DArtagnan,
Cyberpunk is defined as "high tech, low life" - and that's basically it for strict genre definition.
Which comes from William Gibson. Also referenced by Mike Pondsmith (the creator of the PnP game?) in that video Cerberus left for us. And I noticed he didn't mention sex a single time in his description of a cyberpunk dystopia.
Then we have all sorts of examples from books, movies and games - and we can argue every which way about what elements are the most important and there would be no way of proving it, just like trying to define what makes an RPG.
That's a good example. People used to know what an RPG was. I think people used to know what Cyberpunk was, too. It seems odd, to me, when people who present themselves as purists, or at least avid fans, think they are doing themselves a favor by deliberately muddying the waters. Kind of perverse, actually. How many of those will be complaining bitterly if somebody releases a title that claims their favorite genre but which contains elements they feel don't belong, or lacks other elements they feel should be there? And then how will all that bitching and moaning adversely impact the creative types who feel they have to reshape their vision to please the fans? That's how genres get warped beyond all recognition.
Obviously, a dystopian "dark noir" seedy setting is something most of us would consider vital to the genre.
Yes, but the specific form that dystopian dark future takes is up to the author, is it not? JemyM thinks dystopia is the same as libertarian utopia, for instance.
Oh, so you're saying because Rome in decline had a lot of sex - Cyberpunk can't have it? Because I don't get that. Why would it have to be exclusive?
I said no such thing. I said it wasn't a key element. I described it as background noise.
"Everywhere" in terms of Cyberpunk IS the seedy underbelly - as far as I'm concerned.
Maybe you're looking at it from a gamer's perspective where anything outside of the gamer's realm of potential interaction doesn't really exist. What was the background of Armitage in Neuromancer? How much of a seedy underbelly was there in the virtual reality of cyberspace?
The PnP roleplaying game is the foundation of the game, though. As for film and fiction - you must have read or seen something I didn't - because I think seedy life and prostitution has been obvious in most examples - including Blade Runner, even if it isn't spelled out for the audience.
I'd put it the other way. You've obviously been exposed to different examples than I have, or chosen to interpret them differently than I did, as is the case with Blade Runner. And I'm really at a loss to explain all this emphasis on sex and prostitution in these comments. There are an infinite number of low life behaviors that low lifes engage in, and very few of them involve sex. As I said in my first comment in this thread, if you guys want to push for more sex in games I wouldn't object but this "Gratuitous sex or it isn't cyberpunk!" attitude really isn't working for me. Especially when people start backpedaling and claiming they were really talking about seedy lifestyles
Cyberpunk is defined as "high tech, low life" - and that's basically it for strict genre definition.
Which comes from William Gibson. Also referenced by Mike Pondsmith (the creator of the PnP game?) in that video Cerberus left for us. And I noticed he didn't mention sex a single time in his description of a cyberpunk dystopia.
Then we have all sorts of examples from books, movies and games - and we can argue every which way about what elements are the most important and there would be no way of proving it, just like trying to define what makes an RPG.
That's a good example. People used to know what an RPG was. I think people used to know what Cyberpunk was, too. It seems odd, to me, when people who present themselves as purists, or at least avid fans, think they are doing themselves a favor by deliberately muddying the waters. Kind of perverse, actually. How many of those will be complaining bitterly if somebody releases a title that claims their favorite genre but which contains elements they feel don't belong, or lacks other elements they feel should be there? And then how will all that bitching and moaning adversely impact the creative types who feel they have to reshape their vision to please the fans? That's how genres get warped beyond all recognition.
Obviously, a dystopian "dark noir" seedy setting is something most of us would consider vital to the genre.
Yes, but the specific form that dystopian dark future takes is up to the author, is it not? JemyM thinks dystopia is the same as libertarian utopia, for instance.
Oh, so you're saying because Rome in decline had a lot of sex - Cyberpunk can't have it? Because I don't get that. Why would it have to be exclusive?
I said no such thing. I said it wasn't a key element. I described it as background noise.
"Everywhere" in terms of Cyberpunk IS the seedy underbelly - as far as I'm concerned.
Maybe you're looking at it from a gamer's perspective where anything outside of the gamer's realm of potential interaction doesn't really exist. What was the background of Armitage in Neuromancer? How much of a seedy underbelly was there in the virtual reality of cyberspace?
The PnP roleplaying game is the foundation of the game, though. As for film and fiction - you must have read or seen something I didn't - because I think seedy life and prostitution has been obvious in most examples - including Blade Runner, even if it isn't spelled out for the audience.
I'd put it the other way. You've obviously been exposed to different examples than I have, or chosen to interpret them differently than I did, as is the case with Blade Runner. And I'm really at a loss to explain all this emphasis on sex and prostitution in these comments. There are an infinite number of low life behaviors that low lifes engage in, and very few of them involve sex. As I said in my first comment in this thread, if you guys want to push for more sex in games I wouldn't object but this "Gratuitous sex or it isn't cyberpunk!" attitude really isn't working for me. Especially when people start backpedaling and claiming they were really talking about seedy lifestyles
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