How has the story evolved (generally)?

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War rekindled after Cyhperites found and reported a second Zion city to the machines.

Zion held its own in the real but got their butts handed to them in the Matrix with broadcast management taking a major hit forcing ships closer to the surface for broadcast depth.

Merv took advantage of both sides to facilitate war business.

Machines eventually came in and wiped out Old Zion which left Commander Lock and Mauser missing, presumed dead.

Roland took over as Zion commander and Zion got a new LE character in the form of one of his former crew mates from the movies, Colt.

EJP and machine system/code got some elaboration with the introduction of Danielle Wright as the mind behind most post-war technology, she eventually got 'assassinated' by the machines for helping Zion create a new red pill after the old one was hacked since it used inherent machine code. Basically there was a big section of story revolving around the change to New Zion.

EPN planned to attack the machine city directly via the power lines but the Merv tipped off the machines and stopped em, partly to keep the war strong but also because he had an interest in the lines.

Mervs investigated the Machine power system mostly out of curiosity, hunting down old programs who were had ties with it in the old days. Discovered that the idea of the Matrix being their sole or even most efficient power source may not be true afterall.

The Morpheus sim gained a weird of kind of emo-ish self awareness and remains a mysterious third party. Same with Ctyptos, he kind of came to terms with the fact he was was screwed up and accepted life as a new third Cryptos, intent on helping preserve bluepills life out of self moral as opposed to forced perception. Veils still just crazy.

Intruder came along, complicated the whole war scenario. The last chapter or so has been one big mystery storyline but things are starting to come together with the realisation the intruders come from a second human colony on the surface who supported the machines during the original war and were allowed to live in relative 'freedom'. Halborn, the first intruder, is apparently nearly dead in the real and thus has journeyed into the matrix in search of a 'biological interface program', whats been revealed was coded by the oracle, whos currently involved in some sort of myseterious conspiracy.

As for the second intruder, he's Halborn's rival and seems to want nothing more than trip him up at the last hurdle of his quest, befriending whoever he needs to to do it.

As for their wireframed appearence, they're both freeborn and thus have to utilise some sort of higher interation technology to interact with the Matrix, giving them ungodly powers in this version.

Taking advantage of the divided Machine focus EPN moved into the ruins of Old Zion to set up base, while exploring around they found Lock alive in an abanonded surface facility. Mauser is still missing, again presumed dead.

And thats all thats coming to me head atm. lol.

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As for quality, it has its good and its bad, as always. I think most people are currently a little fatigued by the length of the intruder mystery storyline and are just ready for some answers to all the confusion thats been building up in the background.

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Oh and it's good to see you. Even if it is just popping in to say hi and keep an eye on things.

 ^What he said^

I'm still waiting for the day all orgs kill one another off with no reconstruct button.

Intruder came along, complicated the whole war scenario. The last chapter or so has been one big mystery storyline but things are starting to come together with the realisation the intruders come from a second human colony on the surface who supported the machines during the original war and were allowed to live in relative 'freedom'. Halborn, the first intruder, is apparently nearly dead in the real and thus has journeyed into the matrix in search of a 'biological interface program', whats been revealed was coded by the oracle, whos currently involved in some sort of myseterious conspiracy.

cloudwolf wrote:

Intruder came along, complicated the whole war scenario. The last chapter or so has been one big mystery storyline but things are starting to come together with the realisation the intruders come from a second human colony on the surface who supported the machines during the original war and were allowed to live in relative 'freedom'. Halborn, the first intruder, is apparently nearly dead in the real and thus has journeyed into the matrix in search of a 'biological interface program', whats been revealed was coded by the oracle, whos currently involved in some sort of myseterious conspiracy.

Source?

GamiSB wrote:

cloudwolf wrote:

Intruder came along, complicated the whole war scenario. The last chapter or so has been one big mystery storyline but things are starting to come together with the realisation the intruders come from a second human colony on the surface who supported the machines during the original war and were allowed to live in relative 'freedom'. Halborn, the first intruder, is apparently nearly dead in the real and thus has journeyed into the matrix in search of a 'biological interface program', whats been revealed was coded by the oracle, whos currently involved in some sort of myseterious conspiracy.

Source?

Rumors running everywhere, but I think there's a scrape of note or two that confirms it. Or maybe a tasty chat log, perhaps...

I looked and couldn't find any, may have missed it though. But if there isn't then why are rumors or educated guesses bring shown as facts with no proof to back them up?

GamiSB wrote:

I looked and couldn't find any, may have missed it though. But if there isn't then why are rumors or educated guesses bring shown as facts with no proof to back them up?

What you seek lies within the depths of the general discussion forums.

MotorZ wrote:

GamiSB wrote:

I looked and couldn't find any, may have missed it though. But if there isn't then why are rumors or educated guesses bring shown as facts with no proof to back them up?

What you seek lies within the depths of the general discussion forums.

Ah, yeah. So I see  something about a colony but don't see where it says that the two intruders are from it or that they are humans that supported the Machines during the start of the war.

