Implants discussion (some spoilers)

[Caralampio]

What do you think of implants? Of course they are the meat and bread of this game, but personally. Would you voluntarily get an implant? I for one would never cut off a healthy arm just to get a "stronger" cyber arm, no matter what. However, I would of course welcome a prosthetic for an incapacitated or amputated limb. I try to imagine how it would be to scratch, shave, bathe, brush your teeth, etc. with all those things in your face, hands, body...
While I enjoy the game well enough, and immerse myself in the theme, I tend to not like the implant thing too much. I know this may sound kind of strange, why am I playing "CYBERpunk then? I try to make my V as implant-free as possible. I don't use cyberware on the face. I even balk at using arm mods because to me they look ugly, and once placed you can't re-implant normal arms, just other mods. I prefer to use a katana. The hands are the one part of V that you get to look at all the time.
I find some of the chrome people wear in the game downright repulsive. For example, those girls who have replaced their whole skin with vinyl. What for? Not pretty. I think they even can no longer have sex (just in braindance maybe...) Or those that have needle-sharp sticks instead of feet. And the Maelstrom, what they do to their face it's awful. Especially that Royce, he's the king of facial ulcers. I exterminate every one of them I can. I hate them.
It would seem however that even in the 2077 CP world there are people who don't use mods. Buddhists stand out, although they do it for purely philosophical reasons. You do find a number of poor people who don't seem to have anything on them, which makes sense. Then again, I am surprised at the many hobos, drunks, and homeless that do have chrome, even substantial. How did they get it? There's also Claire who doesn't have any mods, doesn't want to be a robot. So there is hope.
What about Garry? He preaches against implants, but he does have at least something in his eyes, because he flashes them to get your credit...
Which brings me to V's eyes. You go to Viktor and what? Does he actually pluck out your eyes with his pincers to place those Kiroshis? Or are they added on top, or inside of your natural balls? Gaaaahhh... And speaking of Viktor, he's a ripperdoc but doesn't seem to have any chrome on him. That thing on his hand is more like a glove. You wonder when a doc doesn't use the stuff he delivers. Like an ophthalmologist I met, who kept inviting you to get intraocular lens to solve your myopia. However, he had it too but went on wearing his glasses. Yeah...
To me the CP 77 world is a dystopia. An apocalyptical future. Even though we may well be at the doors of it, now that they are speaking of the 4th Industrial revolution and the merging of man and machine.

 

[GVArcian]

What do you think of implants? Of course they are the meat and bread of this game, but personally. Would you voluntarily get an implant? I for one would never cut off a healthy arm just to get a "stronger" cyber arm, no matter what. However, I would of course welcome a prosthetic for an incapacitated or amputated limb. I try to imagine how it would be to scratch, shave, bathe, brush your teeth, etc. with all those things in your face, hands, body...

I'd have no problem with using implants if they look and feel like the real thing. Thankfully, there's an option in this universe called bioware which achieves this pretty well.

While I enjoy the game well enough, and immerse myself in the theme, I tend to not like the implant thing too much. I know this may sound kind of strange, why am I playing "CYBERpunk then? I try to make my V as implant-free as possible. I don't use cyberware on the face. I even balk at using arm mods because to me they look ugly, and once placed you can't re-implant normal arms, just other mods. I prefer to use a katana. The hands are the one part of V that you get to look at all the time.

Completely valid way to play Cyberpunk. Some people just go against the stream and refuse to get chipped.

I find some of the chrome people wear in the game downright repulsive. For example, those girls who have replaced their whole skin with vinyl. What for? Not pretty.

Well, the standards of beauty has obviously changed in 2077, and there's also an aspect of status that heavy cyberware enhancement brings along.

I think they even can no longer have sex (just in braindance maybe...)

On the contrary, their capacity for sexual experience is probably far greater than a normal person due to implants like Mr Studd and Midnight Lady.

Or those that have needle-sharp sticks instead of feet.

Funny, those legs always reminds me of the Hivers from the game Kenshi.

And the Maelstrom, what they do to their face it's awful. Especially that Royce, he's the king of facial ulcers. I exterminate every one of them I can. I hate them.

