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GoneRampant posted:This is one of my favorite missions in the game. After a lot of DMS forcing firefights, having a full area like this where social stealth was encouraged and you could talk your way through the entire area was a gem. This is honestly the biggest reason I feel Hong Kong stands head and shoulders above DMS and Dragonfall - I'd say about 75% of fights can be totally avoided if you're charming enough and know the right things to say. Going quiet is absolutely something you will be able to do in most circumstances. On the flipside, there's enough neat cyberware and good adept poo poo that you can go loud too, if you want.
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Apr 23, 2018 08:53
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KataraniSword posted:This is honestly the biggest reason I feel Hong Kong stands head and shoulders above DMS and Dragonfall - I'd say about 75% of fights can be totally avoided if you're charming enough and know the right things to say. Thanks for reminding me that I never actually finished Hong Kong and desperately need to remedy that.
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Apr 23, 2018 11:55
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I really like this run for several reasons, primarily because of the humanization of the Knight Errant guards and the corporate folks like the ork and the couple buying skillsofts for their son. Like, even that couple seems snobby and uppity, but the man does show some degree of regret for talking like a prick. It's a very small thing, but it's just enough. Like others said, it can be very easy to forget the human element when it comes to runs, be it with guards you mow down, or office clerks whose lives you ruin by breaking into their office and rifling through their poo poo, turning them into a security liability that is immediately terminated. And a lot of moral quandaries in Shadowrun fall completely flat if you forget about that element - you never really stop to think just how many lives you ruin in the average run, even discounting those you murder directly. This run, amongst others, also shows that the most powerful Etiquette would be one that isn't in the game at all - "Wageslave". You can talk Corporate, Academic and whatnot, and get far, but if you really want to talk your way through some dirty runs, being able to speak the wageslave language is the most powerful tool of them all. Because no matter what we're talking in Shadowrun - somewhere, there's wageslaves running it.
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Apr 23, 2018 12:06
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TheMcD posted:I really like this run for several reasons, primarily because of the humanization of the Knight Errant guards and the corporate folks like the ork and the couple buying skillsofts for their son. Like, even that couple seems snobby and uppity, but the man does show some degree of regret for talking like a prick. It's a very small thing, but it's just enough. Like others said, it can be very easy to forget the human element when it comes to runs, be it with guards you mow down, or office clerks whose lives you ruin by breaking into their office and rifling through their poo poo, turning them into a security liability that is immediately terminated. And a lot of moral quandaries in Shadowrun fall completely flat if you forget about that element - you never really stop to think just how many lives you ruin in the average run, even discounting those you murder directly. Yep. Chains and weakest links. You don't get past the scientist who devoted his whole life to a project half as easy as you can handle the poor bastard drawing minimum wage to guard a widget he doesn't even vaguely understand.
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Apr 23, 2018 12:37
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A big improvement over the first game is just how many working stiffs you can talk with. Gives you a perspective about daily life in the sixth world.
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Apr 23, 2018 12:41
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Given a lot of the ways you can talk to wage-slaves and the responses and such, I don't think 'Wage-slave' is a missing etiquette so much as every character already has that etiquette unlisted. It's a thought I wouldn't have had if you didn't mention the wage-slave thing, but it makes too much sense now that I've had it.
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Apr 23, 2018 12:45
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Barton Fink posted:...Jesus. Yeah. I know what it feels
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Apr 23, 2018 12:52
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chiefnewo posted:I like Jana. They do a good job of showing a regular person caught up in all this Shadowrunning crap. She's not really a regular person, though. She's actually damned good with her pistol, and she's got exceedingly good technical skills to rewire a building on the fly like this without alerting the security systems. ETA: Also, as scary as brain surgery on a young child is, it's only different in degree from what's going on right now when you look at upper class families freaking out about their kids getting into the right day care and pre-school. I have no doubt that those same parents would give their kids experimental tech to make sure they could keep up with their fellow UES trust fund babies. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Apr 23, 2018 |
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Apr 23, 2018 13:51
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People already get plastic surgeries for children and those have way more complications than crazy future tech for rich assholes.
