Whats happened to MxO

Message Edited by Elome on 02-21-200606:54 AM

You know, I'm actually looking forward to Sony dropping the MxO project, because I've played several games where the original company either quit working with it or was forced to, and non-profit fan-based organizations would take up the flag and make the game even better without threat of said game being forced back under the company's tainted wing.  And I think MxO would have a pretty decent...after life with a fan-based organization looking after it.  After all, who knows the problems of a game more than the people who play it too much?

*cough* Westwood's C&C Renegade *cough* *cough-cough* BlackHand Studios *cough*

*sigh*

Now that the Combat Revamp is over, the devs have been working alot harder on more content. Here:

Mission Archives

More appearances of LE characters / Liasions

Organization-Specific Abilities

I think Rarebit mentioned something big happening in chapter 5.2.

And for clarification, THIS IS NOT SWG. AT. ALL.

---

MagnumTorr wrote:

Sems like a great game to
me, why do people have to be so negitive, I guess I don't try and look
for the bad that others try to look for. I'm glad.

---

I really want to try this game out, but I can't find the game discs anywhere. The only place I havn't tried is EBgames, but what is the point of buying an MMO game used when the game key has most likely already been used?

 Does anyone have any suggestions besides Direct-2-Drive? Amazon and Buy.com do not carry it either.

 Thanks!

Found the game online at ogaming.com for $6.69. Pretty darn good price if I do say so myself.

Yeah, I could care less about combat or clothes or any of that *CENSORED*. If this game ain't got story, who the hell cares? Rarebit and Chadwick can't be ****ing around with all this subsidiary-type storyline. Anome? Cheat codes? The Matrix, and even the old MxO story, used to pride itself on being something more than what humans can do, now they're glorifying insignificant people cheating their way into the storyline.

Why would the General toss an important item? What was Niobe doing without her crew in the first place? None of it makes sense.

And of course now we're getting back to some actual Matrix story, but as we've seen, Sony doesn't put too much emphasis on things that actually make sense. Long, drawn out, pointless storyline, throw some Matrix-related material in afterwards, rinse and repeat.

I'ts ridiculous. With the community as bitter as it is over management's decisions, Sony can't afford to spend too much time with their ***** in their hands. They need to wow us, to cater to us, and so far, we've gotten nothing, which is why there are so, so many posts like this...

Yeah, I could care less about combat or clothes or any of that *CENSORED*. If this game ain't got story, who the hell cares? Rarebit and Chadwick can't be ****ing around with all this subsidiary-type storyline. Anome? Cheat codes? The Matrix, and even the old MxO story, used to pride itself on being something more than what humans can do, now they're glorifying insignificant people cheating their way into the storyline.

Anome and the cheat codes are part of the "old story". It was all planned to happen back then. Anome already showed psychopathic tendences since he appeared in chapter 1.3 (well, he started being psychopathic in 2.1, but that's nitpicking). The revision starts somewhere in the next chapter.

I don't get what you mean by "something more than what humans can do". Doesn't make sense to me, but I hope for an explanation.

But apart from that -- wasn't the Kid a little boy who falsely worshipped his liberator and then got his big part in "Revolutions" where he accidentially saved the day?
Cypher, a simple crew member; wasn't he an insignificant, selfish jerk who also "cheated his way into the story" and ****ed up everything? Even Anome is more important: he occupied the not so low position of an organizational controller, and now he's an intensively sought and dangerous terrorist.

From a story point of view, he and Cypher have something in common: both have strong complexes related to the Matrix, they stop at nothing to enforce their selfish needs and recklessly turn on those who trust them.
Cypher hated the Real and was convinced to have had (and be going to have) a better life in the Matrix -- as he said, the Matrix was even more real to him; he didn't regret to kill his friends because he would soon forget and repressed the reality and consequences of this situation. 
Anome has suffered a major psychic trauma when being tortured by his own mother when he was a little boy, and after having first-hand experience of it, acquired her conviction of the humans around being unreal and unsentient, or spies. Now, he takes revenge for his pain on innocents, and doesn't feel regret because he considers the Matrix and all its human inhabitants unreal and thus a playground to reign and gain significance.

Think about it -- these are two more very interesting ideas to the Matrix universe, revolving around the nature of the Matrix and humans' perception of it:
For one thing, the possibility of gaining outsized power due to the virtual nature of the simulation (with the proper codes, which were, in this case, stored by the Machines as a remnant of an old failure) and what some humans make of it; Neo already had the power, but he was a good example of dealing with it. Now we see the bad one, and the one you could easily expect from humans.

