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Shadowrun Finds a New Home
After the disastrous Xbox Shadowrun title and the closing of FASA Studios, it's not surprising to see Microsoft pushing the rights to videogames made in the Shadowrun IP off to greener pastures. Their new place of residence, though, is a bit of a pleasant shock: a new company founded by Jordan 'Zapper' Weisman. Gamasutra reports: "FASA, WizKids and 42 Entertainment founder Jordan Weisman has announced, via the website of his newest venture-backed startup Smith & Tinker, that he has licensed the 'electronic entertainment' rights to his MechWarrior, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies properties back from Microsoft ... It is unclear as of yet what form Weisman's plans for these franchises might take. But given the transmedia nature of his recent ventures, and job advertisements asking for experts with Web 2.0 and online game expertise, online world/MMO elements to the company's projects seem likely." Simon Carless has a few extra comments on the news over at GameSetWatch.
As much as I would love to agree, I think a MechWarrior MMO would suffer the same basic problem as any StarWars MMO with the Jedi trait: Nearly everyone would play the game to become a Mech jockey, and people would (perhaps rightfully) cry foul if they were to pay for a MechWarrior game and be unable (or only after epic grinding) to pilot a Mech. What else is there? Elementals on the Clan side maybe, but other than that...
A Shadowrun MMO on the other hand would make perfect sense. The game offers classic magic as well as high-tech weapons, character customization out of the box (implants and magic buffs), a stronger focus on non-fighting professions than the BattleTech universe, different races, cyberspace and hacking, politics, etc. pp. ad infinitum. It's all there already, waiting to be implemented.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
Can someone please stop screwing around and make a Shadowrun RPG?
Wow, I thought that damned Xbox game was going to sink any hope of seeing a decent Shadowrun computer game at any point in the future. Who'd have thought the thing sucking so much would turn out to be the thing that now gives me hope of a decent game being made :)
Crazy talk. A competent GM and players make their own story. All a game needs to do is present the opportunity for adventure and a good kicker for where to go. Shadowrun presents plenty of opportunity in the form of corporate espionage, bodyguarding, investigation, and good old bug (shaman) hunts. The election of the dragon Dunkelzahn as president, his assassination, and his will are great adventure hooks.
Not everyone needs a module to script out and hold the hands of a play group to enjoy a game. In fact, I've always felt that trying to shove a story down the throat of your customers made for games that had no real replay value. (Look at White Wolf's Orpheus for an example. It's by no means a bad game, but it's not playable twice, really.)
Incidentally, Shadowrun had several publisher created adventures for the creatively challenged, so your whole point is moot.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").