[Critias]

Horizon info, NPCs galore, plot hooks, Vegas, and a little piece of short fiction I hope folks will like...

So, who's got it?  What do you dig about it?  Thoughts?  Talk, people, talk!

[Mirikon]

Still reading through it, but the first chapter on Horizon Today makes me wonder if Horizon hasn't been infiltrated by something or someone that wouldn't find having a megacorporate cult to mold to its will a boon.

[Mirikon]

Still reading. More freaked as I go along. I do not like seeing "Machiavelli" and "Consensus" in two adjoining sentences.

[street.mage]

How much Vegas are we talking here?  Typically I like print products because my computers are older than dirt (I'm working on that, ipad coming within the year), but this Vegas talk is making me itchy to purchase the PDF too.  I must have more knowledge!!!

[Critias]

How much Vegas are we talking here?  Typically I like print products because my computers are older than dirt (I'm working on that, ipad coming within the year), but this Vegas talk is making me itchy to purchase the PDF too.  I must have more knowledge!!!

The Vegas, Baby! chapter is, in and of itself, about twenty pages long.  Some of the plot hooks later in the book also include Vegas in them, though, as does some of the fiction.

[Angelone]

Edit- Scooped by Critias, it's a very solid book so far.

[Critias]

Edit- Scooped by Critias, it's a very solid book so far.

I am quick, like a ninja!

...also, I'm just bouncing back and forth from Firefox to a writing project, killing time every few minutes by scouring the forums for something to do besides be productive.  So you just had bad timing. 

[Angelone]

Bad timing and slow typing, not a good combination. Also a bit of OCD where I was figuring out the page count differences between all the city write ups doesn't make for a quick response.

[Sichr]

zatim dost dobry

[I really like that book, fictions and setting descriptions seems to be compact and research well done so far]

[Prime Mover]

So do we find out finally what's behind Horizon/Consensous?

[Mirikon]

Just what was already said in Corporate Guide. The Consensus is a massive data gathering algorithm, essentially, that predicts what the employees want. The problem, as also hinted in Corporate Guide, is that Horizon employees are becoming more convinced that their corporation is good, so whatever is good for the corporation is good, and to hell with what the rest of the world thinks. If it sounds like a cult, that's because it looks a helluvalot like a cult right now. A cult with the power of a megacorp is something truly nasty. Because of this, the Consensus is shifting, to allow more dirty tricks and other activities 'for the greater good'. And it is clear that they've been throwing Technomancers, AIs, and spirits under the bus for years now. None of those groups are pleased, BTW.

[Sichr]

Ok, Im taking my previous statement back to reconsider it and im not sure if Im going to give this book thumbs up in every case. Just finished first chapter, have a work to do so i can read only sporadicaly, well I can see some serious flaws in Dr. Spins logic chain of events.
It may be me, not understanding this good, ar simply not getting the idea. Well.
Technos wants Horizon to increase pressure on society to increase their law protection (unprecedental, even for Awakened or infected nothing like this exists globaly). They are trying to do so by acting against Horizon. Reminds me Occupy movements
They have a feeling they are being manipulated and used:
Question is...by whom. It is said that Consensus is acting strangely, and this would be such thing...decision to act the way to antagonize with technomancers has to be Consenzus decision, and decision to use Consenzus to manipulate Consenzus must also be Consenzus decision. Since technomancers began to run into Horizon network quite aggresively, they would have been able to point out possible manipulation. Otherwise is force is insignificant...then why even care of them...This IMO is Tail-chasing circle.
This: We have powerfull and resourcefull ally, well lets make him our enemy so we can increase inner coherence of community by turning him into our enemy... doesn`t make too much sense to me, even with the fact Horizon is quite opened society, not some walled fortress with simple border IN/OUT
Well Im not algorithm built on conscience of thousands of people.
I gues there is more to find in teh book Just consider this as a point where I need a bit more clarification...

[Critias]

And it just snagged a solid five-star review over at DriveThruRPG!  That's always a fun thing to see --  http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/100385/Shadowrun%3A-The-Twilight-Horizon -- and in my case, I'm especially pleased with his first point, concerning "Bust."   Since I only ended it like I did because I was already 600+ words over...I'm calling it a win.   

[raggedhalo]

That review is very cool, but it does contain the best typo ever:

the players will be assisting in wonton slaughter

Seattle News-Intelligencer, September 2073: Chinese Restaurant Massacre!

 

[Xzylvador]

That review makes me want to really, really read the book. But I keep hoping that at one point I get a chance to play some of those missions. From the review it looks like some important Shadowrun plot is revealed by playing the missions....
Is it possible to read what happens in the world without gaining unfair insight in the missions if you later end up playing them?

(If, for example, one mission is a datasteal, I would be okay if I knew ahead of time that the data contains information proving that technomancers are in fact a merger between blood magic and insect spirits. I just don't want it spoiled that the data is being hidden in a kitchen drawer in the second house on the right, which is being guarded by 4 guards at the front door, 2 at the back, 10 more can arrive in 3 minutes, the stats of those guards, the security node's stats, what kind of magical defense, but that all that security can be circumvented by kidnapping Jill at the daycare center and forcing the father to bring the data to you.
Knowing that would be cheating. Just knowing how it ends if you play it right might make it slightly less fun, but still plenty of fun and challenging to play the mission.)