Search Results: 227 messages were found

The boss of the Silver Dragon gang in Furihata is called Ginjiro (or George, some time ago).

On the contrary, Grace (the mission contact in Furihata) deals a lot with this gang and refers to someone called "Long" as their boss (which is not a random name). Is it something I've missed? Was Long maybe their boss in Beta, or was he killed at some earlied point (like Mammon shortly) and replaced by "George"?

I think it would be rather helpful if the threads stay at their original positions all the time. I hate it when new events are pushed down because an older one just got a new reply. Inspite of different ways to highlight a thread, I think it would be quite helpful.

OK, so let me sum this up:

The Machines' Tabor building has been moved to Akasaka, and stairs have been added to the Bishop Imports tower in the Ueno neighborhood... wait, no, nothing of that has happened, it's just mission characters and controllers talking weird stuff! Brainwashing, maybe?

Kidding aside, I just hope that Gray's text is going to be corrected when this mission pack is released in the upcoming archive. As a reminder, the new Machines mission "Meet with Agent Gray" was said to take place and took place in the McClane Tower in Akasaka, yet he speaks of the "Machine building in Tabor Park".

Also, something I don't understand is the talk about the stairs in the Ueno building. The only stairs there can be accessed from the rooftops of the two towers, and those just lead to the passage to the elevator -- there aren't any doors leading to mission areas or anything. Was that where the stairs stopped? I'm apologizing then.

However, it's still weird: We know this building, we can access it and go inside, and we know there are unaccessible floors where Niobe is located. And yet, this building is just in the same state as always. How story canon is Mega City anyway??

Especially when playing MA, these visual effects like powerless or blinded can spoil the animations.

By using the options window (Video Advanced), I can remove them easily, but the problem is, that the audio effects disappear, too. So, either I have a fight with annoying effects or a fight without sound.

Is there any way to remove the stuff without affecting the audio?

There's been a lot of complaints about the PvP being pointless.

While adding a reward system to PvP and giving a meaning to CQ points is one aspect, I'd suggest something different:

Vary the hostility between organizations according to the story!

The relations between the different orgs are in change all the time. So, the Machines and Zion have had a truce all the time, but I've heard rumors that they're secretly supporting the Cypherites (only rumors). And then, there were times when they were actively working together.

The Merovingian was never beloved by others, but right now his organization is first-priority target for at least the both other main organizations. They've had an agreement with the Cypherites (before the CYPH tags were added) before Flood screwed it up.

The new sub-orgs will also change their position in the world as time passes.

So that would be a very simple implementation of content into the daily gameplay. I know that lots of PvPers would be pissed because they can't pursue certain vendettas on other factions (imagine if the "JoKerZ" would become friendly to Zion!), but there will still be PvP in the game all the time, just between different organizations.

I can't see any reason why we shouldn't be affected by the decisions and actions our bosses make.

Message Edited by zeroone5069 on 04-04-200606:12 AM

Does everyone know the Matrix discussion site www.matrix-explained.com and its Matrix encyclopedia?

In the description of Cujo I've come across a "counterpart" of his working in Hel Club, a Doberman called Alpha. I haven't seen him anywhere in the end credits yet (which doesn't mean a thing, I also haven't seen the "Pinball Wizard" there), so, assumed, he's not among the guards that were killed by Seraph/Morpheus/Trinity, is there anything someone knows about such an Exile? Was he mentioned in an old Monolith event? Is he an NPC in Club Hel? And where are all the sources that site has its information from, anyway? They're canon, aren't they?

Message Edited by zeroone5069 on 06.01.2006 11:27 AM

Neurophyte, Toorima, Agent Skinner, the vamp rebellion, etc... from what I've heard, all these happenings (I use "happenings" instead of "events", because that sounds more general and isn't limited to the actual in-game events) have been invented by the LET. As far as I know, Neurophyte was a side-story anyway, but Toorima is the backstory for Veil and has been dealt with at her introduction a couple of chapters ago. Agent Skinner was the predecessor of Agent Pace. Although I wasn't there, I suppose those story elements have some relevance to the present.

Therefore, I'd like to know which parts of the Monolith story were original and which ones were attributed to the old LET when I'll be reading Stack's or Cloudwolf's storyline summaries in the future. Could anyone give me specific information about that?