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Apr 23, 2018 14:11
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As with all bad runs paying far too little, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. My guess is that James, by virtue of being the dickbaggiest, is being set up for a fall here. Maybe his meeting is actually something our mysterious employers want him to miss, or maybe they need a plodding idiot scapegoat to leave behind so that KE don't flip their poo poo at the dead guards. And yeah, Janna probably has more going on then meets the eye. I'm kinda shocked a experienced shadowrunner like Rosa just took "innocent ol' me is just a innocent ol' person" schtick at face value but I guess plot convenience.
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Apr 23, 2018 16:10
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this is an excellent mission in many regards, and one of them is that it feels the most like an actual first run in a game of Shadowrun complete with "you know this is going to poo poo. the question is when, and how."
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Apr 23, 2018 16:18
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I just want to see muscle-elf suplex James while screaming in frustration in a language none of them understand, is that so much to ask.
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Apr 23, 2018 16:21
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So right now we have at least two LPs of different games with a James who is an rear end in a top hat and hates immigrants.
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Apr 23, 2018 19:09
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SOLarian posted:So right now we have at least two LPs of different games with a James who is an rear end in a top hat and hates immigrants. What's the other one?
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Apr 23, 2018 21:32
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Conot posted:And yeah, Janna probably has more going on then meets the eye. I'm kinda shocked a experienced shadowrunner like Rosa just took "innocent ol' me is just a innocent ol' person" schtick at face value but I guess plot convenience. I guess the intent of the "job interview" is to go along with it, so she is. I doubt you'd get extra points for trying to guess the "real" test, this is all clearly set up this way for a reason.
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Apr 23, 2018 21:53
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SOLarian posted:So right now we have at least two LPs of different games with a James who is an rear end in a top hat and hates immigrants. What's the other?
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Apr 23, 2018 22:02
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Soylent Pudding posted:What's the other? The Dark Id is doing an LP of Koudelka here. It's pretty good!
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Apr 23, 2018 23:05
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habeasdorkus posted:She's not really a regular person, though. She's actually damned good with her pistol, and she's got exceedingly good technical skills to rewire a building on the fly like this without alerting the security systems. Of course, studies have indicated good kindergartens and pre-schools do very little for a kid's future prospects, but when you've got a lot of money, you can afford to throw some at longshots. And the other James is in Koudelka.
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Apr 23, 2018 23:06
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I'm convinced the dickbag mage and the out of her depth dwarf gal are there specifically to make you forget the elf is even there, same reason the guy speaks foreign. Totally expecting him to suddenly do something awesome, something along the lines of turning into a dragon or something.
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Apr 24, 2018 00:16
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it never occurred to me think janna was some kind of spy
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Apr 24, 2018 00:29
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AriadneThread posted:it never occurred to me think janna was some kind of spy That's exactly the sort of quality you look for in a good spy.
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Apr 24, 2018 00:47
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KataraniSword posted:That's exactly the sort of quality you look for in a good spy. 
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Apr 24, 2018 00:49
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KataraniSword posted:That's exactly the sort of quality you look for in a good spy. ...are- are you a spy?
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Apr 24, 2018 00:55
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The most valuable thing in a spy's arsenal is 'Hey buddy, I forgot my keys, can you swipe me in?'
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Apr 24, 2018 00:59
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Night10194 posted:The most valuable thing in a spy's arsenal is 'Hey buddy, I forgot my keys, can you swipe me in?' That's always a shadowrunner's plan A. When that fails then out come the assault rifles and laser axes.
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Apr 24, 2018 01:08
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Social engineering is the ultimate hacking technique. Unless you have a military grade cyberdeck with high end programs.
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Apr 24, 2018 01:12
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This is also true in real life.
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Apr 24, 2018 01:31
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One of my favorite things to do in the tabletop was use the Matrix, not to directly steal the thing I want, but to essentially create props that made the social engineering easier. Fake intelligence reports, fake identities that sort of thing. "Listen buddy see this badge? I'm a KE Captain and I'm telling you that Shadowrunners are coming here to steal the asset and we need to evacuate it and you RIGHT NOW. Now please step into this van. Don't mind the troll who is 90% chrome and wearing a pink mohawk, that's Officer Perkins, he's fresh off an undercover assignment."
