It seems like we have three camps in general. Those that want the computers to make sense based on current technology moved forward. Those who want to keep the VR because it is fundamental to their concept of Shadowrun. Those who want to keep the rules as they are mostly intact and just add explinations.

I think that I have a sort of solution that might satisfy the first and the second and maybe even the third (but probably less so).

We have this idea of a VR that can do magical things and makes more physical sense then computer sense. We have this magical matrix reading people that can control all things computer with their mind but they don't really work out that well. How wbout we marry the two?

Have the resonance no longer the perview of the technomancer only. Make it like some sort of subspace domain. Basically if you have the correct equipment you can communicate into this domain called the Resonance where it is possible to process faster then normal and create electromagnetic fields into walls. You can create objects there in a type of VR that has it's own rules. It has creatures that live there and people can create resonance bodies there as well. It takes a type of transmitter called a cyberdeck to do this. Physical objects and laws are the norm there. The more power coming through the portal you created (called a jackpoint) the more you can do.

Large corporations were the first to discover and make use of this realm. They created constructs in order to use the super processing power of the resonance. They discovered that they could create various levels of AI there and they were stable. They started creating sprites to do various tasks for them. Given a poweful enough cyberdeck you could turn yourself into a type of sprite as well. While you were connected you could be injured, but the resonance became THE place to hide your most secure data.

A technomancer is a person that can operate in both this world and the resonance. They don't need a cyberdeck.

The average user is interacting with the Matrix which is more like the INternet with more features. They can go around just like I have been describing. They don't need to ever interact with the Resonance and probably never will. A commlink only connectsyou with the Matrix. You need a cyberdeck to connect with the resonance unless you are a technomancer. The technomancer is not any good at Matrix level things unless they get a seperate set of skills and equipment.

The intrusion level stuff is Matrix level but usually isolated. The really secret stuff is resonance level. However you can jack into the resonance inside a building that corresponds with the space of the secure resonance site and get in past some of their defences.

How about that?

Why not... But, being part of the three mentionned camp at the same time, I prefer to keep the original idea that the Matrix is so complex that we prefer to use simple yet powerful visual representations.

Representing the Matrix as a physical realm allow computer illetrates to use the Matrix without any trouble and allow hackers to do what they want, as if they had superpowers in this realm.

The complexity of the base mechanics of 2070 computing is so big that using this analogy is the only way to use it properly (a bit like you have to use a least ASM to code something rather than just the base functions you really need). And the really good thing is that, opposite to today's computer systems, higher level doesn't mean slower or less efficient. Actually, in VR you can do everything you could do at the most basic level and you can do it just as quickly, or maybe even more as a simple move would require tons of instructions to be carried out.

That's the general idea I stick to.

It's not that complex if you break it down. Most of the technology is already here. It's just a matter of processing power and speed. That is why I tend to argue for a more logical matrix system. We can do most of it right now. We can transmit data. We have plenty of first person shooters so we know that we can create virtual landscapes. We have MMORPGs so we know that we can share those virtual landscapes. We can create HUDS to read RFID tags. We have the technology, we can build it. We know how. Why would it suddenly become illogical?

Because of the 2029 crash that allowed us to throw away the old cumbersome methods and get a totally new start with a totally new and much more efficient computing paradigm.

It feels too Star Trek-y for me.

And I don't seem to fit in any of the three camps. Am I all alone...? Are they really out to get me?

Yes Cetiah, we are out to get you. We are just too lazy to get there.

Actually I was thinking about the theories about alternate dimensions. It would bring the mumbo jumbo of the resonance back into scifi and out of fantasy. Right now it is a vague explination that makes no sense.

I can see how it would seem star trekish though. I have been trying to find a way to unify the two concepts of the matrix. I think that this would but I think that you are right and people will mostly ignore it over trying to cling to the RAW.

I am trying to work out the details for a realistic matrix for a hard scifi setting I am working on using my modified SR4 rules. This way I can kill two birds with one IC.

Because when the mysticism and fantasy get out of control its just D&D with guns instead of swords. Adding "magical" and "ooh aahh mystic" components to the Matrix just makes the fantasy part of Shadowrun that much more annoying. Seems like magic already permeates and surpasses anything cyberpunk in the storyline already it just seems wrong to plop on another "oh yeah, the Matrix, yeah, that's magical too, oooh magic" tab to it.

Hey, I'm trying to make it more scifi. The resonance stuff is too much mumbo jumbo but this way it could explain the VR ideas from the earlier editions. That way you can have a seperate and logical internet system and still have the node quest and sword fights with IC thing that seems to make some people happy.