David Wasn't Special

[GrandMajora]

With how many cyber psychos, MaxTac soldiers, and even random street gangsters are outfitted with Sandevistans, it's no wonder why Adam Smasher referred to it as a "rudimentary implant."

Edgerunners made this tech look like it could turn somebody into a nigh unstoppable killing machine, yet here I am killing dozens of enemies outfitted with the same tech.

Then again, maybe V is just that much of a hard core bad ass, that even super speed doesn't faze them?

[shoopy]

NPC Sandys are nerfed. V is god with a high level one. Unstoppable killing machine fits.

[Mewsha]

That's the entire point of Edgerunners, that David wasn't special.

He was a little out of the ordinary and when he was part of the group it truly felt like he could be more than he was born into, but at the end of the day he couldn't, and that's why that ending was so tragic. That hope got snuffed out and Night City consumed him.

Even in the last episode you can see Rebecca fully realize that David wasn't going to be the legend she thought he could be as he loses his mind on their way to Arasaka.

As for the game, item rarity is factor. NPC Sandevistans are usually not legendary quality, and those legendary ones require at least 15 into reflexes to use and a good amount of street cred to purchase.

Just having a Sandevistan doesn't make it broken either. You need to adjust your build around it which requires planning and a significant investment. Mine didn't start to feel broken until around level 30 when I was able to start crafting legendary heatsink mods.

[Prince Ian]

David was special in how he could push the sandevistan far beyond recommended use without turning cyberpsycho. Then he installed more cyberware on top of that. His tolerance for cyberware was very high and that capability was very interesting to Arasaka. Even Adam Smasher was impressed saying to David that he was surprised he could still string two words together.

[Titan Awaken]

… Yes? That was kind of the point of the show?

Forgive my forwardness but did you actually pay attention to the first episode? It’s made very clear that David is just some typical poor Street Kid from Santo Domingo. You don’t gotta have Sherlock Holmes’ level of smarts to be able to deduce that.

Again if I’m going to be blunt, David being a nobody was more or less spelled out for the audience in glowing neon lights: From how he’s literally broke as all hell, to his crusty old crumbling apartment, the fact that he stuck out like a sore thumb at Arasaka Academy to the fact that his goddamn washing machine couldn’t even finish one complete cycle before breaking down. The fact that David was a nobody was practically written on the walls.

The only thing that could be considered “special” about David was his unusually high tolerance to his cybernetic implants but even that had his limits.

On a side note, I’d like to share a piece of trivia: V was nothing special too.

[V化三界之空>I<歸九地之虛D]

David really is NOT special... He think he can push Sandevistan usage to a level that "Normal person can't handle"... Yet mil-grade Sandevistan really is one of the most common cybernetic used by all well know mercs in Night City... Johnny have it, Rogue have it, almost everyone have it, and almost all of them can use it like David... The one legend with the highest cybernetic tolerance is still Adam Smasher (V is another story), who have nothing left on his body that is not cybernetic except his brain (sort of)...
And the problem of 2077 and Edgerunner is the way they presenting the story... They are taking the point of view from a really strange angle...
Because if you know the Cyberpunk characters and their background story, you will know that in 2077, the only thing V and Johnny have achieved is really burning Johnny's life goal and dream into ashes with their own hand... And Adam Smasher was hired to defend the REAL HERO of cyberpunk world, and V killed him, defended the system Johnny hated so much...
Johnny Silverhand of America, Yorinobu Arasaka of Japan.
A hated charismatic rebel leader, and a beloved charismatic rebel leader...

[GrandMajora]

Titan Awaken の投稿を引用：

On a side note, I’d like to share a piece of trivia: V was nothing special too.

Isn't the fact that V was able to kill Adam in single combat without being anywhere near as heavily modified as him, WHILE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH enough to classify him as one of the greatest legends in Night City?

And no, we can't say it's because he had Johnny helping him out. We see in the opening flash back that the Adam who killed Silverhand was an earlier model, and doesn't have the same extent of upgrades as the one we fight at the end of the game. Meaning we killed a bigger, deadlier version of the one who took out Johnny.

[GrandMajora]

V化三界之空>I<歸九地之虛D の投稿を引用：

And Adam Smasher was hired to defend the REAL HERO of cyberpunk world, and V killed him, defended the system Johnny hated so much....

Not if you get the secret ending and decide to keep your body. Your one man assault on Arasaka, combined with uploading Alt into their systems effectively destroyed Arasaka as a company. The corporation is in a total state of chaos after the stunt you pulled, and public opinion has massively turned against them, after the truth about their Relic program is exposed.

[Ashling]

Titan Awaken の投稿を引用：

On a side note, I’d like to share a piece of trivia: V was nothing special too.

The goal of every Cyberpunk isn't making friends or becoming special or getting the nicest shininest stuff. It's survival. Shiny stuff will get you shot and pilfered, being special will make some kid want to prove himself by offing you, and your friends will betray you at a moments notice. Survival is the main goal.
Which is what makes V special, they failed the main goal, they could no longer survive and yet they still continued living. A special kinda failure anyways.

