Veini-san wrote:

Hello. I am currenlty wondering how and when two skills work. I mean Research and Protocol. I read book, and I know what is wrote there, but still I wish you could explain me in details when you use those skills, when they are usefull, with what skills they work together perfectly, examples from your sessions etc. And one of my friends play as a detectiv, and he doesn't know how usefull can be Research in ivestigation. When you are looking for some clues you use Investigation or Research? When you looking for someone, you use Networking or Research? Also, Research is about using and navigate in Mesh. But almost every transhuman has acces to Mesh and they use it since they were children. So it is not so hard to find some info and other things in Mesh, since it is like a breathing for transhumanity nad it is muuuuuuuch easier than using net in reality. So I suppose that Research is something more than this, more advanced, but I can't figure it out. What Research can do, which can be done by any other mesh user? Is it about speed or time needed to find something online? And Protocol- the same. Examples and details please, since I dont know how to use it durring the game. Thank you very much for your answers/

Remember that most skills can be defaulted on; that is you can use them without being trained in the skill. The largest majority of mesh users have little need to build up a talent for researching things on the mesh. This is something you can see today; everyone knows how to use Google, but not everyone knows how to use it effectively. You wouldn't believe how many computers I've had to fix because some 'tard disabled Google's SafeSearch filter and downloaded a few viruses while they were searching for a Lady Gaga MP3 (true story), or perma-crashed their grandma's computer looking at porn (also true story). Searching for common knowledge data, or an encyclopedia entry, or popular streamed videos is one thing... and something most people don't have a hard time doing (+60 to the test). But it takes a certain degree of talent to find the right torrent file, or to get the right search filter on eMule, or to find an obscure file on an FTP network. This is where the research skill comes in. Unskilled Research: You can use all the most popular sites of the mesh, but you do little beyond that. Modern equivalents: people who spend all of their net time on Facebook and emails, occasionally checking out YouTube. 40 Research: You are well versed in use of the mesh, and know how to use it to find juicy things. Modern equivalents: people who are versed in bittorrent and limewire. Might surf more obscure elements of the net. 60 Research: You aren't just versed in the mesh, but you have access to elements that are not publicly available. Modern equivalents: people with access to private information networks. Users at this level are likely part of private newsgroups, or perhaps the source of information for organizations like Wikileaks. 80 Research: You have access to some of the most secretive information on the mesh. You might even have access to Firewall servers. Modern equivalents: computer researcher working for an intelligence agency. Access to Top Secret Clearance servers all over the world. 99 Research: Near-omnipotence over the mesh. You have the means to find nearly everything that ends up in the cloud. As for protocol, the rough of it is that the skill is about diplomacy. Those who are versed in the skill know all the intricacies and subtle gestures of various cultures and groups. A person versed in protocol knows when to bow, when to shake hands and how to do it, and all the customs that entail a specific social venue. They know all the faux pas that will make them look like some bumpkin, and know how to attract the right attention wherever they go. This is the skill that diplomats and TV secret agents have that make them look so debonair. Style, class, composure... these all make up the protocol skill. This is a more subtle skill than the other social skills, because it represents something less verbal. Protocol is used to make sure you fit into a crowd, or stand out of it (albeit in the best possible way). Unskilled: Average person. You can say "please" and "thank you". It doesn't mean you always will. 40 Protocol: You've been raised to be classy. You know how to carry yourself in a cultured social situation. This is about where someone might be if they graduated from a private school that focuses on this, or finished basic training in the military. 60 Protocol: This is where ivy league graduates, military officers, and politicians stand. You are not just trained, but experienced in handling social scenarios. You've done it long enough that you know how the game works beyond just what you learned in schools. At this point, you are a real diplomat. 80 Protocol: Old money, nobility and world leaders operate at this level. At this point, you know how to handle yourself in almost any social scenario throughout the system.

Generally it doesn't matter, however there are a few skills that you really, really want to have simply because they are so useful. You probably want either Beam Weapons or Kinetic Weapons reasonably high so you are not useless in a firefight. This is easy to explain away if you start as a Firewall Sentinel, they don't send agents out into the world without the ability to defend themselves if need be. Fray is very important to keep yourself from being shot right in your face, even if it is halved during ranged combat. Free Fall and Freerunning are very useful to have, it sucks to all hell when you are jumping between docked space craft and you accidentally space yourself. Obviously you want a good Networking skill, in Eclipse Phase it is not what you know rather than who you know. Makes getting gear from people so much easier when you can call up your local criminal syndicate and organize an ammo drop. Perception is essential – If you cannot see your enemy/target/clue how do you expect to get on in the world? Slightly less important are the Technical skills, Infosec, Interfacing, Programming and Research. Having everyone in your group at least be competent at Research is really handy, the more eyes you have looking for information the better. If you have a good hacker on your side Infosec is less important (He just routes all your electronics through his and watches the master node with his legion of security AI) but it can still be handy to have for those times when your hacker has been shot and you need to get through this door now. Interfacing can be handy, depending on what your role is, same with Programming, although most programming tasks can just be handled by a Simulspace fork of your resident hacker. For values, I tend to make my characters excel at certain professions, depending on what they do. The difference between a hacker character with an Infosec of 60 and one with an Infosec of 80 is actually a lot larger than you would think, for example, because the Infosec 60 hacker has to find an extra +20 modifier from somewhere to hit that sweet 99 skill spot. I keep the essentials resonably high, close to 60 with some like Fray and Perception closing on 70 or so. Everything else I get as high as I can without becoming a specialized hacker monkey who is only useful at one thing. 14 such skills sounds about right for my characters.