what the WMI needs to be Options

[Kanada Ten]

I'm not saying things should be hackable if they aren't accessible.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/p.../phreakers.html

[Dissonance]

Honestly, I don't really care about the rules at this point. I'm just having to change my underwear thinking about the whole WMI thing.

Walking down a hallway with whatever equipment is required for the wireless hack, forcing doors open with my mind, turning turrets onto security guards with a thought.

It's BETTER than magic.

[mfb]

i'm not talking about brainhacking, or even cyberware hacking. i'm talking about hacking things that, by all logic, ought to be hackable--like cellphones, IC, desktop computers, etcetera.

[Kanada Ten]

[Dissonance]

Icing on the cake, mfb. I'm just looking forward to be able to just target my haXXor reticle on a maglock and bust that thing open without drooling all over myself like I've had a lobotomy.

I'm still wondering what kind of 'ware will be required for a hacker. I still like the idea of having at least some kind of internal signal boosting. Of course, rating 0 flux is something around 250 meters of range, innit?

I love decking, but the idea of doing it without going limp and useless and being able to do it in real-time with other folks? That sounds pretty awesome.

Edit: Plus, it'd help speed up the thing if all on-site hacking didn't have the imagery. You could keep that for normal surfing and searches and non-site, but being able to just look at something and have a mental pull-down menu of tricks would be nice.

Also, I'm wondering if you could just scrunch down hacking into about 10 or so utilities. The five host ratings, and like, five other for rigging, EW, worms, and non-standard stuff. Turn it into cyberware or something with low essence cost, and it stops decking from becoming an afterthought.

Edit Twice: Ruin my fun, why dontcha, K10? *weeps in the corner.

[Kanada Ten]

I'm not saying it can't be done, just... don't expect it to be "risk free".

[Dissonance]

Of course, the problem with a wireless matrix is that wireless hackers are now exposed to... er. Wireless ICE. I dunno if that'd even be possible, but I'd hate to just be snooping around someone's camera phone, looking for porn, and then walking head-first into a giant block of RARRRRRRRGH NONONONONO *spits and foams*

Not that that'd be likely, either, but... it could happen, right?

[Kanada Ten]

I'd expect the danger of being a l33t net rigger is still lethal feedback.

[Dissonance]

I'ma cry if they reintroduce MIJI, anyways. Wonder how wireless rigging will work, though. I imagine they'll just make Captain Chair mode the only one available.

[mfb]

hopefully, MIJI will be introduced as a completely reworked, extremely simplified mechanic.

[Synner]

[Dissonance]

Because it'd be really hard to do full-on immersion rigging without an RAS override?

[Kesh]

MIJI? Not familiar with the term.

[Synner]

And who says (and note I haven't actually seen the new Matrix rules) the SR4 Matrix doesn't allow for that? I recall someone above suggesting parralels with magicians and astral space - this sounds like projection for hackers/deckers.

[mfb]

there's no reason that partial immersion can't be full-x.

[Dissonance]

I'm not saying that it's not possible. In fact, it's most likely what's going to be done.

My main concern with leaping into drones over a wireless network without an RAS override would be messy, to say the least. With astral space, both 'bodies' you're moving are roughly the same. Using astral perception, you move both bodies in the same way at the same time.

However, to 'rig' your spirit, via astral projection, you have to leave your meat body behind.

I'm just having trouble conceptualizing the idea of moving two separate body sistems at once. Your own, and the drone. I imagine decking will work like an overlay system, like some kind of incredibly geeky smartlink.

Edit: MIJI. Meaconing, Interference, Jamming, and something else. It's an incredibly complicated system of rules for fuxxoring up other people's connections.

[mfb]

i doubt that will be possible. you jump into a drone, you'd best be sitting down--just like astral projection.