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Apr 24, 2018 02:30
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chiasaur11 posted:Of course, studies have indicated good kindergartens and pre-schools do very little for a kid's future prospects, but when you've got a lot of money, you can afford to throw some at longshots. And when you factor in all the underperforming and troubled students who get kicked out and the greater financial resources, private schools do worse than public schools. But then a good education isn't their purpose, it's all about networking with other children of privilege.
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Apr 24, 2018 02:30
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Making money and networking for rich people? Sounds like what the parents are worried about is working perfectly to me in the Shadowrun universe!
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Apr 24, 2018 03:26
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ChaseSP posted:Social engineering is the ultimate hacking technique. Unless you have a military grade cyberdeck with high end programs. In later editions you can hack people's brains (If they're foolish enough to connect it to the internet, which many people are). Achieve your social engineering goals by first installing a personafix on them!
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Apr 24, 2018 03:52
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The Lone Badger posted:In later editions you can hack people's brains (If they're foolish enough to connect it to the internet, which many people are). Achieve your social engineering goals by first installing a personafix on them! This also happens at this point in the timeline, at least in the fluff. One of the megacorps (Fuchi maybe?) top level systems don't have black ice that kills through lethal biofeedback. Instead, the decker feels a little funny afterwards, but nothing to worry about. Shortly afterwards, they find themselves showing up at the nearest corp office confessing their crime, telling them everything they know, and volunteering to perform a suicide mission in penance.
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Apr 24, 2018 04:08
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I dont know posted:This also happens at this point in the timeline, at least in the fluff. One of the megacorps (Fuchi maybe?) top level systems don't have black ice that kills through lethal biofeedback. Instead, the decker feels a little funny afterwards, but nothing to worry about. Shortly afterwards, they find themselves showing up at the nearest corp office confessing their crime, telling them everything they know, and volunteering to perform a suicide mission in penance. Reminds me of this hacker in Japan. Got pretty famous for a bit, hit some megacorps. At least, if it was all one guy. In the one video of him, you can see his face. Basically I thought what I'd do is pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes, which should have made him easy to identify, but nobody seemed to be able to spot him. Kinda spooky.
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Apr 24, 2018 04:28
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chiasaur11 posted:Of course, studies have indicated good kindergartens and pre-schools do very little for a kid's future prospects
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Apr 24, 2018 04:53
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chiasaur11 posted:Of course, studies have indicated good kindergartens and pre-schools do very little for a kid's future prospects, but when you've got a lot of money, you can afford to throw some at longshots. Throw enough money at any Ivy League school and they'll accept your failson. Just ask Jared Kushner. And add an encephalon and skillwires and tutors to help them pass standardize tests for future J-Kushes.
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Apr 24, 2018 05:01
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Also your base squad in Berlin is competent! They're nto the best but they can handle most things that one would expect a reasonable Shadowrun world to throw at them (reasonable not being 'we think a dragon is personally cheesed wtih us, but they're also smart enough to 'we need to get as many guns as possible to deal wtih this, scattering and vansihig is a no-go') so there's that.
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Apr 24, 2018 05:09
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Xander77 posted:Only if you stop trying to get them into good schools after kindergarten and pre-school. It's more that waiting to spend the big money until the kid's in elementary school proper doesn't seem to do any harm. That's a tip for all you billionaires out there! If you save money on kindergarten bribes, that's more money available for the actually important college bribes.
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Apr 24, 2018 05:39
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Conot posted:And yeah, Janna probably has more going on then meets the eye. I'm kinda shocked a experienced shadowrunner like Rosa just took "innocent ol' me is just a innocent ol' person" schtick at face value but I guess plot convenience.
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Apr 24, 2018 14:59
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When you think about it, the guards are the people you can trust the most on this mission. That's a thing to cherish. Sorry for having you shocked, my only friend K-E guard.
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Apr 24, 2018 15:40
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thing that has me convinced Janna isn't who she says is that she killed those guards without a care unless thats just a gameplay thing and their alive
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Apr 24, 2018 16:35
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