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The Matrix Going Massively Multiplayer

Chembro writes "Looks as though Ubi Soft is making a Matrix MMORPG. Everything is still pretty sketchy now that Revolutions has "ended" the series, but so far it seems pretty interesting. I wonder when the game will be placed (i.e. before Revolutions or after) but this could be the way the Wachowski brothers keep the universe going and how it will end. Pretty cool if you ask me."

62 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. 1st Post by Bruha · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can find more info about the game at http://tmo.warcry.com

  2. after by Satai · · Score: 5, Informative

    it says explicitly in the FAQ on the website linked that it will take place after revolutions. this was regarded as a spoiler in several communities...

  3. Old News by gorehog · · Score: 2, Redundant

    In fact, this was a major spoiler when the news first came out because it revealed that the VR in the matrix was not dettroyed.

  4. Dying in the matrix by thryllkill · · Score: 4, Funny

    as long as my avatar doesn't take as long as trinity to die in the game I'll be happy. Imagine having to wait 20 minutes to respawn...

    --

    Note to self: No more arguing with the faithful.

    1. Re:Dying in the matrix by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Imagine having to wait 20 minutes to respawn...

      What is this "respawn" thing you speak of? Multiplayer online games would be a lot better without players respawning in the same round they die in. Take Counter-Strike. *Excellent* model. You get shot, you're dead until the end of the round. With other games, you get shot, you die, you wait 20 seconds, you respawn, you run back you kill someone in a suicidal move, you die and they die, you wait 20 seconds, you respawn, you run back, etc. Lame. It cheapens the value of your character's life by giving you no real incentive to not get shot.

    2. Re:Dying in the matrix by Xerithane · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I mostly agree with you, and I think that Battlefield1942 almost achieved perfection. The only problem with that was being able to respawn at any captured point. You should have one main respawn base that you respawn at on re-inforcement waves. My only bitch is that most multi-player servers have the respawns set at 20s (understandable, to keep the game play quick) and that discourages proper teamplay.

      You get a lot more teamwork if death is penalized.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    3. Re:Dying in the matrix by Spudley · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't forget - if you die in the matrix, you die in real life too! :-o

      --
      (Spudley Strikes Again!)
    4. Re:Dying in the matrix by bj8rn · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't have a life, so it won't affect me :P

      --
      Hell is not other people; it is yourself. - Ludwig Wittgenstein
    5. Re:Dying in the matrix by Dimensio · · Score: 4, Funny

      I guess that this is Microsoft's chance to show off their new ActiveDeath(R) technology.

    6. Re:Dying in the matrix by WatertonMan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Of course you need that optional electric mouse for this. But it does add realism to the games. Even more than those vibrational feedback controllers!

  5. This is a joke, right? by LeoDV · · Score: 4, Funny

    Many, many moons ago this was announced, and it explained that it would take place after Revolutions, which ruled out many possible endings of the series...

    First the review of nVidia cards that came out weeks ago and now this? What next, an article about leaked rumours that there might be a sequel to Kill Bill : Volume One?

  6. Bullet Time? by sheemwaza · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder if they will try to implement "Bullet Time"... It was a major part of the movie and the games, but in a multiplayer world it could be confusing/disorienting/annoying. No multiplayer in either of the Max Payne games because of this difficulty.

    1. Re:Bullet Time? by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Funny

      well.. it will just be so laggy that everyone will move slow-motion.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Bullet Time? by DCowern · · Score: 5, Informative

      I wonder if they will try to implement "Bullet Time"...

      From the FAQ at thematrixonline.com: Yes, BULLET TIME(tm), slow motion interactive gameplay, is an essential part of the Matrix Online experience.

      You know they make FAQs for a reason... but don't feel too bad, the original poster didn't bother to read it either.

    3. Re:Bullet Time? by noname3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You're right, I doubt bullet time would be feasable. It wasn't in The Opera either. There were stunts and you could bounce off walls, backflip and dodge the occasional bullet, but all at normal speeds.

      Remind you of any scenes in the matrix? Slow motion wasn't used in every fight. If the game has stunts and a well designed martial arts system I'll be happy.

      Bullet time doesn't need to be slow motion. Speedups for a single character would be much easier to pull off, and that's how someone would see bullet time from the outside. It'd be killer for martial artists and dodging bullets.

    4. Re:Bullet Time? by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "From the FAQ at thematrixonline.com: Yes, BULLET TIME(tm), slow motion interactive gameplay, is an essential part of the Matrix Online experience."

