Another Problem with an MMO Shadowrun would of course have to be the advancement system. While in the P&P world, it works good, the reality of it is that in the MMO world, it gives Players WAY too much potential to have overpowered characters. The whole point of the game was teamwork but with a very powerful player there would be no need. Eventually you would have a character in the game that was Strong in evreything. The main two things that balanced characters advancement in Shadowrun was the GM who controlled the speed of advancement, and the fact that the death rate was high, and permanent...there were no raise spells.

In an MMO both of these things are removed...the GM is replaced by algarithims...and the permadeath thing (though prized by developers) would spell death for the MMO.

How do we solve this? Replace the original karma system with one thats more expensive? Do we create classes based off of the original archtypes? A level system would kill the game....but not so much a class system...

Permadeath could easily be handled by use of Doc Wagon...of course a higher premium would reduce the death penalty :)

That does raise a very interesting question, P&P games usually don't have upper limits to their characters, and without a GM constantly keeping watch over them it could spell Doom-By-Uber-1337 before you know it.

Then again, the way Shadowrun is designed this may not be as large a problem as one might think. There is a preset Cap on player statistic's that the player can have, and specific classes are detrimentally opposed to each other, Cyborgs for instance have so little essence that they can never be effective mages. But to prevent the eventual jack-of-all-trades a cap on the maximum amount of Karma a player can acquire could allow the players to develope, but only upto a point.

Dispite this, there are many aspects that would supplement this depending on how literal the game is modeled after the Shadowrun rules. Such as the players being able to create their own programs, Cyberdecks, and other gear and equipment. Missions and other ingame effects can also decrease or increase the players statistics to help maintain ingame balance as well, this could work to keep the game flowing well and keep players characters from becoming stagnant.

The question of Death in an MMO setting also has rather harsh consequences. Having perma-dealth is simply not a good idea, since its inevitable that some players will get gang-banged or trapped and then lose everything they own. There can be failsafes such as a certain amount of time that they can still be healed after they 'die', or fall unconcious as it were. This could be from a shaman, a player with medical skill, or being taken to a street-doc for treatment.

There are other available options, The player could choose one of 2 modes, Standard and Hardcore. Standard players can be healed when they die, or choose to respawn at street docs or their spirit guides (wherever they choose, or *bind* to), the downside would be that these characters would have a lower Maximum Karma, and thus can't advance as far as others.

The Hardcore players however would suffer perma-dealth when killed (with the aforementioned failsafes, such as being able to be healed within 5 minutes of death or so), because they die permanently, they also have a much higher Maximum Karma than other characters, and can thus be more powerful (which makes sense because they stand to lose ALOT more).

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Original post by Gyrthok I think i'd perfer drawn Isometric, if for no other reason that whenever i think of Shadowrun i think of the SNES version and its great atmosphere. A 2D Isometric tile engine with drawn graphics would also be easier to create a dynamic environment for and mod on the fly than a 3D environment with rendered terrain, not to mention much lower system requirements. Then again, 3D can do a nice job of creating ambience and effects with dynamic lighting and such, as well as rather unique level layouts that would otherwise not be as visually compelling. I suppose in the end it would depend on the difficulty and preference that its creators would be willing to go for.

Isometric is nice on SNES, but falls flat on PC. Play Eternal-Lands. You'll see what I mean. After some time, the isometric perspective begins to inhibit you from getting full enjoyment from the game. It does for me at least. Eternal-Lands is a 3D world rendered in opengl's orthogonal mode. IMHO, giving the user the option of several different perspectives would be the best solution.

Depends on the game, i can think of a number of games that are pretty good for isometric, UFO Series, Diablo Series, Jagged Alliance 2, and Fallout Series notably. There's also Icewind Dale, these being the ones i've played of course. Having the option for different view modes might be the best way to go as you say, since it would give leeway to the people who might not fully enjoy that particular view.

Another thought on Perma-death has occured to me though. It would work with a level system similar to that of Morrowind. As you level up stats and abilities with Karma, at a certain point it would give you a level. The point of levels would be the cost (in Karma points) to Respawn if you die. So if a player has leveled up enough of his stats to be considered a Lvl 7 Character, it would cost 7 Karma to respawn in the event he dies. This could also work in keeping the game balanced and preventing uber-characters, but as in all things there's room for improvement. ;)

[Edited by - Gyrthok on January 6, 2005 9:11:54 AM]

I like the idea of being able to buy your own amount of protection from Doc Wagon. It fits perfectly with the Shadowrun world, and is a way to hide perma death.

I think that perhaps a good solution would be to add in a "class" system to the game...i personally hate the idea, but classes would solve the issue. I don't want class/levels, but merely class. The way to solve the tank mage problem is to cap the levels (or change the cost) of the other skills that don't belong to thier class....this still allows for ALOT of customization...while balancing out the classes.

It depends on certain aspects, from what i've read on the comprehensive rules in P&P Shadowrun, Mages and other spell casters used to be overpowered because of the vagueness and impracticality of some of the old rules. In the 3rd edition Shadowrun Rule's they've done some extensive reworking on how Magic Users develope, allowing more diverse and gradual magic development of the class system overall, along with a wide variety of types of magic.

Though having players pay for respawns with karma won't prevent Uber-characters, a Cap on the Maximum Karma a player can have overall, mixed with alternate character advancements can work, along with missions/events that alter the players skills/stats. So a player could for example only amass 60 Karma overall, and if he chooses to spread it out then he will be unable to max out any one class or arch-type. Statistics may also effect the players choice of class (which can be mixed when he creates his character).

