[PiXeL01]

Well, In my humble opinion the fluff is great. It's just too abundant. I love the little fluff and shadowtalk about each product, yet the 20-30 pages ahead of it (might be exaggerating here) just drowns you sometimes.
It's been written before but maybe cut back a bit on world building in the crunch books?

[Dr. Meatgrinder]

"Upgrading an Existing Focus", p. 230, Street Grimoire.  I had held out hope that something similar would come around for augmentations, because mundanes really need the help.

you just want to upgrade Sam-7 some more :p

Guilty, because she still can't hang with the magical runners out there, and at current prices she'd need a quarter-million nuyen for her next upgrade and a half-million nuyen to be competitive.  She goes near the end of the initiative pass almost every time (short of the occasional matrix character who's still not in VR yet), and GMs are scared enough of her that they'll spend Edge to avoid her single-target attacks before they'll spend against the usual Force 10+ area spells.  She's basically the Eiryss of SR--almost useful but scares people so much that they throw half their forces just to hold her off and ignore the rest.

[adzling]

Agree 100% with the statement below.
The fluff is pretty good, it's just WAY.TOO.MUCH. for a crunch book.
I keep flipping looking for the ware and didn't find it until the last 3rd of the book, which made me go WTF?!
This was made more difficult because someone decided "hey they don't need a TOC, we can save some time there!".

A little fluff mixed in with the crunch is good, go back and look at gunheaven3.
That was the format that ChromeFlesh should have followed imho.

Also spreading CFD across 3 books is nuts imho.
It should have all been wrapped into the Boston Lockdown campaign book for people that want to incorporate CFD into their campaigns much as Ghost Cartels did with the Tempo drug.

Instead we get CFD taking over multiple books like it's own little self-replicating nano-virus.

I half expect it to continue replicating and take over my Core book and Street Grimoire soon...which might not be a bad thing if it fixed the editing and content issues in those books at the same time....

Well, In my humble opinion the fluff is great. It's just too abundant. I love the little fluff and shadowtalk about each product, yet the 20-30 pages ahead of it (might be exaggerating here) just drowns you sometimes.
It's been written before but maybe cut back a bit on world building in the crunch books?

[jim1701]

I don't have a problem so much with the amount of fluff as much as how the fluff and crunch get mixed together. 

For example:

SYNCH
Synch is a nootropic protein that affects cognitive abilities in the brain cells of the visual cortex. This enhances intuitive comprehension and pattern recognition abilities. Characters receive a +1 dice pool on all Perception tests. In addition, recipients accustomed to combat situations develop a battle awareness based on moves, which allows them respond and adapt quickly to their opponent’s fighting style. When in combat the character receives +1 dice pool modifier on combat tests against each opponent after the enemy’s first attack. This enhancement is incompatible with dynomitan.

I don't like having fluff and crunch mixed together in the same paragraph.  My personal preference would be to have the nice fluffy description paragraph followed by the game effect in a separate paragraph and/or bullets.

Note:  The above sample was taken at random. 

[Herr Brackhaus]

I second Jim's comment above.

I love the fiction so far in Chrome Flesh; you guys are writers and it shows. That's my positive take from the book.

For the constructive criticism, I'd suggest splitting rules and fiction. Look at Arsenal from 4th Edition, or Augmentation, or Street Magic. For the most part, those books have dedicated chapters or introduction sections for the fiction pieces and "here's how x works in the setting from an in-game perspective", and then there's gear and rules for them without any more fuss.

To my mind, that's a better layout. To my mind, the worst case scenario I've seen so far is Stolen Souls, which was extremely short on mechanics and had pages and pages of fiction. The best case from 5th Edition so far is Run Faster, in my opinion.

[adzling]

I have to echo the statement below, the writing is good.
It just needs a much better editor and line editor imho.

...you guys are writers and it shows. That's my positive take from the book.

[DeathStrobe]

I do like the fluff, but there is a lot of it. I think starting with one fluff opener like in Run & Gun. It starts off with some fluff from Danger Sensei then jumps straight into the crunch/fluff of the gear. Run Faster started off with advice on creating characters and then just keeps going on for a while. We don't even hit any really crunchy stuff until page 62, and the stuff I really want isn't until page 88 with the new metatypes. That Mr. Johnson chapter was great though.

I think mixing chapters between fluffy and crunchy would make it easier to read. Getting some 60 pages of fluff is pretty intense and makes me really consider just jumping to the sections I want to read and possibly skipping the fluff all together is a shame. I usually go back to read the fluff anyway, but still. I need a mix of content. Because just reading nothing but stat blocks is also not the greatest time either.