Thanks in advance.

The thread name sums it up.

Additionally, one more specific question:

Have the preconceived LET stories been abandoned, or picked up by Chadwick and the Devs?

Message Edited by zeroone5069 on 06.03.2006 02:21 PM

The random names in critical missions (incl. contacts) have always disturbed me in a way, because they take away the reality from the happenings -- it's like, this is how it approximately was, or could have been at some indefinite time, with some indefinite individuals.

However, in certain cases, it starts getting unlogical. There was an overheated buddy of The Kid's a few chapters before (where EPN was introduced) that I had to kill -- doesn't his name matter anything?

The key falled onto the roof of one certain car, belonging to one certain (male) bluepill. We saw the car (and imaginarily, also the driver) in the cinematic, and it was even announced in the Sentinel. This happened to a certain time (unlike contact missions). Why does the bluepill have a different name each time you redo the mission? Even Robert Kendall had and still has one, because he was a definite individual.

And now, Anome's pal, with all the backstory ("not a trustworthy one"), lying dead on the floor and having some significance in the mission storyline, is one day called Firewall, the other day Abbs.

Sorry, but it starts getting hilarious (although I can tolerate it).

Particulary, after completion of all objectives in this last phase.

Right now, if you abort the mission at this point, it still counts as done and you can't run it again -- the only difference being the lack of payment at the end.

What if you want to check out some alternate scenarios ways in this phase? Like it very often happens in contact missions? Such a little change would be certainly very helpful in such occasions.

I don't see any counterpoints to this (I mean, what other purpose would it have to abort a mission just after completion? And it's hard to do it accidentially in any case).

Chuui wrote:

But that doesn't stop the devs from creating a special UserOpts controlled command line that would unlock the event skies for your client - great for those screen shot ops and for when you want to relive the memories of a past event.

For example:

#SpecifySkyStyle: 0 for off, 1 for on.
#If 1, then the following skies can be displayed on the player's client
#at the player's request.
#UseSky variables:
#EOBSky - Shows eyes in the sky from End of Beta
#EOBLast - Rapidly decaying sky, rapid sunset/surise cycle from EOB
#AssassinSky - shows flies in the sky from the Assassin Event
#HalloweenSky - Shows the Halloween sky from the Halloween Event
#WinterSky - Replaces rain storms with snow storms from the Winter Event
#BlueSkyOne - Shows blue sky from day one of the Anniversary Event
#BlueSkyTwo - Shows blue sky from day two of the Anniversary Event
#BlueSkyThree - Shows blue sky from day three of the Anniversary Event
SpecifySkyStyle = 1
UseSky = BlueSkyOne

How about that?

OK, I don't mind if the vampires keep their Aikido and succubi their Kung Fu. That matches them somehow.

But the nightmares seem to be rude creepy monsters, much more like werewolves, and the unique style the Lupines use would match them much better than the elegant Aikido.

How do you think of that?

Nothing big, and nothing secret, but I've just found out that wikipedia.org has a timeline for MxO, aswell as numerous other information and explanations concerning the Martix franchise.

Enjoy!

This has been already bugging me for ages:

[weak, redundant introduction:]
Most science-fiction or fantasy concepts have a clear relation to the real world:
either, they reveal facts about our world, portraying it as a fassade or something it doesn't seem to be (like e.g. Harry Potter or Men in Black [I do know others, don't worry]), or it takes place in another time, like the future, making our world to the past.
Even in the "His Dark Materials" romans, our world has a clear place from which we can then relate to the other realities.

Others again take place in an entirely different world, such as "Star Wars" or "Lord of the Rings".

I've always counted "The Matrix" to the first group. Starting from that, what's its actual concept, in relation to our world?
Do we live in the real world, before the invention of the AI, the Machines' takeover and the creation of a simulation built upon our world -- thus, the movies taking place in the future?
Or is it trying to make us believe that the world we live in is actually the Matrix, that there is a real world somewhere out there and something similar to our civilization had existed centuries before -- thus, it taking place in the present?

