Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => The Secret History => Topic started by: Crimsondude on <02-22-13/2103:25>
-
/tosses a knife into the hobo fight
A report leaked today by the Financial Times News Feed caused quite a stir in the megacorporate world, leading to major ups and downs in the global stock exchanges and a significant drops in stock price of a number of smaller AA companies.
According to unknown sources, the Corporate Court is currently revisiting the process for multinational corporations to qualify for exterritorial or even megacorporate status. Many suspect that the reforms of Matrix protocols and the authorization to build grid architecture based on corporate standing and abilities are the reasons for this revision, but others believe the recent re-evaluation of German AG Chemie, whose status had been officially challenged by major competitor Komatsu in 2071 (and supported by the Japanese megas), was the spur for the new debate.
http://www.shadowrun.com/2070/2013/02/22/aa-status-on-trial/
-
I see the lesson on "extraterritoriality versus exterritoriality" somewhat carried on.
I'm not sure what "megacorporate status" is supposed to mean regarding "the process for multinational corporations to qualify for exterritorial or even megacorporate status".
Most author simply used the term "megacorporation" to means "big corporation." The only times where it seemed the word was somewhat defined, in Corporate Download and Corporate Guide, megacorporations were the AA and AAA rated corporations (it's the definition that was used in Shadows of Europe and Shadows of Asia). Which meant exterritorial status is part of the megacorporate status. It's a package, and you couldn't qualify for exterritoriality without qualifying for the rest (issue of corporate citizenship and currency).
From a metagame point of view, I'm dubious at the intent. I don't think this is something happening because that's a story some freelancer absolutely wanted to tell for a long time. The purpose is more likely to be to reduce the numbers of AA-rated corporations. But what's the line of reasoning?
Did someone said "Oh, there are too many AA corporations, we're not able to keep track of them all and provide plots for each of them. Let's get rid of a few." ? The line barely manage to have one or two ongoing plots for the existing AAA corporations, great dragons, not to mention countries or AAA's subsidiaries.
Corporate exterritoriality is important in Shadowrun, story-wise. The facilities were cops cannot enter and corporate rule is the law are a major plot device that gamemasters use. When there is sixty or so exterritorial corporations, a gamemaster can find one that suits it needs for the story he wants to tell, one that is inconspicuous enough, or even add one to the list without anyone bothering. Where are we heading at? "If you wants to have an exterritorial building in your story, you MUST use of of these twenty-five corporations we put on the list."
-
Nath, I kind of agree with you on the "not good for metaplot" point, if thinning the AA herd is what ends up happening. But I think Crimson missed the most interesting part of the post. We might be looking at something else entirely:
Sources from from our friends at Brokerage X, however, have told me there is another explanation. A lot of the larger, more established AA multinationals that never made the top slot (such as Z-IC, Universal Omnitech and Monobe), are feeling disregarded and overlooked by the Corporate Court (especially with upstarts like Horizon moving past them) for quite a long time now. Using their leverage with Eurocorps (especially those politically active in the NEEC) or Japanese compatriots (Sony, Yakashima, Komatsu to name just a few), they have been campaigning for a reorganization of the Corporate Court with a “House of Commons” that would give a seat to all extraterritorial corporations ranked by the CC. The apparent leak and threat of status revision could also very well be move of the megas to silence a number of the lesser AAs.
Now that has some serious storyline potential.
-
I see room for this to go horribly, story/meta wise, I just hope I'm wrong. It feels like there's so much detail missing regarding even the AAA corps fluff wise, thinning further SR fluff components could only hurt the series.
-
Still, ya gotta admit. Having a corp world war potentially occur along with the dragon civil war and such will make things interesting in the meta-plotline.
-
Still, ya gotta admit. Having a corp world war potentially occur along with the dragon civil war and such will make things interesting in the meta-plotline.
...
Keep watching the hidden fictions.
-
Nath, I kind of agree with you on the "not good for metaplot" point, if thinning the AA herd is what ends up happening. But I think Crimson missed the most interesting part of the post. We might be looking at something else entirely:
Sources from from our friends at Brokerage X, however, have told me there is another explanation. A lot of the larger, more established AA multinationals that never made the top slot (such as Z-IC, Universal Omnitech and Monobe), are feeling disregarded and overlooked by the Corporate Court (especially with upstarts like Horizon moving past them) for quite a long time now. Using their leverage with Eurocorps (especially those politically active in the NEEC) or Japanese compatriots (Sony, Yakashima, Komatsu to name just a few), they have been campaigning for a reorganization of the Corporate Court with a “House of Commons” that would give a seat to all extraterritorial corporations ranked by the CC. The apparent leak and threat of status revision could also very well be move of the megas to silence a number of the lesser AAs.
