OK, I'm reading over the Matrix rules again in preparation for a game and something stands out a bit that bugs me.

I understand that Response limits System which in turn limits program ratings. The modern parallel is how my outdated PC could never run Vista and I could never run a program that required Vista. I also get that when you reach the System rating in programs you reduce the Response by one. Parallel is me downloading too many things at once and the computer game I am playing beginning to lag.

However, here what doesn't make sense to me. What happens when the Response drops? A literal reading of the rules means that System drops as well, which in turn means that the program limit is still exceeded and Response drops again creating a cascade effect that crashes the device. That seems silly. Not to mention that the example on page 212 shows the Response dropping by two. I have to assume that the effective Response is lowered but no other ratings are effected. Is that correct?

Second, If you had a really crappy commlink (think a Cracker Jack prize), with ones for all its ratings would it crash upon opening a single program?

Thanks for the help. If I have missed something please point me in the right direction.

the Shadowrun FAQ is your friend, especially the matrix section.

or, to make it quicker for you, the response decrease from program overload only affects response itself, and does not chain on to anything else.

Basically the system drops for it's effective rating but not for how many more programs are needed to drop it.

For a better explanation go to the Faqs for a better explanation.

Damn beaten to the punch.

Response limits System. System limits the rating of programs. High number of programs limits response.

Let's try an example:

You have System 4 and Response 4.
You also have Exploit 4, Scan 4, Edit 4, Browse 4, ECCM 2, and Analyze 6.

If you were running Analyze, Edit, and Browse, you would have your total 4 Response and 4 System and your effective program ratings would be Analyze 4 (reduced due to System), Edit 4, and Browse 4. You have 3 Active Programs loaded.

Now if you try to load all of these programs together, then your persona is running 6 Active Programs. For every X programs, your Response score is reduced by 1 where X = your System Rating, in this case 4. (round down in this case) So, your total Active Programs (6) divided by your System rating (4) = 1.5, rounded down to 1. So you have Response-1.

Your new Response is 3. This also effects your System rating which drops to 3. Because your system rating drops to 3, that is now the maximum rating for each program.

So you now have an effective System attribute of 3, an effective Response score of 3, and 6 total Active Programs loaded: Exploit 3, Scan 3, Edit, 3, Browse 3, ECCM 2, and Analyze 3.

Does that help?

its incredible how many threads about this apparent circular logic there is if ones does a search...

Thank you. Hobgoblin, that was intertaining!

Perhaps you can justify it that way, cetiah, but the FAQ clearly indicates that only Response decreases as a result of running too many programs. Hence Response 3, System 4, program ratings capped at 4.

People would care because than things like Matrix initiative drop. Response is only how fast your computer is. System is not affected at all by the rules for memory.

If you have Response 3 and System 3, and are running three programs, you effectively have Response 2 and System 3. System is not affected by the Response reduction, according to the FAQ.

It makes sense. Why would your actual hardware physically downgrade just because you're running too many programs? Response is linked to the performance (read: speed) of your computer, and System is just the limit to the computers logical capabilities (a different sort of performance, one could argue).