[bull30548]

So I actually don't have the PDF yet so I live through you guys until next week. However, simply looking at the full preview option on Drivethrurpg I saw that the page right after the ToC told you clearly what each chapter was and what it contained.  AJ I think if you guys simply move the blurb of this directly under chapter titles in ToC might make things easier.  Simply my suggestion. I also agree that fluff and the rules should be in their own paragraphs as previously suggested.
Now the complaint about CFD I partially agree with. If this is such a Thing then it should have its own book and not the vague hints we got through the majority of stolen souls. However, I think that it is still relevant to Chrome Flesh and the fact that some players don't pick up every source book <gasp> I know blasphemy might not have a fragging clue about CFD.  Also, AJ pointed out that there were two different development teams on lockdown and the other books. Could communication been better? Sure but I doubt either team had time to do so as they had different release scheduling plus that pesky time barrier problem being on two sides of the globe.
Now onto fluff in general? Seriously since first edition there has generally been more fluff to crunch ratio but I think what happened was the ratio never changed over time. For example main rules for first was about 300 I think we get almost 500 in fifth. So perhaps as suggested ease up on the fluff.  IMHO descriptive fluff needs to stay (such as what it looks like and what it does when it is used) but if I have to read over a paragraph or two I know my friends will simply hop to the rules and move on.
Now as for errata I would really like errata to be implemented in at least PDF releases with notifications of the fixes being sent out to those owners. I like my books don't get me wrong but at a con my tablet and laptop suffice.
Finally on addiction rules i believe that both arcology podcast and critical glitch covered them way back when so if your eyes are tired give them a rest and listen to the pod casters. I bet if we ask Dr. Meat grinder real nicely he could ask a Time to cover it again to help address this. With catalyst rep on as well for official clarification.

Still digging through data trails so not bored by any means but thought I would weigh in.

Also how many of you people who are so big on rules crunch would buy a pure fluff book like another almanac of the sixth world?

[SichoPhiend]

Here are a few things I spotted for the upcoming Errata

p. 75 Translat-Ear is listed as capacity [1], but chart on p. 223 lists capacity as [rating]; Which is correct?

p. 78 Essence cost of Skillwires is Rating x 0.2, in the Core rule book they are Rating x 0.1; Which is correct?  If the Rating x 0.2 is correct then the Augmentation Bundle Renraku Tradejack on p. 93 has an incorrect essence cost, it’s cost was based on Rating x 0.1.

p. 81 Ares’ Getting Network has a column for Mapsoft Rating, Mapsofts in the Core Rulebook do not have ratings, therefore either the column is incorrect or these ratings need defined.

p. 85 and p. 224 The Auto-injector Heading has a listing for Essence, Capacity and Availability; This should probably be blank

p. 85 and p. 225 The cost of Magnetic System is listed as 1000 + Contents; Um yeah, what can I say?

p. 90 There is an updated chart for Cybergun costs, this chart is not duplicated in the back of the book.

p. 91 One-shot dartgun has stats line for Accuracy, Damage, AP… But there is no stat line for Essence, Capacity, Availability or cost.

p. 222 Cortex Bomb Heading has stats info; As it includes a cost of 1000+Medkit, This should probably be blank

p. 222 and p. 225 Both have a listing for Skillwires with different stats lines

Will post more as I see them

Oh, and a personal pet peeve, The Targeting Lasers listed in Eyeware are built into the user's trigger hand... So why are they in Eyeware?

[Kincaid]

Dynamic Handprints and Retinal Adjusters (p. 152) both have a price based on Rating, but no value is given for their rating's range.

[SichoPhiend]

P. 159 Myostatin Inhibitor, Is the Strength increase an increase to natural Strength, or augmented Strength?

[DamionRayne]

I think I can agree with everyone else...

To much fluff, not enough crunch.

Also, OF COURSE, we don't want PURE crunch books. The lore and world is what makes SR great and most of it is really well written, you guys do a good job there. But seriously, there is way WAY to much fluff and way to much in regards to CFD in almost EVERY book lately. It's like you're shoving the metaplot in our face and refusing to let us decide what to use and how. I've chosen to integrate at my table, but others I play with have tossed CFD out the door outright.

[jim1701]

P. 159 Myostatin Inhibitor, Is the Strength increase an increase to natural Strength, or augmented Strength?

It's an augmentation so augmented STR.  It also gives a small discount to raising your STR naturally.

[PiXeL01]

Do the bonuses from Neural Amplifiers p. 149 add to decking and drain tests?

[Sterling]

I enjoyed the book.  But then, I read it as a book, starting with page 1 and reading through to the end.

As a result I knew from the half-page sidebar what each chapter was about and what to expect.  The fiction was fantastic, and worth the pdf price on its own.  The canon background is, for me, what has provided the foundation for the game to be one continuing reactive game world so reading Jackpoint comments about everything going on makes it feel... well, real.

The "crunch" parts were, on the whole, great additions and call-backs to earlier editions.  I was particularly glad to see the return of the Digigrade Legs and Raptor Feet.  Kid Stealth Lives!

Is the book perfect? No, of course not.  The minor editing issues I can live with and ignore.  There are some major points that have been addressed perfectly well by others, so there is no need for me to jump on to the bandwagon there, and I still have a real problem understanding the Addiction Rules (and I have a Law Degree!) so would really appreciate some major clarification there.  It feels sometimes as if the author and the editor have had background conversations that explain the intention behind certain parts that never made it into print.

Perhaps the organisation of the books could echo that of earlier editions a little more?  Have all the "fluff" at the front of the book, allowing for the campaign world to move forwards and give the canon characters a chance to chime in on what is going on in the world, and then have the "crunch" start and run uninterrupted for the remainder of the book (allowing for some fiction at the start of each section if appropriate).

If I could have a wish list It would be for the outstanding Errata to be addressed officially, and to have a more regular FAQ, even if were only once every 6 months.  Oh, and for technomancers (except for Netcat) to be rounded up, implanted with all of the Monads, and have the whole kit and caboodle fired off into the sun.  And a pair of Kid Stealth legs to replace the useless ones I've currently got.  And a pony.