In some games like Ragnarok Online, characters level up to a certain point, and then transform into a new class. The same could apply to Shadowrun Characters, though this would not be a Key feature, but more of an option of a different character. An example would be a Decker who has amassed so much wealth, implants and skills, that he is able to download his very brain into the Matrix and become an AI, which would allow him to explore new regions of the Matrix. However he would sacrifice his body in the process, only being able to return if someone where to build him a new body out of cybernetic implants, this would create a whole new aspect for the player as he can only exist in the matrix.

That's really neat. Hyper-advanced players could be recognized by their use of elite and rare classes, but wouldn't necessarily be invincible. A sort of lateral apotheosis. I like that very much.

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Original post by Gyrthok Though having players pay for respawns with karma won't prevent Uber-characters, a Cap on the Maximum Karma a player can have overall, mixed with alternate character advancements can work, along with missions/events that alter the players skills/stats. So a player could for example only amass 60 Karma overall, and if he chooses to spread it out then he will be unable to max out any one class or arch-type. Statistics may also effect the players choice of class (which can be mixed when he creates his character).

I mentioned the idea of a karma cap...but I really do not like the idea..its too artificially limiting. I am much more fond of having a multiplyer on skills that don't mesh well with the "class" you're playing. So instead of costing skill x2 it costs skill x3 for skills that don't mesh well.

But as I sit and think about it..the game does have a fairly good system for handling MOST cases of jack of all trades...Essence. It definately keeps you from making a Samurai Mage, and also a Rigger/Mage or a Rigger/Sam. But unfortunately it does NOT keep you from making anyone a Decker. The only thing limiting a decker is his cash flow...its very expensive to keep an up to date deck. But the only thing that's required for a deck is a cheap datajack. But thats beside the point...or maybe it is the point...i'm not sure :)

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In some games like Ragnarok Online, characters level up to a certain point, and then transform into a new class. The same could apply to Shadowrun Characters, though this would not be a Key feature, but more of an option of a different character. An example would be a Decker who has amassed so much wealth, implants and skills, that he is able to download his very brain into the Matrix and become an AI, which would allow him to explore new regions of the Matrix. However he would sacrifice his body in the process, only being able to return if someone where to build him a new body out of cybernetic implants, this would create a whole new aspect for the player as he can only exist in the matrix.

I like the idea...but unfortunately I don't think that sort of advancement system works well for the game world. Personally I think if it was worked at, then the original system would work well, with some tweaking on Karma Point cost.

Though i'm not sure, i think DataJacks and other Decker Accessories also impact Essence in a similar way to Traditional Rigger/Samurai Augmentations, it would depend on whether their grafted onto the characters body or not, and the quality of such a system (maybe external Cyberdecks aren't as fast as ones hardwired into your brain?). Another thing is that Magic cannot be used within the Matrix, so even if a Mage is a Decker it wouldn't effect external combat roles. On top of this, the Mage would have to level up both magic and Decking skills, which would weaken his combat abilities, and the possible impact on his essence with the neccessary implants needed to Jack in. There is also the possibility that certain Decker Implants may conflict with other Implants, like visual and cranial augmentations that Riggers or Samurai's might use, as well as other bodily implants.

In the long run, the player is most likely to aquire ALOT of karma in his carrier. Assuming for the moment that each skill can go no higher than 20, than the player would need approximately 210 Karma to max out one skill, with there being roughly 30-50 skills or more overall spread out over a variety of class types. While a Karma Cap may be artificially limiting, it would take the player a long time to feel that maximum since he'll be consuming Karma to Respawn, and his overall Stats/Karma may be effected by events in the game, ensuring that if any player DOES get there, he'd have to be a die-hardcore player.

The Alternate Advancement system was meant as more of a Perk than a standard form of advancement within the game. In the event that a player does manage to max out his Karma, he would be afforded the opportunity to change into one of these classes, but in order to do so he would have to spend all his karma points, including those he would need to respawn while he undergoes the mission to change into the new class. These new Classes wouldn't neccessarily give the player anything new, but would just change how the players character would exist and what regions he's able to explore. It would also afford him
different needs and necessities to survive, such as an AI who might need to
find a place to hide as corporations are purging the Matrix at the end of the year. ;D

In the end its more of an optional Perk Class for those Uber-Characters who choose to want it, more of a symbolic gesture. Their characters can still be killed as well, this would help to curb any rampant growth in elite character classes.

[Edited by - Gyrthok on January 8, 2005 2:48:14 AM]

The only cyberwear required for a decker is a datajack (0.5 of 6 essence) that is reletively cheap in cost as well. In the game world that datajack is a fairly common one even among the mages. Other cyberwear for deckers is 100% optional, headware memory and the such. There is only one matrix skill and that is computers (and maybe compbuter b/r) This makes everyone able to afford decking (karma wise) ITs big limiting factor was the cost...and that was something the GM had to keep an eye on.

I do like the idea of virtual levels (divide the total skill points a character has by say 5 or so...) Then use this to guage encounters. Its a virtual level in every meaning of the world...it gains nothing for the character except to use as bragging rights.

But this would have varying degrees of success....Mages are karma hogs They use karma for EVERYTHING (learning spells, summoning/maintaining ally spirits, initiating, etc) while other archtypes use little karma and lots of money (Street samurai, deckers, riggers) and finally others are a fine middle ground. (skill monkeys)