Alright, so the book says that Hot Sim can be as addictive as BTL, and it's an addiction check.
However, there's 3 types of BTLs listed on the addiction threshold chart.

So, what is the general threshold for Hot Sims?

I generally use the threshold of 2 (in the middle of the range) for regular Hot Sim users, and make a call for it after a month of normal usage. (ie whenever they jack in it goes straight to Hot Sim). The first time someone goes Hot, I have them test against the Threshold of 1.

I don't use addiction rules for Hotsim - okay, it's almost-not-quite-BTL, but still, making hackers and especially technomancers addicted just because they do their job is ehhhhhh~

Never heard of a Workaholic?

Oh come on, workaholics don't burnout as per Shadowrun addiction rules, turning into a mess forever.

Never seen a Workaholic, either, eh?

It's destroyed more families than Gaming!

I use Hot Sim addiction test, threshold 2, every time the player wants to do an extended or long term test with hot sim that they should be using AR for, like an Extended Data Search or looking for a pirate network.
This way if they think twice about getting that +2 to simple data searches and the like.

Logging into Hot Sim for a few seconds while hacking a system is expected, but abusing peak controls for hours should break that addiction threshold.

Don't underestimat e a workaholic burnout caused by the stress. My father-in-law used to be a workaholic for about 7-9 years. he now suffers stomach problems (throwing up the digestive acid, you know) his whole digestive system is kinda messed up and has severak other long term stress cause symptoms. When this whole thing started to become really bad, he had mood wings, depressions, behaved nervous and really short tempered. The doctor forbid him any kind of labor or stressful activities for 3 monts. He didnt changed his conduct of life much so he still shows the symptoms and is on medication for over a year now.
Very similar story happende to the father from one of my friends.
So dont underestimate the long term effect of workaholics - you may be able to supress the symptoms for a while since they arent that bad, but if you never allow your body and mind to regenerate from your work - well there is one point where things start to grow very bad.

@topic
come on guys, this is cyberpunk, your foolish efforts to escapes the sweet blessings of drugs makes gibson sad. in SR everyone has to confront a ultracapitalistic darwinistic and unforgiving world. either you have to sell your soul and body to a con or you are living in poverty, crime or violence - whatever you like. life isnt usually nice to you in SR and a little usage of some kind of drugs or escapism in any form is simply mandatory to keep yourself together.even nowaday everybody has *his* drug (and if its just a mild addiction)in one or another form, may it be your regular morning coffee, this nice beer after a days work, your johnny on the weekend - whatever you like.

as for my personal contribution just today - my shapeshifter charakter ended up testing several BTLs for her first time, assisted by her hacker friend with experiences, tripsitting and software. she spent whole day and found a liking in light moodchips and the last one was a emphaty booster which causes nymphomany too ...

There's nothing wrong with Hot Sim being addictive.

The problem is SR's addiction rules being way too lethal if you look at them even a little askance and don't go purely on (a generous to his players) GM's fiat.

Well, actually, the entire shadowrun line makes Gibson sad. Something about bastard children and his work + elves and all that jazz.



Edit: Some actually proof-ish stuff. This is pulled from an interview with Gibson:

"So when I see things like ShadowRun, the only negative thing I feel about it is that initial extreme revulsion at seeing my literary DNA mixed with elves. Somewhere somebody's sitting and saying 'I've got it! We're gonna do William Gibson and Tolkien!' Over my dead body!� But I don't have to bear any aesthetic responsibility for it. I've never earned a nickel, but I wouldn't sue them. It's a fair cop. I'm sure there are people who could sue me, if they were so inclined, for messing with their stuff. So it's just kind of amusing."



~R~

If your hacker doesn't have the 1)logic 2) willpower and 3) edge to pass the occasional addiction test, then you're doing SR wrong.


1) Logic - Unless you view hotsim as being physically addictive (hint: it isn't) then the test is resisted with Logic and Will. If your hacker doesn't have Logic, then fuggim.

2) Willpower - This is how you resist black signals, dumpshock and having your connection jammed open. If you don't have a high willpower, once again, die, skiddie, die.

3) Edge - If your GM makes you do addiction tests every single time you use hotsim, then get a new GM. Addictions are about habits. Habits don't just magically happen, they are patterns of use, and then escalating patterns of use. If you have to make the test every day/week of using hotsim, then, whatever. Use Edge every test, just like coding software or any other huge period test.

Everything is addictive. The Internet is addictive.

Ever see a Computer Nerd that can't check his E-Mail after a certain amount of time? And that's Old Skool. Now it's also including Social Networking Updates!

Everything is addictive. The Internet is addictive.

Ever see a Computer Nerd that can't check his E-Mail after a certain amount of time? And that's Old Skool. Now it's also including Social Networking Updates!

Just a little while back we discussed around here how hackers are no worse than technos since they don't need high attribute values :3

"Needing" and "benefiting from" certainly aren't the same thing. But you can't rightly call a character a Hacker if he can't Code or build tronics. But will is still your Body-equivalent on the inter-trix. Having a hacker with crap will is like having a primary combatant without Body.

Doesn't need high attribute values all round. A hacker needs two mental stats. A techno needs four.