I've been meaning to do this for a while, so I thought it was time to write a draft and get your opinions on it. I was thinking of putting it in the Welcome Room (or whatever equivalent we have in the new grid) so that people immediately can see what they're getting themselves into... PLEASE give me feedback to make this more reflective of our experience on the MUX.

Welcome to Seattle. The year is 2070. You are a criminal, working for or against the megacorps, whatever it takes to make ends meet. Your best friends are chrommed to the gills, dance the wireless 'trix, or sling mojo. Are you ready to step into the Shadows? ...

This RPG is based on Shadowrun 4th edition. Players are expected to be familiar with the core rules of that system and have access to SR4. No other rulebooks are used here.

Many players have come here after playing Shadowrun in a table top (TT) game. This game follows the same rules, offers similar runs, and uses the same thematic material. That is just the beginning of your experience here, however. Shadowrun Seattle is a fully realized world. The time compressions often used in a TT game don't occur here. If you've just come off a hot run and need to lay low, here you must follow real time and actually lay low for that period. If it's going to take six weeks to heal up from that latest cyber installation, you must wait six weeks.

What does that mean for gameplay? It means that you must roleplay your character. You can form alliances and make enemies with the other players on the grid. You can socialize to your heart's content, and in doing so, make the contacts that just may lead you to the next big score. Characer development and situations that arise from inter-character actions are what occupy the majority of our time. This is not a MUD. There are no automated adventures for you to run through. Everything springs from what you do, and what situations other characters or the game staff drop on you.

For more information on this game, see our website/forum at <blah>. Feel free to page staff or ask questions on channel as well. And once again, Welcome to Seattle!

Feedback:

Looks pretty solid.  Since some of our potential players may come from MUDs, rather than table top, so it may be prudent to mention that all encounters will be run like a scene in a 'TT' game by a member of staff, acting as GM to clarify the portion mentioned about 'automated adventures'. 

"...and have access to SR4.  No other rulebooks are used here."  May be changed to "...and have access to SR4.  No other rulebooks are used here at this time.  Also, a link to an online .pdf store might not hurt.

*shrug*  But, really, looks good.  I'm sure our new players will be chattering on channel, and pestering staff for help in no time!

-CM

Both good points, I will incorporate them both. And FINALLY somebody gave me some feedback. Thank you!

Sure thing.  I'll check back in a few days and read through it again to see if anything else clicks.

-CM

I think we were distracted by the +noms thing, and other discussions. That and it looked good to me, so maybe it looked good to others too. I believe I had -meant- to voice my agreement with this topic but kept getting caught up in other things

That and it may need to be altered as any time compression rules come into effect if we use any or stick with the 1 to 1 ratio all the way.

Correction on spelling:

'chrommed' should be 'chromed'.  Plus, making the example of "If it's going to take six weeks to heal up from that latest cyber installation, you must wait six weeks."  Should be changed to a different example, say, "If it is going to take six weeks to get that latest piece of cyberware, than you must wait six real weeks."  This change is necessary for a few reasons. One, its less of a 'negative' sort of engagement, telling people they might be bedridden for six weeks (even if true) just isn't good politics.  Second, the SR4 book as far as I recall has no mention of cyber installation requiring any time to heal.  There aren't even surgery rules.  Shadowrun, 2070, does surgery without problems in the mall by people who are likely only trained on pressing buttons.  Plop out the real eyes, put in the fake ones, there we go.  All super slickified.  Maybe a new sourcebook will change that later, but thus far I can't recall a cyber installation hurting you in any way, shape or form.  And only thematic elements stating that you can go to the mall and get new eyes in like an hour.  So, change the example would be a suggestion of mine.

Otherwise its a good intro, does well to explain what the MUX is and what it isn't really concisely and in a way that most everyone can grasp with ease.

Sounds good. Anything else?

It doesn't mention anything about how much cooler we are, than the other Shadowrun Sites.  Was that an oversight on your part?

-CM

No, a purposeful omission. :p

If they want to come and play, they'll find that out on their own. This is just one of the pieces of information we wanted to put in the Welcome Room, by the way.

Well I certainly agree it's a nice piece to pop in there.

*insert indian-like drum sound here*
"... A grain elevator and combine.  And a get away car...that'd be cool... And, uh, I guess that's about it." *stops drumming, passes the drum to his right*
"Uh, it's your turn Butthead." *pause for a few seconds, looks around* "Buttthead!!!"

What is written is good, but one of the things that you can remember is that in that opening statement you can 'set the theme' of a the game a lot more. By using more 'dark and gritty' terms, you can demonstrate from the beginning that it is a dark cyberpunk world (or by corollary you could set the theme to something lighter.) In a short description you could set the stage for the amount of darkness, paranoia, death, etc (or lack thereof) that you want on this MUSH.

It is just a suggestion, but I am have a strong believe that first impressions set imprint permanent perceptions of a place and will loosely guide everyone in the 'common direction' that you set.

That is all opinion and I would have no objection if it were implemented, ignored or ridiculed.

It's a good suggestion. The reason it's not there is because there's already a thematic desc for a room written elsewhere.

Though it brings to mind another question I've got. How would you like to see the Welcome Room/complex organized? The current rooms on SRS are rather cluttered with signs and other items. We're going for something a little more interesting and streamlined on NS.

So, would you prefer to see separate rooms, say, a Theme Room, Examples Room, TT vs. MUSH, etc., that potential players could visit, or would signs in a single room be a better way to go?

I would put as much information as you think can be assimilated in the beginning room, with no other rooms informational rooms  before chargen. One of the things I use to evaluate a new MUSH is the experience you have in your initial logon. If it's clunky or drawn out, my impression of their systems are usually the same (and oftentimes that impression is correct.) If you have a great deal of information that you want to 'get out there' include a single file somewhere in one of your news systems that has all the stuff that you 'need to know' or points you to where that information is. The worst time I think to pound a bunch of MUSH information into someone is on first logon, since it is often overwhelming.

So with all that said, have one really good introduction in one room, with a really good newbie help/theme file somewhere else that can be pointed to when the time comes for them to start getting into that stuff.