Of course, when thinking about it, you start looking for similarities to our world in the Matrix and the former Real.
Now, the picture we get to see in Animatrix does resemble our world at all, but it already takes place in the future, and the graphics and overall style are distorted, and, well, comic-like -- all of which doesn't make a definite answer easier.
Thus, the second variant would be the way to go: anything, starting with style, architecture and technology, aswell as the people and the society, through to Panasonic alarmclocks (in close-ups) and Rob Zombie songs in clubs, makes an impression of the world we're living in. Just anything.

However, now that MxO is out, we definitely know that the Matrix only consists of one (even though Mega) City, and that the green tint is not just a stylistic or symbolical tool but an established and well-known element of the Matrix simulation (although that's already been shown in "Revolutions"). These facts do not apply to the real world.

Apart from that, there's this "constantly, forever 1999" thingy, and that "the city has been constructed and implemented fully as it stands today" factor, that irrevocably make the Matrix a fake all through..

Should be the real world, then? Well, yes. But then, all the fascinating explanations for ghosts or aliens, unexplainable anomalies in our world, or people exceeding their limitations through mental power seem made for the first concept.
Because otherwise, if these things happen in our world, they also had happened in the Real before the Machines' takeover, and all these cool explanations would be wasted -- "ok, this is how it works, in the Matrix, but we don't know how it's in the Real, so bye".
That's at least the one counterpoint that comes in my mind right now.

Share your thoughts, please.

It was pretty easy to find equivalents in the chemical elements list to all the Element contacts in Richland, even if some of them were strongly distorted, but how about Raini? The most similiar element to her name is "rhenium", but that's a bit too far from the lady with the catsuit.
Any thoughts (or facts)?

What's the sense of the faction bank? Is it simply giving the leader your money (as only the leader/captain can withdraw)? Sorry if the question sound stupid, but I never was really interested in it so I ignored it.

But I'd like to know it SMILEY

What level do I have to be to start the first arc (apart from five teammates lol)? Or are there no actual level requirements and simply enemies at too high levels (beginning with the Exiles in the Hampton Green Hotel)?

I remember this being the subject of some recent live events (like "It was strictly C.O.D." with the Messenger). I can't remember this plot being resolved. Have I missed anything?

When "Revolutions" ended, it was pretty clear that Neo was the only human to know about the previous Ones, and Zion already being destroyed five times before, and he's taken this information into the grave, as far as known.
However, with the Architect's appearence during the Blue Sky event, and generally with the redpills far more than significantly increased contact with various organizations and Exiles in the Matrix, I wonder if it's still the case, if the humanity is still ignorant about the prehistory.

Also, I wonder how Niobe must have interpreted the Trainman's "That's how long Zion lasted last time." in EtM.
So far, I haven't seen anyone breathing a word about that encounter.

In a recent interview, Paul Chadwick gave away a vague hint for the upcoming storyline, namely that there's one character we've been deeply misled about concerning his actions and motivations.

Now, of course the General is the first one to come in your mind. Has he been helping Zion? Has he planned the betrayal with Anome? How far do his own mysterious plans reach out?
But, while posing these questions, you already start seriously doubting that he's really the one we're talking about. "Mysterious plans"? He's been playing his obscure game from pretty much the beginning of the game. No one has really known about his motives or the descent of his and his commandos. No one has trusted him.
Thus, saying we had been " deeply misled" about his motives wouldn't be really that accurate.

I actually believe it's Cryptos. First he's a radical Machine hater, but then suddenly disappears for an hour or so and returns with completely converted ideals, suddenly revealing himself as the leader of a firstly shadowy and menacing Masked organization. Conscpicious? There's more.
In harmony with the Cypherite philosophy, he propagates the enslaved life in the Matrix and places highest value on the bluepill life (now especially clearly demonstrated through his reactions to Anome's bluepill massacres).
Yet, some unknown man (to me) once tried to convince Cryptos' unmistakeable voice of these very ideals, namely the value of the bluepill lives (they have lives, they have dreams, just like us! something the like), apparently trying to prevent him from some considerable terrorist attack on them. I'll look if I can dig up the audio recording for a more accurate description.

I don't think a great deal of the Cryptos=Morpheus theory (*ahem* sorry, I meant "rant", rofl), but I'm more than certain that he has something very serious to hide. Also, it of course does speak for the quality of the storyline if this upcoming twist has already dropped some hints in the past, and doesn't just fall from the sky -- hello, here I am! Thus, the very existence of these hints doesn't speak against the theory at all.

