From: xomicron@wp.pl   
      
   As far as I can tell, nobody here has acknowledged one of the biggest   
   problems with Cyberpunk:   
      
   Cyberpunk is an obsolete future.   
      
   Cyberpunk was the future we anticipated back in the 1980s. However, today,   
   Cyberpunk has in many ways actually happened. We don't have flying cars or   
   cheap cybernetics, but we do have most of the key elements...   
      
   Corporate power is totally out of control   
      
   The US is involved in foggy foreign wars   
      
   There is a global infonet   
      
   Terrorism has become a real problem   
      
   And, most importantly, it is the 21st century   
      
   Basically, we got the "Cyber" part of the future, but we didn't get the   
   "punk." Instead of there being an edgerunner counterculture, there is   
   virtually NO counterculture. Any fringe trend is immediately co-opted by   
   the mainstream and neutered. Instead of rebelliousness, the modern day is   
   characterized by complacency. Its sad, but its true.   
      
   This is why we dont see Cyberpunk movies, books, or even many RPGs   
   anymore. The Cyberpunk future is obsolete, like the future of Flash   
   Gordon.   
      
   My proposal for a revival of Cyberpunk is to EMBRACE the obsolesence of   
   the genre. Retro 1980s revivalism is all the rage now -- So, why not   
   re-envision Cyberpunk as The Future of the Eighties? Going further,   
   Cyberpunk could be re-envisioned as The Future AS The Eighties.   
      
   Set Cyberpunk in 2084! Have the 2080s be a "futurized" version of the   
   1980s! 1984 was THE seminal year for the 1980s and for Cyberpunk (its when   
   Neuromancer came out, IIRC). I plan to run a game soon in which the 2080s   
   are similar to the 1980s in terms of style and atmosphere:   
      
   New Wave music   
      
   Thin ties   
      
   Paranoia about global extinction due to a cold war between superpowers   
      
   Casual sex and drug use   
      
   Greed   
      
   Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Essentially, I am looking at not so much   
   extending the Cyberpunk timeline as redistributing it. 1990-2027 is a   
   37-year timeline. For a game set in 2084, move this timeline to start in   
   2010, and double the years. This gives us a 74-year timeline, cumlinating   
   in 2084. In other words, the events of, say, Cyberpunk's 2003 would happen   
   in this "eighties-ized" Cyberpunk in the years 2038 and 2039. That way,   
   Cyberpunk's 2027 becomes "EightiesPunk's" 2084.   
      
   There is certainly a kitch-factor to this approach, but I think that   
   today, Cyberpunk IS kitch. The key is to avoid campiness.   
      
   Thoughts?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)