[Iron Serpent Prince]

well as I said it is not specifically in the rules yet (due to space restrictions we had to pick and choose) but that was the direction we intended for it to go

My bad.

I didn't mean to suggest that it be in the Core Book, just that when the topic is released about mechanics "popping" cars without a deck it is spelled out (somehow) that it is actually possible to do without a deck.

datajacks are still a thing and function as they always have ... cyberjacks are just the superturbo version with nitros ... and I said in the article they are not explicitly required to have one ... as for essence they are comparable to wired reflexes but have 6 levels total

That...  That is disappointing.  Well, I am assuming that Wired Reflexes haven't gotten a kick ass Essence discount between editions...

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

I think it's been said but I'll repeat: if you want to be a hybrid concept that can't afford to sink a lot of essence in a Cyberjack, you don't have to buy a Cyberjack.  It gives benefits sure but you can still hack without one (and its benefits).

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

As much as myself and majority of my group are not interested in 6th, we might steal the new Matrix rules, because 5th Matrix was crap and we just used NPC Deckers.

[Midnight_Creeper]

@Midnight: Don't worry.

I don't worry, chummer, I homebrew.  Good to see that it's not a replacement, but an addition though. Can't wait to sink my teeth into the Core Rules when they come out (my SO is getting me the book for my 40th birthday ).

[Banshee]

As much as myself and majority of my group are not interested in 6th, we might steal the new Matrix rules, because 5th Matrix was crap and we just used NPC Deckers.

I have mixed feelings about this post ... on one hand I did work on the entire project to some extent but to hear someone say my specific portion is what they want to port over ... yeah that's an ego boost

anyhow ... you will need to tweak a few things but overall it should integrate pretty well

[Typhus]

datajacks are still a thing and function as they always have ... cyberjacks are just the superturbo version with nitros ... and I said in the article they are not explicitly required to have one ... as for essence they are comparable to wired reflexes but have 6 levels total

Does this mean there also a Matrix init boost with the implant? 

I'm still not understanding why this must live in my skull when it never needed to before.  Hardware is hardware.  Because Technomancers - that are, what, 0.01% of the population, are that big a threat we will now need to upgrade all our VR workforce to this tech - and whoops it still didn't work?  Sorry about your soul, Joe Deckslave, but now you just paid less for an implant than for a deck...which would now also cost less also if we didn't implant it in you minus the surgery costs--what the heck is the extensive biological interface possibly providing that somehow is better than a cyberdeck could? 

Sorry, this will be the last question on this.  Only seeing a small window here, and it's got a crack in it.  I guess for me, if I can build the same capability without it, that's fine. I'll quit fussing. 

[Banshee]

yes, cyberjacks also provide an initiative boost

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

...
I'm still not understanding why this must live in my skull when it never needed to before.
...

For me, it helps to remember that 6w is not another expansion book for 5e... it's an entirely new edition of Shadowrun.  Put simply... things change between editions.

This isn't as big a change as from 3rd to 4e matrix  rules... but yes there's a change on a smaller degree.

Cyberjacks are a "new thing" that was invented for this edition.  A new generation of mind-matrix melding based on research in Technomancers isn't as fundamental a shift as say Crash 2.0.  But nonetheless the cutting edge is here.  What was SOTA in 2079 (5e) is now hopelessly out of date in 2080 (6w).  If you don't have a fancy newfangled cyberjack, you're not on the leading edge anymore. End of story.  The tech is THAT important.   And since it's brand new, it's only available as an invasive brain implant.  Maybe, given a few game years (or another edition), it'll be available as an externally worn device like a set of 'trodes. Or maybe there's a technobabble factor that simply prevents the tech from working if it's not physically implanted.  Either way. as of 2080 (the 6w CRB) the tech is still too new to exist as anything other than implanted cyberware.

I find that's well within the bounds of suspension of disbelief.

[Marcus]

Cause hacker need headware. Otherwise we can’t call them head cases. So given the clock merge this means cyberjack initiative is also useful in non hacking situations?   

[dezmont]

...
I'm still not understanding why this must live in my skull when it never needed to before.
...

For me, it helps to remember that 6w is not another expansion book for 5e... it's an entirely new edition of Shadowrun.  Put simply... things change between editions.

This isn't as big a change as from 3rd to 4e matrix  rules... but yes there's a change on a smaller degree.

Cyberjacks are a "new thing" that was invented for this edition.  A new generation of mind-matrix melding based on research in Technomancers isn't as fundamental a shift as say Crash 2.0.  But nonetheless the cutting edge is here.  What was SOTA in 2079 (5e) is now hopelessly out of date in 2080 (6w).  If you don't have a fancy newfangled cyberjack, you're not on the leading edge anymore. End of story.  The tech is THAT important.   And since it's brand new, it's only available as an invasive brain implant.  Maybe, given a few game years (or another edition), it'll be available as an externally worn device like a set of 'trodes. Or maybe there's a technobabble factor that simply prevents the tech from working if it's not physically implanted.  Either way. as of 2080 (the 6w CRB) the tech is still too new to exist as anything other than implanted cyberware.