      That will be a neat trick. If one person uses bullet time, does everybody else in the same zone also experience slowdown? If not, how would they manage to keep the specific character from falling out of synch with the server?

    5. Re:Bullet Time? by canajin56 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you have Half-Life, play "The Specialists" and find out. The answer? Bullet time is a powerup, like, say, Quad Damage in Quake. Every kill you get gets you a single second of it, or you can pick up a powerup to get a full 5 seconds. When you activate it, everybody slows down, including you, but you can aim easier than the people who didn't activate it.

      It's quite effective. How would you do it in a MMORPG? Nearly the same way. Have some limit on how often you can use it. When you activate it, it slows down everybody, but you not as much. Obviously not EVERYBODY on the whole sever...maybe there is some radius of effect? Will that make everbody out of sync? Yes, yes it will. But they don't have watches so it doesn't really matter. If you enter their Bullet-Time sphere part way though, you slow down as soon as you cross the threshold. Or maybe a visibility tree? So that you can ensure that nobody moving bullet time is visible to somebody who is not? Since the setting is urban, visibility ranges won't be too high...unless you are on top of a building...At this point you need to sacrifice some realism for some usability. Make it use a graph, but limit the length of the arcs to the range of whatever weapon the person is using. So what if you are moving normal but can see people moving slow-motion in the distance, so long as you can't interact with them?

      If they spend a great deal of time tweaking the exact workings of who is in and out, during the beta, I bet it could work pretty damn well. Of course, then you have the problem of assholes who walk into crowded non-combat areas (Which there HAVE to be if the RPG part of the MMORPG is accurate) and use bullet-time to annoy people. The only way I can see to solve that is to make these areas like the towns in UO: No combat, so no bullet time allowed. Or maybe, you know, crowded place, so some agents notice you and kick your ass?

      --
      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
    6. Re:Bullet Time? by balloonhead · · Score: 2, Funny
      The player wanting to use bullet time takes some speed, possibly mixed with cocaine, and plays as before. He will find that as he is now working quicker than everyone else, they are relatively slow, a la bullet time, but with none of the problems related to sync already mentioned.

      Problem solved.

      --
      This idea was invented by Shampoo.
  7. I can see it now by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Funny

    * Call to Tech Support.

    Caller: Yeah, um, are you guys going to fix the lag issues? I'm having some major problems. The screen refreshes at 10fps, my player barely moves, characters pop in and out of the frame.
    Support: What kind of processor are you running?
    Caller: Well above the specs you need, and I'm sitting on a DS3 connection.
    Support: I see...
    Caller: ...
    Support: (consulting PR manual) It's not server lag... it's... bullet time!

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  8. So.... by wastaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...will there be a linux version of this? or are only the win32 hackers allowed to enter the matrix?

    1. Re:So.... by wastaz · · Score: 5, Funny

      Seriously? Why are people modding me up as funny?
      Im being serious over here, I really want an answer to this question. If there was any game that would really benefit from a linux release it would be something like this, correct?

      I propose that we all storm Ubisoft and demand one, motivation "You cant hack on a windows box". And dont you dare mod me funny!

    2. Re:So.... by Nucleon500 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually, power plants typically use proprietary Unixes that are sold with waranties. So it was a SCO box she hacked.

    3. Re:So.... by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 2, Funny

      What really bakes my noodle is how they implemented "hacking" in _Enter the Matrix_, where the player has to work with a dummy MS-DOS shell.. I suppose Bash, Csh, Ksh or whatever would just be too difficult for their target audience. Still, it blows moldy goat droppings.. much like the game itself.

    4. Re:So.... by iJosh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I would also like to see Ubi-Soft and the actual developers of the game Monolith Productions actually work with companies that will do the Macintosh and Linux development so we don't run into the whole deal where one platform is left behind or end up not even having the ability to play with the windows users. If you choose Linux or Mac, I would seriously suggest contacting Monolith and voicing your opinion.

      --
      Moderating to further my personal world domination agenda... and to get chicks.
  9. RTFA by DCowern · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wonder when the game will be placed (i.e. before Revolutions or after)

    From the FAQ: The Matrix Online timeline takes place after The Matrix Revolutions, the third Matrix movie, currently scheduled to release in November 2003.

    You know it's getting really bad when the story submitters don't even bother to RTFA... *sigh*.

  10. Wondering when the game will take place? by Infernon · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The site specifically says after the 3rd in the trilogy. It also says that the Wachowskis are doing the story line.
    I don't agree the the third movie 'ended' the series either. without getting into it, there's much that was left unsaid other than that which was implied.

