Fen wrote:

Camo pants are very important to the future of the Matrix.

Where did Fen go?  I can't see him?  *dang* camo pants.

The issue is not where the story could have or should have gone, its a case of delivering a story that works on the canvas that is an mmo. Books, films and games are three different mediums, the manner in which the story is told depends on the tools you have to tell it, if the story goes to a place you cannot follow you lose interest, if it delivers a punch and you see no consequence or effect it destroys involvement, if it offers an inevitable and unavoidable conclusion you're not encouraged to make any contribution.

The story as taken forward has to work in the confines of the gameworld we have, it has to deliver an experience that is enetrtaining, involving and challenging and for that the aspirations, the aims and objectives have to be of a scale and nature that the player can appreciate and considers important. It cannot be all out war, simply because that can never be realised or even simulated here.... massive events like the breakdown of the truce, the destruction of zion, the abuse of Cryptos, and the presence of the oligarchy may offer interest but the game engine comepletely fails to deliver any consequence or resonance, they are effectively irrelevent to the player, they change nothing and go nowhere and never will.

The truce functions firstly to reduce the scale of the problem which brings it closer to the player. It creates excuses and reasons which directly emulate the manner in which players interact inside the matrix, it delvers a credible environment over which other stories of intrigue and terrorism can be played. smaller conflicts with smaller objectives that the player can feel important in involving themselves. If you dont have the truce then there needs to be some other valid story mechanism that emulates these effects but this also has to be in sympathy with the original trilogy or we have discontinuity and it ceases to be the matrix and just becomes city online....something considerably short of its proper potential.

As Fen says we do need a storyteller that actually enjoys the matrix, but we also need one that knows how to make the player feel that what is going on around them actually matters to them, that offers choices that have both consequence and reward. Its not just a story to sit us down and read at us, we need to be a part of it, our character need to feel its effects and have an investment in its future.

cloudwolf wrote:

Fen wrote:

If the story does fall into the hands of the players, expect about five different 'event groups' carrying on Rarebit's 'awesome' vision of the story which all conflict with each other and place their own factions on the golden pedastal.  No thanks.  There are very, very, very few players that I would ever trust with the Matrix story.

At this point I very much see the canonical story as over. I don't expect them to hire anyone new to carry it on, especially given the level of detail and experience Rare was putting into the job. It'd just be too hard to follow up on. Not to mention there must be some sort of legality and red tape getting to have creative control over an IP like this.

No, the official story is over. Give the players, everyone, not just a select few, the power to make their own stories in the context of the game, not of the story.

I will disagree with that until it becomes obvious that SOE actually will not hire a new storyteller/dev person. I think we have too much of apocalyptic visions here, but that's how the public usually reacts - with panic and disbelief. That was true for the economic meldown in the Real, and that is true for MxO now.

But remember - you create reality by what you say. 

(Psst...  the economy's still melting down.)

Here's my take on this 'storyteller' business.

#1 - the official story is finished. Rarebit has posted everything he had written, therefore there is no need to act out what wasn't implemented in-game. Why would you want to continue something you already know how it goes?

#2 - the idea of the official Matrix story being written by a player is not a good idea; it would end up a fastidious, exclusive mess. Players can write stories that are generally upheld by a majority of players, but that don't make it canon, nosirree. Rarebit had his vision of the Matrix story. Paul had his. Phrack has his. Deimos has yet another. ALL of those visions are just "so-and-so presents:the Matrix". The only thing that will ever be truly considered canon is what comes out of the Wachowski's direction in the various media that their version of the Matrix story has been told.

#3 - the story of the Matrix has nothing to do with war, or peace, or control. The Matrix itself is just a setting for the story. The real story of the Matrix was about the people; Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, the Oracle, the Merv. It wasn't about fighting for freedom, or maintaining control, the story was about how the people reacted to the situation they were faced with. The war and the Real and the Matrix, those are all just backdrops for the drama between these people. No successful story has ever been written about the scenery.

#4 - it has been proved over the last year that the war is unsustainable in this media. People can't really die, bombs can't really explode, the setting can't really change. What are you going to do the first time a player decides to grief the RP by reconstructing after their "jack has been pulled"? Nothing except whine about this being why we can't have nice things. A truce between the orgs is the only viable, playable situation for this MMO.

#5 - speaking of things not really changing, there is no way to make the kinds of changes in-game that have been described here, without making the game open-source. For example, "reduced to rubble" is a phrase I saw thrown out there; and how would you go about doing that? Is there a structure, or textures, in-game that exists for a bombed-out Metacortex building? Or Sobra Shores Church? Do rubble structures or textures exist that would be convincing enough for story immersion? I think the problem here is that not enough people understand how these game mechanics work. They also don't credit the devs with having already thought of and discarding this as not possible. New coding would have to be added, which means open-source, which means forget it jack, cause it ain't gonna happen. There is no way in hell the Matrix franchise will ever be open-source.

#6 - there is also no way they will ever give control of the likenesses of the main actors from the movies away to players. Or dev tools such as NPC quest givers and meatwad abilities. There's just too much risk of abuse. 

On the other hand, in the absence of an official storyline, well. . .beggars can't be choosers. So, if it turns out that Rarebit is not being replaced, or his replacement assumes more of a "caretaker" role, then I think all bets are off.

Maybe a forum could be set-up where everyone is anonymous and anyone can have access to develop the story. The story can be developed and implemented using what meager tools we have, and a great deal of suspension of disbelief will have to transpire. That would be better than nothing, I suppose.

But I gotta tell ya, I really despise those who would seek more fame through this...opportunity...crisis...or whatever you want to call it. If you're not willing to step aside and let others do it, and help and encourage them in their pursuit, you're not the right man for the job.

Let the art, not a gilded label of "official," speak for itself.

Something that is poorly conceived and poorly executed can be rubberstamped as official.

I hereby run for Official Storyteller!

First thing on my Agenda. The Legend of Neo's Infamous Teh On3 Heart Boxers.

Second thing, Anyone Rping a vampire is now susceptible to Sunny Delight due to it's ability to harness its flavor from the power of the sun.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

Indeed, Operative.

Stealing my lines, I see...

I, for one, welcome our new camo pants A:B overlords.

Sykin wrote:

Villemar_MxO wrote:

Indeed, Operative.

Stealing my lines, I see...

I, for one, welcome our new camo pants A:B overlords.

Does that make those of us that remain Oligarchs?

- Timecode