Royce and the Maelstromers are addicted to chipping themselves, losing their humanity in the process, and a lot of them engage in very cult-y, AI-worshipping behavior as a result of it.

It would seem however that even in the 2077 CP world there are people who don't use mods. Buddhists stand out, although they do it for purely philosophical reasons. You do find a number of poor people who don't seem to have anything on them, which makes sense. Then again, I am surprised at the many hobos, drunks, and homeless that do have chrome, even substantial. How did they get it?

A lot of them are war vets who got chipped to fight better, but others are people who weren't always poor and could afford cyberware before they hit upon a stroke of bad luck or fucked up/got fucked up in some way and ended up tossed in the trash by the system. Night City is a cruel, unforgiving place.

There's also Claire who doesn't have any mods, doesn't want to be a robot. So there is hope.

Smart, too, because netrunners can't do shit to unchipped people. I'm actually surprised CDPR never introduced an unchipped enemy type to make it more balanced to play a netrunner.

What about Garry? He preaches against implants, but he does have at least something in his eyes, because he flashes them to get your credit...

He also mentions he has a brain implant that allows him to intercept corpo messages which his addled mind interprets as crazy conspiracy shit.

Which brings me to V's eyes. You go to Viktor and what? Does he actually pluck out your eyes with his pincers to place those Kiroshis? Or are they added on top, or inside of your natural balls?

Nope, V already had cybereyes at the start of the game (seeing how you can scan people before meeting Viktor), all Viktor does is to replace their existing cybereyes with better, more advanced Kiroshis.

Cybereyes seem to be the most common cyberware by far.

Gaaaahhh... And speaking of Viktor, he's a ripperdoc but doesn't seem to have any chrome on him. That thing on his hand is more like a glove.

Yeah most rippers have that glove IIRC, it's a common tool for that profession.

You wonder when a doc doesn't use the stuff he delivers. Like an ophthalmologist I met, who kept inviting you to get intraocular lens to solve your myopia. However, he had it too but went on wearing his glasses. Yeah...

Vik has a background as a boxer and mentions being disappointed by how modern day boxers are so chromed out they can take absurd hits to their head and still stay on their feet, so he's probably refused to get chipped to stay genuine for the sport. At least, that's my theory.

To me the CP 77 world is a dystopia. An apocalyptical future. Even though we may well be at the doors of it, now that they are speaking of the 4th Industrial revolution and the merging of man and machine.

Totally intended. Cyberpunk's world is a bad, bad place. The only people having anything close to a good time are nomads, and then only because they've made the conscious choice to remove themselves from civilized (as in the original, latin definition of civil as "city-dwelling") society.

 

[danickas]

hile I enjoy the game well enough, and immerse myself in the theme, I tend to not like the implant thing too much. I know this may sound kind of strange, why am I playing "CYBERpunk then? I try to make my V as implant-free as possible

That's what I did in my first playthrough as a nomad I never got any implants and it made some fights really difficult on the very hard so I was sneaking almost the whole game it was pretty fun with this restriction. Now im on my second playthrough as a street kid and Im getting every mod that I can.

 

[pndrad]

Bioware is for me, I would never replace a healthy part of myself with a mechanical part.

 

[-Nailes-]

Which brings me to V's eyes. You go to Viktor and what? Does he actually pluck out your eyes with his pincers to place those Kiroshis? Or are they added on top, or inside of your natural balls? Gaaaahhh... And speaking of Viktor, he's a ripperdoc but doesn't seem to have any chrome on him. That thing on his hand is more like a glove. You wonder when a doc doesn't use the stuff he delivers. Like an ophthalmologist I met, who kept inviting you to get intraocular lens to solve your myopia. However, he had it too but went on wearing his glasses. Yeah...

I have to say as someone who has bad eyesight in one eye(ambyoplia to be precise); if those Kiroshi's were a real thing, I'd consider getting them. Especially because over time as I get older, it will only get worse. At a certain age most people start having trouble reading and I'm assuming that will happen to me aswell. I'm fairly certain that someone who has lost a leg or an arm in an accident or as a warveteran would me more than happy with cyberware like the stuff we see in CP2077.
The existence of the cyberware isnt the issue, it solves many problems; its the abuse, the excesses and cyberware related crime that are the issue.