GamiSB wrote:

MotorZ wrote:

GamiSB wrote:

I looked and couldn't find any, may have missed it though. But if there isn't then why are rumors or educated guesses bring shown as facts with no proof to back them up?

What you seek lies within the depths of the general discussion forums.

Ah, yeah. So I see  something about a colony but don't see where it says that the two intruders are from it or that they are humans that supported the Machines during the start of the war.

I think that's where the guesswork begins. Which is why people are complaining. We still know barely anything from these guys.

Which is my point. We're giveing guesses and ideas to someone that is asking for factual info. Not that I disagree with the theory just its only that, a theory, and not anything that has been proven or factual as of yet.

Oh yeah, that bit was mostly educated guesswork. I've just kind of put the pieces together for my own convienience in conveying a general direction as well as the revelation as to the new colony. Sorry about that.

It makes sense though, the last paragraph of that document is highly suggestive of my scenario 

Welcome back.

Yes oh those naughty Mechs, they lied and used the cyphs, so as you might expect they retalliated....oh nope they didn't they err just got more friendly with the mechs errr yeah.....still what the mechs did to Cryptos must be the most extreme abuse any human could suffer their operatives must'av left in droves...err well no they didnt they just carried on...anyways Old Zion was destroyed Zion was in turmoil, you could tell because errr well perhaps you couldnt tell.... anyways WAR is always exciting isn't it....well except for when you make everyone invincible oh err yeah thats right ejp hmmmm...anyways War...... Oh wait a minute a guy made of pipe cleaners just showed up hahaha he killed some agents....what were we doing again....oh hmm forgot..... anyways this guy hes kinda odd bound to be more important....wow he comes from a place I can never go to....

Sadly the story since chapter 7 has 'evolved' beyond the ability of this MMO to follow, disconneting itself from any involvement the player might wish for.

guy made of pipe cleaners

Isn't a disenfranchised pessimist an optimist???? :p

An Owl is death on on a Velvety wing, and yet wisdom its words do relentlessly sing!

Many thanks for the info and opinions! Cloudwolf's story summary was really informative. Some interesting stuff, it seems. I guess I'll be keeping an eye on it.

"The last twist I remember" was Cryptos and reinsertion. I think.

Few questions, what's up with that JokerOfDiamonds, Scanline and whatever that background story was? There was some LE post with a large essay on that. How did that evolve?

Also, I think I read something about the General and Merv, but can't remember exactly. What happened there, again? What happened with the Trainman, and was there anything significant or interesting regarding Sati after she got captured?


PS: Hey, Tytanya! This probably has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I remember reading that discussion about the reinsertion revelation (shortly after I went, so I wasn't that clueless back then), and one thing I wondered about in your arguments: you said it was cool to watch characters getting lost inbetween deceptions and world-view-changing twists, but not to "be that character". I always thought "yea, but actually, you're ROLE PLAYING this character, not being it; if you liked this pattern in the movies, isn't it dope to roleplay someone who's in a tough situation anyway and above all, "can't trust any information" and all?" As a role player, I would have found it cool, I guess.

Again, just my thoughts back then. I'm curious to read your opinion on this! (I also realize there are demerits to necessary information distribution [should a Merv or Machinist really ask itself where it's stationed in the Real and make up stories about it on the spot? Please], player influence on the story or, guess what, EJP; seriously, for a target audience purely interested in role playing, storyline and "becoming part of the Matrix universe", the "levelling system" and everything attached to it is rather disturbing; if you could just create a character, act on with it, and in case of death, simply create another one (without having to wine OMG I WAS AT LVL 49), it would be much better in this regard; but this is an MMORPG, things go differently, so 'nuff said.)

PS: Hey, Tytanya! This probably has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I remember reading that discussion about the reinsertion revelation (shortly after I went, so I wasn't that clueless back then), and one thing I wondered about in your arguments: you said it was cool to watch characters getting lost inbetween deceptions and world-view-changing twists, but not to "be that character". I always thought "yea, but actually, you're ROLE PLAYING this character, not being it; if you liked this pattern in the movies, isn't it dope to roleplay someone who's in a tough situation anyway and above all, "can't trust any information" and all?" As a role player, I would have found it cool, I guess.

Again, just my thoughts back then. I'm curious to read your opinion on this! (I also realize there are demerits to necessary information distribution [should a Merv or Machinist really ask itself where it's stationed in the Real and make up stories about it on the spot? Please], player influence on the story or, guess what, EJP; seriously, for a target audience purely interested in role playing, storyline and "becoming part of the Matrix universe", the "levelling system" and everything attached to it is rather disturbing; if you could just create a character, act on with it, and in case of death, simply create another one (without having to wine OMG I WAS AT LVL 49), it would be much better in this regard; but this is an MMORPG, things go differently, so 'nuff said.)

I remotely understand your point, but isn't this comparable to a TV show, or some novel series, with constant twists and all, which are somehow done in a way that you rather distance yourself from the story and don't take any sh*t anymore, rather than getting excited and sucked in?

