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24 Hours In The Matrix
Both E! Online and Gamespy have looks at the most recently launched Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying game, The Matrix Online. From the Gamespy article: "Since the close of the beta, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that it has employed a troupe of 20-odd people whose job it will be to enact narrative scenarios in The Matrix Online live. These people will assume the roles of popular characters, interact with players, and generally move the stories in ways that only live "actors" can."
E! Online and Gamespy... hard to say which company's game reviewing I respect most...
While it sounds like a cool job...imagine trying to explain to your non-computer related friends and family what you do for a living. It's almost like working in one of those costumes at Disney_World...
"You see...I am an actor in an online game which was made from a movie...aw...forget it"
You'll have that sometimes...
"Whoa..."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
In the 72hrs prior to shutdown of the beta, it was patched up to the QA server updates. There was immediate improvements across the board in tability, etc., . The initial criticism of Matrix Online being a bugfest was no longer warranted but it did suffer the labelling because of Stress Test.
The end of the beta - the almighty Matrix system crash that happened in game was amazing and a very involving MMORPG experience. Agents were spawning from game characters, major player controlled characters were being hunted down which was interaction at a pretty intense level. Major clans that had been involved over the months were summoned to appearances of Morpheus, etc., . Basically, we all got a glimpse of the plot and how it would work with the game.
At the same time, we had Radio Free Zion streaming in with live actors. This was excellent immersion and was not as cheesy as you think. It was all very "real" with this added element, plus with great music streaming in the background on this station.
So it built up over a period of hours, with sightings of Neo, the machines and the zionists breaking a truce with Morpheus insisting on the return of Neos body, etc., . Very well scripted and shows a lot of story potential. I was surprised at how well it actually all came together in the end but I'd recommend it definitely.
WHile the key to the start of the game proper is you being a freshly freed human you choose your side - Merovingian, Machinist, Zionist. Characters from the movies come into play in your missions as you go up in rank. Also, the traditional warrior/magician classes remain but the magician is represented by matrix "hackers" who can fuck with the matrix world, etc., . Very well implemented.
OK, so the whole breakdown of the human-machine truce from the end of Revolutions based on Morpheus demanding Neo's body is a bit lame it's better than humans starting a trade war or something equally Lucas-esque.
Acting stupid isn't much fun when there's someone around who knows better
The whole idea of actors has been tried before, it is really hard to pull off, though. 20 odd people at 40 hours a week, yields 800 hours 48000 minutes. Given that they probably hope to have about that many players that means about a minute of interaction a week.
Also wouldn't the interactions mostly be a bunch of comic book guy type questions? I mean cool it is neo and some guy is playing him, but what is he going to say? "Good job on that bunny, now watch me do my superman thing?".
I'd do something interesting, but my server can't handle a slashdotting.
While it's a nice idea, 20 actors over a massive environment containing thousands of players seems to be spreading it a little thin. For the average user, are these actors going to have any real impact on a player's experience? Seems to me if the game gets anywhere as popular as other MMORPGs, you're going to have little chance of interacting with an actor.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.
- George Orwell
This is great and all, but the problem is that in games like this, everybody is determined to exist *outside* the game. People aren't playing against the game, they are playing against the rules - as if the designers have set them a challenge of how to defeat the system. This renders all role-play bogus. It is all the worse in MMORPGs like this (as opposed to single player RPGs), where peer pressure ensures that highest level = the winner.
I mean, let's not kid ourselves, for all this fancy talk, we know that this game is all about whomping mobs and collection phat loot, whilst "omfg wtf lolling" with strangers. A few role-playing actors aren't going to fix that.
The coding system is absolutely terrible in MxO. You get your raw resources (bits) by decompiling items. From there, you create code fragments which can be used to create items and abilities. A major problem is there is no way to tell the chance you have to succeed in crafting. It tells you nothing about whether your coding skill really has an effect on the outcome of your crafting attempt. Also, the rarity of the bits is very skewed, with some of the most necessary bits for even low level items and abilities being rare.
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'.
While that would work, and is a good idea, I had kind of pictured an actor making speeches and stuff. You know, rallying troops, staging battles, stuff like that. Or if they just walked around, you could just have them talk to a few lucky people. So you would be saying "So, did I tell you I talked to Neo? He kept saying 'whoa'. It was weird." And your friend would be like "Really? Cool. I saw Trillian once."
For the last time, NO, you DON'T. /Trebek
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