@Tecumseh

Yeah, a pretty succinct summary of the problem.
In the end, Mato will have to look out for the right connections more than for the money (By the way: That's partly why I introduced Chan Wu and gave her as a contact to Mato.)
That still leaves the money side - because if you earn enough money, why invest it in ware if instead you could invest it and live of the dividends.
Basically, you only get new ware if you have a sponsor or a retailer that is going to pay you that way.

But that might be a good idea for a future gig for SIS.

The "why upgrade 'ware when you could buy a permanent lifestyle" is something I think about a lot when I try to put myself in Mato's shoes. Cyber Singularity Seeker is usually my default explanation.

(Most of my Awakened characters do have a permanent lifestyle as their professional goal. I even have an adept who managed to do it, at High no less.)

Separately, I will say that I appreciate how modest you all have been with your Awakened progression up to this point. With 200+ karma you could be real monsters by now, but for the most part you still resemble your starting points.

I wouldn't say that. Bobby just hasn't had a reason yet to go all out.
But yeah, that's the nice thing about this game - optimizing for combat is much less important if you are actually working (more or less) within the confines of the law.

Well, yes, that's why I qualified it with "for the most part". I'm well aware of the terror that Bobby can turn into when he wants.

I prefer the 1 karma to 2000nY conversion. I've played around with the other version and found it pretty punishing. I'm pretty easy on a fixed cap, but there should be at least some IC explanation for what happened (and logical consequences after)

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Bobby selling foci might hurt our relationship with the talismonger (five finger Gao?). Which is a calculated risk, but something to keep in mind.

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That this game has lasted, beyond all expectations, is a continuous source of bittersweet amusement for me. I enjoy the player and character groups, but for all the SR characters I've made that have easy handles to get a grip on them with, and natural progression paths ... I've been playing Jawsey instead.

Somewhat like with Tecumseh and Mato it was "let's try something a bit different, and so what if he's a one-dimensional, it is just a quick run.". If I'd had any suspicion this was going to go on for so long I would have played someone easier for me to write. Three years and I still don't have a consistent voice for him! Nor really have a feel for what he wants, or how I'm progressing him. I've never had a character be such a blank to me.

The game is good fun anyway, but I can't help but think " what if I was playing someone more like Hendricks? (The pc troll bodyguard from my previous run). Him I understand!

Oh right, Five Finger Gao - haven't visited him for a while. Time to rectify that in the next interlude.