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