Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => The Secret History => Topic started by: RHat on <01-15-13/0505:34>
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Okay, so, supposedly in the plot of the Shadowrun Online game, one of the Big 10 is going to fall. I've seen people speculating on which one, saying that it will be this one or that for this reason or that. They seem to be ignoring the following:
In the end, it will mean the downfall of one of the megas and it will be up to the players to decide which one it is.
It is not determined yet. Now, it's possible (and perhaps likely) that it will be between two of them, but it's possible (though perhaps less likely) that all 10 will be up on the chopping block - and I've seen precious little speculation on possible reasons. So, to start some off here:
Ares: They're messing around with bugs, this could bite them hard.
Aztechnology: Has earned the ire of dragons, and is caught in a war with Amazonia. They might ust wind up spread too thing, or push something too far, and be destroyed for it.
Horizon: Under attack from both technomancers and spirits. Given that some new Dissonant threats (judging by the teasers) seem to be coming around for SR5, Resonant entities might be getting stronger too. Alternatively, the spirits attacking Horizon might get themselves some allies.
Saeder-Krupp: The Dragon Civil War might just cost Lofwyr his empire.
That's what I've got for now, anyways.
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Renraku. They have been up o something for awhile now, history says that when renraku is upto something, it always blows up in their faces.
Wuxinf will not fall. Too new, need their time to shine.
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S-K won't fall. Lofwyr may be full of pride, but he will stop before total defeat, so he can strike again later.
Aztechnology may or may not fall depending on how things go with Ghostwalker and Sirrurg. But I'm not betting on them going away entirely. Just smacked around a bit.
Renraku is up to something, but when they're up to something it usually takes decades for it to finally blow up in their faces. No, they'll likely be ok.
Wuxing, Evo, Shiawase, Mitsuhama, and NeoNET all have internal issues, but nothing critical at the moment. They aren't going away.
No, the only possible choices are Horizon and Ares.
Horizon has bet a lot of their reputation on the Az-Am war, and has been dirty dealing with technomancers, AIs, and free spirits, causing those groups to go into a guerrilla war against them. As the newest of the AAAs, everyone else (from the other AAAs to all those hungry AAs) wants to knock them down a peg, since they're the low hanging fruit of the Corporate Court. Definite problems await them if the techno/AI faction manage to break into the Consensus, like it seems they're going to.
Ares. Oh Ares. The biggest mistake Knight ever made was in rushing the reorganization of Ares following the butchering of Cross. In trying to draw everything under his control, he allowed his rivals to take over significant chunks of his empire. And they intend to fight him every step of the way. Plus, he's under the delusion that bugs can be tamed, and can even be used as weapons. Between massive internal divisions, and the instant global reaction people will have with the headline that Ares is an insect hive, Ares is the one most likely to fall.
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There're some post related to this topic in SRO forum. I link them. Check them out if you're curious:
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/24381/which-megacorp-you-are-aiming-at-lets-paint-the-target-active-voting-welcomed#Item_34
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/17242/which-mega-do-you-think-will-go-down/p1
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I know which one I'd pick, but, there's no predestinationon this one that I know of. I've been trying to figure out how each might be put into a position for nullification, should it come to it. Some of these are harder than others, obviously. :)
But as far as I know, nobody's safe on this one.
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There're some post related to this topic in SRO forum. I link them. Check them out if you're curious:
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/24381/which-megacorp-you-are-aiming-at-lets-paint-the-target-active-voting-welcomed#Item_34
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/17242/which-mega-do-you-think-will-go-down/p1
Any chance that the shadowrun.com forum gets a general overhaul any time soon? The design is just off :\
I dunno... can't believe if SK is even open to discussion. Can't really see that and neither do I think Aztlan will be chosen to fall. Those two are just too iconic as far as I am concerned.
My bet is on either Renraku or Mitsuhama. Just a feeling :)
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There're some post related to this topic in SRO forum. I link them. Check them out if you're curious:
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/24381/which-megacorp-you-are-aiming-at-lets-paint-the-target-active-voting-welcomed#Item_34
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/17242/which-mega-do-you-think-will-go-down/p1
Any chance that the shadowrun.com forum gets a general overhaul any time soon? The design is just off :\
I dunno... can't believe if SK is even open to discussion. Can't really see that and neither do I think Aztlan will be chosen to fall. Those two are just too iconic as far as I am concerned.
My bet is on either Renraku or Mitsuhama. Just a feeling :)
Dude, it's not a single predetermined corp. Now, it might be between two, but it's kind of fun to speculate on causes and consequemces for all 10.
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Dude, it's not a single predetermined corp. Now, it might be between two, but it's kind of fun to speculate on causes and consequemces for all 10.
Yeah, dude, I'm aware of that as I happen to be from austria and I know some people from cliffhanger productions from playing SR3 together ::)
Just throwing out my two cents you know...