For another thing, a deepening into bluepills' possible perceptions of the Matrix. The first thirty minutes of "The Matrix" showed us how a human who rejects the Matrix perceives his environment - as if "something were wrong with the world". Anome's mother expanded this perception on the people around her. If you feel the world that's supposed to be real isn't, what'd you think about the people you considered real? Don't you ever ask yourself if all that was real in the universe was you and your consciousness, while everything else is a dream and doesn't exist? Even those you love? Someone who believes that knows no borders.

"Vanilla Sky" portrayed this theme. The Matrix, while being a collective simulation instead of an individual one, still has impact on some inhabitants' mind (according to the Architect and the beginning of movie one), and I think these are just an excellent idea to play with and to include into the Matrix canon. Both of which are part of the Anome plot.

Where you see a redundant, pointless plot, I see a psychologically interesting natural evolvement/expansion of the original Matrix concept.
Especially with the redpills splitting into organizations and spreading over the Matrix and the Real (which is, in the end, the main and original idea behind MxO), the idea of extremistic, terroristic and reckless factions is almost inevitable, aswell as more inside villains/traitors like Cypher.
Next step is thinking out motives and methods that are interesting and suggesting specifically within the Matrix concept.
Eagerness for a good, carefree life? One person from the movies becomes a faction - the Cypherites.
Unsatisfaction humanity's enslavement and the Machines' liberation restrictions, combined with the worship of a dead hero? Quite natural that some people assume this opinion - EPN arises.
Lust for power? The simulation has a theoretical opportunity. One of them is being a chosen one and equipped with a unique code. Another is the consumption of enhancing codes. An opportunity pops up. A group of people can't resist and commits a treachery: the Unlimit appears.
Lack of respect and understanding of the Matrix and its slaves, past traumatic experiences from a person traumatized by the Matrix itself? Anome.

And don't give me the "laser pew-pew unMatrixy lol" stuff. All that's possibly "unmatrixy" about them are the flashy effects and the fact that they resemble Superman or Cyclops. Supernatural powers in the Matrix have been a major theme through the whole trilogy, and not only on the example of Neo. 


Why would the General toss an important item? What was Niobe doing without her crew in the first place? None of it makes sense.

So you blame it on the story that the facts aren't all revealed? Well, sorry, that's the principle of the MxO storyline and many, many others. You find out things with time.
The General's motives have been a mystery since day one, and they continue to be.

As for Niobe without her crew -- she trusted Anome and her people. And those who were worthy of her faith were killed by traitors. Easy as that. But maybe you'd bring up some more points you consider wrong? I'm sure you have some more :)

And of course now we're getting back to some actual Matrix story, but as we've seen, Sony doesn't put too much emphasis on things that actually make sense. Long, drawn out, pointless storyline, throw some Matrix-related material in afterwards, rinse and repeat.

"Long drawn-out" might be because of the pace. I personally don't perceive it as a problem, but I understand when others do. As far as pointless -- I don't see anything pointless.

I've forgotten what influence Sony has on the storyline. The LET had -- and now that Sony fired it, they have none, and Chadwick *maybe* had to revise his outline. That were the changes caused by the transition, no?

Of course, also such that had to do with ingame feasibility, and those again have to do with the funding and staff, which are dependent on SOE.

But please stay due to the facts: Rarebit and Chadwick write the storyline, of which the first one has come over from Monolith and the latter one ISN'T A SOE EMPLOYEE AT ALL.
Some older Monolith employees have contributed to it, aswell as HCFrog who's now left.
And the Wachowskis had major influence on the original outline. Rarebit said he didn't know if they had impact on the upcoming revision, but Chadwick still refers to them in interviews, and the Wachowskis have hardly lost their interest in this product.
So consider the brothers an important influence in the major storyline (until they come out and say "you know, the Matrix Online turned out to be a disappointment and we think we are no longer going to pay attention to this failure").

If you'd like to see changes in MxO, get more players.  More players means more money and also means the game requires more attention.  Should you just wish to see MxO sail the same steady course of development then do nothing or quit.

The ones responsible are you, not Sony.  Content isn't always everything.  Every game has a tendency to get boring, you just need good people/friends to keep it going.  A good community can keep a game running strong, half-life for instance is being constantly played online and modded since 1998.