Hi there.
Since i read the announcement of SR4, i'm wondering (like a lot of people I guess) how the new matrix will be. I'm not here to ask this question, as the concerned person won't speak about it - which is understandable.
I'd rather share my thoughts on the subject with you ; and if the matrix subject is still under developement and this gives ideas to the concerned persons, that's good.
Here i go then.
INTRODUCTION
My first reaction about SR4 (after HELL YEAH !) has been "what ? no more deckers because no more decks ? what does that mean ?" So I made hypothesis on the subject.
first hypothesis : deckers are not deckers anymore because they are not carrying a "deck" anymore - they rather have a cranian cyberdeck or something similar, and a wireless connection. Wow, that would really sucks, as it's been quite some time it's possible to do something like this. There were only the problem of wireless bandwidth that could not carry simsense signal, but anyway it was possible to avoid the problem by connecting through a drone network, which *can* carry simsense flux. But anyway, that's not the question.
second hypothesis : rather than having a deck (implanted or not), deckers have a wireless connection to the matrix and a small computer that allow them to control a bigger one remotely through the matrix. In way, it's like beeing connected to your deck through the matrix rather directly. Again, it's almost possible in SR3, excluding the wireless bandwidth problem. Moreover, the "not decker" needs a connection to the matrix in order to reach his computer - impossible to crack isolated networds from within. That doesn't make any sense.
MY PERSONAL VISION
(from the point of view of someone in the late '60s)
The matrix has evolved - in fact, the whole computer science field has changed greatly. scientists had a basic understanding of how the brain works, which led them to create mind interacting "things" : datajack, DNI, simsense, personafix, psychotropic ice, transducer ...
But in the last decade, a greap leap forward has been made. It has been discovered that some people are able to wire their brain so it turns to some kind of biological computer. Those persons are known as Otakus. After massive ugly experiments on Otakus (go get your brain reverse engineered, chum'), fundamental secrets about how the brain works has been revealed.
Otakus were able to adapt their brain to the matrix protocols, so their thoughts are echoed by code, and vice versa. This process has been inverted : now, the whole matrix is adapted to human thoughts. Data are stored as our memory does, processed as our brain does, transmitted in a way you can instantly understand it. Think about your thoughts *actually* running wires. Reminds you the good old time, just after the first crash ? When deckers were dreaming about leaving their meat for good and live in this new world ? Reload your dreams, you might be just in time for the revival.
How does the matrix looks, now ? Don't look for the old neon-glowing structures of the "virtual reality". Cyberspace is not anymore about mimicking our world, or even creating something based on our five senses. But before I go to this point, let me tell you about how people usually perceive it.
On the everyday use, it is a light trail of thoughts popping in your mind as you pass by. You feel like this TV in the shop is asking you to buy it. Maybe this will turn you crazy. But, fortunately, you can always switch off, or at least filter the input. But the matrix is of course not only a convenient way of turning people insane with ads. Get to the real systems and you will experience "induced dreaming"
So, the system sends you thoughts. The deeper you dive, the more present the system's thoughts are in your mind. From the outside, you look like someone deeply absorbed in his thinking. The system's reality enters your mind, populating your imagination with the basics of its reality - its metaphorical reality, as you people used to call it. By the way, be careful : diving too deep too fast feels like a mind rape, and you may not recover from it. So then, the basics of the environment are loaded into your brain: how things work, what you can do, what you can't. Then the system's reality starts to take form in your mind - and there you are : in a dream. A machine's dream, in which you have your own will to act.
When you wake up - I mean jack out - you feel just like when you actually *wake up* - a bit dizzy, as fragments of the dream fades away in your short term memory. It's usually pretty hard to remember precisely how the place you went looked like. Fuzzy memories of something totally unreal, sometimes sounding nuts or stupid when you are awake. But when you are there, everything is logical, from it's own logic. And real, from it's own reality.
Oh, and by the way : as computers are "brain compatibles", brains are "brain compatible" too. So, yes, you can dive into someone's brain. But that's another story.
[maybe i will write more later, about the role of a decker in such a matrix]
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that's it. How I see the matrix. To me, it would do quite a change, and could open a lot of new possibilities. As you may have guessed, there is a strong Ghost in the shell influence in this. Unlike old cyberpunk litterature, it is not technically outdated.
Last point about all this :
Such a matrix could be a good counterweight to the magic.
On one side, NATURE. Gaļa and its magic field, created by all living beeings.
On the other side, TECHNO. the Matrix and its information sphere.
In the middle, metahumanity, one foot in each world, struggling to access new levels of understanding while keeping its roots.
okay enough for today
Your coments are welcome, as this view of the matrix is not "shadowrun oriented", in fact it is originally intended to another project.