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6th World Almanac - flag of Hong Kong FEZ

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PrudentPanda

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« on: <07-08-13/0510:49> »
Dear writers and developers,

I'm a huge fan of the almanac in general and the Hong Kong Free Enterprise Zone in particular. Since I've seen that Hong Kong uses the old British colonial flag I'd like to ask you how this happened. Don't get me wrong, I like this, I was just curious about the story behind it.

For the sake of discussion, I'll quote some posts from the errata forum, because I think I've been wrong there in the first place.

Speaking of flags, that wiki has Hong Kong use the same one as was introduced when the territory became a Special Administrative Region of the PRC, yet the Almanac has HK using the old British ensign...

Since I'm a huuuge fan of the Hong Kong FEZ as well as I'm proud owner of the almanac (though, it's the german pdf variant) I really want to know, why Hong Kong reverted its flag to the British colonial flag despite being under corporate rule. Any answers so far?

An homage to its pseudo-capitalist corporate overlords?

I really like that idea! It would suit the Megas and their self-esteem very much.  ;D

I just ask for some developer to confirm that this is the official flag of the Hong Kong FEZ.

I found an additional hint, why the old colonial flag returned.

According to the city's timeline in Runner Havens Hong Kong only gained independence from the crumbling people's republic with the help of British diplomats.

Maybe the city was shortly under British inofficial influence, before the MegaCorps seized their new playground. And maybe in this very short time of true independence the autonomous city returned to the old flag. Later, when the Corps struck, they kept the old flag to keep some kind of resemblance with the true independence before the corporate takeover.

So, can you please confirm the flag and give us some more background infos on it? We would really appreciate!

Regards

~ PrudentPanda

Critias

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« Reply #1 on: <07-08-13/1633:53> »
When you consider how long ago the book came out, and take a look at the writer credits for it, I think you'll see that there's only a few people who overlap/intersect with, for instance, something as current as Storm Front.  You're kind of demanding an answer from folks who didn't work on the project in question (and who, if they did work on it, don't exactly have a reputation for visiting the forums terribly often).

PrudentPanda

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« Reply #2 on: <07-08-13/1722:16> »
Is it that old already? 3 years is not old, is it?

However, I still hope, that the current developers and writers may be able to answer these questions.

PS: I'm not familiar with staff change in the writers and developers team. Are those writers not with CGL anymore?  :-\

Bull

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« Reply #3 on: <07-09-13/0045:32> »
Actually, looking at the authors list, there's only a couple who have left the freelancers pool completely.  A number of them aren't as active these days though.  Several are working on their own projects or working for other game companies, and others have just stepped back for whatever reason.

Freelancing is a weird thing. People bounce in and out, back and forth all the time.  I know i had some burn out toward the end of the 3rd edition, and other than some playtesting of early 4th ed material, I was completely out of the pool for about 4 years.  Sometimes it's just family obligations or your "day job" taking up more time, sometimes it's burn out, sometimes it's frustrations with the fan base, and sometimes it's just lack of inspiration or boredom.  Freelancers come and go pretty regularly.

Critias was obliquely referring to some problems that CGL had a little over three years ago now.  I won't go into it because it's not relevant, it was over three years ago, and if you really want you can find out more than you likely care to by doing some web searching.  And while that situation resulted in several freelancers leaving the company, it didn't have much impact on the published author pool for this book.

That said, I didn't work on the book and don't really know the answer to your question.  I've never used Hong Kong for anything, so never really read up on it much.  Sorry.

If you really want, I can make up an answer.  But it wouldn't really be canon.  Nor would it necessarily be well researched, as I'm hip deep in several other projects right now.

Bull

Nath

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« Reply #4 on: <07-09-13/0251:07> »
Well, nothing, even the actual author's original intent, is canon if it's not written in a book or a PDF.

PrudentPanda

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« Reply #5 on: <07-10-13/0927:02> »
Thank you very much for your answer, Bull! I often oversee, how exhausting it can be to write such book. We fans get them in our claws and come up with such very detailed and maybe very strange requests.  ;D

I don't want to distract you from your current projects; especially, when they're Shadowrun projects.  8)

raggedhalo

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« Reply #6 on: <07-18-13/0506:33> »
It seems a safe bet that the flag published in a CGL release is the correct flag; you may have to provide your own explanation!  The same is true for Australia, despite it having become a republic in Shadowrun.  Perhaps there was a fashion for Union Jacks when these "new" places were choosing their flags?   ;)
Joe Rooney
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Black

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« Reply #7 on: <07-18-13/0542:20> »
It seems a safe bet that the flag published in a CGL release is the correct flag; you may have to provide your own explanation!  The same is true for Australia, despite it having become a republic in Shadowrun.  Perhaps there was a fashion for Union Jacks when these "new" places were choosing their flags?   ;)
Union Jack has got it going on. 

And being a Republic doesn't mean you cut all your roots.  I don't see why Australia couldn' keep the same flag... oh there be debate, but its not like we are keen on too much change at once.  Tradition has strength.  or maybe Steampunk was popular at the time?  who knows...
Perception molds reality
Change perception and reality will follow
SR1+SR2+SR3++SR4+hb+++B?UB+IE+W+sa+m-gmM--P

Novocrane

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« Reply #8 on: <07-18-13/0601:22> »
Polls showed an increase to 52% in favour of change back in 1998. If you want to look for reasons we still have the same flag, I'd look over John Howard's involvement. Assuming SR's history doesn't include his rise to prime minister, things could go quite differently.

Nacho

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« Reply #9 on: <07-19-13/2145:41> »
All this said... will this Almanac be updated soon with added info -- or perhaps some new iteration in the "5E" line?
/// Nacho

Need a job done?   contactmrjohnson.com     ///     @ThisIsMrJohnson

PrudentPanda

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« Reply #10 on: <07-21-13/0726:47> »
All this said... will this Almanac be updated soon with added info -- or perhaps some new iteration in the "5E" line?

Very good idea! And maybe this time it would be feasable to include two or three sentences for each new (and old) flag.