So what did everyone think of the 'old SOMA' and the Verticle Slice material?

[Danarogon AP]

I agree with you there, although with the old story I get the impression that the 'unfocused mess' elements were kind of intentional, it gives it the feel of a bizarre vivid, lucid dream or some sort of advanced game simulation gone wrong. That and it was still early days, that video was clearly an unfinished alpha version, even if it did look and sound pretty damn cool.

Yeah. But the "It's all a dream" plot line has been done multiple times before, in books, movies, games, you name it. It is a dry dead horse. While the trans-humanism, existential themes of digital minds, and the implications that come with them were almost completely ignored by most story tellers. It makes SOMA's story a far more terrifying one, because it asks us very strong questions that the original story did not ask as well.