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Next mega to fall

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McGuffin

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« Reply #75 on: <04-28-15/0600:33> »
might be because I am german myself but.....I have never seen SK as evil....just efficient :D

but ok, I see where you are going

In my book S-K is quite evil indeed. Here is why:
(Disclaimer: The following represents my interpretation of S-K and is often not entirely based on canon)

- Lead by a very ruthless entity, who literally walks over dead bodies to get what it wants. He does not need to negotioate with other board members.
- Prime is a very capable highly efficient intelligence agency of S-K. Think a marriage of NSA and KGB. They don't limit themselves to spy on others, their view is also centered on the inside. Lofwyr never had a tolerance for disobedience or dissent in general, so imgagine how fun it is to joke around when everyone could be a snitch and every decive could listen in.
- Owns basically the complete european matrix. He had a switch installed, without anyone knowing, which led his network to survive the crash 2.0 unharmed. Not only did he knew about it in advance, but also he demonstrated his complete control over the european matrix (most was just build by S-K and sold to other countries/cities). And noone  really complained. At least none that was heard about ...
Keep in mind my second point, Prime might have the capability to just listen in on S-K tech.
Lofwyr would never accept anyone in command, so how likely is that he would concede power to an organisation like GOD without any tricks up his sleeve? To the corporate negotiations about the new Matrix after the crash 2.0 Lofwyr send two characters: Dr. Antionio Vieri (see below) and one of his most important operatives, not lawyers and managers.
- He employs Dr. Antonio Vieri, a famous capacity on matrix research. Also this name was used (according to the wiki entry) by the immortal Leonardo who managed to break into all major AAAs networks simultaneously. Lofwyr brought him down and may have abducted him. This guy's inventions managed to nearly get Renraku to become the biggest Mega, shortly before the Deus incident. I'm sure Lofwyr will not have him do humanitarian research ...
- S-K's most frightened tool of power has always been one that has rarely seen spotlight: banks. Lofwyr used financial maneuvers to become CEO of S-K, he used and secretly bought banks to make S-K rise to AAA status and afterwards to climb to the top amongst them. His strategy of buying into independent banks in secret or just utilize them is a terrible tool of power. We can't know how many of these institutes he has influence in and we have seen in the current day what terrible things a few misguided investment bankers could do ...
- Lofwyr likes tools and metahumanity is nothing but that to him. Evo might be the big Transhuman player, but it pales in scariness against Lofwyr's agenda: S-K had very aggressively researched and aquired any information about the Magus genome. S-K has the tech to clone humans. It also was very successful in using Cybermantie and I once read (hope I don't mix things now) that S-K did not get the knowledge from the Azzis - who are rumored to have developed the blood magic component. Combine that and you get a dragon that will not hesitate to change the metahuman nature to make serve him better or maybe even create his own version of awakened, cybered up loyal soldiers. The dragons did it once before, just ask the Drakes....
- It's called Saeder-Krupp heavy industries. As a triple A it has it fangs in nearly any business sector, but the foundations are banks and heavy industries. With banks he can make money when things are good, but heavy industrie really shines when there is a big rubble to clean up and build new stuff afterwards. If things run well, he just makes profits, but if things really break apart he can also swallow up real estate, build infrastructure which means he sinks his claws deep into territory.



« Last Edit: <04-29-15/0536:35> by McGuffin »

The Wyrm Ouroboros

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« Reply #76 on: <04-28-15/0633:56> »
... wow.  Plan 9, you changed your name.

It's certainly an ... interesting take on things.  Not entirely accurate by a long shot, but definitely interesting.
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Zukkel

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« Reply #77 on: <04-28-15/0747:39> »
Still sounds..... efficient? :D

Welp, i know SK isnt the nicest but I feel Ol' Goldsnout wouldnt be the worst person to rule everything.....if everything is ruled by him, everything is his property and he defends his property :D

not gonna happen, though, at least I hope not.

McGuffin

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« Reply #78 on: <04-28-15/1121:37> »
It's certainly an ... interesting take on things.  Not entirely accurate by a long shot, but definitely interesting.

It's my opinion, my highly subjective view on this particular corporation. The factual basis for my interpretations was mostly the various shadow wiki entrys and some of the older novels (I know those are hardly canon). I'd be interested to hear your take on S-K.
I didn't want to suggest that S-K is most evil corporation. Every Mega is evil, that is what the essence of the SR dystopia (in my opinion). It's just a different flavour of evil.

I wouldn't want to be ruled by Lofwyr. He has too many similarities with Darth Vader - and I never saw faces of joy among the crew of his Star Destroyer...

Zukkel

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« Reply #79 on: <04-28-15/1150:30> »
wow, you really paint Lofwyr as my favorite dictator :D

The Wyrm Ouroboros

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« Reply #80 on: <04-29-15/0126:58> »
Well, here's the thing, McGuffin, and kind of a guiding concept around here - when you drop information, you need to be absolutely clear on what is book truth canonical (and yes, everything published by the people with the RPG rights at the time is canon), what is something you found elsewhere but don't know for certain is canon, and what is your opinion or you're making up.  Just at a glance, I can see two glaring errors, and another three or four 'yes, this is likely true to an extent, but there's definitely a writer's-slant to it' portions, but you're presenting all of it as though it were canon.  So what you have written up above is, functionally, your own version of Saeder-Krupp - not 'these are the facts extracted from the surrounding text that reveals why Lofwyr is a bad guy'.

