Newbie needs help

[harry911]

Hi all

I picked up the game looking for a good old fashioned Shadowrun CRPG experience. It looks like there is a great one somewhere in this game but I am having a heck of a time finding one. I just started and I am running into the following problems that I cannot find answers to online:

1. I decided to work for Bravestar (Figured it would be stupid to get the cops mad at me anyhow) and after a lot of delivery jobs I finally got a few green bars of rep. When I was walking through a BS held territory I got jumped by..BS. Promptly got my ass handed to me and now I lost the rep I worked for.

2. I cannot get connectors for some reason, I only have one BS one and the Los V one who I am not using. The BS one won't give me missions even though he is listed as a connector in my PDA.

3. I am avoiding fights because a) Its bad for HEAT. b) Its bad for rep. c) I usually am totally outnumbered and outclassed.

Help! I know you guys have found a game you like in this program and I think there really one is in there, but I cannot figure out how to get to it. I am running a Male Face runner, I have the Twitch-Carbine with an Armor Coat, and the only Cyber I have is the Dataport II. My current rep is as follows:

AZ 0
Mars 2
Yakashima 0
K Horizon 0
BS 4
Yakuza 2 (I usually work against them so I have no idea how I got 2 here. I even gunned down some of their guards who jumped me before I escaped)
Streets -11 (I usually work against the streets, And I usually gun down anyone of them that jump me, I can usually win so I don't back down when they do. Besides they are scumtime.)
Los Val -1
Fennian -9 (I have only ever run 1 delivery against them and I have not fought them so I dunno how they hate me so much)
Blue Ox 2 (Never did a job for or against them as far as I know.


Any suggestions would be welcome. I can tell a lot of hard work and love is in this product and I really want to enjoy this but I cannot figure out what to do to progress much. The lack of connectors who will give me jobs is really bugging me.

[blackgauntlet]

I think grav could provide a better guide then I do.

But seeing as everyone else is asleep...

1) This is a usual problem. From what Cory (the game dev) said, it is normal for people of the same faction to jump you. Because, you are famous. Kicking your ass makes them get fear and respect from the members of the faction. The losing rep part is when you KILL the faction members who attacked you in combat. This is an even playing ground. They also lose rep if they kill you (like it matters to you if you're dead).

2) You could not find them because you're not loose enough with your cash and you've been avoiding too many possible *bonus* encounters. Not all encounters are bad. Some are actually "good" folks who wants to give you money, drugs, ammo and "connection". Also, don't be adverse with visiting some backrooms of pubs. Spending money to socialise there gets you shitloads of stuff you could not find on the streets.

3) Yes, yes and possibly... especially in the beginning. Remember the backrooms? You can get some hired help there for a 1-time fee.

Finally, regarding the reps... were you trading information you obtained from hacking the matrix or from encounters? If you did, those would change as well.

[Cory Trese]

1) working on better encounters

2) try back rooms, contacts usually have rep min

3) i avoid fights when i can too. sometimes running away and escaping is best

[grävling]

One of the defects of this game is that encounters are currently tied to the neighbourhood you are in, so you meet Los V thugs in Los V neighbourhoods, and BS ones in BS neighbourhoods. This will change, but in the meantime, yes you will get jumped by BS guards when you are in BS land.

Buy yourself a taser. Try the Back Bay importers in Old Kenmore. Now try to stop killing your enemies and only taser them into unconsciouness. The neighbourhood likes this a lot better, and your rep won't evaporate so quickly. But you will probably have to shoot the grey robots with the huge amount of MP dead.

You get as many points when you escape from a random encounter as when you kill or taser everybody, so aim for running away a lot. This is only 1 point -- or 0 if you are exhausted, so this is not a 'kill all the monsters to go up in experience' game. It is a 'complete your missions with as little fuss and bother as possible game.

Use the stealth exit a lot, to avoid heat. The loot you get from the corpses is rarely worth the heat you get. There are interesting things you can find, of course, but save that for a time when your rep is seriously good with the faction you care about.

The more postitive or negative rep you have, the more it tends to stick. Thus in building your rep the idea is to do more good things for the faction you care about between sleeps.
This makes it hard to build rep if your computer only holds 1 job. Buy a 2 or 3 job computer as soon as you can afford it.

