Including the 4rth Corporate War or not... ramifications and alternative solutions...
I tried this in a previous thread, but it got utterly derailed quickly...so this is my second attempt...
I have held, since the beginning, that instead of trying to further the timeline from Cyberpunk 2020, they (both R.Tal and CDPR) should instead reboot the game. Using the same timeline as see in the 2020 books, but stretching it out so that where it ends on year 2020 is actually 2077. This alllows the tech and feel, and most importantly, the plausibility, of the 2020 setting, to be present in 2077, and for the more advanced tech, such as cyberenetics, including full conversions, and Direct Neural Interface to not only exist believably, but to also have legacy... Cybernetics, nanotech, and bioware are not only commonplace, but they have been perfected over generations... allowing them to be not only prevalent, but have history. Full Conversion Packages have generations behind them....
This type of reboot also allows for the update of some of the outdated concepts on Cyberpunk 2020, like ridiculously expensive cellphones, to updated and pushed forward seamlessly.
It also means that the setting would no longer be an alternate reality, with the point of divergence being 1990... which is something that could get really confusing down the road... "what... you mean to tell me I am playing is a what if past, pushed forward to a what if future?" What do you mean 9-11 never happened? What do you mean 15 years ago a massive quake hit and put Los Angeles under water? What do you mean instead of going to war in the middle east that the middles east nuked itself to glass back in the 90's and instead we went to war with south America.... twice.... and when we lost the second time we left all of our people behind who had to walk home.... and that the Colombians detonated a nuke in Manhattan????????" I don't remember any of that shit... but now the game is in the future........ what the fuck is going on? Where are my pants?"
Do you see the confusion this is going to cause?
However, CDPR and Mike have both stated that the corporate war will be included....
Keeping the 2020 timeline as is, and expanding it 57 years into the future, which seems to be the way they are going... means the whole game is still an alternate timeline, and, its going to make for some weird tech, that may end up taking the game way too far into star trek territory, leaving us with the V3 problem all over again... This is what terrifies me.... this scenario could in fact have me dropping all support for the game and crawling into a closet somewhere to weep...
However, I have a solution, a compromise between the two schools of thought.... one that will make the fans of 2020 happy, and one that will allow Mike and CDPR to move forward with their vision, without skewing the mood and feel of the setting to harshly...
They could do both.... reboot the setting, starting the timeline in 2020, keep the events from the timeline, and include the 4rth corporate war if they must, but having those events of the timeline taking place between 2020 and 2077..... this will keep technology from getting too far advanced, while at the same time allowing them to keep the timeline, including the 4rth corporate war, in place... just with the dates altered so it will no longer be an alternate history, and the tech and feel stays at the same level as CP 2020, which is what made it so popular....
I tried this in a previous thread, but it got utterly derailed quickly...so this is my second attempt...
I have held, since the beginning, that instead of trying to further the timeline from Cyberpunk 2020, they (both R.Tal and CDPR) should instead reboot the game. Using the same timeline as see in the 2020 books, but stretching it out so that where it ends on year 2020 is actually 2077. This alllows the tech and feel, and most importantly, the plausibility, of the 2020 setting, to be present in 2077, and for the more advanced tech, such as cyberenetics, including full conversions, and Direct Neural Interface to not only exist believably, but to also have legacy... Cybernetics, nanotech, and bioware are not only commonplace, but they have been perfected over generations... allowing them to be not only prevalent, but have history. Full Conversion Packages have generations behind them....
This type of reboot also allows for the update of some of the outdated concepts on Cyberpunk 2020, like ridiculously expensive cellphones, to updated and pushed forward seamlessly.
It also means that the setting would no longer be an alternate reality, with the point of divergence being 1990... which is something that could get really confusing down the road... "what... you mean to tell me I am playing is a what if past, pushed forward to a what if future?" What do you mean 9-11 never happened? What do you mean 15 years ago a massive quake hit and put Los Angeles under water? What do you mean instead of going to war in the middle east that the middles east nuked itself to glass back in the 90's and instead we went to war with south America.... twice.... and when we lost the second time we left all of our people behind who had to walk home.... and that the Colombians detonated a nuke in Manhattan????????" I don't remember any of that shit... but now the game is in the future........ what the fuck is going on? Where are my pants?"
Do you see the confusion this is going to cause?
However, CDPR and Mike have both stated that the corporate war will be included....
Keeping the 2020 timeline as is, and expanding it 57 years into the future, which seems to be the way they are going... means the whole game is still an alternate timeline, and, its going to make for some weird tech, that may end up taking the game way too far into star trek territory, leaving us with the V3 problem all over again... This is what terrifies me.... this scenario could in fact have me dropping all support for the game and crawling into a closet somewhere to weep...
However, I have a solution, a compromise between the two schools of thought.... one that will make the fans of 2020 happy, and one that will allow Mike and CDPR to move forward with their vision, without skewing the mood and feel of the setting to harshly...
They could do both.... reboot the setting, starting the timeline in 2020, keep the events from the timeline, and include the 4rth corporate war if they must, but having those events of the timeline taking place between 2020 and 2077..... this will keep technology from getting too far advanced, while at the same time allowing them to keep the timeline, including the 4rth corporate war, in place... just with the dates altered so it will no longer be an alternate history, and the tech and feel stays at the same level as CP 2020, which is what made it so popular....
