6 ms·

There were also gameplay reasons behind that for flow. One of the criticisms of the newer model is that the needless connectivity without so much as a logistica

There were also gameplay reasons behind that for flow. One of the criticisms of the newer model is that the needless connectivity without so much as a logistical benefit doesn't make the decker/hacker feel smart so much as make it feel like the world is set up by colossal idiots who would think giving the army hand grenades which are always remote detonatable without a manual safety fuse would be an excellent idea and be utterly shocked that their entire army got blown up by one hacker.

ses1984 7y ago
Whoever paid for that grenade doesn't trust the soldier / mercenary they gave it to very far, that's why the network connection exists in the first place, hackers can exploit that. At least that's the reason I just made up.
- pjc50 7y ago
  More likely it needs a continuous connection back to the license server for GaaS (grenades as a service). (This kind of cyberpunk dystopia is very plausible from the intersection of military contracting grift and lowest-bidder IoT design!)
  - grawprog 7y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Spider https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Spider
    - pjc50 7y ago
      This shows how hard it is to write sci-fi when I was joking about "grenades as a service" - someone's gone one better and made a wifi mesh network of landmines! And then converted the landmines to remote-operated as part of a legal fiction about victim-operated devices. Which is the military version of the concern about robots taking jobs: to what extent is it acceptable to have munitions making their own decisions about taking lives? Anyway, in the Shadowrun universe you'd definitely be able to hack the mesh network of landmines.
      - grawprog 7y ago
        I figured you were joking, sadly I just figured something like that had already been thought up and deployed.
    - conjectures 7y ago
      +1 for 'intended to replace the Matrix remote trigger system'
  - 8fingerlouie 7y ago
    "You throw 'em, We blow 'em"
  - mcv 7y ago
    If your army doesn't continue paying their license for their weapons, the weapons stop working just when you need them.
  - f4stjack 7y ago
    Did You Forget Anyone? Militant Flowers can help.
  - WGH_ 7y ago
    > More likely it needs a continuous connection back to the license server for GaaS (grenades as a service). The US allegedly has something like this for MANPADS missiles given to not-so-trusted allies. https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-10642-harry_potter_and_the_not-so-smart_proxy_war https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-10642-harry_potter_and_the_not-s...
- glitchc 7y ago
  It’s so you can’t throw the grenade back at the manufacturer.
- Apocryphon 7y ago
  ID-tagged soldiers carry ID-tagged weapons, use ID-tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control, information control, emotion control, battlefield control… everything is monitored and kept under control. War… has changed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUf_8jyxbiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUf_8jyxbiM
  - MrGilbert 7y ago
    War. War never changes. https://youtube.com/watch?v=C2Pt-LnQ2po https://youtube.com/watch?v=C2Pt-LnQ2po
hinkley 7y ago
Sounds about right.
naravara 7y ago
I think this was done as much for gameplay flow as anything else. The main criticism of the older model was that you had to manage combat in 3 separate, and only mildly overlapping, planes which made combat a time-consuming pain to track. Lots of playgroups would discourage people from playing deckers or mages just so they wouldn't have to deal with astral plane/matrix stuff.
throwaway2048 7y ago
And then I look at IOT and weep.
m4rtink 7y ago
One would think that way, right ? Stuff like this in SF always felt unbelievable to me in the past, especially coming from the technical/IT background. No one would be THAT stupid to have their stuff so wide open for anyone to hack into. Well, then future came and with all the insanely insecure IoT devices all around I'm no longer so sure. :P

ses1984 7y ago

Whoever paid for that grenade doesn't trust the soldier / mercenary they gave it to very far, that's why the network connection exists in the first place, hackers can exploit that. At least that's the reason I just made up.

pjc50 7y ago
More likely it needs a continuous connection back to the license server for GaaS (grenades as a service). (This kind of cyberpunk dystopia is very plausible from the intersection of military contracting grift and lowest-bidder IoT design!)
- grawprog 7y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Spider https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Spider
  - pjc50 7y ago
    This shows how hard it is to write sci-fi when I was joking about "grenades as a service" - someone's gone one better and made a wifi mesh network of landmines! And then converted the landmines to remote-operated as part of a legal fiction about victim-operated devices. Which is the military version of the concern about robots taking jobs: to what extent is it acceptable to have munitions making their own decisions about taking lives? Anyway, in the Shadowrun universe you'd definitely be able to hack the mesh network of landmines.
    - grawprog 7y ago
      I figured you were joking, sadly I just figured something like that had already been thought up and deployed.
  - conjectures 7y ago
    +1 for 'intended to replace the Matrix remote trigger system'
- 8fingerlouie 7y ago
  "You throw 'em, We blow 'em"
- mcv 7y ago
  If your army doesn't continue paying their license for their weapons, the weapons stop working just when you need them.
- f4stjack 7y ago
  Did You Forget Anyone? Militant Flowers can help.
- WGH_ 7y ago
  > More likely it needs a continuous connection back to the license server for GaaS (grenades as a service). The US allegedly has something like this for MANPADS missiles given to not-so-trusted allies. https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-10642-harry_potter_and_the_not-so-smart_proxy_war https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-10642-harry_potter_and_the_not-s...
glitchc 7y ago
It’s so you can’t throw the grenade back at the manufacturer.
Apocryphon 7y ago
ID-tagged soldiers carry ID-tagged weapons, use ID-tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control, information control, emotion control, battlefield control… everything is monitored and kept under control. War… has changed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUf_8jyxbiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUf_8jyxbiM
- MrGilbert 7y ago
  War. War never changes. https://youtube.com/watch?v=C2Pt-LnQ2po https://youtube.com/watch?v=C2Pt-LnQ2po

hinkley 7y ago

Sounds about right.

naravara 7y ago

I think this was done as much for gameplay flow as anything else. The main criticism of the older model was that you had to manage combat in 3 separate, and only mildly overlapping, planes which made combat a time-consuming pain to track. Lots of playgroups would discourage people from playing deckers or mages just so they wouldn't have to deal with astral plane/matrix stuff.

throwaway2048 7y ago

And then I look at IOT and weep.

m4rtink 7y ago

One would think that way, right ? Stuff like this in SF always felt unbelievable to me in the past, especially coming from the technical/IT background. No one would be THAT stupid to have their stuff so wide open for anyone to hack into. Well, then future came and with all the insanely insecure IoT devices all around I'm no longer so sure. :P