In the earlier editions of the game the drug of choice was often BTL. The chip could be loaded into the same slot as al ingua soft or skill soft etc. Now in 4th ed these could be downloaded to your comm unit but the rule book said thast many users prefer the direct slot of a chip. So as kids grow up using a comm unit, so much more fashionable than having that hole in your head and having to shave hair off it, so does the guy with a chip jack stand out as a 'user' the way regular heroin users get track marks on their arms from regular needle use?

Not anymore, because chipjacks have been replaced with Datajacks alone.

And datajacks are usually the first ware most people get, so they blend in a lot easier than someone with needle tracks on their arms

Pretty much what's above me. Despite the fact that they are not the path of the uber munchkin mage friendly direction that SR4 seems to go, culturally I think Datajacks are pretty much standard if not expected.

More like empty chip cases and burned chips are the trackmarks.

I've also been experimenting with an idea in my head where they develop a new type of BTL that doesn't need a Datajack or Chip Player, thus playing to a larger audience. Like, those that can't afford to go under the laser (Or rusty scalpel) to get a Datajack.

Canray: trodes

All you need is a metalink commling + vector xim os + hot sim module + trodes for 600 nuyen to use them

I can easily see a chipdealer offering to mod up a standard sim module for free, or offer a discount on the full package (after all you're going to come back usually)

Yeah, Trodes was going to be part of it, but I was going to have it be something... Bigger.

Meh, just ideas in my head.

dedicated trodeunit.

One use, then burns out.

Has a firmware sim module and limited systems to just run simsense feeds at hot levels. Once used, you got to get a new one.

Add about 20 nuyen per chip to the cost

something like a popper for street drugs

If they can be loaded into a comm link and then down loaded directly-couldn't a hacker broadcast a BTL at you? Even if you do not have the simm rig it should be distracting as hell.

IIRC you have just found out how Black Hammer works. It's BTL sans the happy feeling
A sim rig however is unnecessary. The rig records sensations.

Nanopaste trodes are 100nY.

Sneak, sneak, sneak.
Spray.
Sneak, sneak, snicker.

Real users have track marks between their toes.

Maybe my mage is insane, but I got just under 2 pts of Essence in Cyber/Bioware... and yes my character does have a datajack in his cyberleg (as well as a commlink and cold SIM module).