[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Something caught my eye in SRM FAQ 1.4:

No Existing Addiction: If you take any addictive substance during a Mission, you make an Addiction Test(s) at the end of the Mission. The threshold for this test is equal to the full value of the Addiction Threshold for each addictive substance. A test is made for each type of addiction (physiological, psychological, or both) listed for the substance.

This seems to plainly say if a Decker uses Hot Sim at any point during the run in SRM play, an addiction test is required at the end of the session.  At the SRM campaign rule of an addictive substance's threshhold never reaching 0, btw.  However it also goes on to say:

The Addiction must be to something either somewhat expensive, harmful to the character in the short term, and/or otherwise difficult to obtain. There are many serious, real-life examples of addictions that can be very harmful and have long-term effects on a person but would have little to no effect on a Shadowrun game, especially in the Missions format. Things like caffeine or cigarette addictions would fall into the “disallowed” category, as these can be harmful but are also legal, cheap, and easy to obtain. MMO and sex addiction likewise wouldn’t come up in play very often, other than as a minor distraction to the character. Narcotics, BTLs, and expensive gambling are all acceptable examples of Addictions that can be used in Missions.

Hot Sim certainly seems to fall into the category of addictions like caffeine or cigarettes as it is (for a Decker/Technomancer) both easy to obtain and cheap.  Technically illegal, but still so-easy-to-obtain to the degree that a fix is literally available on tap at any given moment of the day or night.  Besides if it weren't for the SRM campaign rule of theshholds never reaching 0, Hot Sim addiction would be child's play to avoid using the calendar by taking a week off between Shadowruns, which you're likely to be doing fairly often anyway for all sorts of character upgrade reasons.

So how should it be done in SRM?  Hot Sim is a legal addiction or not?  If not, there's no point in even making addiction tests for it, is there?

[Raven2049]

While there is a Hot-Sim Simsense Addiction listed in the CRB Addiction Table, that is directed towards BTL's not "Hot Sim" as a decker/TM would be experiencing the matrix (most likely) every day.

At least that is my understanding. If you find out an actual listing for Hot-Sim or Cold-Sim (without any additional qualifiers like the above example) i will gladly change my opinion.

As far as your statement about plainly saying something, What edition are you playing  theres nothing plainly spelled out in these books! 

all joking aside, Simsense (as listed in the table) and Hot Sim are two completely different things, altho you need one to properly experience the other. an AR simsense of a really hot elf girl (or boy) doing unmentionable things is nice, but if you really want the true feeling you need Hot Sim VR Simsense, and the feeling of that elf rubbing against you and the actual physical sensations of that (fabricated) experience is what the addiction is for, not the method of getting that addictive "high".

hopefully that explains a little as far as my understanding of it goes.

[firebug]

HotSim VR is supposed to be addictive, yes.  They approach the levels that make BTL very addictive, but aren't as bad as BTLs.  Foci are another thing that are technically addictive but nobody ever uses those rules, since if you have foci addiction, you will always have some foci unless someone steals all of your foci and destroys them.  Honestly, in SRM I would just ignore the rules.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

HotSim VR is supposed to be addictive, yes.  They approach the levels that make BTL very addictive, but aren't as bad as BTLs.  Foci are another thing that are technically addictive but nobody ever uses those rules, since if you have foci addiction, you will always have some foci unless someone steals all of your foci and destroys them.  Honestly, in SRM I would just ignore the rules.

Yeah changing the rules governing whether you GET addicted isn't my concern.  My concern is that SRM limits what you're allowed to get addicted to, hence the Hot Sim conundrum.  You're not allowed to have Sex addiction or addictions to cigarettes/soykaf because they don't negatively impact you enough for the structured play of SRM (i.e. cost ~500 =Y= per hit per the SRM guideline).  Hot Sim seems to be more in this category than in the category of addictions to BTLs/Street Drugs.