We are living in the cyberpunk future

[A Man In Black]

Click all the way through this celebrity image gallery. Even if you normally hate celebrity news.

[Odraude]

Huh. Definitely didn't expect that. And here I've been trying to avoid political threads. Very trixie, Mr. Black... ;)

I don't get the cyberpunk reference though.

[Reggie]

So what happened to the umbrella?

Reggie

[A Man In Black]

Odraude wrote:

I don't get the cyberpunk reference though.

Rogue reporters slipping subversive messages into mainstream news are a cyberpunk tradition.

[Irontruth]

The juxtaposition of police oppression against celebrity news also strikes me as very cyberpunk.

[Odraude]

A Man In Black wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I don't get the cyberpunk reference though.

Rogue reporters slipping subversive messages into mainstream news are a cyberpunk tradition.

Ah fair enough. As you can see, cyberpunk is one genre I know little about.

[Icyshadow]

I thought this was going to be a serious thread about large corporations gaining more and more power over the common folk and nations while technology advances ahead of our current expectations and whatnot, which seem to be common themes in Cyberpunk. However, I fear the former thing is becoming a reality even as we speak. Wouldn't be surprised if those subversive messages will be the next thing to happen to us.

[Irontruth]

That's happening too. Corporations are more influential in human rights than governments sometimes.

[Icyshadow]

Yeah, I totally called it.

[Grand Magus]

.

That's cool. I'm glad I'm not part of the 47%. It must suck down there.

.

[Freehold DM]

Uh.. Okay..

[Grand Magus]

Have you played Net Runner yet?

.

>>>><<<<

.

[LazarX]

Odraude wrote:

A Man In Black wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I don't get the cyberpunk reference though.

Rogue reporters slipping subversive messages into mainstream news are a cyberpunk tradition.

Ah fair enough. As you can see, cyberpunk is one genre I know little about.

This isn't cyberpunk. It's classic class tension which has existed ever since we started building walls around towns. (or gated communities for that matter)

Cyberpunk was a very specific genre. and you can be forgiven for not knowing what defines it. You might want to try actually reading Gibson's books, and you'll find just how far RPG's fall from the defining memes.

[meatrace]

Hehe, that article is pretty awesome!

[A Man In Black]

LazarX wrote:

This isn't cyberpunk. It's classic class tension which has existed ever since we started building walls around towns. (or gated communities for that matter)

Cyberpunk is about class tension. Cyberpunk is about how technological advance combined with widening class gaps turns the rich into something more and less than human. Corporations described as organisms unto themselves, replacing parts of one's body as a luxury, fantastically rich people living in fantastic environments: each of these is a way that being rich separates you from recognizable human experience.

The heroes—not necessarily the protagonists, but the most heroic characters—are somehow overcoming the barriers created by technology and class. Deckard falls in love with the literally-less-than-human Replicant. The Rasta tug captain (whose name I completely forget) in Neuromancer who is exploring space in a ship he all but built himself. The tragic stories of Burning Chrome see the protagonist either crushing people beneath him, or while the main characters of the heroic stories in that collection overcomes those above themselves. Ali in Mindplayers is driven mad and hunted for acting outside of her expected role, and has to overcome this.

I don't care much about RPGs, but subversively calling attention to class tension, particular class tension expressed by well-armed police with high-tech gear roughing up unarmed protestors fits very nicely into the cyberpunk slot. And, as a matter of fact, I have read William Gibson's books, and lately he's given up science fiction for present-day technothrillers because the present caught up with him.