[Michael Chandra]

"My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a black trenchcoat."

If he was black trenchcoat, the Russians wouldn't get terrified when they find out who he is.

[Silence]

Depends on the nature of his assignments.  Remember, his preferred method of getting the bad guy dead is to get the bad guy's side to do it for him.  That scares the hell out of anyone who ever worked for the KGB.

[All4BigGuns]

I agree that it's not about shaming. It's a taste issue. It''d be like insulting someone for a preference for beer over wine. Also, many GMs make use of both elements. In fact, a very effective technique is to put elements from one of the two main styles in the opposite type campaign. The contrast works well. Making Michael Weston go on a Pink Mohawk mission with Fiona. And yeah, some characters are a certain style, no matter what campaign they are in.

Well, they sure as hell get insulting with it.

[JackVII]

Machete Kills looks like it is going to be hilariously Neon Bloody Pink Mohawk and I love it for that.

[Crunch]

My preference is for "Pink Mohawk" in the cinematics over "Realism" and "rule of cool" over CSI:Shadowrun sense.

I think it's also fair to say that for me Pink Mohawk harkens back to the Cyperpunk roots of SR rather than the recent (and boring as paste in my opinion) tendency to try and turn Shadowrun into a Transhumanist Mission Impossible clone devoid of any story or sense of drama.

Of course the great thing about pen and paper RPGs is that I can play it how I want to and for me that means taking the setting that I love, using the themes from SR 1-3 and Gibson et al, seasoning them with the corners of the game my characters are interested in and get a heady stew. That combination of setting and thematic elements was strong enough to keep me involved through 4E and now that 5E has started to (in my opinion) return the game to it's dystopic roots I'm ecstatic.

[All4BigGuns]

My preference is for "Pink Mohawk" in the cinematics over "Realism" and "rule of cool" over CSI:Shadowrun sense.

I think it's also fair to say that for me Pink Mohawk harkens back to the Cyperpunk roots of SR rather than the recent (and boring as paste in my opinion) tendency to try and turn Shadowrun into a Transhumanist Mission Impossible clone devoid of any story or sense of drama.

Of course the great thing about pen and paper RPGs is that I can play it how I want to and for me that means taking the setting that I love, using the themes from SR 1-3 and Gibson et al, seasoning them with the corners of the game my characters are interested in and get a heady stew. That combination of setting and thematic elements was strong enough to keep me involved through 4E and now that 5E has started to (in my opinion) return the game to it's dystopic roots I'm ecstatic.

I despise taking things the "Mission Impossible" route with a fiery burning passion, but on the Transhuman deal, it's time the setting further evolved toward that and way past time that the dystopic elements and all the 'grime' got wiped away.

[Crunch]

I despise taking things the "Mission Impossible" route with a fiery burning passion, but on the Transhuman deal, it's time the setting further evolved toward that and way past time that the dystopic elements and all the 'grime' got wiped away.

Obviously I disagree. That's not to say that there isn't a place in the marketplace for Transhumanist RPGs (Catalyst even makes one in Eclipse Phase) but SR isn't that place. There's a place for Transhumanism and a place for Cyberpunk, but grafting a transhumanist veneer onto a game with 20+ years of dystopic history seems weak.

Of course, once again, the briliance of RPGs is that you don't have to play my way and I don't have to play yours.

[All4BigGuns]

I despise taking things the "Mission Impossible" route with a fiery burning passion, but on the Transhuman deal, it's time the setting further evolved toward that and way past time that the dystopic elements and all the 'grime' got wiped away.

Obviously I disagree. That's not to say that there isn't a place in the marketplace for Transhumanist RPGs (Catalyst even makes one in Eclipse Phase) but SR isn't that place. There's a place for Transhumanism and a place for Cyberpunk, but grafting a transhumanist veneer onto a game with 20+ years of dystopic history seems weak.

Of course, once again, the briliance of RPGs is that you don't have to play my way and I don't have to play yours.

