Consolidated version with comments (in ***'s):
I started with an auto-generated charactered and got a 28 year old female police officer with decent Body Charm and Knowledge, but low Speed and Reflexes. I named her Nene, because, you can't ever really get too much Bubblegum Crisis.
Nene's home spinner turned out to be Galconde and her starting mecha a Wraith. As a cop, her starting faction was L5Law. Her initial skills were concentrated on personal scale combat (close and ranged combat as well as dodge at +4) but she had all of the mecha combat skills, and even one of the generic combat skills (Spot Weakness). Her starting talent was Polymath.
***First, the Wraith sucks horribly if you don't know how to use it. Giving it to a new player is an invitation to have them remove the game after a single play.
***Next, there is no clear distinction between personal scale, mecha scale and dual use combat skills. A experienced player can sort them out, but a novice has to guess it "Electronic Warfare" a skill that "Determines your ability to electronic warfare equipment and resist status effects" has any effect in personal scale combat (which it doesn't but the description kind of suggests otherwise).
***Also, every basic character seems to be a polymath. While this isn't really a bad idea to help out new players, a little variety for experienced players would be nice.
As I started my adventure, Nene was confronted by her friend Etpgi who informed her that Blades of Crihna were robbing banks. It really didn't sound like new or interesting, as the Blades are pirates and pirates tend to rob things, but from Etpgi's enthusiasm, I am going to go ahead and assume that they have stepped up their activities. He also tipped me off on a clue that Dutrok needed help with a mission, though the jerk turned me down flat. Next step, upgrading and equipping. My starting Mecha combat skills were pretty weak, so I bumped up gunnery and piloting. Next, I trolled the local stores and outfitted with a Tyb 2-4 Assault Rifle, Riot Shield and Katana. I wanted a skinsuit, but ended up with a Flight Suit.
***The new rumour system is working well I guess, but instead of chatting with every stranger I meet, I am demanding rumours of them, so I don't really know it there is much improvement. Also, rumours seem to come in spurts. The first half dozen folks I talked to had nothing to say, the Sunten laid his life story on me.
***I never heard a rumour about the guaranteed mecha quest. It might just have been a coincidence, but I can't recall ever hearing that rumour since 0.600.
*** As above, is there a chance that similar Ammo could be collapsed into a single menu entry?
***Also, why do I have to buy ammo, aren't I a cop? Shouldn't L5Law pony up some ammo and armour?
***As I noted above, I bought a katana as a door opening device. I could buy a skill and a tool and then expend MP to open doors, or I could by a melee weapon with a decent DC and smash them open for free. Code Breaking never really seems like a viable option.
Now, on with the plot. I received an email from Mellydo Keluci asking to meet me at the Tech Outlet. Once there, she requested that I recover a data chip with sensitive information that was stolen. Suddenly, the next person I talked to had heard that Faski knew about the data chip. Faski knew that Duylulo had the chip, but not where Duylulo was. The next stranger knew that Emgacp Adh knows about everything in town. Emgacp Adh demand $5000 for information on the location of Duylulo's hideout and Nene paid after Emgacp Adh refused to duel for the information. And with that, my next plot destination was revealed, but I had a few more stops before chasing down Duylulo.
***Why am I forced to rely on rumours for this? Isn't there a crime scene somewhere? I am a cop after all.
***Why would Faski know about the chip? I can understand how Emgacp Adh might know where Duylulo's hideout is. But is Faski a witness? Is he a player in the clack market? Why does every seem to think that he knows about the chip?
***On that topic, if Emgacp Adh "knows where to find just about everything in this town", why am I even dealing with Faski? Shouldn't Emgacp Adh have the low down on the chip?
***Also, what's up with these names? The rumour tracking system is nice, but I still have to take notes or copy paste to ensure that I get the spelling right.
Next stop: Free mecha on the S.S. Apnahy. With my Katana of door opening, exploring the ship was pretty straightforward. I found plenty of treasure while exploring and discovered a Custom Soldier Chameleon. The Armored fungus was quickly dispatched with a few bursts of AP ammo. After leaving, I completed a mission for Ruyxij against a Buru Buru, getting used to the CSC's mech rifle and grenade launcher. Finally, a mech that can can hold its own in battle though I learned and improved Initiative just in case.
***The treasure I found while exploring the S.S. Apnahy (with it's odd name "the S.S. Apnahy, L1") seemed a bit too rich.
***Melee weapons do a lot of damage. I was regularly clearly 50 damage with the katana on doors.
With that, I headed for Duylulo's hideout. After a brief skirmish with a Wraith as I approached, Nene cornered Duylulo and demanded the data chip. Like an idiot, Duylulo revealed that he had stolen the chip for Omsaz Hieb, and he attacked once Nene made it clear she was going to apprehend him. The battle was a bit drawn out (i.e. several reloads to perfect the outcome) but eventually Duylulo surrendered and gave Nene the data chip. Mellydo Keluci gratefully accepted the chip, rewarding Nene for her actions. With that, Nene knew that her work here was done, and that she should visit Ikiumi Elxid on Rishiri Spinner.
***It's still pretty tricky to force a surrender. I had to shoot off one of Duylulo's arms (the one with his weapon) and rubber bullet him into yellow health before he surrendered.
***In this case, the surrendered seemed pretty pointless. As a cop, I was trying to apprehend him (he is a thief after all, his subtitle says so) but after surrendering the chip, he seems happy to go on his merry way. It would have been better if he hadn't leaked Omsaz Hieb's name unless he was captured, or the PC managed to break into a nearby terminal.
***Mellydo Keluci's response to my victory was pretty weak. She didn't seem interested in knowing that Omsaz Hieb was after the chip or anything.
With the situation resolved for the moment, Nene upgraded to a skinsuit, bought and upgraded Shopping, sold off the loot from the S.S. Apnahy and headed off the Rishiri spinner. At Rishiri, everyone (and by everyone, I mean the first person that would talk rumours with me) was talking about how the Bohemian Collective was attacking the spinner. Several defense missions were being offered and Nene accepted four. The first three want as planned and for the fourth, Nene was joined by Etpgi in his Roc. Etpgi quickly dispatched the Buru Buru from the Bohemian Collective. After his victory, Etpgi commented to Nene, "If you come back to my quarters tonight, I'll show you how speed is only a virtue on the battlefield", to which Nene playful throw a punch his way to bring him to his senses. However, despite failing to connect, Etpgi misinterpreted Nene's actions and opened fire, obliterating her CSC. Worse yet, he began spreading rumours that painted her as a villain and criminal, effectively ending her career. After giving up her attempts to find freelance work, Nene returned to Galconde to work as a traffic cap.
***It looks like Rishiri was under a mood when I arrived, which is cool, but I didn't really feel like the mood was anything more than an excuse to give me more missions.
***The attack on Etpgi missed and turned him hostile, but I wonder, would he have gone hostile if I had attacked the square next to him with a blast weapon?
