[Sengir]

Pity then that they're not in the business of discussing such in public.

Oh, silence often is the most informative answer...

RE Ares, it's nice to see that this old storyline is apparently picking up steam. We're certainly in for a big shakeup if Ares' bug dealings ever come to a head...although I must admit that I'm wary of how  well CGL would handle such a major event, given their current problems even with some bread-and-butter stuff...

[Crimsondude]

Anyway, no one gave a shit about Aina Dupree until I killed her so, yeah, whatever. Her death was necessary, but hey, it's not like I've written in the past about killing storylines (and characters).

An immortal elf. Harlequin's best friend. Dead.
(She was also the Vice Chair turned Acting Chair of the Draco Foundation)

It's going to be hard making him give a shit about that character, since I don't in any way shape or form give a shit about her. I will endeavor to manage.

Normally when the word 'Mary Sue' comes up I get pissed, because I think it gets overused to a pretty disgusting degree by people with a much-too-broad definition of what it means. But Aina Dupree, if it's the character I'm thinking of, is one of the worst EVER.

That's sad to read.
First of all, there are people who care about Aina. Our group for example. For ones, we have Aina as major NPC in the campaign.
Yes, Aina was a strange cookie in  an already disfunctional family that immortal elves are. But just because you try to avoid your slightly insane uncle whenever you can doesn't mean you don't love him. Especially not in the way 'since no one cares, she dies. Ha-ha!'
Secondly, Harlequin, Aina's close friend, one time lover, comrade-in-arms and one of the few people on earth (save probably the late Dunkelzahn) who took her seriously, wouldn't care about Aina? Wouldn't care about the death of one of the dozen, at most, human beings in the whole world who are on par with him? He may have had his reservations about her, but he loved her.
And I can understand that her death is part of the yet unpublished story (which must be real big as Aina is [should try using 'was'] second only to Harlequin himself in power), but the attitude towards it baffles me. If she is such unwanted child, why just don't leave her out? The death of the character of the scope Aina was is a big deal, it should serve some purpose other than just to get rid of her and make some big waves. This could as well wake other elves up. As far as I know, immortals have never previously lost one of their own.

My comment was about the reaction, but you know, continue to assign my motives by pulling random nonsense out of thin air. That makes me smile.



Anyway, so IA caps at 3. Woops.

[Clones R Us]

Anyway, no one gave a shit about Aina Dupree until I killed her so, yeah, whatever. Her death was necessary, but hey, it's not like I've written in the past about killing storylines (and characters).

And of course, it's common knowledge that if you find a body, the preson must be dead.

[Critias]

*sigh*

[AJCarrington]

--  SNIP  --

Wonderful, concise and clear criticism...

Personally, the stats are far less interesting/appealing to me as my focus in on the characters, their background and plot hooks.  I would actually expect the stats to be tweaked/modified by any GM to suit their campaign/needs.

AJC

[Crimsondude]

I can see Critias in his office wanting to murder me through his computer right now.

[Critias]

Hopefully when a few upcoming publications hit shelves, folks can see that we're really not being as casual and flippant about Aina's death as it may appear right this second.  Due to some unfortunate delays, the production schedule got shuffled around a little bit, and I think it pretty much came down to "we will NOT delay Street Legends," so things got put out in the wrong order (in the interest of having something big and awesome at GenCon).

One lesson I wish comic writers would learn, and something I muttered under my breath all through the last several years of sprawling crossovers, retcons, heroes turning out to be Skrulls, heroes turning into assholes over Superhuman Registration, etc, etc, is simply this:  everyone is someone's favorite character. 

Marvel and DC executives would be startled by the amount of comics I've got about Roy Harper/Arsenal/Red Arrow (with the pointed exception of the mini-series they recently wrote about him, which eviscerated him as a character), Bucky/Winter Soldier/Captain America (who I felt had just found his stride with the shield and the flag, before they tripped him up again), Hawkeye/Ronin/Clint Barton (who they seem unsure what to do with since he came back from the dead), Iron Fist (who had his own series for just long enough it went downhill before being canceled), or even Catman (so, hey, at least Secret Six is good).  I'm a sucker for a couple comic underdogs, and I've been fans of theirs for years and years.  When they get the limelight, I cheer, but I also cringe, because I always wonder if the current writer is as big a fan as I am, or if one of my favorites is about to get poleaxed because they think no one cares.

Everyone is someone's favorite character.

The same is true in the 22+ year metaplot we've got here at Shadowrun, and we're aware of it.  So while here just in casual conversation on the internet we might seem flippant or light-hearted about a casual death, please know that we're not.  The book was delayed because writers are taking their time and getting it right.

[Otakusensei]

To build off your analogy, watching the changes in the Shadowrun metaplot feels like watching the kids at the local comic shop come in and replace all the writers at Marvel for a year.  Things are inconsistent, continuity suffers and the over all feel is shoddy.  It's like I'm watching poorly produced fan fiction and netbooks getting published.

