RE: Shadowrun - Toronto Troubles
Setting up a new story can be tricky. I hate cliche devices that just assume everyone knows everyone, so I make a real effort to keep introductions more organic, but also bring the party together inside of a single session.
What I do for this, in games where there has to be a group of Adventurers/Runners/etc. is ask the players, while characters are created in Session 0:
Why is [your Character] with the group of [Adventurers/Runners/…] we're establishing right now?
No need for "You're all in a tavern …"-stupidity.
If any character doesn't want to be with the group, they should create a different character.
People meet up to play a game together, not to play different games (unless you're a Decker, then the rules say you're playing your own game ¬_¬)
★ Keep it up ★
I can relate to this thought process, but especially when starting a whole campaign (not a one shot), I like to show my players that I have some chops to build a real story and not just Mission to Mission. I think finding ways to motivate characters with the story is generally better than forcing. For one shots, you are all a group, deal with it.
The whole Decker thing has changed a lot. I tend to push them in with the rest of the team. Older editions really had it so your decker was the guy back at base providing remote support. There's a lot of good incentive for them to join the rest of the crew on location.