[Weaver]

In a video game the player is almist always overpowered and not representative of how things actually work in the setting. After all, V can take a multitude of injuries, take a hypo, and be good as new instantly, not a mark left on them. It's a power fantasy. It wouldn't be fun if you had to deal with injuries and spend forever recuperating. It's also why V can freely spam bullet time as much as they want, if you could only use it a few times a day, no player would bother with it. There are a million things player characters don't have to worry about. Heck V never has to eat or drink or use the bathroom.

David and V are also both special cases. Here is what Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk had to say about them in a conversation about cyberpsychosis:

"Okay, so time to (partially) explain CYBERPSYCHOSIS.

First of all, Cyberpsychosis is a disorder that in part depends on the subject's overall internal susceptibility. Just like every person who drinks a lot at parties doesn't end up an alcoholic in the gutter, not everyone who gets loaded up on cyberware is going to automatically go cyberpsycho. You have to have an inherent susceptibility, which (in the TRPG) is represented by the player's Humanity Stat. Humanity is not just a measure of *one* aspect of personality, but an overall measure of several elements including the subject's ability to emphasize and relate with others, their ability to absorb and rebound from mental and physical stressors, their ability to show compassion and flexibility to others, and whether they are able to balance their worldview through other methods.

So, in some ways, I tend to treat cyberware as an addiction--heavy anabolic steroid use being my favorite model. Not everyone who juices ends up crazy mad with roid rage. But those who are more susceptible to the need to take more steroids are more likely to hit a point where they do flip into roid rage. (Take a look at this article from Livescience [https://www.livescience.com/38354-what-is-roid-rage.html](https://www.livescience.com/38354-what-is-roid-rage.html) for a pretty good idea of how roid rage works--notice that it's got the same basic profile as cyberpsychosis).

David's starting Humanity was probably already pretty high. And before things went to crap, he had a loving mother, a career path, and no more hassle than the average poor guy in a wealthy Ivy League school. So he had lots of buffer. But even so, he still, even after losing all that, was able to make friends, build a replacement family, and (after some prompting) even get a girlfriend. And a mentor (Maine) to create a supportive father figure. So he could definitely handle the stress of added cyberware up to a point.

Most people in Night City don't have the level of Humanity to pull this kind of stunt off without going cyberpsychotic. So David is one in a million. And that's why Arasaka wants him.

V is a different case. We don't know V's background, but even if V was a full on Corpo, they were able to hold it together even when they ended up with a dead Rockerboy in their heads (Yah, tell me about it; Johnny Silverhand's been in *my* head for the last three decades.) In fact, having Johnny in their head probably helped V, because Siilverhand's rage and attitude probably acted as a buffer for the psychological hits V is taking. It's like having a time share with a guy who's already half cyberpsycho and doesn't mind if V slaps stuff on their shared body; he's already crazy and violent.

So that's a rough explanation of the roots of cyberpsychosis. If I ever get band width, I'm going to start writing/posting some stuff about what I had in mind as I put together the Night City universe. But for now, you'll have to go with what I've got here. Have fun, and remember not to chip mili-spec cyberware, like your mother warned you about.

And no, cyberpsychosis isn't caused by AI net demons. Gimme a break, chooms!"

Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LowSodiumCyberpunk/comments/xklzsx/why_doesnt_v_get_cyberpsychosis/ipffmf4?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

[Titan Awaken]

GrandMajora の投稿を引用：

Titan Awaken の投稿を引用：

On a side note, I’d like to share a piece of trivia: V was nothing special too.

Isn't the fact that V was able to kill Adam in single combat without being anywhere near as heavily modified as him, WHILE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH enough to classify him as one of the greatest legends in Night City?

And no, we can't say it's because he had Johnny helping him out. We see in the opening flash back that the Adam who killed Silverhand was an earlier model, and doesn't have the same extent of upgrades as the one we fight at the end of the game. Meaning we killed a bigger, deadlier version of the one who took out Johnny.

No, because Yeah V became a NC Legend through his actions. Doesn’t change the fact that he/she started out as a nobody just like David did.

With the exception of being born into mega-rich, influential families or royalty, everyone starts out as a nobody before they become somebody.

David and V are the exact same in this regard. I’m not a Drake fan but he said it best:

“Started from the bottom, now we’re here.”

[V化三界之空>I<歸九地之虛D]

GrandMajora の投稿を引用：

V化三界之空>I<歸九地之虛D の投稿を引用：

And Adam Smasher was hired to defend the REAL HERO of cyberpunk world, and V killed him, defended the system Johnny hated so much....

Not if you get the secret ending and decide to keep your body. Your one man assault on Arasaka, combined with uploading Alt into their systems effectively destroyed Arasaka as a company. The corporation is in a total state of chaos after the stunt you pulled, and public opinion has massively turned against them, after the truth about their Relic program is exposed.

You shall pay more attention to what Yurinobu is doing in 2077...

V only manage to throw Arasaka into chaos in the SECRET ENDING, that is barely something Yurinobu had already achieved long time ago.

