Except hellalot of bots

No, only one with a ton of programs running.

That would require you to be inside the node, IE hacking.
Overloading with a botnet just requires an AccessID... and a lot of bots, essentially achieving the same thing; bringing a device's response to the ground.

Lots of bots is one way to do it, but it requires extra purchases. Just one or two with a crapton of programs doesn't require more than what the decker would start with.

No trap set at all. I forget that in this medium a question meant simply to help understand the other's position can be interpreted that way. The AR/VR divide seems to me to be a logical place to put a barrier to magic, if I were inclined to do so.

I had forgotten that there is a parallel sprite power Stability. This strengthens the argument that there should be a divide beyond which magic does not extend. But, then, reading up on that power leads me to ask why the Accident power extends into the Matrix.

(emphasis mine)

No worries, pbangarth, I am far away from insinuating that you have evil intentions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The bolded part is a good point, but I still can't understand, how a spirit would ever interact with the matrix, even AR.
TBH, it's probably more of a gut feeling than anchored in rules, but somerimes I can bitch and moan about inconsequential details (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The question is, how would a spirit perceive matrix related activity?
Yes, I realize 'it's magic', but the magical rules are kind of logical most of the time from an in-world perspective.
I maintain that spirits can't even see what a trid projects. They only see the lump of lifeless plastic of the actual device. A spirit goes to the cinema, he'll only see a a grey silver screen.
Full VR is simply a world they do not comprehend at all, and as such can't exert influence over.
Much like quantum foam is something you can intellectually explain to a person, but grasping, much less doing something with the knowledge is a whole other story.
Or an easier example, explaining to a blind person how colors look.

If a hacker does something in AR, protecting them with guard is a fringe case. Helping him with programming? Probably no. Preventing him from running into a wall? Most certainly yes.

Well, it say it also protects devices. Accident on a commlink for a power surge should work, or on a drone.

Problem you are apparently having is that the Spirit is not affecting the MATRIX, he is affecting the DEVICE. They are not the same thing, even if they do have interactions.

I don't have any problem, thank you very much. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Just a difference in opinion.

In the aforementioned example of protecting the device against a power surge, yes, the spirit is affecting the environment.
But I do not think that he would be able to affect the device at all, nor could he protect you while you're doing whatever in VR mode or, your earlier example, of coding stuff.
If you want to do this at my table, get a sprite, not a spirit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

IMO, if a spirit using Accident can make you flub a knowledge roll, then it can make you flub a software (coding) roll when in VR.

And IMO not. ^^

If that works for you that is great, but know that it is not RAW. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If RAW is stupid, and / or collides with my world view, RAW can go sit in a dark corner without friends (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The spirit can flab your commlink while you make a software roll.

Not according to Bannockburn, apparently.

I think the sticking point here is that if the spirit has the decker's meat body and/or commlink within LoE of itself, it can use Accident on either, and affect the decker's performance in the matrix. A spirit probably cannot target the decker's icon.

Agreed, but then, why cannot a spirit protect that same device or meat body via Guard?

Matrix is not an actual place. It's some code running on the comlink and some code running on the node, telling the datajack or the trodes what the user's brain should "see" or "hear."

My take is a spirit's Accident power may be used against either the comlink or the node to have a bug of some sort (like a lag that makes you losing one IP or make an Extended Test restarts). But a spirit with a line of sight on a hacker shouldn't be able to be used against someone else connected to the same node. But I can understand why some people would prefer a strict divide between Magic and Matrix.

It seems to me the spirit would be affecting the hacker, not electronic code or a virtual environment. The hacker is empowered by Guard to not make mistakes, whether that is because she is not being distracted, or is not fuzzed by alcohol from the night before, whatever.

Indeed, you would think. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I never said it couldn't. I see where you are coming from; if I had a decker's meat body guarded by a spirit, having it use Guard on him seems perfectly reasonable. I *think* Bannokburn's argument is that while it might prevent an attacking spirit from using Accident, it might not be able to prevent the decker from botching in the matrix-- that's the province of Stability.

That makes sense, to have the provinces separate, but then why does Stability affect Accident, suggesting that Accident does extend into the Matrix. Do we cut out that reference in Stability to make the system internally consistent?

I just let them both cross the provincial barrier, since it makes sense. *shrug* (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm not sure I fully understand Bannockburn's argument at this point. To me, that suggests that a spirit cannot target a decker's icon, but it can target his commlink or meat body assuming it has LoE to one or the other. Stability then prevents Accident in the matrix, allowing an otaku to have a defense that they wouldn't normally have.

How does the Guard power prevent glitches on technical skills, totally aside from hacking? Assume a spirit sustaining it from the astral somewhere off in the distance. How is it preventing a chemist from grabbing the wrong flask, the hardware guy from not grounding himself before messing around with commlink bits, or the painter from having a muscle spasm at an inconvenient time?
Add to that the fact that being in VR is not at all required for coding, and there doesn't seem to be much difference to me.