Let's say a character buys the Firearms Skill Group (at level 4) and also has the Reflex Recorder (Skill Groups) implanted for the +1 dice bonus. As time passes, the player decides to specialize in Pistols(SemiAutos), and thereby breaks the skill group up into individual skills. Each of the skills would be at whatever level the group was at, at the time of the specialization... but what happens to the Reflex Recorder? Does it still affect all of the skills or does it have to be "replaced" with several different ones, one for each Firearms subskill?

Only your characters knowledge of skills has changed. The biowares programming still remains and would affect all skills connected to that group.

It does not have a secret connection to your characters mind in what skills he actually knows.

I think that if you buy a Reflex Recorder for a "skill group," it applies to the skills that would be in that group, even if you didn't take them individually -- or didn't take them at all. If a sammy with Blades 1 buys a Recorder for the "Close Combat" skill group, he should get the Recorder's +1 bonus to Clubs, too, even though he doesn't have any points in Clubs. He'll still have to default, of course, so the Recorder's +1 bonus will just offset the -1 penalty for defaulting. But there's no reason, either in logic or in game balance, why the benefit of the Reflex Recorder shouldn't apply.

-S

I would rule that the reflex recorder no longer gave a bonus. Your character has worked hard to break the group up and specifically learn to use one skill more effectively then the others.

Since the reflex recorder applies to the entire group I would not allow the player to pay the reduced essence for the group reflex recorder and get the same benefits that someone else would have to pay for multiple reflex recorders for individual skills.

Once the character reestablished the skill group I would say the group reflex recorder would apply again.

With firearms Group (4), Agility (5), and Skillwires (Firearms Group) you would have a base of 10 dice with all Firearms.

If you later raised pistols to 5 then you would have 11 die with pistols and 10 die will all other firearms.

If you buy a Reflex Recorder for a "skill group," it applies to the skills that would be in that group, even if you didn't take them individually.

The reflex recorder for skill groups doesn't actually need a skill group. So, if you have Pistols 5, automatics 3 and longarm 1 you could implant a recorder for the firearms skillgroup.

Note: since errata, the reflex recorder increases the skill rating, so it wouldn't give the +1 bonus for longarms in my example (since max skillrating is 1,5*skill rating, so 1*1,5 = 1,5, rounded down to 1).

My mistake on the +1 dice from Reflex Recorders It adds to the skill level.
If they indeed apply to all skills in a group, whether or not the skills are actually bought and developed as a group, then it would make a lot of sense for a character to purchase them across the board so to speak.