell your players that you are feeling burned out. Tell them that you think the game is getting in a rut and ask them where they want to take the game. Most times you will get bland 'whatevers' but sometimes somebody speaks up.

Have one of your players run the game for a night or two so you can play. Set an example of how to be a good player when you do get a chance to run a PC. If they plead lack of creativity, there are plenty published adventure that you can pick up on the cheap, and plenty of sources on the web.