  11. Due 2004... by SkArcher · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bet you wont see this until 1stQ 2005 at the earliest.

    no MMPORPG ever gets finished on time.

    --

    An infinite number of monkeys will eventually come up with the complete works of /.
  12. MMORPG? by user32.ExitWindowsEx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wait....a Matrix MMORPG...aren't we already in that?

    Or are we still in the real world...and this is how it really all begins?

    --
    "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
    1. Re:MMORPG? by SharpFang · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, the way Saddam and Bin Laden "vanished" despite amassed eforts of intelligence agencies, armies, politicians, police and many more, makes you wonder.
      And just think, what if THEY are on the GOOD SIDE? (note all the news in Matrix proclaim Morpheus to be the most evil, most dangerous terrorist of the world, just watch computer screen in front of Neo sleeping at the keyboard right before "Wake up Neo!")

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  13. Whee. by mrseigen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So what happens when people crack the game server and start modifying it?

    1. Re:Whee. by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Funny

      "So what happens when people crack the game server and start modifying it?"

      For some people, the game will crash, and they'll find themselves in the real world. Out of anger, they'll rise and try to bring the servers down, thus freeing everybody.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  14. A word from the subsim community by lone_marauder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The last big online multiplayer experience they planned was Silent Hunter II and Destroyer Command. The game (really one game, written as two to soak you for two purchases) was, quite simply, the most disastrous bugfest I've ever seen out of any game software company in existence.

    I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but if Ubi has anything to do with it, look carefully before buying.

    --
    who are those slashdot people? they swept over like Mongol-Tartars.
  15. Irony by Epistax · · Score: 2, Funny

    If irony where made of blueberries, we'd all be eating pie.

  16. what would be cool.. by gl4ss · · Score: 2, Interesting

    would be that if you could code your own minions and objects(the way merv had done, and how the trainman had done his place). and being free to hack the system as well(to perform insane stunts, without getting you banned).

    of course if you chose to go that way there would be some kickassing done by the agents(you would have to be pretty powerful before starting to attract too much attention).

    oh well.. too bad it'll probably just end up like everything else and you'll be kicking some rats in the sewers.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    1. Re:what would be cool.. by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > would be that if you could code your own minions and objects

      That is exactly how the game Second Life works. Its more Matrixy than the Matrix.

  17. Hollywood and the video game industry by jmerelo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Since games make more money than movies, movies have just become teasers for the videogames that follow it.

  18. Not Matrix online...but THE MATRIX by Cat9117600 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You won't play a rebel fighting the matrix, ro anything like that. The game will be the matrix! You'll go to work, come home, and manage your life. Just think The Sims, only first person! ^_^

  19. Leaked user manual... by mackman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I saw a leaked version of the user manual PDF. Apparently you're supposed to put in the CD, lay naked in a bathtub of strawberry Jello, and have a friend shove a metal spike in the back of your neck. I'm sure real Matrix fans won't have a problem with this, but personally I prefer orange Jello.

  20. Business plan. by SharpFang · · Score: 3, Funny

    1) Release the Matrix series.
    2) Announce a MMORPG, with monthly changes.
    3) Take subscriptions.
    4) Charge monthly. "You are already playing it!"
    5) Sue everyone alive who didn't subscribe for copyright violation.

    Caveat: They may demand process in the Real World.

    --
    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  21. Courses Available NOW by hendridm · · Score: 3, Funny

    > Now I can get out to realty world

    If you're looking to get into real estate, there are courses available. I'd be surprised if they didn't offer such courses in the Matrix.

  22. Begging for a hack by joelparker · · Score: 5, Funny
    PR NEWSWIRE- Warner Brothers announced
    that its new online multiplayer Matrix game
    has been infected by a malicious computer virus.

    The virus changes all player characters
    to look and sound like the evil Agent Smith.

    Warner executives say they are baffled:
    "we certainly didn't see this coming,
    and we're not sure yet how to fix it."

  23. What will be the goal of that game? by SirLestat · · Score: 3, Funny

    Go out of the matrix in the real world? Is that some kind of plan to drive mmorpg addicts away from their computer?

  24. Allow me to introduce myself! by ScottGant · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hi, I'm Troy McClure...you may remember me from such MMORPG's as "Pokemon Online" and "Michael Jackson's World of Weasles"

    --

    "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
  25. This was at E3 in May by tabacco · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's not as if this is something new... Ubi was demoing it at E3 this year.

