| From: | Doctor Doom <JCH8169@*****.TAMU.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Down-Loading IC, and the Game Masters who hate it. |
| Date: | Sun, 17 Oct 1993 15:58:23 -0500 |
Down-loading IC...
There are at least a few problems with this proposal, most of the
initial ones stem from memory issues.
If we assume that IC requires a similar amount of memory as Cyberdeck
utilities programs do in terms of Load Rating, by which I mean one determines
system load (in addition to the MPCP) from active Utilities by the amount of
active memory used divided by 100, then one could calculate approximate sizes
of IC programming. Consequently, a Black IC Rating 6 would require in the
vicinity of 900 Mps of active memory, not to even consider the amount of time
it would require to down-load such an immense file.
Further than that, a Game Master, who has a Player Character who has
performed this abominable act, may claim that a Cyberdeck does not possess the
capabilities of a System Mainframe, in that it is not capable of being a viable
platform for running IC programs.
However, perhaps I should narrow my diatribe to your specific case:
Following the above example, Access Rating 6 would require approximately 300
Mps of Active Memory, which would take quite some time to acquire, unless he is
using a Cyberdeck on the magnitude of a Fairlight Excaliber. Furthermore, what
rationale is he enlisting in his justification of Access IC serving as extra
Armor?
If the technomancer in question requires supplementary Matrix
protection, have him write/purchase a Shield Program, or upgrade his cyberdeck
such that it may support more Hardening. Do not permit him to utilize the IC
in such a bizarre manner.
As to the "fencing" of the IC: If you campaign actually permits
technomancers to down-load IC, then it would logically follow that copies of
Corporate IC are fairly cheap, making the assumption that there is a market for
such materials.
There are two possible reasons (that I can conceive of presently) why his Fixer
would accordingly laugh in his face at such a (unbalancing) suggestion...
1) Most of the firms who are capable of paying large sums for copies of IC
generally are already in possession of their own systems and Intrusion
Countermeasure software. Why would they bother with another companies
programming?
2) You could make the argument that IC, due to the intricate nature of such
programming, can and is manufactured in a system-specific manner, to the
point that it is merely an extension of the Mainframe's base code.
Consequently, to isolate it from its "parent" system causes it to become
useless without the essential central coding.
> Anyway, the point of all this is, what would your reactions be to a
>player like this and his plans. Oh, and he wanted to sell the IC on the
>street and kept badgering me about how much would it net him and what
>would his TN's be to put a different kind of protection on it....I had
>no hair by the end of that month.
My reaction to this character? Excessive/continual badgering by players with
an only tenable grasp of Game Balance, coupled with Munchkinous proposals would
probably compel me to invoke the threat the Zippo treatment upon his character
sheet.
As to the copy protection idea... Indeed, you may correctly determine that
today there exists no form of copy protection which is capable of preventing
the technomancer of copying the program. In sixty years is a decidedly
different matter, however. If you do not opt for option two above, you may
simply state that IC is so integral to a system, that removal of which is
impossible due to protection protocols. If he subsequently queries as to WHY
this sort of protection isn't placed upon files, the procurement of which is
generally the goal of most Matrix runs, retort that very little work would be
completed if there had to be approval from the highest system operators
every time some Wage Slave required to edit some document.
This is not, admittedly, a perfect solution. Nevertheless, it may serve as a
springboard for different, more comprehensive ideas.
Colonel Count von Hohenzollern und von Doom, DMSc, DSc, PhD.
Doom Technologies & Weapon Systems -- Dark Thought Publications
>>> Working on solutions best left in the dark.
<<<
[ Doctor Doom : jch8169@********.tamu.edu ]
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
"The sciences...will open up such terrifying vistas of reality,
and of our frightful position therein, that we shall go mad...
or flee from the deadly light into...a new dark age."
-- H. P. Lovecraft
