QUOTE (kjones @ Mar 31 2010, 06:59 AM) 
My hacker player came to me with an idea, and I wasn't entirely sure how to respond, so I put it forth to you, dear Dumpshockers.
Say a hacker is in hot-sim VR, connected only by a datajack (not wireless). A trusted friend/ally is standing guard over his body in meatspace. The hacker breaks into some system, but runs into some black IC. He gets hit with Blackhammer, takes some damage, and realizes he's in over his head, but he can't jack out, since the Blackhammer jammed his connection open. Could the hacker send a message to his buddy through the Matrix, who could then physically disconnect him by yanking the cable? Sure, he'd get dumpshocked, but it beats the alternative.
So, the questions I have are:
1. Can you connect to the Matrix solely through a datajack? (I hope the answer is yes.)
2. Would a system currently battling a hacker try to block his outgoing communications?
3. Is having a datajack connection yanked out any worse than normal jacking out?
4. Are there any other reasons why this should or shouldn't work?
Say a hacker is in hot-sim VR, connected only by a datajack (not wireless). A trusted friend/ally is standing guard over his body in meatspace. The hacker breaks into some system, but runs into some black IC. He gets hit with Blackhammer, takes some damage, and realizes he's in over his head, but he can't jack out, since the Blackhammer jammed his connection open. Could the hacker send a message to his buddy through the Matrix, who could then physically disconnect him by yanking the cable? Sure, he'd get dumpshocked, but it beats the alternative.
So, the questions I have are:
1. Can you connect to the Matrix solely through a datajack? (I hope the answer is yes.)
2. Would a system currently battling a hacker try to block his outgoing communications?
3. Is having a datajack connection yanked out any worse than normal jacking out?
4. Are there any other reasons why this should or shouldn't work?
That was default in SR 1 through 3. Ah, the good old days.
As per your questions:
1. yes.
2. it could, if it had the actions. AA live feed viy AR or to a monitor would help. Also, maybe institute a "if in doubt, pull plug" policy on part of the sentinel.
3. no
4. no