I find that's well within the bounds of suspension of disbelief.

Very much this. While it can be nice for lore reasons to back up edition changes when possible, edition changes are a totally acceptable point to retcon the status quo, like when D&D added Dragonborn and Warlocks to all its settings from 3.5 to 4e, or added sorcerers as a concept from 2e to 3e. These things never existed and their 'sudden' existence was not addressed.

SR has a bit more of a burden because it has strong continuity between editions, posing them as time skips, but still has changed major ways the universe has worked between editions without saying why, and the change from shaman vs hermetic to generic mages with minor differences (Which was a good change because maybe there are really unfortunate implications to making shamans 'good guy' mages with unique powers and hermetics 'bad guy' mages with unique powers and drawing super clear lines between contemporary western and Native American philosophies and drawing moral values and personal worth and capabilities relating to logic and rationality vs passion and exotic mysticism) was only really 'backfilled' well after the fact. But even things like autofire going from a DV boost to an accuracy boost majorly changes how every person in the world relates to weapons and chooses their weapon, but no one batted an eye.

It isn't like there is any difficulty in giving a lore reason for the cyberjack. "Computers got bigger, better, and badder, and we put computers in people's heads, and now the head computers you have are bigger and badder." Like 'tech gets better and more tech options exist' is probably is the most natural thing to happen in an SR edition change, it would be WEIRD if computers didn't get stronger and hackers got new tools for hacking.

As for modularity, it is true it was possible to customize stats in previous editions specifically... and that did cause deckers to behave differently! A problem in older editions, especially 4e, was you just pushed all the stats to 'yes' but it seems like that won't work anymore. Attack Defense Firewall and DP are less interesting and say less about you than say... Signal vs Processing did, but that is assuming it all works like 4e where these things work almost exclusively as limits outside of matrix combat. And limits are gone so... they literally can't.

[Moonshine Fox]

datajacks are still a thing and function as they always have ... cyberjacks are just the superturbo version with nitros ... and I said in the article they are not explicitly required to have one ... as for essence they are comparable to wired reflexes but have 6 levels total

Does this mean there also a Matrix init boost with the implant? 

I'm still not understanding why this must live in my skull when it never needed to before.  Hardware is hardware.  Because Technomancers - that are, what, 0.01% of the population, are that big a threat we will now need to upgrade all our VR workforce to this tech - and whoops it still didn't work?  Sorry about your soul, Joe Deckslave, but now you just paid less for an implant than for a deck...which would now also cost less also if we didn't implant it in you minus the surgery costs--what the heck is the extensive biological interface possibly providing that somehow is better than a cyberdeck could? 

Sorry, this will be the last question on this.  Only seeing a small window here, and it's got a crack in it.  I guess for me, if I can build the same capability without it, that's fine. I'll quit fussing.

Think about it like this. When the matrix first went online, you entered via cyber-terminal. It was clunky and slow but it worked. Then cyberdecks came out that used the datajack to let you directly activate your programs. Security rose to meet the new challenge, leaving the terminal users in the dust as they simply were not fast enough to deal with new intrusion countermeasures.

When matrix 2.0 came online, security was a joke and even a script-kiddie with a second rate commlink could hack things. Then the new De La Mar matrix went live and security tightened like a noose, forcing deckers to once more ply their trade fully. Turns out that the De La Mar matrix and security was based on the gestalt power of 100 technmancer brains in jars, which is why the matrix (and especially the Foundation) behave in odd ways sometimes.

Security is now moving in a new direction. Using the inherent power of the matrix to make smarter, more adaptable IC. Computers are great at crunching numbers far better then any metahuman ever could, but they can't easily adapt without an operator to direct that. Make a program that can adapt to new information on the fly and you'll have something truly scary. Even with a DNI connection running HotSim, datajacks just simply can't adapt their otherwise deck bound programs quickly enough for the new security, so a deeper connection was needed.

A decker with a datajack simply enters the matrix and interacts with it. Anyone with a datajack can also interact with a car the same way, jack in and interact with it via thought. But a rigger with a VCR doesn't just interact with the vehicle, they become the vehicle, putting them above any plebeian who simply "plugs in". That's what a cyberjack does. A decker with one no longer just interacts with the matrix, they become one with it, activating and adapting programs with a speed and fluidity that can't be matched by someone simply "plugging in" with an old deck. The deeper, faster connection lets them meet the new security on an even battleground, but the cost is deeper, more extensive augmentation then someone who simply dabbles in the matrix.

