Having played and loved Shadowrun Returns, I quite fancy playing me some tabletop Shadowrun, but golly gee there's a confusing heap of editions out there. How do the different editions compare?

1st Edition - Glorious Mess
2nd Edition - The Best
3rd Edition - Like GURPS, HERO or 3.5 with all options
4th Edition - Boy do I miss the FASA guys.

Quote from: CRKrueger1st Edition - Glorious Mess
2nd Edition - The Best
3rd Edition - Like GURPS, HERO or 3.5 with all options
4th Edition - Boy do I miss the FASA guys.

Ditto.

Why is it the best?

Quote from: Bobloblah;675951Why is it the best?

The system is clunky but it's relatively straightforward to learn, the book is well presented, and the decking system is probably the best ever put in a cyberpunk game.

1e 2e and 3e a very similar in style and increasingly complicated to play as the editions go up. 3e is especially fiddly and easily broken by a min-maxing player. I agree that out of these 3, 2e is probably the best of the bunch. They are all kind of messy as far as rulesets go.
 
4e is a total revamp that is much, MUCH easier to run and play. However, the setting changed pretty significantly...mostly to handle gameplay issues that arose with the previous versions of the game (primarily with the Matrix and Rigging) and to incorporate more modern views of future technology. As usual, some people don't like the changes to the setting, but it is, in my opinion, the best version of the game to date.

The just released 5e is a revision of the 4e system and setting. I have not played it, but CGL has a free quickstart here: http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/products/introductory-products/

Quote from: CRKrueger;6758871st Edition - Glorious Mess
2nd Edition - The Best
3rd Edition - Like GURPS, HERO or 3.5 with all options
4th Edition - Boy do I miss the FASA guys.

Very well put.

edit:

I think there is some parallel with D&D/AD&D. 4e seemed to be designed for people who didn't like Shadowrun. If it's easier to play, why is the rulebook so much bigger? 1e/2e SR were in a fairly slim book and the basics were very simple

Quote from: CRKrueger;6758871st Edition - Glorious Mess
2nd Edition - The Best
3rd Edition - Like GURPS, HERO or 3.5 with all options
4th Edition - Boy do I miss the FASA guys.

Short and sweet.

5e's also out now, the general consensus seems to be that it is everything 4e should have been. My friend, who has for years now stuck with 3e, has told me to go ahead and learn 5e for his new campaign.

Quote from: LibraryLass;6760275e's also out now, the general consensus seems to be that it is everything 4e should have been. My friend, who has for years now stuck with 3e, has told me to go ahead and learn 5e for his new campaign.

That does sound promising... I still think the setting is the best part of the game but decent rules would be a nice plus.

I skimmed the 5e PDF but to be honest, it somehow just didn't grab me.

I think what I may do, since I've no real attachment to the particulars, is put together some decking/cyberware house rules for Arcana Rising and run that at some point in the future.

Quote from: J Arcane;676122I think what I may do, since I've no real attachment to the particulars, is put together some decking/cyberware house rules for Arcana Rising and run that at some point in the future.

Easy for you to say.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;676123Easy for you to say.

Being a games writer has its perks. I promise to share them when I'm done.

Hm. Based on the advice I've had here and elsewhere I guess part of the decision hinges on how you see the setting. If you consider it to be a warts-and-all descendent of 80s cyberpunk and don't mind that the technology has begun to look dated then it sounds like the pre-4E stuff seems to be the best bet, whereas 4E and onwards seems concerned with updating the setting to make it seem less dated, which I'd worry would come at the cost of ceasing to resemble the sort of cyberpunk literature the earlier incarnations of the setting (and the videogame) seems to draw on.

Quote from: Warthur;676137Hm. Based on the advice I've had here and elsewhere I guess part of the decision hinges on how you see the setting. If you consider it to be a warts-and-all descendent of 80s cyberpunk and don't mind that the technology has begun to look dated then it sounds like the pre-4E stuff seems to be the best bet, whereas 4E and onwards seems concerned with updating the setting to make it seem less dated, which I'd worry would come at the cost of ceasing to resemble the sort of cyberpunk literature the earlier incarnations of the setting (and the videogame) seems to draw on.

That's probably a fair analysis, I think. 'Going wireless' was a very, very controversial decision, and really sort of defines the split between old and new editions.