There is another Ripperdoc at Kabuki who doesnt use cyberware either, btw. He has dialogue about it.

 

[UnloadedOne]

I do not like how the arms look when modding them. Wish I didn't do it. About the only one that will look somewhat low profile is the projectile launcher.

I certainly wouldn't give myself a mechanical limb if I didn't need it. It seems that some people in this world have done just that.

I also don't get the women coated in vinyl or latex or whatever it is. I wondered if the women working at the hotel in the heist mission were required to wear it. Like it's part of the uniform. The cleaning ladies didn't seem to have it but all the staff in the lobby seemed to.

With all that being said, it's Bioware for me all the way if it were available. I also wondered about the eyes. Is it a layer over the normal eye? Doesn't look that way from the picture in the menu and there are several times you come across dead bodies on a surgeons table with the eyes gouged out. I assumed the optics were taken out to trade in for money on the black market or something to that effect. Maybe Maelstrom takes or buys them for their modding addiction?

 

[Spectral_Warrior]

I consider this partof the RP Game. I play as both a Nomad and a Corpo.
In the Nomad style I stick to only the cyberware I'm forced to get when you first visit Viktor. The balistic coprocessor, the new kiroshi's. And I swap out the Cyberdeck for a more advanced one but nothing else.

As Corpo though I finally installed Mantis Blades after a long time, replacing my Black Unicorn. And some of the internal bioware things that I like for my style there. But I will probably keep it at that level.

I also like the very varied approach that can be found in Night City.
Some people have done it for functionality, some for style, some are obsessed with it (Maelstrom ritual) and I like the idea that its basically like shopping, accessible for all, but not needed or desired by all.
Its an extension of what clothes one would prefer to wear, thats also how I treat cyberware.

 

[AlienSpaceBats]

I'm assuming V already has some basic ocular cyberware at the start of the game, which would explain why we already have info overlay on V's optics, especially Corpo V (unless this is OS information that is being presented visually because it's a video game) the procedure when Vik installs the Kiroshis certainly looks like exchanging a full implant, as opposed to a full removal of V's biological eyes (unless we're foregoing surgical operation and recovery - again, because game)

OT; I would only be interested in cyberware for corrective, medical purposes, maybe minor functional implants (personal link, etc). In Cyberpunk lore, I think it's a prerequisite for a lot of employment positions that employees be chipped, have particular implants, even full limb replacement for manual labor/military contractors?

I always keep my V's chrome minimal too, no arm cyberware, just frontal cortex and a cyberdeck (I like Netrunners) and a Smart Link. I wish we could exchange at least the outward appearance of the Ballistic Coprocessor. I don't use it and feel stuck with it, especially when it's so visible during contextual animations.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Gibson's books was that the way he describes some implants/augmentations is quite unpleasant; either way the result of invasive, almost dehumanizing surgery.

 

[MrGuyton]

So nice to see that the game has stimulated an actual philosophical discussion! The whole point of Sci-fi and cyberpunk as a genre.
Personally I don't know how I feel about pulling out serviceable body parts but we already have replacement hips, heart valves and goretex tendons. Laser eye surgery and lens replacement. As -Nailes- said when my body starts to wear out, I can see the advantages in augmenting my physical abilities with technology and I've always thought it would be cool to be able to see into the infra-red and ultra violet spectrum.
I spent too long near big speakers in my youth so an audio augment to get rid of my tinnitus and enhance my hearing would be cool. I live near the ocean so I would also like gills and a third eyelid.

I can't imagine that implants and enhancement aren't going to be a thing in the future, and to be honest I think they're far less scary than genetic modification/ splicing

 

[UnloadedOne]

Some of this stuff is actually happening right now. In this video, the chest device screams cyberpunk. And it also shows people beep getting chipped. They also believe it stimulates the brain in a positive way.

Also, look at this article. Johnny Silverhand lives?

Meet 2020's Real Life Cyborgs

Dispatches from the transhumanist movement.

www.papermag.com