If the game leaves no room or offer no hook for character driven sub-plots (friends, lovers, family, ....), I have no base to build anything.
I am with you there. 100%
Well, we run games on DX 11, on multi screen if we like, with a 1080p definition, witgh too much FPS.
Consoles run in DX9, max 720p, and 45 FPS at best.
PC rock where console lag far behind. And the next gen console will still be far behind. Just a question of cost.
BTW, I have 100+ keys on my keyboard and I can map them all. How many buttons on a pad ?
It ain't the buttons on my pad, its the money in my wallet. Upgrading my computer to play the latest games would cost me several hundred dollars, and I would have to stay on top of it. A console is a one time expense, and I don't have to worry about it for at least 5 years. It's just more affordable for me to play on consoles.
Considering Land of the Free was meant to be run with Home of the Brave, and that the GM had all freedom to flesh out any part of the trip wherever the PCs decide to go, I played that more like a "Thelma and Louise" meet "Hardwired" than following the official plot from one fight to the other. Nonetheless, I also edited the aftermath, considering it too binary.
Like I said, it's the only pre-written adventure I have ever run in all my time as a gm. That alone should tell you how good I thought it was. I own pretty much everything there is to own for the game, but at most I just tend to pick bits here and there from pre0gen adventures for use in my own games.
Really ?
Well, I strongly disagree and I found it epic (as did my players). The scope of it was NOT the military display of the power players, but how my players coped with the "hot" war in the second part. That's the way I ran it, and the streets were not forgotten. Maximum Metal was, of course, a great source of inspiration for what the big boys have in store, but nothing in it found its way to the player's hands.
Hey they books were a great idea, the covert operations bits were fantastic. But the moment it escalated into a hot war, the US Mil would have stepped in and stomped em both to the ground. I also really hated the whole "nuking of night city" as canon bit... I know, lots of people dug it, but I never cared for it, and I certainly never found it plausible that anyone involved, or any corporation involved would ever see the light of day again... I guess it just seemd like casual destruction for no real reason...
It turned Arasaka into a cartoon supervillian... at best.... instead of the incredibly slick political and ecominc manipulater and tech powerhouse they had been portrayed as up until then... It painted Militech as even worse...
And really, I just didn't care for the change to the landscape... it bugged me. As I have said before, the NC sourcebook is the best sourcebook of its kind I have ever seen... and it kind of invalidated it...which just irritates me.
And lastly, some of the tech was just a bit too star trek for me... not much of it, but some.
As I said, the books themselves were really cool, I jsut really didn't like the ending.... up until then I was running the ideas out of there with a wild glee.
Remember Me is not supernatural. It's just a conspiracy and requires very talented players to run it. It is not Night's Edge. If I ever wanted supernatural in Cyberpunk, I would have played Shadowrun instead (which is GREAT on that).
However, I enjoyed Grimm Cybertales. They were fun and not so unbelievable.
I think I spoke poorly, and I know I misread you. Remember me was actually one of the few decent books from Ianus, although like all of them the art was just painful to look at. And if I had read your post correctly, I would have seen you suggesting it as a braindance bit, which I could get behind. Instead I though you were suggesting it as the main story arc.... my bad.
It has to be huge.
Hardwired is huge. Neuromancer is huge. Bug Jack Barron is huge. Shockwave rider is huge. Even if the character's motivations are selfish, they do change the world to some extend.
I want an arch plot. Something that implies choices and consequences not only for the PC or their friends, but for some Joes on the other side of the Earth. All the sub-quests and plot may involve the PC personnally, their everyday life and so on (Do I buy Malorian or Sternmeyer ?). But I also want something epic, something worth fighting for and dying for (and finding my everyday lunch does not fall into this category).
But, hey, you just wanted me to say what I did not want in that game
No worries mate, I wasn't trying to poop on your likes and dislikes. I engaged in the conversation with you precisely because you know what you are talking about when it comes to the source material. As such, I consider you a pal, whether you like it or not
Other than that, we just have different tastes... I think epic can be found with saving the world, or without some huge world or game changing event or circumstance... I mean Liam Niesons Throat Punch the movie (Taken) was pretty epic, but it wasn't world changing. The Same goes for Reservoir Dogs, Man On Fire, The Jackal, History Of Violence. Or, more in-genre, Strange Days, Bladerunner, Appleseed, GITS: SAC, Robocop, they are epic, but they aren't world changing...