I was browsing through the updated FAQ's for 4A, which are a heck of an improvement from the last FAQ's in terms of both breadth and detail, to say nothing of the topics selected. The amount of time spent on hacking and magic in particular seemed to mirror the length of the discussion threads I remember seeing (participating in) here. One thing directly occurred to me, so I will throw it out for everybody to chew on:
Anybody who remembers me at all will recall that I'm a huge fan of tying a SimRig into a Tac Net for a wealth of reasons. Because they have stated (and re-stated in the FAQ, actually) that each sense in a SimSense recording is an individual "track" of information which can be filtered on and off, that means the take from my eyes is, from the perspective of a Tac Net, no different than the take from an un-improved cybereye. More importantly, if I have vision enhancements, they count as well.
Now, it particularly says that a Technomancer can create a complex form, either through Threading or by learning it permanently with Karma, which directly replicates the functionality of a SimRig. They have to store the take offline somehow, but if you're feeding it right into the Tac Net, it's less of an issue. So the Technomancer learns the Tac Software as a Complex Form and adds that the aforementioned SimRig CF. Now you can put your teams Tactical Network hub behind the formidable defenses of a Technomancer's Biological Node. The Technomancer's Eyeball, Mk 1 Rev 0 is their primary visual sensor, while their Eardrums, Mk 1 Rev 0 are online as their primary auditory system. If the software can interpret smell into usable data (smell of Cordite™, or maybe gasoline anybody?) and you've got a useful warning from an often overlooked sense. Sensing the floor becoming wobbly or slippery can likewise toss up a warning, or sudden spikes in temperature… you get the idea.
Ok, so, now that I've opened that can of worms, have at it. I'd love to hear other ideas to take this basic concept even further, if anybody has any. And of course, my usual disclaimer: play nice, respect each other's ideas (even especially if you think they suck), and let's try to keep it from turning into a flame war. Vigorous intellectual debate is fine, and even a little intellectual bloodletting in moderation can make for a fun thread.
"Ale Chat!"