_{PS: This is all just speculation and world building that constantly runs though my head as I look over new stuff and shouldn't be taken as anything more then that. Unless the devs like it and want to use it then go right ahead cause that would be cool and humbling.}

[Moonshine Fox]

...
I'm still not understanding why this must live in my skull when it never needed to before.
...

For me, it helps to remember that 6w is not another expansion book for 5e... it's an entirely new edition of Shadowrun.  Put simply... things change between editions.

This isn't as big a change as from 3rd to 4e matrix  rules... but yes there's a change on a smaller degree.

Cyberjacks are a "new thing" that was invented for this edition.  A new generation of mind-matrix melding based on research in Technomancers isn't as fundamental a shift as say Crash 2.0.  But nonetheless the cutting edge is here.  What was SOTA in 2079 (5e) is now hopelessly out of date in 2080 (6w).  If you don't have a fancy newfangled cyberjack, you're not on the leading edge anymore. End of story.  The tech is THAT important.   And since it's brand new, it's only available as an invasive brain implant.  Maybe, given a few game years (or another edition), it'll be available as an externally worn device like a set of 'trodes. Or maybe there's a technobabble factor that simply prevents the tech from working if it's not physically implanted.  Either way. as of 2080 (the 6w CRB) the tech is still too new to exist as anything other than implanted cyberware.

I find that's well within the bounds of suspension of disbelief.

Very much this. While it can be nice for lore reasons to back up edition changes when possible, edition changes are a totally acceptable point to retcon the status quo, like when D&D added Dragonborn

I'm still convinced they added those to appease annoying players like me who kept begging to play dragons without the higher level crippling that half-dragon level adjustment gave.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

As much as myself and majority of my group are not interested in 6th, we might steal the new Matrix rules, because 5th Matrix was crap and we just used NPC Deckers.

I have mixed feelings about this post ... on one hand I did work on the entire project to some extent but to hear someone say my specific portion is what they want to port over ... yeah that's an ego boost

anyhow ... you will need to tweak a few things but overall it should integrate pretty well

Glad to give you an ego boost, Chummer!

Myself and my group have various complaints in regards to 5th, but we figured out how to deal with them. 6th is just not what we want in most things combat and spellcasting for the most part, but Matrix, more than likely.

[Typhus]

A decker with a datajack simply enters the matrix and interacts with it. Anyone with a datajack can also interact with a car the same way, jack in and interact with it via thought. But a rigger with a VCR doesn't just interact with the vehicle, they become the vehicle, putting them above any plebeian who simply "plugs in". That's what a cyberjack does. A decker with one no longer just interacts with the matrix, they become one with it, activating and adapting programs with a speed and fluidity that can't be matched by someone simply "plugging in" with an old deck. The deeper, faster connection lets them meet the new security on an even battleground, but the cost is deeper, more extensive augmentation then someone who simply dabbles in the matrix.

So, the difference between visualizing reaching out for an icon and manipulating it (old school Gibsonian style) vs just intuiting "Data Spike that guy!"   Speed of instinct vs speed of thought maybe?  I think I've seen TMs written as basically intuiting what they want to have happen, so in that context, I guess I could see that as enough of an explanation.

Again, just to clarify, I don't care that its different.  There's tons of shifts between editions I don't care about elsewhere.  I care that this one specific gear item felt like it needed some logic to it that I could grab on to.  I wasn't getting that from anything else posted so far.  I hope the book is actually in line with this notion, as it works for me. 

Thanks.

[Iron Serpent Prince]

I think it's been said but I'll repeat: if you want to be a hybrid concept that can't afford to sink a lot of essence in a Cyberjack, you don't have to buy a Cyberjack.  It gives benefits sure but you can still hack without one (and its benefits).

What hybrid concept?

I'm trying to wrap my head around a nova hot decker is now sporting as much, if not more, chrome as a street sam all of a sudden.

Sure, you can deck with out the best cyberjack you can afford, just like you can be street sam without any wired reflexes.  Both are still capable of being really good without them.  Doesn't mean it is wise to avoid them.

And all I can come up with as to "why" is that the gawd awful cyberdeck prices in 5e were to keep "everyone from hacking."  Dovetailing off of this, Sixth World decided to cost a decker a literal arm and a leg in order to keep from just arbitrarily reducing the price of cyberdecks while at the same time reducing the skill number, and level, requirements to be good at decking.

If that wasn't noodle warping enough, hot-sim VR maxed out 5e's unified game clock initiative dice with just a datajack.  In Sixth World, the cyberjack increases initiative (at least to some level).  Does that mean that Sixth World's unified game clock broke past the theoretical max in 5e?  Or is it worse than that, and Matrix initiative was cut off at the knees to make room for the cyberjack?

This is reading like a solution in desperate need of a problem.  This solution is so jonezing for a problem, that one was created specifically for it.

I can say this for Sixth Worlds consistency...  Every time there is something that gives me some hope for the future of the franchise, two or three other things come along and make me wish Sixth World was aborted long before viability.