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Dude, it's not a single predetermined corp. Now, it might be between two, but it's kind of fun to speculate on causes and consequemces for all 10.
Yeah, dude, I'm aware of that as I happen to be from austria and I know some people from cliffhanger productions from playing SR3 together ::)
Just throwing out my two cents you know...
Fair enough. But you're sort of ruling out a couple of the ones that are in more precarious positions. And, frankly, the impact of SK or Aztechnology falling could be incredible, metaplot wise. I'm curious what you would expect to be the reason for Renraku or Mitsuhama to fall, though.
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I'm doubtful that Saeder-Krupp is going to be collapsing - it hasn't been getting in enough peoples' way to compensate for their tendency to be ridiculously prepared (such as for the second Matrix crash). Horizon on the other hand has an excellent spin department but has been looking like they're laying their necks on the chopping block.
Ares is definitely in for some trouble, but I also doubt that they're going to lose AAA status. Renraku and Mitsuhama have had their chance to shine but also haven't been nearly as strained as others, so while I'd drop them down to shake up the whole corporate court, I doubt it's going to happen. As long as they go more into the other corporations - while I don't care drastically if Ares remains the big deal megacorp they are, I'd like to see more activity (and misadventures) revolving around the other corps. Maybe we'll find out who Sony is part of - or if they're been pulling strings all along. No, really, look at them, they're an evil megacorp now, no way are they not going to be an evil megacorp in the '70s.
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I'm doubtful that Saeder-Krupp is going to be collapsing - it hasn't been getting in enough peoples' way to compensate for their tendency to be ridiculously prepared (such as for the second Matrix crash). Horizon on the other hand has an excellent spin department but has been looking like they're laying their necks on the chopping block.
Figure that if something happens to Saeder-Krupp, it will be because parties involved in the Dragon Civil War decided it was a good way to strike at Lofwyr. Hidden Fictions show him as ramping up to go after Alamais, now, so things are going to blow up on that score.
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I love it when people discuss these things like they're real and not subject to the agendas and whims of writers.
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Dude! Don't ruin the suspension of disbelief!
Ares is still my hot bet. The bug inflitration gets so bad that the CC does what it needs to do, or the UCAS does, usingf its shedim special forces team. ARES is done, but perhaps its 'too big to fail' and a new corp rises from its ashes...
Or Horison falls, subject to a coordinated attack by the technomancers, triggering a global crack down on the techies, ushering a darker, more paraniod atmosphere on the streets...
Or renraku does whatever its doing in thge CAS and triggers a response...
Or...
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I love it when people discuss these things like they're real and not subject to the agendas and whims of writers.
For purposes of putting the MMO together, I think (should it be manageable) that it would be better to have it be fully open-ended - drives player interest more, but more importantly it creates this huge sense of agency; if your actions will shape the game world in such an open-ended way, it really lends itself to that sense of impact. I'd be curious to see how big the anti-Aztech contingent got, too.
Though, I can see where that would be less awesome from a writer's perspective.
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I love it when people discuss these things like they're real and not subject to the agendas and whims of writers.
This. Just don't tell r-hat.
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I love it when people discuss these things like they're real and not subject to the agendas and whims of writers.
Well, you want to at least be HONEST about it. If people pick up the next book and see "S-K stock drops by 99%! Spinrad Industries snatches BMW from under Lofwyr's claws! S-K folds!" then, well, they're gonna be tiiiicked.
On the other hand, if you take several books to say things, like "Due to the Dragon Civil War, all corporations associated with dragons are seeing their sales, and stocks, take a dive ... none so hard as Saeder-Krupp", and "The Orange Queen has been targeting Lofwyr assets all over the planet ... including some we didn't know about!" and "Spinrad seems intent on knife-fighting Saeder-Krupp all over Europe, but Lofwyr's too distracted to fight back" and so on, then you set the stage.
But since you need Chekov's Gun out there to be fair, people love trying to find the clues and guess where things are headed.
As opposed to, say, Agatha Christie novels, where they withhold some vital clue, only sharing it when she's cracking the case, and you're all, like, "Well DUH. If you bastards would have TOLD me that, I could have solved it too!"
Haaaaaate it when authors do that to me.
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Isn't it about time for NEONet to get a new name, again? ;D
I know where I'm aiming when I get the Shadowrun MMORPG. :P
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I want Ares to go down. Bugs should be treated with extreme prejudice. Bugs with access to orbital weapons systems even moreso.
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I want Ares to go down. Bugs should be treated with extreme prejudice. Bugs with access to orbital weapons systems even moreso.
Bah, it was time the Cockroaches had their shot anyhow...
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I love it when people discuss these things like they're real and not subject to the agendas and whims of writers.
This. Just don't tell r-hat.
