Jul 7

MNB: Episode 12 (”Life in the Shadows”)

Category: MMOG Nation Broadcast, PnP

This week the MMOG Nation Broadcast tackles a subject near and dear to my heart: Shadowrun. While there are no public plans at the moment to develop an MMO based on the Shadowrun IP, I think it’s something that would enrich the spirit of gamers everywhere. The IP, the setting, even the rules all seem custom-fit to what I see as a modern imperative: online massive gaming. Join myself and Mr. Brent Lassi as we talk about what we’d want to see in an SR MMO. We talk design, content, and the likelihood of this game ever reaching market. Check you later, omae.

References:
Official Shadowrun Website
Shadowrun Wikipedia Entry
Why the Shadowrun FPS Sucked
Shadowrun Game Journal

Music:
- Rise, Origa Ft Shanti Snyder, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig.
- Theme from Wide Angle, Hybrid, Wide Angle.
- Science Friction, Orbital, Snivilisation.
- Antique Toy, Future Sound of London, Dead Cities.
- To Tell the Truth, Yoko Kanno, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig.
- Gonna Rice, Yoko Kanno, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig.
- Mirrorshades, Information Society, Hack.
Used without permission.

1 comment

1 Comment so far

  1. Scott July 7th, 2008 2:12 pm

    I’ll disagree, but mostly because of my decades-old dislike of Shadowrun. I am completely guilty of judging a book by its cover, and in SR’s case, their art (cover and interior) was too kiddie-fied for my tastes. I recently read a SR novel, and while the overall story was OK, the “SR-ness” brought me out of whatever immersion I had in the setting. Changing words “just because we can” got old. It very much seems like a Sesame Street Cyberpunk IP, ie. it’s for kids.

    The underlying concepts behind SR, though, would make for a great MMO. Take the best things SR has to offer, combine them with the best from the Rifts RPG as well (SR’s PnP competitor back in the day) and MMO-ize it all under an original IP.

    Much like I feel Star Trek is also a horrible IP for an MMO (for different reasons than we have here) I can’t help but be completely convinced that an MMO treatment of SR itself would do its fans a disservice and end up as yet another MMO which fails to live up to its potential.