Evil T and the Bear's Bar in City Hall gives out missions to newbies, with no rep requirement. The only jobs you want to take for quite a long while are package and message delivery. You cannot afford more violent missions until you have better gear, rep, and skills. The longer it takes you to finish off random encounters the harder it is on
your rep, so you basically don't want to kill anything for a while, unless it is necessary for
your own survival.

Various buildings in BS land and elsewhere are guarded by BS security guards. You can ask some of them how to get better connected with BS. They will tell you where to go to find out how to get the BS ladder connector chip.

Getting a second taxi connection will help.

Good luck, and write about more problems as you have them.

Grävling

[fallen]

@harry91 - the newest CK update on the market may help with your issue with fights. A lot of work went in over the weekend to insure that early-game characters don't get mercilessly murdered by huge hordes of enemies. Hope it helps!

Thanks for coming to the forum--the experts are here to help you find it in this game =P
As stated, its still in BETA, so please forgive us while we work furiously to close our gaps.

[blackgauntlet]

Jan 8, 2012 21:25:14 GMT -5 grävling said:

Evil T and the Bear's Bar in City Hall gives out missions to newbies, with no rep requirement. The only jobs you want to take for quite a long while are package and message delivery. You cannot afford more violent missions until you have better gear, rep, and skills. The longer it takes you to finish off random encounters the harder it is on
your rep, so you basically don't want to kill anything for a while, unless it is necessary for
your own survival.

Grävling

Right, sorry, forgot to add...

Do NOT take too long to level up. Always find time to spend your XP in a PLANNED manner (I use PLANNED very loosely as, like what fallen said, this game is still in BETA and some skills/attributes don't work as well/nerfed as they should).

If you wasted too many turns, the streets get meaner and the dome gets f*cked-upper (hmm... is there such a word?). And yes, this game is like Star Traders and Vampire: The Masquerade. You cannot WIN this game. It is about how long you can survive till you get killed.

[HarryKILLSworth]

Train negotiation skills so you get stuff cheaper and can sell for difference. For example I buy cheap stims from varius places. and sell at free clinic in blue ox territory. This a long and tedious procesa but will effectively make you. money. You. have to buy and sell each items individually so it will take time. Youll probably make money faster doing contracts. I do drug running to take a break from the everyday punk-killing. It gives me peace of mind.my negotiation skills is 12. Why it is my highest skill,...well I dont know, but I pay next to nothing for drugs, which is better for everyone. Negotiation skills also help with getting higher pay on contracts and various other things. Basically negotiation skills get you. paid more moola.

[blackgauntlet]

Huh? Selling mind-altering drugs to dubious shopkeepers who would resell them to hapless preteens give you peace of mind?

Hell yeah!

[Cory Trese]

drug mules never get ahead. not like an assassin

that's the lesson of CK. or something

[blackgauntlet]

You mean, either this...

or this?

[HarryKILLSworth]

ROFLOLSMP!!! on Jimmy Hoffa!!

[HarryKILLSworth]

Jan 9, 2012 21:54:12 GMT -5 blackgauntlet said:

Huh? Selling mind-altering drugs to dubious shopkeepers who would resell them to hapless preteens give you peace of mind?

Hell yeah!

Knights in training!... ;D

[HarryKILLSworth]

Jan 10, 2012 0:01:30 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

drug mules never get ahead. not like an assassin

that's the lesson of CK. or something

What?!

How else would those snipers roam around in the NBZ for weeks on end in the most extreme-zombified state. Killing random and contracted punks alike, maybe a few bystanders (notice I didnt say innocent, cuz in the NBZ nobody is innocent), or heck, just kill something even. if mules like me didn't keep the local shops supplied with quality stims and crams.And my are made of straight quality junkjunk so you. know its only the best in my shops. ;D

EDIT: Its mules like me that keep NBZ on its knees begging for more. And desperation like that is good businesses all around.

[Cory Trese]

I am sure your corporate masters approve.

[LordofSyn]

IDC that chum has some really Stuzzy Hypers...