I just consider it a natural evolution of the setting, and letting it continue to evolve would be better than listening to some diehards that want it to stay as is, which stands a good chance of causing it to stagnate.

[Crunch]

I just consider it a natural evolution of the setting, and letting it continue to evolve would be better than listening to some diehards that want it to stay as is, which stands a good chance of causing it to stagnate.

Thematic consistency doesn't mean stagnation. The plot can evolve and advance just as quickly and with as much novelty in either theme. Changing SR to a transhumanist wonderland just weakens the settings internal consistency and moves it toward the bland tapioca realm of games chasing the latest trend.

[All4BigGuns]

I just consider it a natural evolution of the setting, and letting it continue to evolve would be better than listening to some diehards that want it to stay as is, which stands a good chance of causing it to stagnate.

Thematic consistency doesn't mean stagnation. The plot can evolve and advance just as quickly and with as much novelty in either theme. Changing SR to a transhumanist wonderland just weakens the settings internal consistency and moves it toward the bland tapioca realm of games chasing the latest trend.

Plot evolving isn't the same as the setting evolving. If the setting remains hard and fast set while only the plot advances, that's still stagnation for those that don't do much with the official plot line. The way things started out worked for the late 80's and through most of the 90's, but it's high time that things changed. The setting would be better for it.

[Crunch]

I just consider it a natural evolution of the setting, and letting it continue to evolve would be better than listening to some diehards that want it to stay as is, which stands a good chance of causing it to stagnate.

Thematic consistency doesn't mean stagnation. The plot can evolve and advance just as quickly and with as much novelty in either theme. Changing SR to a transhumanist wonderland just weakens the settings internal consistency and moves it toward the bland tapioca realm of games chasing the latest trend.

Plot evolving isn't the same as the setting evolving. If the setting remains hard and fast set while only the plot advances, that's still stagnation for those that don't do much with the official plot line. The way things started out worked for the late 80's and through most of the 90's, but it's high time that things changed. The setting would be better for it.

No it wouldn't. And again setting can evolve without throwing out the major themes of the game. Making SR a utopic transhumanist setting would make about as much sense as turning it into a giant robot fighting game. The background of the setting just doesn't support the shift.

[All4BigGuns]

I just consider it a natural evolution of the setting, and letting it continue to evolve would be better than listening to some diehards that want it to stay as is, which stands a good chance of causing it to stagnate.

Thematic consistency doesn't mean stagnation. The plot can evolve and advance just as quickly and with as much novelty in either theme. Changing SR to a transhumanist wonderland just weakens the settings internal consistency and moves it toward the bland tapioca realm of games chasing the latest trend.

Plot evolving isn't the same as the setting evolving. If the setting remains hard and fast set while only the plot advances, that's still stagnation for those that don't do much with the official plot line. The way things started out worked for the late 80's and through most of the 90's, but it's high time that things changed. The setting would be better for it.

No it wouldn't. And again setting can evolve without throwing out the major themes of the game. Making SR a utopic transhumanist setting would make about as much sense as turning it into a giant robot fighting game. The background of the setting just doesn't support the shift.

Never did I say to take it to full utopia (Full utopia wouldn't work for anything but Star Trek.), but going to a middle ground wouldn't hurt things in the least.

[RHat]

For the setting to actually evolve, it has to build off the existing base.  Transhumanist technology wouldn't change the basic human motices that are at the core of creating Shadowrun's dystopia.

[Silence]

It's probably like that middle ground for most of the contributing members of society.  Thing is, you're playing a person who has looked at what has to be sacrificed for that comfort, and decided that the cost is just too much.

[All4BigGuns]

For the setting to actually evolve, it has to build off the existing base.  Transhumanist technology wouldn't change the basic human motices that are at the core of creating Shadowrun's dystopia.

Still doesn't stop both from occurring, but the diehards seem intent on trying to keep the status quo on both aspects with ridiculous claims that allowing the setting to evolve on either or both would somehow "completely destroy" the setting entirely.