The Reality of Simsense Options

[Mightyflapjack]

Here is a short datafile of some drek I conjured up as food for
thought. Don't complain too loud chummers, it was free.
-MF

The Reality of Simsense
By Mightyflapjack

Reading over the materials for Shadowrun simsense gives you a very
high-level picture of the simsense industry. I am trying to reveal
some of the details of that industry.

Reality #1 "Our boring existence."

Most people in 2070 go about their day feeling more like a number then
a person. Most things in their lives have been designed to be
mass-produced and fully recyclable. The average wage slave wakes up
in his or her tiny apartment and goes to their tiny economy car that
looks like every other car in the gridlink lanes during morning rush
hour. They go to a job where more and more is done by computers,
smart frames, and semi-autonomous knowbots. They do their work (not
too much for fear of increasing their workload) but not too little for
fear of being the lowest producer and getting fired by some
over-zealous accounting program trying to cut costs. Then they go
back home that night, engage the Autochef to cook meal #4 and sit in
their economy couch that feels more like a pillow on a cardboard box.

Their lives are tedious and manufactured and more then anything they
want to feel 'special.'

Gone are the days where a 30 minute sitcom on TV will bring people
happiness, now they need a more convincing lie to hide the truth of
their sad lives.

This is the void that Simsense had grown to fill. Simsense has
allowed these people to jack a program and suddenly they are Max
"Hammerhand" Ficher kung-fu trained cop on the right side of the law.
Simsense allows them to enter a world where they are important,
noticed, and free. They always get the girl (or guy). They always
win.

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Interview of Molly Megapixels (Sim–Starlet turned TV Anchor) with Riz
Tanker , Bartender at a known hotspot.

Molly: So Riz, thanks for taking the time to talk to us, can you tell
us about the current BTL trade?

RIZ: You suits are all alike. You look at bottom column on the red
side and think that the worst stuff is the most dangerous. Chummer
you have no idea.

Molly: BTLs are not dangerous?

RIZ: Gimmi a fraggin break! Of course they are dangerous. One too
many hits on "Urge Male -99" and you will be a null-head, zip, zilch,
fed through a tube. But those users tend to burn out quick. You
don't see them hurting other people, just frying their own brains nice
and quiet.

Molly: So what is the concern Riz?

RIZ: It's the Thrills omae. The Thrills are what cause all the
damage. But no one ever wants to talk about them. Some sorry biff
sees a few too many rape sims and decides he wants to try one for
real… BTLs? Sheesh.. they just cause dead people. Thrills are
seductive. At first they just seem naughty.. but the wrong one, in
the wrong person… creates monsters.

===========

Reality #2 "A Taste of the Dark Side."

Eventually everyone gets tired of the same diet. We need some spice
to add. But, we don't want to have to suffer any consequences.

Enter the black-market of "Thrills" simsense. These are not the famed
"BTLs" that rot your brain and make you addicted. No, these are just
simsense recordings of people doing dangerous, illegal, or immoral
actions.

So what does it feel like to run into a gas station with an Ares
Predator and rob the place? (Yeah, we know they don't have a cash
register anymore.. but they have NERPS!) What does it feel like to
drive a get-away car in a police chase and escape! On the darker
side, you have people wanting to feel the simulation of a rapist on
the prowl, or even a murderer on a mission. You want even darker then
that? It is there. And that is what should scare you.

Thrills are a larger market then "BTLs" by far. These are not
physically addictive, but they do tend to give users a darker
perspective on the world.

Most Thrills are sold via organized crime. They collect the raw
recordings from the streets, usually paying 5-10% of street price.
They edit it and remove any 'evidence' if necessary (blur
images/faces, etc.) and do some mild post-production work to make it
more sellable. Usually these copies are sold with limited playback
functions to keep users coming back for more.

Some 'gray' Thrills are put onto the Matrix for free. These are the
types of clips that you would find on the old internet. Things like a
revenge simsense of a dumped boyfriend having sex with his now
ex-girlfriend. If the clip is funny, interesting, lucky/unlucky, or
just sexy/erotic/fetish; it is likely to be posted up somewhere.

You might wonder if some Shadowrunners have gotten into making Thrills
are you would be correct. Many runners have found some nice
additional income in selling their simsense recordings of daring raids
on corporate targets, shoot-outs with security, or fights with
paranimals. Generally these Thrills are sold to fixers or directly to
organized crime for a better then street fee (~30%). However, these
Thrills have been known to take down shadowrunners by giving the
corporation the evidence they needed.

Thrills have their share of fluff and filth, just like any other
entertainment. Many "fluff" Thrills showing "Illegal" activity like
rape or assault, but they are just staged incidents where actors and
special effects have created the illusion of illegality.

One "filth" side-industries of Thrills is the new "Celebrity KnRs".
They find a celebrity (usually not an A-List start due to high
security, maybe a B-List on their way to being an A list) The masked
team kidnaps the celebrity and in the course of an hour humiliates and
rapes the celebrity before cleaning him or her up and releasing them.

These KnRs have only recently become popular, and already have put the
entertainment industry on high alert, adding tons of extra security to
anyone they feel is at risk. The sims are seductive to the audience
that has grown numb to regular simsense and need to be 'naughty' to
get a rush. Street prices can go as high as 10,000 nuyen for an un-cut
hour long never-expire copy for a popular celebrity.

Even though there have only been about 9 known KnRs produced, 6 out of
the 9 celebrities were so traumatized they ended up quitting their
jobs and retiring to seclusion.

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Just a small taste. If there is any interest I will add more.

-Mightyflapjack