I bet on Cryptos. Please add your own thoughts on this theory, or your own suggestions. Of course, some sort of explanation is highly appreciated! SMILEY

How about "Niobe music" playing in the Zion criticals led by Anome? After all, those files are in the MxO folder, and it would add more variety.

All the time running past and ignoring security disabling devices in contact and story missions, I've been wondering I would have got any special message from the Operator after using these devices.

After all, security systems are always part of specific critical missions, mostly even announced by the Operator beforehand.

Have I missed anything?

And another general question regarding missions:

If one team member goes outside and uploads an item at a hardline (or escorts a follower to one), while another member stays in the mission area to maintain the phase - is there any chance to get new texts from NPCs (or computers)?

NPC texts use to change when you complete single objectives within the area, so I was wondering if they had something anything else in stock for completing exterior hardline objectives.
I've explicitely run all critical missions solo, so I don't really know. Has anyone tried it?

This screenshot is from Zion Archive mission 1.2.9, "Hardline Hunter", phase 2.

This message from Tyndall appears after (optionally) a clueless bluepill in the mission area:

Once again, I'm wondering how much value Zion puts on the life of of a human being trapped in the Matrix.

I mean, shouldn't there be a law in Zion against murdering bluepills at the drop of a hat? I'd understand if we're talking about armed SWAT armies trying to cease your function, but just killing an innocent civilian? I mean, shouldn't I be arrested and arraigned in Zion after finishing this mission? Shouldn't the mission objective include something like "don't hurt any civilians", and the mission fail after such an atrocity, with the failing message pointing to consequences?

I'm just wondering. Zion is always portrayed as the "good guys", placing value on human life etc....
Pfft, Tyndall could at least show some sort of consternation instead of acting like Gray...

Any thoughts?

I'm not sure if I can follow here...

What does a Code Bomb do? It reveals the "true nature of the Matrix" (let's just say it this way) to every bluepill in the explosion radius, such a disturbing experience that it causes the victims to wake up from the simulation. Or, in order to avoid the discussion about when a copper top goes crazy and when he actually wakes up, let's just say the Code Bomb forcibly makes affected blupills wake up.

Now, they say it causes them to "drown in their pods" and die. I doubt if it's really accurate: if they drown anywhere, than in the canalisation they're thrown in - less likely in their pods. But that's just nit picking.
The reason why the bluepills survive successful extractions is because there's a ship standing ready to pick them out of the water, or better, from the pod (things might have changed since then).

Now, what's the EPN extremists' motivation when setting up Code Bombs? EPN's core principle is humanity's freedom from the Matrix, and same as the Sleepwalkers, the Cypherite extremists, were trying to achieve a mass reinsertion, I'd assume that their EPN counterparts would try mass awakenings.
Wouldn't they stand ready with their ships to rescue the Bomb victims and actually fulfill their beliefs? Apparently, they don't, otherwise there wouldn't be any complaining about "killing innocent bluepills".

Are they just too crazy and stupid to take care of picking them up in the Real? Or do they follow the "better dead than a slave of the Matrix, muhaha" idea? Still, I'd guess they'd prefer to actually free them instead of killing, if they had an option, which they have.

It seems there are enough people much better involved into the fine story details and RP than me -- could anyone clear me up about this? I'm kinda lost.
Also, since we're talking about Code Bombs anyway, what about Morpheus? Was he aware of actually putting an end to innocents' lives? Or did he try to save them in the Real?

While playing EtM, there were often unreachable areas right before you or at some distance that I somehow desired to access.

Has anyone tampered with the game's files or something to make that possible?

A crazier question, is it imagine to turn off gravity there? I mean completely. I know there is a cheat code to reduce it, but it doesn't work anyway.

Everywhere you look in the Cypherite organization, the Matrix is portrayed as the perfect, soothing heaven to live in while the Real as the ugly, depressing hole to escape from.
I think that's simply wrong. The first Matrix was a perfect heaven, and it turned out to be a failure, and is definitely not what we have now.

Look at the liaison officers and they way they're describing their previous lives -- all of them were successful, had a secured place in society, and generally had homes to live in and enough to eat and drink. Heck, I don't even wanna speak of Diversus. (Yes, some of them were somewhat different, but I'm trying to generalize here.)