[hobgoblin]

or the implant allows you to order your body around just like it was a anthro drone. still, that opens the body for takeover attempts unless the "drone" control turns of the moment you exits the other drone or it only allows commands from inside the implant (alltho that can probably be faked somehow if the opponent is resourcefull :vegm: ).

thats allways a problem i have had with the RAS. sure the brain looses the input from the body but thats not equal to the body going limp as the RAS chip should be fully able to control the body by inserting the needed signals to keep the body upright.

[warrior_allanon]

alright i'm gonna throw my $0.02 in here and say this,

the statement made at the top of the page may have been made in all april fools fun. however, they are in fact completely wrong. when hacking a system you have different protocols the deeper in that you go, there are different more difficult encryptions, and programs can be placed to monitor access to certain files and not have to watch the entire computer itself,

[mfb]

i'm not sure what you mean. can you quote the statement you're referring to, for easier reference?

[warrior_allanon]

top of the page, i realize he is stating what he wants the rules to be but unfortunately it doesnt reflect reality, even the combat rules reflect reality

[hobgoblin]

i see where mr warrior is going. his post shows how security is normaly done in a RL network. firewall on top, a dmz area thats somewhat open to the net and the network behind there again, maybe even on a diffrent network protocol so that while the firewall and the dmz talks tcp/ip the network behind uses ipx or something else. and then you may again have higher security systems behind that seperated by yet another protocol change or maybe even physicaly split from the network so that anyone that wants to access it have 2 terminals that they use (either with a kvm switch or by having 2 screens, keyboards and mouse).

hmm, i kinda follow your post mfb. yes, making sure that a tabletop, laptop and a cyberterm behaves the same could help bigtime. still, in matrix the non-cyberterms where defined as tortices(sp?) and where basicly bumped offline with a kill prosess action (often done automaticly when the user managed to trigger a passive alert).

having the host fight back actively by doing a kind of spot check to target the decker and then do diffrent stuff to help lock on to and id the type of threat could allso be interesting.

reducing the number of host stats, maybe. access is just that, the security level on accessing the host. control is how simple it is to gain control over the internals of the host. so suddenly if i have a "script" that allow me easy access to a host i can then take complete control over it? (sounds a bit like win9x to me :P ). index is a search index for everything on the host, files, users, addressbooks, everything. files control how simple it is to mess around with any files stored on the host, i cant say i see the similarity. slave is how simple it is to gain control over attached hardware. maybe it should be under control, i dont know.

and making the tests more static isnt simple without removing the stuff that makes deckers deckers, the utilitys. and thats like taking the spells away from the spellcasters. just think about all those limited use detection spells. when was the last time someone used that spell that allow the mage to write down a complete inventory of everything within range?

we have 101 diffrent software today. yes you can bundle them all up into one but then you only have 101 diffrent software that share a gui. utilitys are like tools, you dont use a hammer to turn a screw (unless its some swiss army knife kind of hammer, and those are kinda jack-of-all-trades but masters of none. the hammers head have a bad habbit of getting in the way).

and the hackability of most home devices? easy as pie unless someone have invested in data encryption :P

[mfb]

i'm not saying get rid of programs. i'm saying get rid of programs that are only used for specific actions, such as read/write, deception, validate, etcetera. mages don't need a Cast Spell spell, so why the heck should deckers need a Hack Computer program? "for the sake of realism" is not a viable answer--there is no more realism in the Matrix rules than there are in the magic rules.

programs should make a variety of tasks easier to complete, not just one task each. basically, replace the one-program-per-task paradigm with the paradigm used for spells. spells are effect-based; rather than looking at a situation and then designing a specific spell to aid you in that situation, you have a spell that creates an effect--which you then figure out how to apply to the various situations you find yourself in.

[hobgoblin]

the thing is that there is a lot of limited effect spells out there, designed for one task and one task only. how is that diffrent from the one task utilitys?

[mfb]

that's hardly the norm, though. spells are not, by default, single-task effects. they are general effects, which can be applied to a variety of tasks. that's the difference--by default, progs are single-task effects.