Ok, some setting info to help you guys focus your character builds. Once again, don't rush on these yet since I still have to get my new work schedule next week and we haven't even made sure we have a time that works for everyone.
On Legality and SINs: Sarajevo is a city and as such it has laws. These laws are enforced by the UN peacekeepers and European Crisis Group mercs. With the government being muslim controlled, most of the resources and attention is devoted to muslim dominant areas of the city. Other groups tend to live in squalid, war torn slums where running water and electricity aren't even consistent. As such, there are a lot of people born in the city and the surrounding environments who are SINless. You aren't likely to be checked for a SIN in most situations, the exceptions being entering a government or muslim dominant quarter or if you manage to draw the attention of security forces. Not having a SIN isn't likely to result in any real punishment by itself, but being the wrong metatype/religion/ethnic group might.
With the city under constant threat of violence it is very common for people to carry guns. Most often you will see pistols, as anyone toting around a rifle or the like is a potential insurgent and can easily catch the attention of the wrong people. Those with money hire guards, and those guards can be armed more heavily. Having a SIN and a gun license can dissuade the legal authorities from harassing you further and while most Johnsons won't expect them it can provide you an air of respect and put foreign or corporate types are ease. Basically, you don't need them to function and you won't often be asked for them, but if you can afford one they can come in handy for you.
On The Matrix: There is no public grid in Sarajevo, and no plans to create one. If you can't even be sure you will have power to heat your home in the winter the priority is just not there. Wired systems exist in the better areas of the city and you can find localized wireless in government and corporate buildings or the homes of the wealthy. As a rule, though, you won't just be able to jump on. This is likely to impact hacker/technomancer types but I can assure them that there will be plenty for them to do on runs. It may also impact cybered types and the wireless options on their cyberware. Be warned that the limitation exists, but it is the standard for Sarajevo and runs will account for that norm.
On My Expectations: Shadowrun is a game of pointed characters. People want to be good at something, to fill a role in the team. I expect that. Where I might have an issue is when someone sacrifices too many areas to be excellent in one, providing a character who is simply not likely to function outside of their specific role. I want the characters to seem moderately functional in daily life. If you dump your attribute points into two attributes and let the others fester at 1 you are showing that you lack even an average amount of those abilities. If all your skills are in shooting rockets and you can't do anything beyond that, even at a rudimentary level, I will have to question what you've been doing all your life.
Street Scum to me indicates that you haven't risen to your potential. Maybe you have good abilities but your skills need work, or you've trained a lot but your natural abilities aren't refined. You have big goals but you need to get the attention of the people who can make those goals happen. Maybe you've been lucky, snagged a few nice jobs and packed in some cyberware to compensate. As long as your character is legal by the rules I will likely let things slide but realize that I'm looking for characters who want to grow horizontally. If you're really good at shooting people, I'd like to see you broaden your skills as we progress, not just become better at shooting. If you have to put all your eggs in one basket in the beginning, and I recognize that the lower point spread may incline you to do so, I only ask you spread them out over other disciplines as we play.
