Quote:
Originally Posted by Droogydroog
Your reviews might have more weight if not for your history of antagonistic reviews of Shadowrun products.
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An antagonistic review can still be accurate, especially if it's detailed and the reasons for the dislike are well-explained. Cain's tend to have both qualities. Personally, I tend to trust the negative reviews more than the giddy fanboy variety that gives 5s to both columns and gushes about the sheer awesomeness of the whole thing. With the negative reviewer, you know you're going to get a good, hard look at the product most of the time. Whether or not it's a coherent or useful look is another matter, but you get that with happy-happy-drool reviews, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Droogydroog
Is there a particular reason you skipped over the fact that this is a new-and-untested format for Shadowrun adventures, or that it includes full stats for the NPCs in each chapter?
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Sometimes new-and-untested just means that it's an early collection of fumbles, and if the plot is anything to go by, the format's not the only thing that needs work. This product joins the mountain of evidence out there that proves that early attempts don't always hit the high mark of quality.
As for the NPC stats, maybe that didn't stand out because that's the smart way to do it. I've seen the 'end-of-book appendix' way of including NPCs, and it tends to be both confusing and annoying, particularly when the NPC's first appearance isn't noted in the description. On the plus side, it sounds like there are enough NPCs to fill out quite a roster. That alone might be worth picking up the product (on Amazon or via PDF, where the cost is much more reasonable; those Catalyst productions ain't cheap).
Maybe, with time, the format will deliver what it intends to, but right now it looks like this cake could use some more time in the oven. Plenty of early ideas do, so it's hardly alone.