Bad choices are bad choices, even if you didn't make them or you feel they were the only choice that could be made.  Less people care about Shadowrun today than ever before, and for exactly the same reasons that someone would think damaging the metaplot and confusing the fanbase is a good plan in the scramble to make up for CGL's own inability to produce quality product on time for GenCon.  A splat books of stats for famous characters inherited by the current publisher is weak tea.  Sure it'll make some waves, so will killing off a character in a position of power that was the focus of a series of books.  But making waves is pointless when you're so far out of your depth.

CGL is making a poor run at wearing daddy's clothes and pretending that everything is professional and on the level.  After looking away for the better part of six months I come back and find that nothing has changed.

Yes, haters gonna hate.

See you in another six.

[Stahlseele]

Everyone is someone's favorite character.

Everybody but Aquaman. Aquaman can talk to fish.

Otherwise, when freelancers(note the plural here) come out and SAY that they don't care about a character and then SAY that they killed them off because to them it SEEMED like everybody else did not either . .
Then that is just not right.
Aina, even if NOBODY had cared about her, was STILL one of the top 5 powerplayers in shadowrun . .
She was an immortal elf and if she was not as powerfull than Har'lea Quinn, she technically was MORE powerfull than him, because SHE had her own AA or tripple A MegaCorp to commandeer after The Nadja vanished . .
And because she, herself, could influence Caimbeul to do what she wanted too . . now FROSTY is the ONLY FRAGGING PERSON who has SOMEWHAT of an influence on him.
And as has been said, he is more powerfull than several adult and some great dragons . . And now somebody went and killed his lover/friend/comrade for literally hundreds, if not thousands of years . .
Go find Lofwyrs nest, show it to him. then show a steamroller driving over the eggs. The outcome would not be much different than this.
Those are things to be considered in such circumstances, even if nobody cares about her. Her death has in universe consequences damn it!
If it was not in the fight against the horrors or because of something she got pulled into because of Harlequin, then he will do what he can and what he wants to find who is responsible this and make them suffer for it.

[CanRay]

One lesson I wish comic writers would learn, and something I muttered under my breath all through the last several years of sprawling crossovers, retcons, heroes turning out to be Skrulls, heroes turning into assholes over Superhuman Registration, etc, etc, is simply this:  everyone is someone's favorite character. 

Even Kane has fans.

...

Somewhere.

[Smirnov]

Hopefully when a few upcoming publications hit shelves, folks can see that we're really not being as casual and flippant about Aina's death as it may appear right this second.  Due to some unfortunate delays, the production schedule got shuffled around a little bit, and I think it pretty much came down to "we will NOT delay Street Legends," so things got put out in the wrong order (in the interest of having something big and awesome at GenCon).

Was leaving out that sentence considered an option? It doesn't seem that Aina's death had any impact on Nadja's description, but that would have left some intrigue for the upcoming book.

And I agree with Stahlseele, that's practically what I wanted to say.

Even Kane has fans.

...

Somewhere.

He's quite popular down here %)))

[CanRay]

He's also big in Japan.

Then then again, who isn't? 

...

Yes, I know, the special hell...

[Stahlseele]

He's also big in Japan.

Then then again, who isn't? 

...

Yes, I know, the special hell...

Alphaville isn't.

[Longshot23]

Everyone is someone's favorite character.

Everybody but Aquaman. Aquaman can talk to fish.

Otherwise, when freelancers(note the plural here) come out and SAY that they don't care about a character and then SAY that they killed them off because to them it SEEMED like everybody else did not either . .
Then that is just not right.
Aina, even if NOBODY had cared about her, was STILL one of the top 5 powerplayers in shadowrun . .
She was an immortal elf and if she was not as powerfull than Har'lea Quinn, she technically was MORE powerfull than him, because SHE had her own AA or tripple A MegaCorp to commandeer after The Nadja vanished . .
And because she, herself, could influence Caimbeul to do what she wanted too . . now FROSTY is the ONLY FRAGGING PERSON who has SOMEWHAT of an influence on him.
And as has been said, he is more powerfull than several adult and some great dragons . . And now somebody went and killed his lover/friend/comrade for literally hundreds, if not thousands of years . .
Go find Lofwyrs nest, show it to him. then show a steamroller driving over the eggs. The outcome would not be much different than this.
Those are things to be considered in such circumstances, even if nobody cares about her. Her death has in universe consequences damn it!
If it was not in the fight against the horrors or because of something she got pulled into because of Harlequin, then he will do what he can and what he wants to find who is responsible this and make them suffer for it.

And Harlequin coming out to 'play' is a cue for most PC-level shadowfolks to either hide in a bunker, skip continents, or get on his good side.

Now there's an idea . . .

[CanRay]

A third Harlequin adventure would rock very, very hard!