1)
One must find a pirate network, with a minimum of 1 day active search on the Matrix. (Unwired, p. 94)
One must find a pirate network, with a minimum of 1 day active search on the Matrix. (Unwired, p. 94)
Which means every average user with no idea of how to operate a matrix search at all just using a decent tool to do the work for him will find one in about a week. An agent would be a lot faster and doesn't tie up the char during that time at all.
2)
One must search for each program separately, with a threshold of 12 or more.
One must search for each program separately, with a threshold of 12 or more.
And an intervall so small that even searching for every skill in existence takes less than an hour.
3)
Points 1) and 2) are subject to glitches, and more importantly, the countermeasures of software manufacturers. Surely we don't think there won't be agents and sprites out there looking for just such activity? And doing it for a day straight, or longer? Come on. Welcome to cybercombat 2 minutes into the character's game-life.
Points 1) and 2) are subject to glitches, and more importantly, the countermeasures of software manufacturers. Surely we don't think there won't be agents and sprites out there looking for just such activity? And doing it for a day straight, or longer? Come on. Welcome to cybercombat 2 minutes into the character's game-life.
That would be nothing more than a houserule to arbitrarily devalue pirated software, however. I'd assume most pirate networks have at least about 5 MILLION users online at any given time (which is a conservative estimate, as that would be a lot less than todays file-sharing networks) so saying some spy agent caught the player specifically isn't any more plausible than saying "oh, the skillwires you bought were glitchy. Roll edge or have them explode.". I don't have players get ambushed by Ares hitsquads every time they buy a predator from their dealer, so why should that be different?
4)
Pirated software ratings degrade, monthly. (Unwired p. 109)
Pirated software ratings degrade, monthly. (Unwired p. 109)
No, they don't. As the paragraph on the page you referenced indicates, only hacking programs and malware degrade that fast. Everything else degrades every two months.
5)
Pirated software you have paid for may turn out to be something else, or infected. (Unwired, p. 109)
Pirated software you have paid for may turn out to be something else, or infected. (Unwired, p. 109)
Ignoring the fact that there shouldn't be any computer viruses in the SR world at all, considering how long they take to write, while still being less usefull than an unrestricted agent, even including the cost of a good analyze agent to semi-reliably get about 4 hits on the verification pirated software comes out ahead.
6)
Even Pluscode software cannot exceed the rating of the skillwire. (Unwired, p. 94) So the Pluscode (3) activesoft (4) takes up one slot, but still requires a skillwire (4) to run it.
Even Pluscode software cannot exceed the rating of the skillwire. (Unwired, p. 94) So the Pluscode (3) activesoft (4) takes up one slot, but still requires a skillwire (4) to run it.
It still allows you to run 8 skills at the same time, though, which was the original point made.
The whole thing becomes even crazier if you consider that a rating 4 skillsoft is technically available for free using the (admittedly "optional") freeware rules.
Now, I don't think regular old skillwires are particularly broken, but the crazy unwired rules made them absurd, but that seems to be par for the course for SR4 matrix rules...