Lofwyr is a great dragon.  Great Dragons have great passions, one might say obsessions; his is control.  (Alamais's passion was for power; you can see which one loses out in the end.)  S-K is a means to an end, control over as much of his environment and the elements within them as possible, and it's his best tool, but if Lofwyr believes S-K has to take a hit in order for him to gain another percentage point of control over some individual, aspect, or region, he'll have the corporation take the hit, because he's getting what he wants.
Pananagutan & End/Line

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McGuffin

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« Reply #81 on: <04-29-15/0553:17> »
Well, here's the thing, McGuffin, and kind of a guiding concept around here - when you drop information, you need to be absolutely clear on what is book truth canonical (and yes, everything published by the people with the RPG rights at the time is canon), what is something you found elsewhere but don't know for certain is canon, and what is your opinion or you're making up.  Just at a glance, I can see two glaring errors, and another three or four 'yes, this is likely true to an extent, but there's definitely a writer's-slant to it' portions, but you're presenting all of it as though it were canon.  So what you have written up above is, functionally, your own version of Saeder-Krupp - not 'these are the facts extracted from the surrounding text that reveals why Lofwyr is a bad guy'.

Lofwyr is a great dragon.  Great Dragons have great passions, one might say obsessions; his is control.  (Alamais's passion was for power; you can see which one loses out in the end.)  S-K is a means to an end, control over as much of his environment and the elements within them as possible, and it's his best tool, but if Lofwyr believes S-K has to take a hit in order for him to gain another percentage point of control over some individual, aspect, or region, he'll have the corporation take the hit, because he's getting what he wants.

I edited my previous post (too lazy to rewrite it) and added a disclaimer. I thought I made it clearer that it was my interpretation of S-K in response to Zukkels post. I was wrong. Don't write hastily in foreign languages while at work. There might be a lesson there  ::)

I do agree with your assessment of Lofwyr's "control issue". I just find it very hard to come up with any kind of explanation that would justify for S-K to lose its triple A status (without him going full rampage) for him to gain somehow more. I just think that a Mega can do all the mundane things better than a double or single A corp. And even if not: such a powerful corp could just buy into a single A corp that looks more innovative or whatnot.

In the end we on the forum are probably overthinking the stuff too much. Whichever corp will fall, I just hope the cause won't be invented with a pen-stroke the same moment its fall is announced, but grounded somewhat in the metaplot or the realm of economical/political plausibility (of SR) and that Catalyst is using the opportunity to create exciting stuff, because a falling titan creates lots of cool job opportunities for runners.

Mirikon

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« Reply #82 on: <05-08-15/1137:11> »
So, looking at the whole Lockdown mess, it becomes clear that the list of megas that may fall has been reduced to 3.

NeoNET: Most likely contender, as Celedyr and Cerberus were some of the main players behind the project.

EVO: Also neck deep in things, given what they contributed to the program.

Aztechnology: Dark horse in this race, but there are just so many people who would love to make them take the fall for this.
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Zukkel

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« Reply #83 on: <05-08-15/1328:31> »
Oh I'm definitely gonna let my group play this whole thing and let them decide.
But I hope the data will go to Wuxing. Guessing this will demolish aztlan then :D

Tomorrow they will get the first big CFD reveal......im playing the long game ;)

Deadborder

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« Reply #84 on: <05-09-15/2020:05> »
If it is NeoNET, then that will make the third dead mega some of that IP/tech/people have been through after Fuchi and Novatech. I would be wary of touching any of their stuff after that

Sithlis

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« Reply #85 on: <05-09-15/2302:29> »
If it is NeoNET, then that will make the third dead mega some of that IP/tech/people have been through after Fuchi and Novatech. I would be wary of touching any of their stuff after that
You might be but some corp, mega or not, would snatch every bit they can because they can make buck...err nuyen.

Aryeonos

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« Reply #86 on: <05-10-15/0109:18> »
I hope it isn't EVO, in the grand scheme of things, or at least all t hat I've read- they have the least amount of black marks, though an oddly boring board of directors despite efforts to make them zany and different. They're uniquely the only full bore transhuminist AAA.
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Ursus Maior

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« Reply #87 on: <05-10-15/1649:25> »
I still hope it's Ares. That would deal a great blow to the setting and really be something new, while all the assets could still remain in North American hands (mostly), thus not harming the feeling of the game very much.
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Herr Brackhaus

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« Reply #88 on: <05-10-15/1655:41> »
Going by Lockdown, it's either NeoNET (most likely), EVO (likely), or Aztechnology (less likely), and the mega that falls will in part be driven by players of Shadowrun Chronicles and by GMs who submit their tabletop run results online.

Aryeonos

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« Reply #89 on: <05-11-15/1937:28> »
I can barely remember what NeoNet even does, I've never done a run for them even indirectly, I've never run them in my campaigns and whatever they do do even if I've been involved with it it doesn't jump out to me. If I recall they came out of 1 or 2 companies that have fallen previously, so really, they seem like the least interesting company to fall but probably safest for preserving the setting. Id Est, boring.

Not, what you're saying boring, but my thoughts on the issue of NeoNET falling.
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