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LTG Adresses

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Man Who Walks At Night

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« on: <03-11-11/1455:07> »
What happened to the good old LTG addresses you would see in books like Seattle Sourcebook? what does a virtual address look like now?
-Frag you and the hog you rode in on.

Fortinbras

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« Reply #1 on: <03-11-11/1457:22> »
I believe anonymizing your date stamp simply got easier.
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CanRay

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« Reply #2 on: <03-11-11/1514:00> »
LTG =/= Date Stamp.  LTG = 2050s Phone Number.

With CommLinks, you have a "CommCode", and it's a lot more intuitive to use than the old numbers were.  Like looking up a webpage is today.  You get the place's Matrix Site, their info, and their "Contact Us By Tapping Here" ARO.
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Man Who Walks At Night

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« Reply #3 on: <03-11-11/1515:00> »
LTG =/= Date Stamp.  LTG = 2050s Phone Number.

With CommLinks, you have a "CommCode", and it's a lot more intuitive to use than the old numbers were.  Like looking up a webpage is today.  You get the place's Matrix Site, their info, and their "Contact Us By Tapping Here" ARO.

But its no longer listed in description of locations like it used to be in the first seattle sourcebook, I know its not a big deal, but I miss it!
-Frag you and the hog you rode in on.

Bull

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« Reply #4 on: <03-12-11/0412:53> »
I still throw them into Missions on occasion.  They still exist, but it's often much like taking your address book/contact list in your cell phone to the next level.  I don't know the phone numbers of most of my friends anymore.  I used to know a lot of them, but now, I rely on my phone to keep track.  I don;t even see the number, I just see "Friend X" in the contact list and caller ID.

In Shadowrun, CommCode and LTG are, in my mind, the same thing.  It's just COmmCode is the lazy man's version...  If Bull the Ork Decker sends you his COmmCode, you get my little red Ork Smiley icon and the name "Bull", with the LTG embedded in it.  You never see the number.  But, if you wanted to and knew the LTG number, you could still call it.

It's another step in the Iconeracy that is a staple of Cyberpunk and the dystopian future (Basically, Functional Illiteracy because you recognize all the little icons and graphics you need to manipulate your way though every day life).

Bull

Sengir

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« Reply #5 on: <03-12-11/0947:00> »
Shadowrun was created during the BBS era, were you would connect to a board by calling the phone number of the server. That is were the idea of LTG numbers came from, as well as a lot of other matrix elements.

When the new matrix came in 4th Ed, such trademarks of circuit-switched networks were obviously considered slightly outdated and fell by the wayside. Although sometimes I would also like to have them back, not just for the feeling of times when 56k modems were SciFi, but also because the storytelling opportunities offered by rushing though various phone lines to a destination (instead of simply appearing in a node).
« Last Edit: <03-12-11/0948:35> by Sengir »

Man Who Walks At Night

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« Reply #6 on: <03-12-11/1013:19> »
I understand that as per what Bull wrote, LTG's have simply been replaced (and I as well can't remember phone numbers any more) what I'm missing is seeing the replacement fluff - whether its small icons or a nasty looking text "link" :)
-Frag you and the hog you rode in on.

CanRay

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« Reply #7 on: <03-12-11/1133:06> »
Yeah, a "Click Here If You Want To Know More" would be nice.  :P
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Bull

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« Reply #8 on: <03-12-11/1229:09> »
I understand that as per what Bull wrote, LTG's have simply been replaced (and I as well can't remember phone numbers any more) what I'm missing is seeing the replacement fluff - whether its small icons or a nasty looking text "link" :)

Good call.  I'll keep that in mind for stuff I work on.  Mostly in Missions likely, but hey, anythings better than nothing.

Bull

CanRay

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« Reply #9 on: <03-12-11/1233:48> »
Listening to the fans usually isn't a bad idea.

I mean, look at what that Shadowrun video game could have been if they asked us first!
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Bull

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« Reply #10 on: <03-12-11/1336:26> »
You have to be careful listening to the fans on the internet, sometimes though.  They represent a small fraction of the overall fanbase, and because they tend to feed off each other they sometimes end up with very different ideas and opinions about things than the more casual fans.

But...  Sometimes?  These things are a no brainer :)  Good ideas are good ideas no matter who comes up with them :)

*edit* Before someone gets bent out of shape, let me note that I don't mean to marginalize the online fanbase, nor to I mean that they should be ignored.  Just noting that all things need to be taken with a grain of salt, and all developers and writers need to consider the fanbase as a whole, not just one segment of it.  It's like getting all of your news from FoxNews...  You're going to see a skewed political demographic if you do that.
« Last Edit: <03-12-11/1342:28> by Bull »

CanRay

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« Reply #11 on: <03-12-11/1347:30> »
So, the M$ Video Game is Shadowrun as told by FoxNews.  Gotcha.   ;D
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Man Who Walks At Night

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« Reply #12 on: <03-12-11/1714:45> »
You have to be careful listening to the fans on the internet, sometimes though.  They represent a small fraction of the overall fanbase, and because they tend to feed off each other they sometimes end up with very different ideas and opinions about things than the more casual fans.

But...  Sometimes?  These things are a no brainer :)  Good ideas are good ideas no matter who comes up with them :)

Totally agree, I seen enough online games being ruined by developers listening to the vocal minority -  I only ask that its read and considered :)
-Frag you and the hog you rode in on.

Sengir

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« Reply #13 on: <03-13-11/1201:31> »
I understand that as per what Bull wrote, LTG's have simply been replaced
Well, it's more that the whole concept of getting from A to B in the matrix has been handwaved away...
Let's say I finished my purchase in the virtual Stuffer Shack and now want to visit the ticket store of Underworld 93, what do I do? Click a link in my bookmarks, my icon disappears in a puff of smoke and reappears in the target node? Exit the node and head to the destination address though some interconnecting network? Granted, it rarely matters and if it does the GM can easily make something up (iconography is variable, after all), but it would be nice to have some official fluff detailing the process.

LonePaladin

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« Reply #14 on: <03-13-11/1231:56> »
Since your average-Joe Matrix-user is going to be the lazy, impatient type when it comes to doing things online, they'd want fast, fast, fast. When they tap an ARO, they want to be there yesterday. None of these nonsense transitions, just poof and you're there.

If they're doing things in AR, or just using their commlink's display (most people do), then it really doesn't matter. They tap the ARO, and the appropriate page opens up. It's like what a lot of people do nowadays, when they get a new computer. First thing they do is turn off all the little transitional animations when new windows open up. (Me, I leave 'em on. Appeals to my aesthetic sense.)

The guys who go VR? Well, there's a good chance they've got a Reality Filter program, and one of the easiest things to do with it is change the basic views when moving around. So, hackers get to make the transitions look like whatever they want. You want to look like you're zipping through old-style phone lines? Done. A big glowing portal? Easy. A wild ride above the digital wasteland? You got it pal.
It's another step in the Iconeracy that is a staple of Cyberpunk and the dystopian future (Basically, Functional Illiteracy because you recognize all the little icons and graphics you need to manipulate your way though every day life).
Yep. I'm sure that the Sixth World has a lot of people who can't read or write past the "text abbreviations" stage. Everything they do is AROs, pre-rendered icons, and "KTHXBAI".
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