From: aahz@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (no relation)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun: Economics of Running
Keywords: Shadowrun
Date: 17 Apr 92 08:05:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: darkstar.33152
Organization: Threat Management, Inc.


In article <> pentangl@spdcc.com (Scott Moir) writes:
>In article <> earl@cco.caltech.edu (Earl A. Hubbell) writes:

I'll start by saying I enjoyed the original post immensley.

>>>>>From the UCAS census estimates, we have approximately 1% of the population
>>>>having 'significant' cyber-enhancements (so called 'samurai', 'riggers'
>>>>or 'deckers') or significant magical enhancement ('physical adepts').
>>>This is the weak link in the argument.  First off, deckers only need
>>>a datajack (and maybe some head MPs), but just about all corp empoyees
>>>have that, so that is not 'significant'.  Secondly, 'significant' cyberware
>Such is the benefit of working for a corp.

Beneficial, yes.  Significant?  No.  All it means is that I get for free
from my corp what I would otherwise pay for at the mall.

>>	Actually, I was counting 'decks' as the 'significant' factor
>>for deckers (well, honestly - I was ignoring them nearly completely!).
>>Decks are heavy expenses, and have to be customized.  There might
>>easily be a much larger pool of deckers wandering around

Of COURSE there are more deckers wandering around.  Much easier to sit
at home being a nethead than to go through the workouts needed to be
a decent samurai.  Plus there's much less chance of getting killed.
Plus you don't need invasive surgery to do it.

>Last I checked, decks were amongst the most expensive peices of equipment
>a player could have. If you outfitted a samurai with the equivalent cost
>of a Fuchi Cyber-7 with good programs, I daresay that you would have
>competition for one of the riders of the apocalypse.

Yes, but most of the money deckers spend on their decks are spent
by samurai on their wired reflexes and so forth...  A decent deck
runs (street price) about the same as wired-3, at least in the basic
rules, guess that changed somewhat in Virtual Realities.

>>	I chose the number of nova-hot deckers to be about equal to
>>the number of mages, for no real reason except to keep it exclusive,
>>and to have about one decker/team.

Figure there will be more great deckers than great mages, actually.
You don't have to have decking ability born into you (knack, maybe,
ability, no) - the only requirement is that you not be a complete idiot.

>>>is hideously illegal is most parts of the world.  Corps are not likely to
>>>admit they use it if they don't have to, and freelancers are most likely
>>>not going to fill out a census form, if they can even be found.  In spite
>>>of the UCAS's best intentions and estimates, 1% is likely to be off by
>>>at least an order of magnitude.
>Corps are not going to admit they have magma-hot deckers? Come on....

I have to agree with this.  Corps don't give a flying fuck whether most
of what they do is illegal - as long as they don't rile up the law enough
for them to mount a strike, and as long as the corps' PR doesn't suffer.
Figured UCAS has their own deckers breaking into various systems to get
a better idea of just how many the corps actually employ  :)

>>	Really?  10% of the population having 'significant' cyberware?
>>(wired reflexes, smartguns, etc?)  Lone Star must be very worried!
>>	I can see 10% of the population having chip/datajacks, or
>>other cheap cyberware [..] but combat ware?  Different assumptions, I guess.

Definitions, anyway.  I certainly wouldn't consider a chipjack to be
signifcant, nor a datajack.

>>>This figure is also completely contra-factual to most capaigns I've seen.
>>>For the technology involved, cyberware is VERY cheap, and we populate
>>>our campaign with those who use it, not just as PC's or villians, but
>>>random stuffing as well.
>I don't know about you, but when my group runs into a group of 20 or so
>gang members, even if they are NOT  cybered, they worry.

In the campaign(s?) I've seen/been in, the rarity of cyberware has more
to do with the essence involved than anything else, actually - at least
among the non-elite, and not where wired reflexes are concerned
(actually boosted is a lot more common).  Pretty much any halfway
competent combat type has a smartgun link - they're just *too* useful.

Alphaware is also pretty rare, betware almost unheard of.

>>	But I do like the idea of cyberware making a difference - why
>>are people hiring >these< teams, instead of that cheap poser-gang? 

Because the runners have more and better cyberware.

>Think about the average sarariman's income.. cyberware is EXPENSIVE.
>Repair costs are abominable. The only two ways that I can imagine
>supporting such a 'habit' are corp sponsorship and running.

So are decks.  Repair costs are even worse, since they typically
involve a lot more time, and microelectronics are a lot more
expensive than automatics.  Pretty much all runners are either
ex-corps, or had to 'jog' for a while.

Aahz
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp