[Rooks]

Morgan Freeman Narration> and at that moment Rooks realized how to fix 5th edition riggers have the ability to turn off the matrix and just use radio signals cause screw you Hackers

[Hobbes]

Control Device and Jump in are Matrix actions, so Matrix needed.  And sadly, Radio signals are pretty easily detected and Jammed.  Matrix signals have the benefit of being ubiquitous so don't stick out quite like a Radio Signal would.  Really any modulated and presumably encrypted EM signal would jump right out at anyone scanning for such given the amount of processing power 5th edition scanners would have.   

But I can see running a drone via Radio (or some other ) signal if you suspect nobody would be looking for that kind of a signal.  Likely no Jumping in or particularly fancy Rigger tricks.  You're a guy with a radio controlled Airplane or whatever...

The other options are: Run in Wireless off mode and give the Drone Pilot some simple instructions, actually works just fine for simple surveillance as long as you can wait for the Drone to return to you.  Or AI Rigger.  Or Machine Sprite(s) running Diagnostics to turn the Drone into Super Drone!  But mostly it's let the Dog Brain do it's thing and hope the IFF doesn't flake out and you can recover the drone whenever it's done with whatever orders you gave it.
 

[psycho835]

If you want to ?
But you can't reduce Essence anymore ImO 0.1 is the Minimum
and you don't need DNI
 You allready have direct NI (as with any peace of 'ware)....
Remember ;  DNI is NOT direct NI

HougH!
Medicineman

Not what I meant. What I had in mind was an microtransreciever that ISN'T connected with your neural system at all. Just sewn in under the skin.

I think that even the bioware item of skin pocket costs essence, so this should also cost some.

Does a bullet lodged in the shoulder that you decided not to remove for whatever reason costs essence? No. Is it connected to your neural system? No. Is it the size of a microtransreciever? Probably bigger, actually.
So taking that into account, I really don't see why it can't be possible. Obviously, any idiot can just shoot someone, implanting the microtransreciever in such a way for it to be usable would require medical skills, and possibly altering the device in some way. As for the skin pocket, I always assumed it's a bit more than just a cut out piece of body with a flap of skin to cover it up.
P.S. Sorry if I'm a bit incoherent, drunk posting right now.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Keep in mind that even commlinks have basic radio and telephone capabilities.

Commlinks are universal communication devices; they’re used by everyone all the time. Commlinks are essentially the digital Swiss army knives of the modern world. Even the most basic of them includes AR Matrix browsing capability, multiple telephone and radio modes of real-time talk and text, music players, micro trid-projectors, touch-screen displays, built in high-resolution digital video and still image cameras, image/text and RFID tag scanners, built-in GPS guidance systems, chip players, credstick readers, retractable earbuds, voice-access dialing, text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies, and a shock and water resistant case. And all of this at an inexpensive price that a few decades ago would have seemed absurd.

Thus, one does not need the Missions FAQ in this case, because RAW states that commlinks can communicate via radio. Furthermore, a jammer supposedly only affects the wireless bonus of things if Aaron is to be believed, which means commlinks aren't affected.

So really, according to RAW a micro-transceiver doesn't offer much over your basic commlink with Matrix access disabled, and you could get the same effect from implanting a commlink directly.

Also, 0.1 essence is not the minimum, unless you argue that Delta Grade ware such as Cats Eyes offer no benefit over their normal grade counterparts.

[Medicineman]

@ Psycho 835
Ingame You are right....
BUT !
you have to see it from the Out-of-Game perspective !
SR5 is very restrictive with its doctrine that everything has a Price.
everything implanted that gives a Char an ingame advantage costs Essence !
Everything even extendend cosmetic Surgery costs essence !
the better the Advantage , the higher the Essence Cost (just looke at the different composite Bones cost )
so thats why I would insist on at least 0,1 Essence (comparable with an Eye or Ear mod)
and as a category it could be a body mod ( thus included in a Cyberarm for 1 Slot) Headmod or Earmod ( Cap 1 slot)

Hough!
Medicineman

[Coyote]

Also, 0.1 essence is not the minimum, unless you argue that Delta Grade ware such as Cats Eyes offer no benefit over their normal grade counterparts.

Actually, in Chrome Flesh there are some items (auto-injector as an example) whose base cost is below 0.1, showing that you can have Essence loss in increments of 0.01.

Essence loss is intended to represent the "loss of humanity", not directly the amount of physical change in the body. Thus, a prosthetic has an Essence cost of 0 (nobody is looking at their prosthetic thinking "I can get another of these and be further on my way towards a bright new inhuman me!"), while a minor change like a skin pocket has a positive Essence cost... by being more desirable, it influences its owner to be less interested in being a "normal human" and more in being augmented, the "new, improved YOU". It's that feeling that losing your humanity is a GOOD thing that is the essence of Essence loss.

And that's why bullets stuck in you don't cost Essence. Because nobody says "Wow, this is way cool, I should get another bullet stuck in me".

[Medicineman]

>>> Essence loss is intended to represent the "loss of humanity", not directly the amount of physical change in the body.

Sorry, but thats not quite right
Essenceloss is basically a balancing Tool so that the  affluent Streetsam won't implant  Mio of ¥ or 10's of Essence in 'ware
in his body.
Mostly Essence loss is more connected to ingame Effectiveness
 (just look and tell my why else the Bonelacing costs different amount of Essence, or wired reflexes or different Type of cybereyes,etc.
( they surely don't get bigger Eyes, you know )

If loss of Humanity would influence Essencecost, than natural looking Cybereyes would cost less Essence than artificial Looking ones (or these would cost more Essence than natural looking ones ) which they don't.

or a Balancing Tail would cost more Essence than a Cyberarm and a cyberskull would cost even more than that

with an even more effective Dance
Medicineman

[Coyote]

You're misunderstanding my use of the term "loss of humanity"... saying that it is the in-game functionality of the cybergear would actually be a good way to describe it.
A higher-grade cybereye costs more Essence because, by being better, the user is more pleased by it, more addicted to the idea of improving his body by cyberware, and less attracted to their original human flesh and limitations.
Same reason for the stronger versions of bone density... the stronger the in-game effects, the more the user likes the cyberware, and the more the cyberware corrupts the user's personality so that they are less interested in their "personhood" and more interested in their list of cyberware and how good it is.

Assigning Essence costs by size of cyber doesn't fit, as we can see by prosthetics having a 0 cost, but saying that the "addictiveness" of a piece of cyber is its Essence loss, and that the addictiveness is related to the in-game benefits of the gear, gives a solid rationale for why the better gear costs more Essence.

[Medicineman]

>>>> A higher-grade cybereye costs more Essence because, by being better, the user is more pleased by it, more addicted to the idea of improving his body by cyberware, and less attracted to their original human flesh and limitations.


 a higher Grade Cybereye in Alpha or Beta cost LESS Essence
And if You mean a higher Rating of Cybereye  Than you're wrong too
because the basic Versions are identical (perfect 20/20 Vision and Image Link) in Function but not in Essence
 anything else you can put into like Smartlink or Lowlight Vision is just additional.
A Rating 4 Cybereye costs the same Amount of Essence wether with or without a Smartlink

So No you're wrong

>>> Same reason for the stronger versions of bone density... the stronger the in-game effects, the more the user likes the cyberware, and the more the cyberware corrupts the user's personality so that they are less interested in their "personhood" and more interested in their list of cyberware and how good it is.


The one with the Plastic composite Bones and the one that has Titanium Bones will feel the same (Nothing)
And a slick doctor that tells his Patient that he is getting Titanium Bones but installs only Plastic Bones will cause (according to your Theory) a much bigger essenceloss because the Patient THINKS he's got much better than he really is....
(its not easy to express my thoughts in English without sounding....rude, which I won't ! Its more difficult to find the right words,sorry) 


Sorry to say that but what I read is that You have made up an Idea
( Essenceloss is loss of Humanity)
Which is a neat Ingame fluff explanation but which Fails when You regard the Crunch/the Rules.
Which I have shown in examples.

And how can You think or Propose that everyone is equally interested in Cyberware , that the replacement of an Arm costs the same Essence or Humanityloss for each and everyone alike ?.
 a Transhumanist would gladly replace an Arm
but a professional Basketballplayer with AGI 6 (f.E.) that gets an AGI 3 Cyberarm would be smitten !
If Essenceloss would really been Humanityloss than each and every piece of Cyberware would affect each and every person differently

Hough !
Medicineman

 
 
 

[Herr Brackhaus]

Essence loss is a representation of a loss of humanity, Medicineman. It says so in the book.

Essence is your metahumanity encapsulated in a number. In Shadowrun, you have ample opportunities to alter your body or push it beyond its normal limits. Such actions often have a cost, and they can result in a loss of a portion of your metahumanity, which means a loss of Essence points.
<znip>
An animated cartoon with exaggerated features looks fine to metahuman eyes, but a computer program that closely, but not exactly, replicates human appearance is a troubling and unpleasant sight to most viewers. This is what happens when people see others with augmentations—on some level, people notice there is something less (or more) human about that, and they respond to it negatively. The change may not be exactly visible, but it is in some way noticeable—in one way or another, a person has become less human, and on some level other people notice this. This is why a character’s Essence is included in the calculation of their Social limit.

So no, loss of essence representing a loss of humanity is not just "an idea", it's undeniably and irrefutably canon.

Coyote
Thanks for pointing out the 0.05 Essence 'ware. That clearly means 0.1 is not the minimum, and that increments of even 0.001 are needed as Gamma grade 'ware at 0.05 Essence would be 0.025 Essence.

[Medicineman]

>>>> So no, loss of essence representing a loss of humanity is not just "an idea", it's undeniably and irrefutably canon.

Quite interesting

But that Fluff on Page 52 explains the Social Limit or why less Essence results in a lower social Limit.
It does not explain why a Rating 4 Cybereyes cost more Essence than Rating 1 Cybereyes or why Plastic Bone lacing cost less Essence than Titanium Bonelacing or why Wired Reflexes 1 cost so much less Essence than Rating 3 .
and THAT is my Point : that the Essencecost is related to the effectiveness in the Rules
the amount of Essence lost is purely an Out-of-Game decision
and not what coyote says/writes :
that Essenceloss is related to how pleased the User is about his 'ware
here

.... by being more desirable, it influences its owner to be less interested in being a "normal human" and more in being augmented, the "new, improved YOU". It's that feeling that losing your humanity is a GOOD thing that is the essence of Essence loss....

.
and

A higher-grade cybereye costs more Essence because, by being better, the user is more pleased by it, more addicted to the idea of improving his body by cyberware, and less attracted to their original human flesh and limitations.

HougH!
Medicineman

[MijRai]

It's because the lesser models are also less invasive, basically; a Rating 4 Cybereye takes up more space and requires more in order to hold everything for the new Capacity compared to a 'normal' one, and the enhanced Wired Reflexes requires more tweaking and bits added compared to the base model.  It has nothing to do with the person's satisfaction, it has to do with how much it changes the body it is put in.  Bioware, being at least partially made from human bits, is less invasive than cybernetics. 

[Medicineman]

so plastic Bone lacing is less invasive than Titanium Bonelacing ?

with a less invasive Dance
Medicineman

[psycho835]

@ Psycho 835
Ingame You are right....
BUT !
you have to see it from the Out-of-Game perspective !
SR5 is very restrictive with its doctrine that everything has a Price.
everything implanted that gives a Char an ingame advantage costs Essence !
Everything even extendend cosmetic Surgery costs essence !
the better the Advantage , the higher the Essence Cost (just looke at the different composite Bones cost )
so thats why I would insist on at least 0,1 Essence (comparable with an Eye or Ear mod)
and as a category it could be a body mod ( thus included in a Cyberarm for 1 Slot) Headmod or Earmod ( Cap 1 slot)

Hough!
Medicineman

Keep in mind, a, shall we say, superficial, implant like microtransreciever JUST under the skin on the throat, without being linked up to your neural system is not the same thing as a microtransreciever implanted as a proper piece of chrome. For one - manual use. You can't just activate it with a thought, you have to feel for a button to press. Using it in public would be somewhat more noticable, PLUS I would make it cost a Simple Action. And speaking of noticable, odds are that, being implanted JUST under the skin, it would be easier to spot. Finally, you would have to periodically take it OUT to change batteries. And if I remember correctly, the skin on the throat/neck is rather prone to scarring. Sure, in the age of cloning it's not nearly as much of a problem as today, but it's still a hassle to get a skin graft on, what, weekly basis?

Also - NO DANCE?!!! 

It's because the lesser models are also less invasive, basically; a Rating 4 Cybereye takes up more space and requires more in order to hold everything for the new Capacity compared to a 'normal' one, and the enhanced Wired Reflexes requires more tweaking and bits added compared to the base model.  It has nothing to do with the person's satisfaction, it has to do with how much it changes the body it is put in.  Bioware, being at least partially made from human bits, is less invasive than cybernetics. 

Agreed on wired reflexes, but how exactly are the cybereyes bigger? There is precious little space in human eyesockets to be used, even after you rip out the original eyeball. And, like Medicineman said, how exactly is plastic bone lacing less invasive than titanium?*

*Perhaps it is, I don't really know anything about real life bionics/implants.

[Coyote]

and THAT is my Point : that the Essencecost is related to the effectiveness in the Rules
the amount of Essence lost is purely an Out-of-Game decision

If the amount of Essence lost is purely a balancing value meant to balance out the in-game usefulness of a modification, are the designers so bad that they priced Dietware and Clean Metabolism the same as Tetrachromatic Vision or Synch, given that neither of the first two give any in-game bonus at all? That's without even going into cyberboobs, genitalia, cosmetic mods, etc.

While I do believe that there is some concern on the part of the writers to try to balance out statistical bonuses of 'ware with their Essence costs, I do not think that it is the only concern. And given that it is canon that modifying the body somehow loses something of a person's essential humanity, that must be part of what the designers are considering when they assign Essence to a piece of 'ware, not only the in-game bonuses.

Otherwise, you know, cyber genitalia would cost 0.0 Essence, and a lot of other 'ware would have different Essence costs also.