Right. Because there's no way for me to be completelty aware of that. I couldn't possibly be the case that I don't see that as grounds for enjoyable speculation, which is the purpose of the thread. Nor is it the case that I pointed out that the notion of all 10 being on the chopping block is unlikely, and just being used to frame the topic for the sake of fun.
And unless you want to say something constructive, that's all I'll be saying to you here.
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I love it when people discuss these things like they're real and not subject to the agendas and whims of writers.
This. Just don't tell r-hat.
Right. Because there's no way for me to be completelty aware of that. I couldn't possibly be the case that I don't see that as grounds for enjoyable speculation, which is the purpose of the thread. Nor is it the case that I pointed out that the notion of all 10 being on the chopping block is unlikely, and just being used to frame the topic for the sake of fun.
And unless you want to say something constructive, that's all I'll be saying to you here.
Please do not ruin this thread . I really enjoy the topic and the speculation... Not please continue for my entertainment 8)
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Much as I hate bugs (really, I wish SR would just be about politics, corporate intrigue and how the world adapts to increasing levels of magic and technomancy), an Ares bug infestation makes most sense.
Ares gets blown to pieces, the rest of the AA and AAA's fight over what's to be salvaged from the company, its subsidiaries and the (bug) research, creating a large amount of job opportunities for Shadowrunners all over the planet.
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It's honestly going to be difficult to do away with one of the Big 8 - yes, I said that deliberately - without somehow replacing them with something built on their bones, the way Novatech-then-NeoNET was built on the bones of Fuchi, with Shiawase and Renraku absorbing the remnants. (Evo doesn't count; it's just Yamatetsu rebranded.) I hope it's Horizon - in part because I really seriously feel that any corporation that's that touchy-feely-everyone-decides deserves to be burned with nuclear fire - but unfortunately it sounds like those of us who aren't going to play the MMORPG aren't going to have a voice in this.
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Indeed, getting rid of one of the original Court members would require, literally, an Omega Order that was carried out to the fullest extent. Wuxing and Horizon would just need to get knocked down a peg or twenty. However, with Ares having internal problems, as well as having bug problems, they are the one of the Big 10 that is most likely to get a full Omega Order going against them. If there's one thing all the Powers That Be (except Knight) can agree on, its that bugs are bad. If the infestation of Ares is made public, they're dead, period.
Of the original court members, only Aztechnology has any real problems right now, though they have a host of well-deserved enemies. Their fortunes will literally depend on what happens with Sirrurg and Ghostwalker.
Horizon is definitely creepy, but I don't think they're going to get the axe, unless the technomancer/AI alliance tears it apart. Which is a possibility, granted.
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Azech has always been around as the big baddies and it's a role that will be required in the future. Ares is unique in being the 'murrican corp.
My money is on one of the Japancorps, the territory is still fairly crowded and they are all somewhat interchangeable.
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Indeed, getting rid of one of the original Court members would require, literally, an Omega Order that was carried out to the fullest extent.
What can happen however, is one the other AAA taking over a weakened one of the seven founding corporations. It's not going to be cheap, but AAA are supposed to have more money than most if not any other corporations on Earth, so they would be able to make the best offers.
If the corp taking over is a founder, it could change nothing beside effectively removing a corporation from the court (though depending on the exact wording of the court charter, it could possibly guarantee that corporation two seats from then on). If it's not a founder, it would guarantee it will remain on the court.
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Has there been any noise on which AA might replace the fallen AAA?
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Has there been any noise on which AA might replace the fallen AAA?
I'd look at Manadyne or one of the biotech firms.
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If the published books are anything of an indication, I would expect Reality, Inc., Nadja Daviar corporation that owns a chunk of Eagle Security, Lone Star and Cavalier Arms (with Jonathon Reed taking a position, since he now appears to be an ally of Daviar). Especially if Ares Macrotechnology was to fall, Eagle and LSSS would greatly benefit from a weakened Knight Errant, and Daviar could, through Gavilan Ventures, be in a position to acquire some worthy assets. Ares and Damien Knight would be removed from the picture, with a new "good american corp" with a focus on security and firearms, and a management that care for all the awakened threat.
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Just as a reminder, in Cybertechnology the OOC text describing cybermancy explained that Hatchetman was given the privilege because he was nearly killed on a run that "virtually saved a megacorp from destruction." And given that there were only four "known" AAA-owned Delta Clinics that could do that work, it could've only been Fuchi, Aztechnology, or Saeder-Krupp. However, it could have been AA Transys Neuronet if they controlled the rumored sixth clinic. But I recall there was a lot of suspicion that it was one of the Fuchi factions, and thus one of their labs.
I think it depends on Priest, and that's a story I can't even begin to recall now without digging into it, and I don't have the time or interest.
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A freelancer with no interest in (re)reading something from Shadowrun... How sad.
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I wouldn't really call myself a freelancer anymore than you might at this point.
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I wouldn't really call myself a freelancer anymore than you might at this point.
Thats a shame.