From: ross_winn@mac.com   
      
   This is nearly identical to an idea Benjamin Wright proposed some months   
   ago on rec.games.frp.cyber.   
      
   In article ,   
    Xomicron  wrote:   
      
   > 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 The Cyberpunk future is obsolete, like the future of Flash   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?   
      
   --   
   ross_winn  @  mac.com   
   "Not just another ugly face..."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)