I should probably point out that I’ve enjoyed each edition of Shadowrun since I started playing (around the introduction of 2nd edition).

I thought Shadowrun 3rd Edition cleaned up some things in 2nd that needed cleaning up and was overall pretty good.

But I have to say that I really enjoy the changes in 4th edition. They made even greater efforts to streamline mechanics, and I appreciate the cohesiveness applied to so many facets of the game. Plus deckers, uh I mean hackers, finally have a relatively easy time of joining the rest of the team on runs!

on the other hand, I like how they streamlined D&D 4th ed. from 3.5
=)

Can you tell I’m a Shadowrun fan?
(that’s supposed to sound rhetorical, not sarcastic)

Third edition felt like a good rules-cleanup, don’t know if I ever actually got a chance to play (we had that one close call) but I had fun reading the books.

Fourth edition is, I would agree, the pinnacle as far as rules go. They really made great strides in that department, and I believe the book won an award or two (Origins for best rules maybe?).

That did sort of come at the excise of a lot of the flavor. When they decided that core rules books would not have the shadow-talk and be thin on narrative, I kinda missed those elements. I guess I just need to pick up the separate adventure sourcebooks, but really my favorites were not the adventures but the books that described what it was like to live in the 2060s or 2070s and the Sixth World (Neo Anarchist’s comes to mind).

But overall I would agree that Shadowrun fourth edition is the best of the bunch. It’s still my favorite role playing franchise and the only one I’ve stuck with through multiple editions. I’m looking forward to more stuff from Catalyst.

Now if they could just come out with the Rigger/Matrix book…