However, life in the Matrix also has a shadow side. You can be a lower worker without any perspective to the future, you might be a weak loser gaining nothing but disdain from your environment, or you might just be a starving wretch, looking for overnight stays in run-down motels.
I think all those types would have it much better in the Real than in the simulation.
You think Zion is a pathetic hole compared to the Matrix, well, look at the Barrens.
You think the gunk the Real has to offer is disgusting, but think about what dustbins or the poor man's groceries can oppose to it. The Matrix has far more to offer than juicy steaks.
You think the tense, violent situation in the Real, or as a redpill, is less pleasant than a quiet, secure life as a bluepill -- I'm sure there are enough Exile gangs around slum neighborhoods that would gladly accept the challenge to prove you otherwise; or heck, I'm sure bluepills have their... tensions aswell.
You think, as a bluepill, you automatically know how your life is going to proceed -- I'm sure there are enough blues with less money who are much more clueless about where they end up next day, or next night, than your average Zion mo... operative.

Maybe that's what Cypher had in mind when speaking with Smith? "Main thing I got enough money... being famous also wouldn't be bad" (paraphrased). He simply didn't want to get the sh*t end of the stick when being reinserted. Not ignorance is bliss, having a pleasant and comfortable life is bliss. Be it having money and status or playing in an Industrial band.

The Cypherites just frankly ignore all of this, which makes their whole attitude unbelievable one-sided, limited and bigoted. EPN is far more rational and mature than them, at least concerning their principals.

Déjà-vus in the Matrix have been explained through errors in the Matrix (like a bunch of other phenomena of which we don't know if they occured in the Real) - so how's it supposed to occur?

An error in the Matrix arises, and time jumps back and repeats the events once again. Unlike redpills, the bluepills don't perceive it consciously and just experience a familiarity when reliving the situation, right?

If hacking a node in an area, where the average gang level (and the gang level I got the key from) is far below mine, gives much less XP than hacking one in an appropiate neighborhood, does it also work the other way round, i.e. if a level 20 gets a key for Stratford Campus (let's say with a little help from a level 50 player), does he get about 2-3 XP bars from hacking the node?

Here, a ridiculously trivial question - can't believe this is the first time I think of it.

First, the Architect creates a perfect Matrix where no one has to suffer. Failure, because people can't accept perfection as reality.
Then, he creates a fantasy/nightmare world. Failure, because people start scrutinizing, and fearing.

So then, an intuitive program comes to the solution to let 1% out, and all of this causing the Anomaly.

Hm. Why didn't the Architect just design a realistic world, proceeding from how it was before the Machines were invented? I mean, that's what he did in the end - but what was so difficult about it that he needed the Oracle's help, and this anomaly/cycle was necessary?

Why not just "hmm, paradise doesn't work, nightmare doesn't work - k, then let's try reality". Does that need intuition? Maybe people would just reject it less, and the crop losses would be on an acceptable level.

And then, I'm still wondering why these people should be contained in Zion - why not just extract them so they can die in the Real, or just killed inside the System so they don't cause trouble - they're gonna be killed anyway.

And was the anomaly an effect of this real world solution?

Where is the character background text in the MxO folder?

I know that at least a few sub-chapters before the pacing was introduced in 4.1, in a sub-chapter mission pack, each mission corresponded to the according missions from the other Organizations.
However, I'm not sure if that was the case from the beginning on.

How are the chapter 2 and 3 missions built? Should I run them paralelly in each-subchapter? It takes more inventory space, therefore my asking.

This thread contains links to every previously posted thread in the Live Events forum.

The threads are sorted after given date. Orienting by Update Notes, I've also classified them after sub-chapters.

In certain threads, a Dev or a story character posted one or more updates later. Except if these updates immediately followed after the original post, I've indicated the affected pages, aswell as the poster's name if he's different from the original poster. (Note: 6.1-6.3 threads are excluded for now, but are going to be caught up at some point.)

Apart from that, I've also marked special threads like LO backgrounds or puzzles with colours.