Now that has some serious storyline potential.
You're lucky I gave you an excerpt. My goal was to get you to the Shadowrun.com website.
-
Still, ya gotta admit. Having a corp world war potentially occur along with the dragon civil war and such will make things interesting in the meta-plotline.
I remember being dissapointed with how limited the last Corp War was.
-
Remember, writers et. al. have to keep things so that things can continue. And, actually, so that it makes sense. A less limited corp war - which, honestly, you could have easily had in Sub-Saharan Africa - could have changed things so much you'd'v'e thought the changes from SR3 to 4 were negligible.
-
Still, ya gotta admit. Having a corp world war potentially occur along with the dragon civil war and such will make things interesting in the meta-plotline.
I remember being dissapointed with how limited the last Corp War was.
Well, you're not always looking at a Mega reaching in and ripping the still-beating Board of Directors from a second and drinking the capital flow as VictimCo crumbles, watching as it's financial lifeblood is drained. Mostly, they just want a good quarterly report.
Mostly.
-
Well, you're not always looking at a Mega reaching in and ripping the still-beating Board of Directors from a second and drinking the capital flow as VictimCo crumbles, watching as it's financial lifeblood is drained. Mostly, they just want a good quarterly report.
Mostly.
What? That's exactly what the Azzies would do. :)
-
If this turns out into a Corp War, 99.99% of it will be fought out with bank accounts, backroom deals, bought politicians, judges and lawyers, not Shadowrunners.
I hope they do not cut down on the numbers and say something like "These are the 50 AA companies that exist worldwide."
I like the fact that there's room for GM's to make up companies for a campaign which can be nearly as powerful as the AAA's and fabricate their own web of business/financial relationships around them.
-
Well, in Corporate Download IIRC the Big Ten were said to comprise over half the economic activity on Earth. That leaves ~80 AAs according to Nath's corp index and n hundred A corps and all the unrated corps and the governments and ... to fill the rest of that 40-whatever percent of the economy.
-
Corporate Download, page 9
Right now, the Big Ten control more resources than all the other corporations in the world put together.
Corporate Download, page 16
The amount of assets the Big Ten claim is almost beyond scale, easily accounting for at least a quarter of the world's wealth (in all likelihood, this figure is much higher, especially if you estimate secrets funds and hidden ownership).
So it's either 50% of corporate "resources" or 25% of world's "wealth."
The number is actually not that impressive. Nowadays, you could already make such a claim of ten companies owning 18% of the world's wealth. In 2011, the Boston Consulting Group estimated the world's wealth at 121 trillions US$. The same year, according to Forbes, ten of the twelve largest companies had total assets of 22 trillions US$: namely, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Crédit Agricole, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and ICBC (I left Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out on purpose). And I think most would agree that any of the Big Ten is larger than these companies.
This has a lot to do with the way numbers are added up. For instance, any debt owed by A multinationals, AA megacorporations or governments to the Zurich-Orbital Gemeinshaft Bank is going to count in the AAA balance. Then you add all those who are indebted to S-K owned banks, Wuxing owned-banks, and so on.
-
Ah, that's it. I was combining the two lines in my head.
-
If this turns out into a Corp War, 99.99% of it will be fought out with bank accounts, backroom deals, bought politicians, judges and lawyers, not Shadowrunners.
You can raid a bank account. Spy on a Backroom deal. And Shoot a bought politician, judge or lawyer.
So yeah. Runners are going to find a lot of work if all the Corps suddenly start deciding to fuck each other over more than usual, on both sides of the fucking. The book featuring a Corp War would feature more than a few "That was YOU?" moments, wherein the runners meet each other during a run, while on opposite sides.
Edit: Oh for fuck's sake, how did I end up in such an old ass thread?
-
*Sits on my rocking chair, watching a tumbleweed go by* ... ... ... Yep.
-
Most of these first page threads are old.
-
Need new topics...
-
I think everyone's suspended their theorizing until fifth edition starts rolling out.
-
Suspend... Theorizing...No Speculating....?
Isn't this a forum? This does not fempute.
-
You are now entering a dimension of sightless and silence. A place lacking new gaming material. Welcome to the 'Tweeny Zone' ;D
(cheesy organ crash)