Flav wrote on Nov 24
th, 2011 at 2:46am:
IIRC I think the licence for computer games reverted back to Wizkid last year. ( that needs to be checked and dug out from Dumpshock Archives though
)
As for making a viable/codable MMO out of it sadly I suspect they will have to drop the Matrix part.
As well, the Astral Plane would be just like a See Invisibility spell ( with a few perks though ) you get to see more stuff than the others when going astrally active.
So, no matrix. Astral plane is basically just stealth and detection. So, pretty much a shooting game with "magic" added on? Does that sound like a game that somebody already tried, like on the XBox 360?
I know it's probably silly, but if someone tries to make a Shadowrun MMO, I'd like to see them do it right. Now, the matrix thing, I could see them having as a throwback to first/second/third edition, where you don't have to deal with the meat body while you're doing matrix overwatch. You basically have your own little combat system going on while the rest of the party is dealing with theirs. Kind of like how a Shadowrun game is supposed to go, only with a GM for each team. Doing it while you have a body to take care of would be a little too annoying, I think.
As for the astral, I'd personally want to see it done properly, rather than as some silly slapped on "see invisible" mechanic. By which I mean including astral perception (which could be interesting, targeting enemies in astral space or in real space), astral travel (where you cannot do anything to people in the physical world, but can still scout around a bit), and the metaplanes (solo or magician group quests for xp and other neat gimmicks).
Honestly, one well designed engine could probably handle all three styles of gameplay (physical, matrix, astral), but the challenge I was seeing is in integrating them.