"Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, Preview #1"

Some Game Fic, a very brief introduction to the concept of SR RP, a glossary, & some adverts for SR4 products.

I'm lost, how is this a preview of anything but whatever fiction line is going to be spun around the game? It's not a Preview of the important thing (THE GAME) in any way, shape, or form.

Please note, I only gave this ONE star because I can't find a way to make the system recognise NONE as a vote.

(The following is my OPINION & all relevant disclaimers apply, I do not believe I am misrepresenting the product, but if I am it's not intentional.)

THE STUPID IT BURNS!!!

No, Really.

This product looks good on the surface (i.e. Blurb/Product Description) but, In My Arrogant Opinion (if it was Humble I wouldn't be posting it here would I), falls over somewhat in the execution.

Some of the things I have issues with are: 1) The use of chemically powered ("ElectroThermal-Chemical" & Rocket/Gyrojet) projectile weapons when electromagnetically (Gauss/Railgun) propelled slugthrowers are available, with the latter presumably dropping fewer contaminants into the closed air systems of the Ships, Stations, & Habitats, that are all humanity has left to live with. Also Fire is generally going to be considered A Bad Thing in the sorts of environments humanity is left with in a galaxy where we haven't got any other planets habitable by the majority of the baseline & modified human populations.

2) I can't see why those building space colonies, especially in other star systems, would build temporary accomodations into an available asteroid, presumably one with a useful mineral composition, so they can build a completely artificial habitat that is inherently less robust, more expensive, & probably smaller (maybe use a smaller asteroid while you start work on a larger one, or move it into the desired orbit or something).

3) Excerpted from page 6: "Aliens are not like us. They aren’t even remotely humanoid in appearance, didn’t evolve on Earth-like worlds, don’t breathe oxygen, and most don’t have spoken languages. Dealing with them successfully requires specialized knowledge." Excerpted from pages 36 & 37: "There have been reports of Terran VI systems ‘reverse engineered’ by the Cytherians and sold to other species which have difficulty working with these fast-thinking aliens, which has led some to question their ethics on the subject of intellectual property laws." Umm... What? Nowhere is it stated or implied that the Cytherians (one of the Alien races) are bound by treaty or contract to respect Intellectual Property laws of Human origin or interpretation, & since the whole concept of "Intellectual Property" is a moderately recent (last 2 or 3 hundred years I think?) legal fabrication officially intended to encourage creativity, & sharing of the results thereof, by providing the creative with renumeration & recompense they wouldn't otherwise recieve, this is, for me, a MAJOR kick in the "Willing Suspension of Disbelief". (I would also note that Humans routinely engage in "reverse engineering", both in Real-Life, & as major background element of the setting, but there is no suggestion that it indicates humanity in general is abnormally unethical).

4) The editing (as discrete from the proof-reading which is great) also leaves something to be desired, specifically the author keeps change tense & apparently which time period is being referred to, from chapter to chapter (or possibly from section to section, I was a little to busy venting into a chatroom to actually track it specifically).

The rest of what I dislike about the product is all about choices I would have made differently, or views I don't have in common with the author, & thus does not (again IMAO) deserve mention here.