[Caliburn]

Hi, I am new at DMing shadowrun and would like some help to know a ruling for favor that a contact can do.  One of my friend say that in the book, if your ask a favor greater than his loyalty than you have to do a Negotiation test and than later you owe him a favor(p.288 4thSR).  there any favor you ask for less than his loyalty he do it for free, no favor return which would be RAW.

Hence he can make a contact with 6 loyalty and 6 connection, and ask whatever he want with no favor in return since a favor would alway be less or equal than his loyalty.
I.E be best friend with the President of ARES corp.

[Ryo]

Hi, I am new at DMing shadowrun and would like some help to know a ruling for favor that a contact can do.  One of my friend say that in the book, if your ask a favor greater than his loyalty than you have to do a Negotiation test and than later you owe him a favor(p.288 4thSR).  there any favor you ask for less than his loyalty he do it for free, no favor return which would be RAW.

Hence he can make a contact with 6 loyalty and 6 connection, and ask whatever he want with no favor in return since a favor would alway be less or equal than his loyalty.
I.E be best friend with the President of ARES corp.

I don't know about the favor thing, but I do remember the book saying that you roll a 1d6 when trying to get in touch with a contact, and they're only available if the result is greater than or equal to their connection. So he can try and pull that trick on you if he wants, but 5 out of 6 times, the guy will be too busy to do his favors.

[Shadowstep]

A

"Contacts will normally agree to personal assistance with a Favor rating equal to or lower than their Loyalty rating. If the Favor rating exceeds the contact's Loyalty rating the character will need to convince the contact with a Negotiation + Charisma Opposed Test."

I take this to mean that if you have a contact with Loyalty 6 and request a Favor of Rating 6 or lower your contact will grant that favor if it is within his/her power. No rolls needed. However, if his Loyalty rating is only 5, and you request a Favor Rated at 6, you'd have to make an Opposed Test.

They follow that statement up with the following:
 
B

"If a player resorts to a Negotiation Test to obtain the contact's cooperation, the character will owe the contact a favor (or even several) in the future."

Based on the rules, this seems to state that a favor is only required if the player has to use an Opposed Negotiation test to obtain the contact's cooperation. So in the above examples: Loyalty 6 vs Favor 6 and Loyalty 5 vs Favor 6. Only in the 5 Loyalty example is a Negotiation Test required, thus only in that example is a favor required to be owed.

So assuming the DM is going with RAW (Rules as Written), and ignoring any power gaming implications of the rule, are the statements under A & B correct?

[Shadowstep]

There is indeed a rule regarding availability of your contact.  You must roll 1d6 and equal or exceed your contact's Connection Rating. Essentially, the higher his/her Connection the harder it is to reach them.
I suppose this means:
       6 Connection, 6 Loyalty = Low Chance to reach him/her, High Chance he/she will help without convincing and/or without a bribe/favor. Probably High Value assistance.
       1 Connection, 1 Loyalty = High Chance to reach him/her, Low Chance he/she will help without some convincing and/or bribes/favor in return. Probably Low Value assistance.

So, 1 Connection, 6 Loyalty = 100% Chance to reach him/her, 100% Chance for assistance, BUT chances are they can't do a whole lot for you. That's the Price of having a great, but useless friend.  

[Ryo]

So yes, having read the section myself and seeing Shadowstep's quotes, a favor is not required unless they make a negotiation test. However, note that it says they will 'Normally' accept. They are not at all required to do whatever you say. Plus, you have to keep in mind that talking to contacts is primarily roleplaying. If your players are constantly bumming for favors without ever doing anything for the contact in return, you are completely in your right as GM to reduce that contact's loyalty as he starts to get annoyed by this behavior.

Also, you should note that the level of the favor is denoted by RISK. A Rating 6 favor is one that is a major risk to the contact. If it seems like your player intends to abuse his 6/6 friend, it's totally possible that performing this favor has caused some tragedy to befall him, reducing his Connection, Loyalty, or both. Hell, you could outright have him get killed if you want.

And again, there is the whole 'higher the connection, harder it is to contact him' problem, where 5 out of 6 times, the Contact isn't available.

All in all, this seems like a really hard thing for a player to abuse. as the GM, you have so many ways to nip this in the bud that it would do more harm than good to try.

[FastJack]

There is indeed a rule regarding availability of your contact.  You must roll 1d6 and equal or exceed your contact's Connection Rating. Essentially, the higher his/her Connection the harder it is to reach them.
I suppose this means:
       6 Connection, 6 Loyalty = Low Chance to reach him/her, High Chance he/she will help without convincing and/or without a bribe/favor. Probably High Value assistance.
       1 Connection, 1 Loyalty = High Chance to reach him/her, Low Chance he/she will help without some convincing and/or bribes/favor in return. Probably Low Value assistance.

So, 1 Connection, 6 Loyalty = 100% Chance to reach him/her, 100% Chance for assistance, BUT chances are they can't do a whole lot for you. That's the Price of having a great, but useless friend.  

They can always help you move!

[Chaemera]

Ryo is spot on, while the rules should be used as guides for how they behave, Contacts are ultimately the GM's best reoccurring characters on the stage. As such, they should act like people, not stat blocks.

This is supported in multiple places in the game. To arm yourself against players who want to treat contacts as nothing more than favor machines, consider the following:

Be Realistic!

Contacts are people, people don't like being used, so applying this bit of advice says that you can't constantly ask for Favor Rating 6 stuff from your Loyalty 6 Fixer without expecting backlash in the form of lost loyalty or demands he return the favor.

In general, as a contact becomes more valuable and helpful, he is more likely to ask the player character to do him a favor in return for previous help. Naturally, the more useful the contact, the more dangerous the favor should be.

Loyalty can be a double-edged sword. If a character has a contact with a Loyalty rating higher than 3, that contact expects to interact with the character in non-business situations...

Yes, it's an optional rule, but it essentially is a way to put weight behind the previous two quotes I provided when you feel you need to have hard rules. I strongly recommend it's use if you / your players demand that things with rules-impact have specific rules to follow.

[Caliburn]

Thank for the input it seem more cleared now

[Teknodragon]

Need a favor, give a favor. Nothing in the Shadows is free, chummer. If it looks free, there's a fraggin' big hook in it yer about to swallow. Tip your contacts well, where appropriate. Do 'em a favor now and then, so's they know you appreciate 'em. They may be a resource, but for Ghost's sake, don't treat 'em like a Favor-Vend outside a Stuffer Shack!

[Chaemera]

Need a favor, give a favor. Nothing in the Shadows is free, chummer. If it looks free, there's a fraggin' big hook in it yer about to swallow. Tip your contacts well, where appropriate. Do 'em a favor now and then, so's they know you appreciate 'em. They may be a resource, but for Ghost's sake, don't treat 'em like a Favor-Vend outside a Stuffer Shack!

What if your contact's an AI that inhabits a vending machine outside a Stuffer Shack?

[Teknodragon]

Need a favor, give a favor. Nothing in the Shadows is free, chummer. If it looks free, there's a fraggin' big hook in it yer about to swallow. Tip your contacts well, where appropriate. Do 'em a favor now and then, so's they know you appreciate 'em. They may be a resource, but for Ghost's sake, don't treat 'em like a Favor-Vend outside a Stuffer Shack!

What if your contact's an AI that inhabits a vending machine outside a Stuffer Shack?

Heh. I'm sure there's got to be something more than spare change such an AI would want.