He completely toss Arasaka off their feet and make them lose all of their home base in Japan... Yes, all Arasaka's home office in Japan have been confiscated by Japanese government because of Yurinobu's attack.

Yurinobu's plan in 2077 is to use his newly acquired position to start to 5th Corpo War, he will use this to destroy EVERY SINGLE CORPORATION at once, this will end the entire corpo system and force the world to change... This is what Johnny was dreaming for, and V/Johnny just burned Yorinobu's plan to the ground...

And why do you think Yurinobu has stolen Johnny's relic at first place? If he hand over a construct of some high and powerful who have used their program to the netwatch, won't it be more damaging then hand over a relic that contain an old terrorist?

You night not notice if you are new to Cyberpunk... But Yurinobu is the very FIRST victim of Soulkiller system, his brother Kai killed him with Soulkiller in the 4th Corpo War, but later Yurinobu re-emerge and point out Kai only managed to kill one of his body double, and he use this to overthrow Kai, and with Hanako's help, Yurinobu re-joined the family...

And this is all because of Johnny's nuke strike on Arasaka tower that sparks Yurinobu's idea to plan out his attack against the entire corpo system from within, by using Arasaka to start a war that end the entire system once and for all...

Now can you see how little V has achieved and how much Yurinobu was about to achieve?

[V化三界之空>I<歸九地之虛D]

Weaver の投稿を引用：

In a video game the player is almist always overpowered and not representative of how things actually work in the setting. After all, V can take a multitude of injuries, take a hypo, and be good as new instantly, not a mark left on them. It's a power fantasy. It wouldn't be fun if you had to deal with injuries and spend forever recuperating. It's also why V can freely spam bullet time as much as they want, if you could only use it a few times a day, no player would bother with it. There are a million things player characters don't have to worry about. Heck V never has to eat or drink or use the bathroom.

David and V are also both special cases. Here is what Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk had to say about them in a conversation about cyberpsychosis:

"Okay, so time to (partially) explain CYBERPSYCHOSIS.

First of all, Cyberpsychosis is a disorder that in part depends on the subject's overall internal susceptibility. Just like every person who drinks a lot at parties doesn't end up an alcoholic in the gutter, not everyone who gets loaded up on cyberware is going to automatically go cyberpsycho. You have to have an inherent susceptibility, which (in the TRPG) is represented by the player's Humanity Stat. Humanity is not just a measure of *one* aspect of personality, but an overall measure of several elements including the subject's ability to emphasize and relate with others, their ability to absorb and rebound from mental and physical stressors, their ability to show compassion and flexibility to others, and whether they are able to balance their worldview through other methods.

So, in some ways, I tend to treat cyberware as an addiction--heavy anabolic steroid use being my favorite model. Not everyone who juices ends up crazy mad with roid rage. But those who are more susceptible to the need to take more steroids are more likely to hit a point where they do flip into roid rage. (Take a look at this article from Livescience [https://www.livescience.com/38354-what-is-roid-rage.html](https://www.livescience.com/38354-what-is-roid-rage.html) for a pretty good idea of how roid rage works--notice that it's got the same basic profile as cyberpsychosis).

David's starting Humanity was probably already pretty high. And before things went to crap, he had a loving mother, a career path, and no more hassle than the average poor guy in a wealthy Ivy League school. So he had lots of buffer. But even so, he still, even after losing all that, was able to make friends, build a replacement family, and (after some prompting) even get a girlfriend. And a mentor (Maine) to create a supportive father figure. So he could definitely handle the stress of added cyberware up to a point.

Most people in Night City don't have the level of Humanity to pull this kind of stunt off without going cyberpsychotic. So David is one in a million. And that's why Arasaka wants him.

V is a different case. We don't know V's background, but even if V was a full on Corpo, they were able to hold it together even when they ended up with a dead Rockerboy in their heads (Yah, tell me about it; Johnny Silverhand's been in *my* head for the last three decades.) In fact, having Johnny in their head probably helped V, because Siilverhand's rage and attitude probably acted as a buffer for the psychological hits V is taking. It's like having a time share with a guy who's already half cyberpsycho and doesn't mind if V slaps stuff on their shared body; he's already crazy and violent.

So that's a rough explanation of the roots of cyberpsychosis. If I ever get band width, I'm going to start writing/posting some stuff about what I had in mind as I put together the Night City universe. But for now, you'll have to go with what I've got here. Have fun, and remember not to chip mili-spec cyberware, like your mother warned you about.

And no, cyberpsychosis isn't caused by AI net demons. Gimme a break, chooms!"

Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LowSodiumCyberpunk/comments/xklzsx/why_doesnt_v_get_cyberpsychosis/ipffmf4?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

Err... Cyberpsychosis is basically the cybernetic start to overwrite the user's mind (overload on Humanity)...
V's brain is been overwriting by Johnny's relic...
So V is already in the stats of cyberpsychosis to start with anyway... V is only acting normal because V's humanity is been overwrite by someone else's humanity...