  26. Re:spoiler-riffic by Kenja · · Score: 4, Funny

    You'r welcome. In addition, both Shane and Old Yeller die.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  27. No closure in Revolutions because... by rufey · · Score: 2, Informative
    From here, dated May 2003:

    "The Wachowski Brothers' vision for The Matrix is one that extends far beyond the theatrical trilogy, and the world they have created is so rich that we've chosen to tell inter-connected Matrix-related stories in multiple mediums," said Joel Silver, producer of the Matrix films. "Our goal in collaborating with Ubi Soft is to create a multiplayer online game that reflects the trilogy's highly stylized storytelling and innovative action, taking fans beyond the boundaries of the movie screen and into a 'persistent world' where they can fully explore the vast realm of the Matrix."

    So it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that Revolutions didn't bring closure. It wasn't meant to.

    Whether tying video/on-line games to a movie series is really going to work, only time will tell.

  28. Only the people actively fighting you[n/t] by talnkyo · · Score: 2, Informative

    Only the people actively fighting you[n/t]

  29. Um, hello, submitters? by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do you even read the links you submit?

    The TMO website states quite clearly when the RPG takes place (right after Revolutions) and that it will be based on plotlines guided by the Wachowskis.

    There are two sides in the game--those who want people to remain in the Matrix (sort of a Cipher mindset), and those who feel everyone should be free because the Matrix is not real (like a Morpheus mindset).

    There will be bullet-time and even possibly agents. It'll be everything Enter The Matrix wasn't. Nightclubs, actual traffic, and so forth will all exist in the game. It will be one big urban city, because according to the Wachowskis, the Matrix is one massive urban landscape.

    All of that info, I got just from reading the official website the submitter linked to. Clearly, the submitter didn't even bother, instead asking when it takes place and saying how cool it seems if you ask him. Uh, yeah.

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
    1. Re:Um, hello, submitters? by Artifakt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Oh Good - If the Matrix is all an urban landscape, I can sit here looking out the window at the rolling mountains covered with glorious fall colors and the geese flying past, and think about how wonderful it is to be in reality. Now how much do they want a month again, for me to plug into a grimy city with extra drive by shootings?

      --
      Who is John Cabal?
    2. Re:Um, hello, submitters? by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Funny

      Do you even read the links you submit?

      It's okay, because CmdrTaco evidently doesn't read his own website.

    3. Re:Um, hello, submitters? by GlassUser · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You mean space to fit the six billion humans alive today? You could fit the entire world's population in an area just larger than the city limits of washington DC, assuming each person needed two square feet to stand. If everyone needed an eighth acre suburban home/lot, you could fit everyone in the four corners states. tsk tsk.

  30. Sphere of effect by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What's the big deal? I imagine bullet-time will just have sort of a radius of effect. If you're not in the same room, you won't slow down, and if you're watching it from a distance, you will see people moving in slow-motion but the rest of the game is moving normally.

    If you try to fire into that radius of effect, your bullets will just slow down, so you can't pick off the bullet-time people. Everything slows down in that bubble. Makes sense to me. Can't wait for the game.

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
  31. More news by QEDog · · Score: 2, Funny

    "It even took over my avatar!" Said one of the DMs, who calls herself as The Oracle. One game tester, that played in all the 6 beta versions says he is going to get back into the game to use his high level character Da' 0|\|3 to solve the situation.

    --
    "There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
  32. I can see it now... by Snaller · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thouands of people will be playing like thouands of people, who wake up, brush their teat, eat breakfast, travel to work, put in 8 hours behind a desk, travel home again. Flatten out on the sofa watching big brother. Occasionally do some shopping and go to the toilet(not at the same time). Try to make points with the boss, earn some bucks. And once a year they'll reboot everything and you start all over.

    Cool game.

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  33. Neo by zCyl · · Score: 2, Funny

    So what happens when people crack the game server and start modifying it?

    Neo: Are you saying I can get a subscription to this MMORPG?
    Morpheus: When you're ready, you won't have to...

  34. Don't get this game if... by vudufixit · · Score: 2, Funny

    It comes with a special controller that goes from the PC or gaming console straight to "any part of your skin"

  35. Re:Bet it will support over 1 million users at onc by eforhan · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've heard it already supports over six billion.

  36. The Familiarity Problem by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I think the Matrix will have a problem as an MMORPG. Let's consider existing MMORPGs and where their backgrounds come from.

    Everquest, AC, and AO all use original backgroups set in familiar genres (Fantasy for EQ and AC, SF for AO). Players have some general expectations based on the genre, but no specific characters/story requirements. (Although any fantasy game that has a Ranger class seems to run into some problems for every way that their Rangers differ from Aragorn).

