I starte dplaying Shadowrun a few years ago at the tail-end of 2ed and considering our age, my group and I had lots of fun a consistant number of times. I've played just about every type of character except a decker. For a bunc hof kids in the middle of the South, we did our best to picture how the world was and how it operates.

Fast forward to now, where I have some basic military experience and knowledge, have lived in a large metropolitan area overseas, and have seen some stunning moments of RL history, I think when I finally get back into gaming I will have a much diffferent idea of how things are, at least in my games. As is, I'm separated from my books and a large enough population of gamers to form a group. When SR4 finally comes out, I'll let my old GM give me a straight review and if I decide to convert, I'll really only discard the BBB. Old plot, gear, and setting books still have TONS of excellent information. I plan on using them a lot to have groups "flashback" to missions that were important to the group's history.

Just a question for everyone else, how has your style of play, perception, etc changed since you originally started playing this game? I won't even ask about SR4, as I've seen thread after thread of people talking about whether to buy it or not.

I know I have a much better idea of how to run a game and play in a game, and will at least be able to mimic RL as far as it can go in a Sci-Fantasy setting. I can't wait to start playing again.

When I first played, it was all day-glow mohawks and street leathers, tribal fashions and big-shouldered suits. Nowadays, it's a bit more mature. Less glitz, less flash, more crime and poverty. Less humor, certainly. More of a do-it-for-yourself outlook than a stick-it-to-Mr.-Man attitude.

Pretty much, Ancient summed it up. We have quite a bit of comedy, but my group has one or two funerals a week when it comes to characters. They lead dangerous lives, have dangerous jobs, and are often hired to run into situations most sane people and most runners are running out of.

I went from "Planning? Let's just do this." or "Why don't we just go in guns ablazin?". To "Screw running! The real money's in smuggling or piracy." and "Gadget_01 seems nice where'd I have to go to steal it?"

I've always had fairly nonfreakish characters, looks-wise. Recently I've noticed a trend towards more cultured and less anarchistic. They also tend to be more opportunistic . I also now make characters that mesh with the current group and things that the group needs instead of just randomly picking an archtype to start with.

so you're kinda like the guy out of college workin' for the man and hating it that grew up and decided to start his own business . The shadow entrepeneur. The entrepreneurial spirit, with APDS.

In cinematic terms, I've gone from Streets of Fire to a kind of hybrid between Equilibrium and the currently popular Modern Crime Movie ™. The 80's glitz has rubbed off, and although we still favour a cinematic style it's a much harsher and darker one.

i came into SR when 3rd edition hit the stands, so the freakish 80'sness of prior versions has always seemed "off" to me. my games are more reminiscent of Heat than The Warriors.