!!! Questions about music, convos, and basic "Make it like the SNES version"!

[Otaking]

So yeah, saw the IGN write up and came right over to register.

You guys are awesome for doing this.  Couldn't believe it when I saw it would be isometric!

-Any way you could get the music licensed from the old SNES game?  The intro to that game is a work of 32-bit art and still gives me chills listening to it.  I hope you guys can come up with something equally nailing that mystery/noir/cyberpunk/magic vibe which was and still is unique in video games.  I'm sure you know what I'm talking about but here it is again for reference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PYHx4QvOU

-I hate the new logo for Shadowrun which looks tepid and evocative of the decline in print quality and art since the days of FASA (Man I loved that beautiful glossy hardcover Second Ed. book)  I'm sure there's licensing issues galore but it would be awesome to get the old logo back.  Any chance of this?

-The conversation system in the SNES game, while very simple, really added a lot of character and depth to the NPCS since you had to pick up on subtle clues in what they were saying to catch keywords.  It made for sort of a mini game of interrogating witnesses and I'm wondering if some system akin to this focus on conversations will be in your game to increase the "story" feeling and depth of gameplay? 

 I feel like even in the high budget RPGs with modern conversation systems and full voiceovers like Dragon Age 2, Witcher 2, Fallout, etc they are missing something immersive from their conversation systems because you still just pick canned options off a menu.  With parsing of keywords (Back to the good old days of Zork!) you can even type in what you want your character to say to really add to the immersive RPG experience and you never know what they'll key off of with a server side keyword list so you could type in something and find they respond in a way unforseen by the player.

-If there are microtransactions please don't make them of the destroyable item variety as the asian cash shop games try to juice you with items that have a 10 percent chance of upgrading fully and a 90% chance of exploding even if you buy the insurance and a default of extremely crippled inventory space etc. (Dragon Nest, Maple Story)  Cosmetic items are fine but the other stuff ends up amounting to extortion and online gambling, not RPG play.

[DarkLloyd]

-If there are microtransactions please don't make them of the destroyable item variety as the asian cash shop games try to juice you with items that have a 10 percent chance of upgrading fully and a 90% chance of exploding even if you buy the insurance and a default of extremely crippled inventory space etc. (Dragon Nest, Maple Story)  Cosmetic items are fine but the other stuff ends up amounting to extortion and online gambling, not RPG play.

As to the "destroyable item variety" IF you put this in the game, and you should think REALLY hard before you do, it can only apply to certain types of gear/things.
SR already has some rules for this.
 *Lifestyle cost - your house degrades if you don't take care of it. Like IRL.
 *Armor Degradation - from Arsenal. People without the Armorer skill would have to pay to keep it up or
   buy new armor all the time.
 *Program Degradation - For those S.O.T.A. hacker proggys to stay cutting edge you have to "patch" them.
   Or alternately you could just have a fee for everyone's ComLink to stay up to date, unless of course
   you're a hacker and can patch it yourself. (But that takes time, )
 *Medkits - don't have the variable chance that you don't use up the stuff in them. Make medkits have
   "charges".

     Now things like Guns, foci, running gear, swords.....etc etc etc, Physical "hold it in yer hand" objects should never just "run out of time". If I cache a ton of ammo some time because I hit a good pay off and want to prep for the future, it had damn well not just Vanish because I didn't use it for a month.
     Or I snagged a niffty new Power Foci from that corp sec mage last run, and it turns out to be a BIG one. I won't have the karma to bond that sucker for awhile. So I chuck it in my desk drawer for a few months to save the karma i need; BUT when I go back to the drawer, Oh look it turned to dust I took too long and it expired...............
That will kill this just as fast as anything else would. 

[LionofPerth]

I think the licence aspect has been answered already in the stickied thread.

Destroyable items, well....I know how I would play them, the rules are as ever a guideline. I don't think that path is one this could go down. International means it appeals to all countries, and I personally have not seen that mechanic in a western MMO or CRPG. If anything I see that broken items will need to be repaired, getting them repaired is more the question. Secondary missions or Action Points to source components.

On top of that Ithink it's just too far a leap for most of the western MMO players.

I also doubt a keyword system like the one suggested will be implimented. For all the flaws, the dialogue wheel is very good, it is the case of the writers giving us good choices to explore. Near enough is good enough, 99% of the time.

[primetide]

Items will see wear and tear, repairs can be made by you (based on skill) or for in-game cash.

Conversation systems: This is a localization nightmare. There are RPGs out there where just on language translation costs more than our entire game...I guess we will have to tone down the expectations here, I am afraid.

[Urza]

So long as you keep us informed to the why's Primetide I think most of us can accept it for finally getting a new Shadowrun video game to play.

The big problem most people have is when they don't understand why X can't be done.  But as you point out translating large amounts of dialogue is costly.  Or the limits of a web based game etc.  As long as the limits are technical, time, legal or monetary we'll support the decisions if the information is made available.

On the other hand, you also have a community that would be willing to do some free work for things like that.  Granted it is not a good option because if the people didn't finish their work in a timely manner that reflects badly but maybe something can be figured out to utilize the community.  Artwork for instance, making little objects once the art style has been determined.  Have several people make something and pick the best ones for example.

[LionofPerth]

I don't believe that the community is option is viable. To say things simply, I have a friend who made an offhand suggestion, that was put into a very successful game. I have seen the evidence, and he presents a very good case as for it. The same will happen here, on a wider base, for a lesser known product in comparison.

Dialogue is also difficult, as it's often boiled down to yes, I want the money, or no, I'm fine. Not much to escape that without launching into a debate on the morals of mercenary actions. The question is more the story behind it, and how they choose to present it.

If they want suggestions, I am more than happy to share my written campaign, of course some position with the team as a writer would be nice.