My Cyberpunk 2020 is not Your Cyberpunk 2020
I thought I knew Cyberpunk. I was born in 1979, late compared to a few pros here, but I got to know Cyberpunk 2020 at a very very early age. I might have been 10 or a bit older, when I first delved into the world. Since then, I spent countless nights of my youth playing Cyberpunk, and even at an older age, returning to the world I knew so well. I myself and the crew I played with, and still play with, owned most of the material between us. I thought Cyberpunk was something I knew like the back of my hand.
Discussing threads on these forums have made me realize though, that my 20 odd years in this game don't mean shit when it comes to how the world is perceived by others. I've already made a few mistakes on these forums, thinking I can go around telling people what Cyberpunk 2020 is. As I started to post here, and I read people's responses, I pretty quickly started to realize that I don't know the world they're talking about. Even when I have the books and they have the books, and we're both quoting the same source material.
The picture we have in our head, the feeling we have, of the world that we have played in, or have run a campaign in, isn't necessarily what Cyberpunk 2020 is at all for other people. There's no true Cyberpunk 2020 source material in the form of TV series or movies. There's a crapton of Cyberpunk source material, but not 2020.
Some people here think the world is a dark and dank dystopia where everything is shit; I disagree. For me it was more like a "wtf you kidding me, this is awesome" -kind of a world. Some people say it's anime; I disagree. I've never seen any Cyberpunk live action as anime, even though I fully admit the influences.
So I realize now, finally, that this world is so varied and colorful, that we can all have our own Cyberpunk 2020. I know there's the written description, but that's where it ends. The rest is within our own imagination.
When, or if we get into an argument then, over something pertaining to Cyberpunk 2020, we should look at the RAW; rules as written. Or descriptions as written. We should have a direct quote from the source material. Then we can discuss it, and we will have something to fall back on. Still, I'm sure we will still find ourselves seeing the world in different ways.
Then there are of course the people who never got into Cyberpunk 2020 very deeply, or have never heard of it, but know the Cyberpunk genre (or whatever name you want to use for it.) To you I must say: Cyberpunk 2020 isn't all Cyberpunk. It's a specific thing, and it's very different from quite a few Cyberpunk books, movies and so on.
I guess what I would like to end this rambling on is this: when discussing shit here, just remember, people see things differently, and they're not wrong because of it. I think we can avoid quite a few arguments if we just keep that in mind.
That's all. Peace choombas.
I thought I knew Cyberpunk. I was born in 1979, late compared to a few pros here, but I got to know Cyberpunk 2020 at a very very early age. I might have been 10 or a bit older, when I first delved into the world. Since then, I spent countless nights of my youth playing Cyberpunk, and even at an older age, returning to the world I knew so well. I myself and the crew I played with, and still play with, owned most of the material between us. I thought Cyberpunk was something I knew like the back of my hand.
Discussing threads on these forums have made me realize though, that my 20 odd years in this game don't mean shit when it comes to how the world is perceived by others. I've already made a few mistakes on these forums, thinking I can go around telling people what Cyberpunk 2020 is. As I started to post here, and I read people's responses, I pretty quickly started to realize that I don't know the world they're talking about. Even when I have the books and they have the books, and we're both quoting the same source material.
The picture we have in our head, the feeling we have, of the world that we have played in, or have run a campaign in, isn't necessarily what Cyberpunk 2020 is at all for other people. There's no true Cyberpunk 2020 source material in the form of TV series or movies. There's a crapton of Cyberpunk source material, but not 2020.
Some people here think the world is a dark and dank dystopia where everything is shit; I disagree. For me it was more like a "wtf you kidding me, this is awesome" -kind of a world. Some people say it's anime; I disagree. I've never seen any Cyberpunk live action as anime, even though I fully admit the influences.
So I realize now, finally, that this world is so varied and colorful, that we can all have our own Cyberpunk 2020. I know there's the written description, but that's where it ends. The rest is within our own imagination.
When, or if we get into an argument then, over something pertaining to Cyberpunk 2020, we should look at the RAW; rules as written. Or descriptions as written. We should have a direct quote from the source material. Then we can discuss it, and we will have something to fall back on. Still, I'm sure we will still find ourselves seeing the world in different ways.
Then there are of course the people who never got into Cyberpunk 2020 very deeply, or have never heard of it, but know the Cyberpunk genre (or whatever name you want to use for it.) To you I must say: Cyberpunk 2020 isn't all Cyberpunk. It's a specific thing, and it's very different from quite a few Cyberpunk books, movies and so on.
I guess what I would like to end this rambling on is this: when discussing shit here, just remember, people see things differently, and they're not wrong because of it. I think we can avoid quite a few arguments if we just keep that in mind.
That's all. Peace choombas.
