[Namikaze]

If a decker wants the extra speed that comes from VR, they make a tradeoff with their potential to take serious damage.  With these, you're getting rid of that risk and reward.

[pts]

I don't really agree with this premise. You can be competitive as a wared AR decker, but it's certainly expensive to try it. That doesn't mean that the AR wared decker is shat on. Just that there are trade-offs.

I think it's a lot harder to build a wared AR decker than just taking Magic D (Adept) Race D (Human), with BBC or ACC aviable for the rest. The adept would have his initiative at 4d6+x all the time, not just in AR, and can afford a good to great deck, cerebral boosters & equipment at the same time. Anyway, guess the ware option is more controversial than i thought, so adept it is.

[ScytheKnight]

Nothing wrong with a 'wared decker... just trying to make something that gets you what you wanted, without the drawbacks of established 'ware that would get you that.