    DAoC used Arthurian, Celtic, and Norse mythology for its background, loosely. This was a brilliant move on Mythics part--it gave them background that people would know something of, but because there are few specific characters and stories that most people are overly familiar with in those settings, it doesn't overly focus people's expectation.

    Now consider SWG. Although it is doing well, it has had a problem with disappointment for not living up to what many people want from a Star Wars game. The Star Wars universe is too strongly focused on a few characters and stories, and people playing a Star Wars game often want to be those characters. Far more people want to play Han Solo than play the guy Han Solo buys his guns or beer or hairstyling from.

    The Matrix, I think, might suffer from this. (As will the upcoming LotR MMORPG, BTW). The focus of the movies is too strongly on a small set of characters, and people will want to play those characters, or at least play with them, doing the the things that were done in the movie.

    Also, both The Matrix and the good SW movies were basically about world (galaxy, universe) changing events. If the games don't have that, many people will find them disappointing, compared to their expectation, which will basically be playing the movies.

    In light of the above, here are some movies/TV shows I thing would make good MMORPG conversaion.

    First, I'm surprised there has not been a Star Trek MMORPG. Sure, in some ways ST suffers from the same problems that SW and LotR have...but because there were several series, focusing on different crews (original, next gen, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise), I think the focus has been diluted enough that it would work. Set it in TNG time, and I think people could accept being on ships other than Enterprise, or space stations other than DS9.

    Second movie that comes to mind is either Antz or A Bug's Life. Those would work because there was only one movie for each, and though they focused on basically one character/story each, I don't think one movie is enough to form the strong association between the character and the world.

  37. A Better Ending would have been (spoilers) by Joey7F · · Score: 2, Interesting

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    Okay, you know how the kid announces to all of zion that the war is over? I think a better ending would have been for him to go there but have everyone dead...except for 23 people; 16 women and 7 men. That way it would be clear that humanity will be enslaved forever, because this Neo made a different choice than his predecessors and they still ended up with the same result. It also would bring more power to the statement by the Merovingian that choice is an illusion between people with power and people without it. It would have been extremely dark and definitive but still would have left people scratching their heads. Fwiw I enjoyed the movie :)
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    1. Re:A Better Ending would have been (spoilers) by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "It also would bring more power to the statement by the Merovingian that choice is an illusion between people with power and people without it. It would have been extremely dark and definitive but still would have left people scratching their heads."

      That would have ruined the movie. The real hero of this movie wasnt Neo, it was the Oracle. She created both Neo and Agent Smith in order to put the Matrix in jeopardy and give both the Machines and the Humans a common problem to solve. Since the humans had the key ingredient (Neo) to fix it, they had a bargaining piece to demand peace with the machines. It was an interesting solution because it meant the Matrix could stay online, and those outside of it could live a peaceful existence, they wouldn't feel the need to try to destroy it.

      I personally found this fascinating. I thought it was interesting that it was a machine/program who wanted piece and risked her own existence for it. It meant the machines weren't totally evil. By ending the movie by causing things to be like they planned, it'd destroy what made this ending exciting. And for what, proving the point that shit happens? It's easy to write movies that end on a bad note. It's hard to write movies where problems are solved in engaging ways.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:A Better Ending would have been (spoilers) by ClubStew · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree with NanoGator, but I have to add that "Merv" was a power-monging machine who's underlying purpose - it seems - was to dispell hope. People with power also make sure they keep their power and will do or say anything to sustain that goal. I, for one, took everything he said with a grain of salt. I mean, most people don't trust rich, powerful people in the real world (our time) - why should they be trusted in the Matrix - especially when it is a world created to sustain the self-aware machines. They practically destroyed humanity to sustain themselves.

  38. Might not be such a big problem. by Graelin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Regardless of how many rounds per second you gun can fire, the delay between each shot is also magnified in the sphere of effect.

    So - if bullet-time runs at 1/100th of real-time that 0.01/second delay between rounds turns into one full second when the second round enters the SOE.

    That being said, if the bullet-time SOE just slows things down then I will be extremely disappointed. The entire concept of bullet-time and the (IMO) related slow-motion fighting effects was to convey the speed of the characters involved. Max Payne almost got this right with it's Bullet Time implementation (you could aim at normal speed but you couldn't actually move faster)

    A perfect implementation would allow for different time ratios for everyone in the system. Higher-level players would move insanely fast to low-level players because their time ratios were different. You wouldn't need SOE at all really, but while time-compression can be easily implemented in a computer it's the inverse that is impossible. In a MMORPG anyway.