While this is mostly a post of criticism, let me first express that it is in hopes that it will be seen as *constructive* criticism.
Secondly, let me express that I am most pleased with the aims of 6th Edition - to streamline the game, and make it more accessible, while making the core rulebook smaller.
Anyone I've ever approached about playing Shadowrun (5th Edition) took one look at the size of the rulebook, and their eyes glazed over. I've yet to play an actual game of Shadowrun with any of my friends, because of the size of the rulebook! But, deciphering the 5th Edition rulebook myself, just to try and present the information in a more concise manner, well, it's been a struggle. Not only for myself, but, in presenting a more concise view of the rules to my friends after they have seen the size of the rulebook.
Suffice to say, any attempt to streamline the rules, make the "flow" of the rulebook better, make the rules more concise, and make the rulebook smaller in scope . . .
Is greatly appreciated, and I sincerely thank you for your efforts, I'd love to play Shadowrun 6th Edition with my friends! I love the setting, the possibilities, the basic rules at their core, and the history and lore of the game world.
Where I'd like to talk about criticisms, is, as the thread title infers, is in dealing with the art direction. I will preface to say that I'm a relative newcommer to Shadowrun, after being aware of it for many years, I had yet to delve into it fully until 5th Edition. If anything I say seems noob-ish, it probably is, so, please excuse me. In addition, I'd like to say that I've played the entire Shadowrun PC catalog - SR Returns, Dragonfall, Hong Kong, and the gone-too-son Boston Lockdown. Great games, all of them, with great storylines and gameplay. And, great art direction.
However, from my experience with 5th Edition, and from what I've seen with 6th Edition imagery, I'd like to offer my concern for the art direction of Shadowrun. Certainly, Cyberpunk is a genre that has often proven to be difficult to nail down in terms of artistic representation. There are certainly many ways to do so, and often times, all too soon, such representations can seem dated the more our real world grows closer to bridging the gap between fantasy and reality. Similarly, Shadowrun itself is a unique brand of Cyberpunk with a fantasy twist - there's a lot going on in the game and the game world, which makes it that much more difficult to represent in artwork.
That being said, it almost seems to me that this is exactly what has been represented in Shadowrun atworks, especially in what I have seen in the 6th Edition material. THat is to say, it seems as if there is so much going on there is not really much of a central focus in the artowrk itself. When there is, the central focus is muddied with blurry and often crowded or noisy background images. The world is conveyed perhaps too well - there's too much going on for the eye to take in. In many cases, lines are not clearly defined, nor are colors or shadows. It seems as if to be indicative of concept art, taken from a book chronicling concept art from a movie or television series. It's almost as if the imagery that is being depicted never really solidifies into the archetypical memes or icons that the mind conjures when one contemplates "Shadowrun." All too often, when this does occur, the central theme of the image is bogged down in an overly detailed background - the opposite, from the loud, noisy, soft-defined colors, contours and lines from other images.
With so many iconic ideas, concepts, character archetypes, and scenarios present in Shadowrun and the Shadowrun universe, it seems hardly fitting to call most Shadowrun artwork iconic or archetypical. I'm aware that this could be a biased opinion, given that I'm a relative newcommer to Shadowrun, but also, given the lengthy history of the game itself and the phases it has gone through in terms of art direction. Most cyberpunk artwork is flashy, clean lines, hard angles, and hard shadows. Most cyberpunk artwork is, also, cheesy or dated. In regards to Shadowrun's own brand of cyberpunk, it's a fine line to walk, given the fantasy element - I realize it would be difficult to convey the themes, concepts, archetypes, and icons without ultimately creating cheesy imagery, if done in the typical Cyberpunk style (bright, flashy, clean lines, hard angles, and hard shadows).
The art of Shadowrun has always walked that fine line, so it seems, and from time to time stepped over the line here, or there. But, it has always dared to be more gritty, more grung-y, and more fantasy -oriented (naturally). But, it seems to me, a lot of imagery has been (from book covers to promotional materials to box art to cover art) either muddy and unbalanced, or, not your typical iconic "marketable" material (I say this as a confessed Frazetta fan, you'll be hard-pressed to get more iconic and marketable - and at times, more cheesy - than that!).
That is to say, and I hate to say this about a setting I enjoy as much as Shadowrun, but, I find that the artwork around the PC game line is far superior to the pen-and-paper RPG from which those games are derived.
Am I the only one?
Am I missing something?
Is this what the vast majority of the Shadowrun community has come to appreciate, respect, and expect?
Or, could it be done better? What examples would one give to say, "It would be done better this way" besides the PC game line?
And, again, I do not mean to troll or offend, I am just curious, and also am aware that this could be my own artistic preference / bias.