Depends on the manner/quality of how it's done, imo, not on the medium. After all, in a movie, you also identify with characters, rather than just observing.

Your character was a Cypherite and had the ultimate dream to be reinserted? He/she thought it was a self-evident reality that it was a possible procedure or the source he/she had the information confirming that was reliable? Well, TOUGH. Your world got crushed in pieces, see how you do with that. Or, maybe Grey lied and it's actually possible? AWWW, what to do??? Maybe there's hope after all?

Do you want to strive to see through the cobwebs of deception and see the real truth?
Oh wait, to hell with that - you won't let the authorities lie around with you - you become bitter and numb, stop giving a *CENSORED* and just feel like randomly shooting people who look at you in a wrong way (or just like that).



Just an example, of course. I never got into RPing, but I would find playing a character in such a world rather interesting. Then again, I see how MxO doesn't give players influence and all, so I can't really argue with you on this particular case.


As for the other:

I believe even Rarebit said something to the effect of "I would prefer doing without the level system".

Not saying that you can't build it within the RP, but come on - levelling your toon by doing the same kills and missions over and over again, that gives soo much "experience" that for some reason, your strikes are stronger and take more health points than those who have done less of that monotonous activity and thus have a weaker "level" of "experience" - and of course, it expires at 50, whether you acknowledge the number as such or not: when you've done enough of the same boring mission enough times, which somehow gives almost as much life experience as actually challenging yourself with more difficult and versatile tasks that actually require you to listen to what the controller is telling you, and equally increase all your areas of expertise even if all you do is pick locks, sneak OR fight, you've reached the zenith of wisdom and, apart from acquiring clothes or weapons that give you "bonuses" or share your life experience with the "abilities" you bought from vendors" by clicking on the "+" button, you can't go any further beyond the horizon, because, get this, this is the horizon... ??

I might be overdoing a little, but my point is, it's simply a game mechanic that may be ignored or artificially built into the RP. There could be other ways of collecting skills or "experience", as a gamer and as a toon, like finding unique software in the Matrix underground, gaining abilities while performing tasks, getting smarter "yourself"... whatever, I'm bad at ideas, but anything more realistic and organic than increasing the "number" of your "level". 

This might seem off-topic, but imagine this: with no EJP, you could die off at any point, after having "grinded" your way to a certain level. I this really desirable? The whole grinding system of such a game stands in the way of the vision of a realistic, threatenin environment where you could die off any minute. That would be cool with "just a character", but not with one you've grinded to the top for gaming purposes.

But this is a typical MMORPG, so EJP and all that stuff are inherently mandatory. Do they distance the player from the War and all? Sure, but that's how it works. 

I've always wanted to say that




....
Now I've ruined my own topic. Oh well.

Also, I think I read something about the General and Merv, but can't remember exactly. What happened there, again?

General got his *CENSORED* handed to him in the battle at his real world base, feld to the matrix, was desperate so accepted help from the Merv, Merv doubled crossed him by inserting control override codes into both him and all his commandos on their way back out of the Matrix (to a Merv controlled storage construct). The general is now an unwilling arm of the Merovingian, supplying a force of sentinals in the real world.

What happened with the Trainman,

He got shot up by the Machines during his escort of The General out of the simulation, he fled to one of his own personal constructs and hasnt been seen since.

and was there anything significant or interesting regarding Sati after she got captured?

Theres some speculation she might be involved in the aforementioned Oracle/Biological Interface Program conspiracy but thats about it.

There are many significant similarities between the story here and what would be seen in a film, book or tv series but in each the medium is subtly different, the film of the book is never the same, and tv series have a much longer time to develop characters than any movie etc.

It is nescessary to consider the medium when delveloping the story in order to mine its best potential and/or ensure you don't destroy the validity of some development by virtue of exposing the limit of the medium itself. The perspective of the story is quite different for someone rp'ing within an mmo to someone actually observing the structure from a distance reading/watching etc and this needs some reflection in the way the story is written.

Of course there are awkward concessions to an mmo world (though as technology improves the ability to mask them also improves) I agree that the story either ignores them or else attempts to weave a convincing excuse to cover them up..... sadly in the case of some excuses used by MxO since chapter 7 they damage larger and more important aspects of the game, namely the sensation that anything matters to the player or that any player or character has any purpose or value. Its not the events themselves but rather the mechanisms used by the story to describe them that have faltered imo.

Anyways I won't derail your thread any further I see you have the answers you requested - I believe your needs from the story are exactly what it is delivering atm so enjoy

So does anyone know what became of that Joker/Scanline/Doc Raj/whatever story? I remember there were some underground puzzles over the internet, secret events (with Chadwick saying something like "I can't give it away right now" and an "Intercepted Broadcast" or something thread with a large, mysterious essay and hidden links.

Now everyone talks about "Scanline Receivers". What is that all?

Thanks again everyone for the answers.

Well then, I'm off again (practising my arse off). Until there's something really new and "exciting" in the game, or my computer/connection get better, I guess.

Bye.