My current character (Ork Samurai with Rigger skills and drones) uses skillwires for almost everything. I haven't had time to upgrade yet, so I'm stuck at the rating 3 level right now. It's been a blessing and a curse, although I admit I did go a less than power gamed route by having infiltration, pistols, etiquette, melee, and a few other "use them a lot" skills on wire, so I usually can't fight in melee and ranged at the same time unless I'm expecting to need to.

Anyone else using skillwires for stuff that should be basic, or is it just this one character that's a doofus?

yes. suck a thermite and save me the ammo cost. (hehe at least that way you can screw any chance of someone else prof'ing off yer deadbits)

but seriously, i used to be a fan of skillwires. though i only ran supplimentary skills through them... auxillary transportation skills n such... nothing in those skillwires were absolutely necessary insomuchas without them i'd barely qual as a 'Runner.

if your entire capability is based on those Wires, i wouldnt invest much respect in you (in game). sure, you may seem handy... you may seem capable. but boil it down and you are simply handicapable.

you are best to invent in yourself first, then use tech to augment yourself. that, of course, is my opinion.

I agree wholeheartedly most of the time, but it doesn't fit the character concept. I knew I was gimping him by taking base skills wired ones, but it fit the idea of a techie who was forced into the shadows without a lot of combat experience (i.e. almost none). He could spend years starving and training, or minutes trading favors for a few extra skillwire programs. Food is good.

I definitely wouldn't recommend it for a normal character.

I recommend them for skills you need often but you have time for. Combat skills usually are a bad choice to have wired. Technical, vehicle and social skills go best. You always can cough, put your wires on and start negotiating, and since technical skills usually have extended test, those added 3 seconds rarely make a difference.
The only coughs you will be able to make in combat situations when trying to buy yourself time for activating your wired combat skills will be those combinated with spitting blood out. And dying, probably.

I'm still alive so far.

I've allowed people to make Perception tests in the past to see if they noticed that their opponent was using a chipped combat skill. This was obviously most useful in pre-SR4's hand to hand, where knowing that the other guy isn't allowed to use his combat pool made the people with the actual skill change their strategies a bit.

This time around, sadly, there doesn't really seem to be a major disadvantage to the use of wires (asides from the sort-of-caps from chargen and cost difficulties, and the max level you can get them at), but I'd still allow that kind of thing. Who knows, maybe an alert hacker would notice that the guy is using a chipped skill, and go after his deck?

You can't use edge with skillwires.

Which is why skills like demolitions or climb aren't that usefull when chipped.

haha if it works for you. you are satisfied with it. your group and GM accept it. then rock the faux know.

With the wireless matrix, the Matrix (the movie) trick of getting a skill when you realize you need it is very possible.
A run goes bad and suddenly you find yourself needing a pilot program for a helicopter you can have the skill bought, paid for, downloaded, and running within three seconds.

There are other threads based around the infeasibility of buying software instantly online (specifically skillwire software). Hopefully that won't flare up here as well.

Oh, I know. I've read and participated. I don't mean for it to flare up here, either.
Suffice to say, if your GM lets you buy software instantly online, skillwires become much, much more appealing.
If your GM doesn't, well, that's a different debate.

Yeah, I haven't broached that subject yet, but I doubt it would eb an instant action in our games. At the least I'd have to spend 5 minutes filling out forms and deleting the spam I received because I forgot to uncheck the "do you like dogs?" box.

I was looking over skillwires again today, wasn't such a fan in sr3 cause they seemed such a hassle to install and maintain, in sr4 they seem ridiculously cheap to get rating 5 in.

What I was wondering was if an active-skill skillchip was a "I know kung fu" kinda realization, or you go through the moves, but more unconsciously. I was leaning towards unconsciously because they mention skillwires aren't really good for trying to learn the skill itself, so no bonuses I assume, but to me that also implied that it would have to be information you'd immediately forget when you unchipped it.

Actually, you don't 'forget' - as long as you run the skillsoft, you 'know' the skill... if you unplug it, you simply don't.

I've always thought that skill wires would be cool to put in to a corp suit that was in danger of being extracted. Combine it w/ a bit of muscle toner and some enhanced articulation, and he can do reasonably well as his own bodyguard.

they're cheap to get at rating 5, but you can't have active skills with them over rating 4 and don't get to use edge with them. Cheap, but not overpoweredly so.

alphaware rating 5 skillswires- 20,000 (.8 essence)
10 rating 4 skillsofts (at 12,000 each)- 120,000
muscle toner 4- 32,000 (.8 essence, or .4 if cyber is more than bio)
smartlink contact lenses with flare, lowlight/thermo, and ultrasound- 1800
the look on the runners face when the target can throw 13 dice of firearms from that little wimpy guy they need to grab? priceless.

8,000 for the standard ware to use a rating 4 skillsoft, 12,000 for the program itself (each!). ware is far cheaper than softs these days. and skillsofts are fairly cheap for the corporation, as they can copy programs (they probably sell a few), and cheap wires you can afford to implant in gaurds.

Yeah, skillwires in SR4 give the term 'wage-slave' a whole new meaning.