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Beta

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« Reply #15 on: <03-03-16/1703:24> »
I would not recommend ordering through BattleCorp... I would more strongly recommend finding a local game store and asking them to order it for you once the street date is known. Which will probably be in 3 months...

I ended up taking your advice, and getting the pdf through drivethru and will see about the physical copy when it comes available.

And since I ended up being home sick today I had time to read some of that pdf, before sleeping most of the day away. I liked the opening fiction piece reasonably well, but I particularly thought all the side boxes were used really well this time to help explain details of the drone life.  I've ragged on SR5 layout and formatting more than once, so wanted to acknowledge a case where I thought it was really well done.

After that I managed to get through the part about the corporate court, then jumped to find out what was happening with Neonet, and managed to skim through S-K before running out of steam.  I found the writing for both the corporate court and Nenet sections to be engaging and easy to read.  No comment on S-K because I was only semi-conscious while skimming it.

Lots of bits of information, background, and even plot hooks.  I have little doubt that this will leave me with a much better understanding of the Big 10, and a deeper and more nuanced world in the game I'm running.  So no regrets at all on buying the book.

What I was a bit disappointed about was that, so far as I saw, this didn't move the plot forward very much.  This is "After Boston, here is everybody scrambling to survive or to take maximum advantage of the situation."  Rather than the "And as a result of Lockdown (and the tracking of player choices) here is the fallout and how the world changes.  Given the focus that Lockdown gave on tracking player choices and how that would impact the world, a bit sad to see that the impact was not caught in this book -- I would have liked it to set the ground going forward.  Well, hopefully another book or adventure will come along to move the plot along, but in my own game I'm going to have to make my own decisions soon and accept that cannon may eventually disagree.

TonyK

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« Reply #16 on: <03-03-16/1739:54> »
Reading the Aztechnology history section.  They should have called that part, "ORO, plata o plomo". :)
My fave quote from SRR: "Damn you Mike Pondsmith"

Wakshaani

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« Reply #17 on: <03-03-16/1842:02> »
Weird request of the day: Would anyone care to give feedback on the story bits before each corporate chapter? Any that you like? Any that you didn't?

Mr. Grey

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« Reply #18 on: <03-03-16/1848:51> »
Weird request of the day: Would anyone care to give feedback on the story bits before each corporate chapter? Any that you like? Any that you didn't?

I liked them. They seemed to fit the corporations very well and were good introductions. AZT stood out as the most intriguing as it left some interesting, unanswered questions. Renraku also stood out as a strong reminder to what the company is.

Crimsondude

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« Reply #19 on: <03-03-16/2007:22> »
Rather than the "And as a result of Lockdown (and the tracking of player choices) here is the fallout and how the world changes.  Given the focus that Lockdown gave on tracking player choices and how that would impact the world, a bit sad to see that the impact was not caught in this book -- I would have liked it to set the ground going forward.  Well, hopefully another book or adventure will come along to move the plot along, but in my own game I'm going to have to make my own decisions soon and accept that cannon may eventually disagree.

I should note that the killing blows still tend to take months or more to actually cripple and kill AAAs. Except CATCo because that was ... glossed over.

Wakshaani

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« Reply #20 on: <03-03-16/2023:27> »
True.

I mean, heck, even Fuchi and CatCo are still alive, with the first being a tiny appendage of a conquering mega while the otehr is reduced to an A-Rated corp in teh CAS.

But they're both drawing breath.


Mr. Grey

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« Reply #21 on: <03-04-16/0042:55> »
Alright, I finally finished reading it all. Too much in there to go into details so I'll just make some broad strokes.

-Nice art. Most of it high quality with some other styles mixed in.

-Short stories were as I said before fitting for the corporation. I like Renraku and AZT the best. On a second read through, I got Shiawase's as fitting as well but compared to the others, a bit of a let down.

-Writing styles were interesting. Each corp had a different feel that for the most part worked really well. NEONet was entertaining. AZT had a nice coverage that finally put their PR into perspective. The Shiawase shakeup was well thought out. S-K's one I think really gives the corp a stronger vibe than done before.

-The new #1 corp actually felt anti-climatic. I'm not sure where the developers are going with this one (unless it is the one that falls from AAA, in which case it'd better be an awesome story).

-A little sad that some of the AA's didn't make it into the book, but I'm hopeful that they'll get a good write up as well at some future point.

Overall, very well done. A good read from Ares to Wuxing and everything between.

Marzhin

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« Reply #22 on: <03-04-16/0855:24> »
A wish for future Shadowrun editions: with so many plots scattered over so many books (and sometimes editions), I feel it has become very challenging to keep track of things. I think Shadowrun supplements should have notes on the bottom of the pages telling in which book a particular subplot in touched upon in more detail. For instance I knew I had read about Chief Justice Hino somewhere, but had a very hard time remembering exactly where (Corporate Intrigue for SR4, as it turns out).
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
(Groucho Marx)

Wakshaani

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« Reply #23 on: <03-04-16/0932:24> »
Hmm. Invoking the old comic book editor's notes?

Not a  bad idea...

Mirikon

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« Reply #24 on: <03-04-16/1009:25> »
Hmm. Invoking the old comic book editor's notes?

Not a  bad idea...
Actually, that'd be damn helpful. Especially when references to plots from 3rd edition or earlier come up.
Greataxe - Apply directly to source of problem, repeat as needed.

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TonyK

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« Reply #25 on: <03-04-16/1019:27> »
As long as one doesn't go overboard with the notes - I'd rather not have my gaming books read like Infinite Jest.
My fave quote from SRR: "Damn you Mike Pondsmith"

living

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« Reply #26 on: <03-04-16/1123:27> »
can someone say sth about story spoiler? we havent played boston yet, but we are going to (in a few month i guess). i'm one of the player in the boston campaign and not the GM. im really interested in the development of the AAA and CC but i dont want to much spoiler on boston (bcs i want to play it and not read it).

DeathStrobe

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« Reply #27 on: <03-04-16/1208:08> »
p68
Quote
The popular answer is Dzitbalchén, the feathered serpent who also owns some of Aztechnology, but I don’t think that’s the right answer. I believe Dzitbanchén would take care of his own business instead of appointing a surrogate.

I don't understand how Motecuhzoma can be a minion of Dzitbalchén when Dzitbalchén is dead and was dissected by Aztechnology and the trideo was leaked on to the Matrix.

Wakshaani

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« Reply #28 on: <03-04-16/1208:56> »
Oh, as a bonus, here's the song that I listened to far, far too often while working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4

Nightmare

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« Reply #29 on: <03-04-16/1444:38> »
Anyone notice that UCASTrak is mentioned as both a Shiawase and MCT subsidiary?  Thought it was only a Shiawase sub?