[Angelone]

Yeah, I definitely picked up on the anti-mage sentiment she showed. Which is amazing for someone like her to show. How do you suppose Pistons would have done the same scenario? She would have hacked the dwarf's commlink, and used her codes to get to the objective. Dwarf still doesn't know why she's been fired, if she's lucky, or she gets a double tap to the back of the head for her betrayal.

[jonathanc]

Eh....with hacking, most corps would figure out that the dwarf's security was breached. She might have still been fired, but possibly not; it's not like most corps expect a secretary to be running high-level firewall software on her 'link. I certainly don't think they'd body her for the crime of being hacked; it could have been anyone. The thing about the magic/seduction angle is that he made her an accomplice to the crime, and then left her holding the bag (with a little heartbreak added to the deal), which is definitely a dick move.

It may sound like mage paranoia, but if he really did use magic to influence the dwarf during the seduction, then Pistons has a point: he basically *is* a rapist, and arguably a serial rapist at that.

[Critias]

Which still hardly makes him the most execrable person on Jackpoint.  Sticks routinely re-kidnaps runaway sex slaves, for instance.  So, okay, maybe he's not raping them himself, but...

And, of course, pretty much everyone who posts is a murderer.  While there are knee-jerk reactions to regard rapists as worse, socially, remember that legally (which is to say, as the consensus of our society) murder is much worse.  I think it comes down to out-of-character squick factor and/or comfort zone type of stuff.  RPGers are used to committing mundane violence and dealing hit points and filling damage boxes...but when sexual violence -- even just through enhanced seduction -- is involved, we get our hackles up.

[Mirikon]

I wouldn't say that Pistons suffers from mage paranoia in general. Its just that Haze is the living, breathing embodiment of the stereotype of a mage that will reach in, rape your brain, and then leave you with no memory of the event.

That being said, Pistons at least seems to have backed off a little lately. I haven't heard her throwing any barbs Haze's way lately, even when Haze has been posting. It could be that it is settling down into one of those things where they just don't talk to one another, for the most part, like how Bull and Frosty never speak to eachother.

[jonathanc]

Sticks was also on the receiving end of some sanctimony in his writeup, as I recall.


By the way, what happened between Bull and Frost?

[FastJack]

Sticks was also on the receiving end of some sanctimony in his writeup, as I recall.


By the way, what happened between Bull and Frost?

Harlequin.

[Angelone]

Who do you think will side with whom? Riser and Nephrine defended Haze and Pistons irked Winterhawk with her comments probably not enought for him to choose sides most likely. Pistons is chummy with Kay St., and Netcat. Slamm-o! is pretty much a package deal with Netcat.

[jonathanc]

Who do you think will side with whom? Riser and Nephrine defended Haze and Pistons irked Winterhawk with her comments probably not enought for him to choose sides most likely. Pistons is chummy with Kay St., and Netcat. Slamm-o! is pretty much a package deal with Netcat.

The thing is, the people who "defended" Haze were doing so out of mercenary spirit - they aren't going to stand for him when/if it hits the fan unless he coughs up some serious cash (unlikely, given what he's paying to keep his mom in the lap of luxury, plus whatever drugs he's on). Pistons is friends with (related to?) /dev/grrl, IIRC, and seems to have a RL friendship with Hard Exit, so she actually has some backup if it gets real.

A good portion of the shadowtalk arguments seem like ITG-syndrom to me, though, so I doubt it's going anywhere (Pistons said her piece; I doubt Haze has the huevos to make good on his threats).

[Bruce]

Haze does not come across as the most likable person in the community.  With that, Pistons does seem to be taking this more personally than one might suppose (much like Picador's feud with Thorn).  It seems like there should be some prior history, some part of the story neither of them are speaking about.

And with Tempo, avoiding spoilers, Haze certainly made some poor judgements with it (along with a lot of other people), but he might not be guilty of what he's accused of; not that it would be generally known or provable.

[Critias]

A good portion of the shadowtalk arguments seem like ITG-syndrom to me, though, so I doubt it's going anywhere (Pistons said her piece; I doubt Haze has the huevos to make good on his threats).

Part of that comes from attempts to introduce personal conflicts and personality clashes...without just quietly having a Jackpointer vanish, leaving nothing but rumors and smug satisfaction behind (which is what SHOULD happen to someone who pisses off a Shadowrunner). 

On the one hand, I agree that these are violent people and should likely resort to violence a little more often, given the levels of threats and stuff that they throw at each other.  On the other hand, though, I think it's hard to kill many of them off (because we already have so few Jackpointers to post with), and it'd be even sillier if all these rabid Type A personalities hung out together on-line and got along perfectly.   

[Angelone]

Thank you Bruce for reminding me, Picador's feud with Thorn makes no sense to me. There was a fiction piece somewhere in which she and her team kill those responsible. IIRC they framed Argus for it. So unless there's something I missed she shouldn't be holding that grudge.

[Critias]

Thank you Bruce for reminding me, Picador's feud with Thorn makes no sense to me. There was a fiction piece somewhere in which she and her team kill those responsible. IIRC they framed Argus for it. So unless there's something I missed she shouldn't be holding that grudge.

She's had a grudge against MET 2000 and Argus for a long time, is the thing.  Heck, even Matador was on a high horse, talking crap about MET 2k almost since the group was introduced.  And the kicker is that the things she accuses Thorn of doing for Argus are...well...pretty universally true.  He did turn tribal leaders left and right to start a slaughter of civilians in Nairobi, and he does otherwise manipulate and murder folks as an intelligence operative for the mercenary world's "big dogs."  She and her team may have killed the individuals that were directly responsible for Matador's death, but that doesn't mean she doesn't still dislike the organization as a whole, and that she won't be pissy when one of them waltzes into Jackpoint and starts chatting it up like he's a regular.

Holding a grudge isn't a matter of logic, it's a matter of emotion.

[Bruce]

But with Picador, at least her reasons are understandable in context (if not entirely fair; mostly, but blaming the gun for the shooter's decision isn't). 

Piston's grudge against Haze seems much the same, but it's like we're only seeing part of the story.  Which is realistic, but somewhat disatisfying from a story angle.

[Angelone]

Maybe I'm just too I don't know, disassociated? I just find it kinda much for either Pistons or Picador (especially Picador) to be holding such grudges for so long with such intensity. They both ruin lives and kill, but find themselves "better" people than Haze and Thorn because of how they do it? Picador I find more absurd because it happened on a battlefield. People die on battlefields that's pretty much the point. Sure it sucks to lose a friend/mentor, but damn it comes with the job. Get drunk and rant and rave for awhile and get over it.   

[FastJack]

Maybe I'm just too I don't know, disassociated? I just find it kinda much for either Pistons or Picador (especially Picador) to be holding such grudges for so long with such intensity. They both ruin lives and kill, but find themselves "better" people than Haze and Thorn because of how they do it? Picador I find more absurd because it happened on a battlefield. People die on battlefields that's pretty much the point. Sure it sucks to lose a friend/mentor, but damn it comes with the job. Get drunk and rant and rave for awhile and get over it.   

Actually, from all the stuff published throughout, Picador's relationship with Matador bordered more than just friend/mentor.