One of the things new to SR4 that may actually have more potential (good and bad) in a mux than on the tabletop is the addition of omnipresent IC social networking/communication capabilities via the new wireless setup. The mind reels when one considers the potential mischief players can cause with their own editable social networking profiles, since I doubt that the wireless 'trix is any more trustworthy than our own internet, especially when you toss the SINless, hackers and technomancers into the mix. Of course, I imagine many players would choose not to have a very detailed profile widely available, since runners tend to chew through identities like candy by necessity; but in theory at least, it'd be a way for players to easily provide more info than +scan provides and it'd be largely a voluntary process, if untrustworthy. Anyway, as you can see, I'm rather interested in the implications and so I'm curious about any plans staff has regarding this nice li'l wrinkle in the SR world.

Well, the game is planning to have an AR reality level in addition to the traditional meat and astral levels.  And you don't have to stick to just profiles, you can alter your appearance and have a pet and have theme music, etc with your AR.

Yepyep, virtual weather and virtual people are some  of the more interesting aspects of the augmented reality situation. You can then effectively have control over an NPC who can help make the scene better, while not having the ability to make that NPC a nuisance and/or killer.  Woot for virtual significant others!

If your girlfriend was only around when you turned her on, I'm sure relationships would be alot easier.

Of course, those without the social skills to gather a real group of friends/signifigant other, will never gain said skills. There will probably always be people that prefer flesh, and those who prefer electronics, but those who prefer electronics are bound to die out in a couple of generations.

For the moment, it means nothing, but that educational film in the Kidnapster episode of Futurama episode comes to mind.

Cool concept, but the ammount of problems that sprout up in my mind from cuh things, complications, situations, and considerations, frankly, boggles my mind. Which might be why I consider it an interesting concept in the first place.

I know it's off topic, but I've been really into population genetics recently and 'The Future' of Shadowrun really gets my speculative gears turning.

Awesome.

See, this is the kinda stuff that needs to get talked about in lieu of the savage horse beatings we've all suffered through lately.

OK..you know..I had not actually thought about all that for AR..simply put, I am still trying to wrap my mind around it, I guess...The SR4 world is, on a lot of levels, more intrigueing then the Classic Shadowrun world..AR is definately one of the things that makes it so, of course, because it is something that, well, we can imagine, but still not grasp all the implications of....

My AR pet is going to be Hamtaro.  Sorry . . . I called it first!

Aww yeeahh...

Great.  Now I have that song stuck in my head. 

Should there be an AR com channel? ( like public comsys, only, IC public chat)

AR IS MORE THAN JUS A CHANNEL< OMAE!!!


Seriously, AR should be an entirely different 'layer' to the game only people with a Commlink active can interact with and see. Sortof like Wraith or Fae objects and descs on WOD mu*s.

...Oh tear, thanks, I think i just found my AR pet concept. ^_^.  Plus he'll shoot intruders in the face

and yes i'm aware that a person wouldn't fall under the AR pet category, in fact it'd be an AR person.  But, all people are just pets in the end, friend or soulmate alike. 

I concur.

Also, what else are signifigant others but high-maintenence pets?

The government doesn't want you to know this, but I think Ayn Rand would.