Hope you enjoy it SMILEY

I've understood so much that the 2.1-2.2 missions actually lead from cinematic 2.1 to 2.2 (not 2.3).
What I don't know, or don't remember: was it intended this way (according to "Paul Chadwick's interesting temporal sense") or was cinematic 2.2 somehow released after both mission subchapters? I had a tough time getting critical missions back then, and I know I couldn't get one for weeks sometimes.

On a related note, something I've oddly realized just now: the Assassin's first-person killer in 3.1.
It's generally assumed that it's a placeholder for a player role that was unsuccessfully planned to be in the cinematic; however, that's exactly how the attacker 2.2 looks -- a generic redpill RSI that could have been replaced with a specific player RSI at a later point. From all I can see in 3.1, it was definitely intended not to show the killer.
That well and truely qualifies this question as an "unresolved question".

With the (apparent) end of the Unlimit plot and the current focus on relationships between the Machines and Zion organizations, discussions about the two plot concepts of uniting against a common threat and tension between organizations have come to the surface again.

I'll quote the recent posts to this topic into this thread for a better focus.

Thread: New Cinematic (in abstract reaction to some rather basic statements, post unanswered)

zeroone5069:

"Another issue, I see how some people are totally excited about the story moving into the "Matrixy" direction (quote signs because the definition of that term is arguable and because I find the word silly) by introducing organization tension.

Except the fact that everyone knows this isn't anything totally new and there was enough (playable) organization tension in the past, involving Zion and Machines, aswell as the Merovingian and the two splinter organizations, why does everybody think this is what the story should be about instead of global threats, and even more, why exactly this is "Matrixy"?

Was there "org tension" in the movies? Not exactly. The Machines were the ultimate bad guys, the humanity/Zion the protagonists. Tension inside of Zion only consisted of individual traitors and small authority/jealousy conflicts.
Was there a common threat? Yes: Smith. He threatened the Matrix and the Real, and that's why the enemies - humanity and the Machines - united. Because of a common threat.

The "tension" only affected the Exiles in the Matrix - the Merovingian and some "renegade" programs with their own interests. But that's thematized in MxO even more, and Exiles aren't playable. So that's besides the point.

So if it weren't the movies, were it maybe the game previews that inspired you to play this game and also to believe it would be all about "org tension"? Well yes, they said that now with the Truce, people would split up in organizations, and there would be a sort of Cold War with fluctuating tensions, distrust, and naturally, alliances (maybe they haven't said that particularly, but it was obvious).
And they also talked about global crisises affecting the entire Matrix. The one in the movies was the Smith infection. Several followed in MxO.

Then, if we ignore the aspect of playable or unplayable organizations - Unlimit and the Sleewalkers were actually an extreme example of "org tension". A pity they weren't playable, but from an objective point of view, they weren't "just" global threats.

I mean, come on -- a mix of org tension and global dangers is what was expected from this storyline from the start on. So suggesting."

Thread: Ask the Devs an MxO question

WGAnubis:
I noticed that for the merv crits we are dealing with the element family. Does that mean the main story line is now moving away from the unite against a common foe motra thats been a part of the storyline for so long now?

zeroone5069:
Just the way I see the things: I'd classify the Elements plot under Exile rebellions or, less particular, just the "city's Exiles with their own plots".
Unite against a common foe and org tension don't have much to do with that, I guess. And I still don't get what people have against this concept of a common foe, and how people fail to see all the org and Exile struggles that have been in the story since the beginning.

WGAnubis:
For the Assassin it was acceptable but then when Anome came along it was more of a "didnt I just see this?"

zeroone5069:
So what, that's the next common threat. You can't just have one, can you? There might be (intended) similarities or parallels between Anome and the Assassin, but I assure you, they aren't the same.

2.3 dealed to a third about real tension between Zion and the Machines concerning Zion's recruitment tactics. Now, the Machines want into Zion's mainframe; hmm, haven't I just seen something like that?

The Assassin was only a "common enemy" for the duration of the final event. Shortly before the Merovingian turned against him (think because he became uncontrolable, I'll read his letters and the DN1 announcements again some time), he was actually allied to him and protected him. There wasn't just a tension between his organizations and the rest, there was an open hostility.
After he died, this hostility arised again, and was kept for the entire chapter 3 and 4.

You know, this is why I'm annoyed by the constant complaining about the common foe concept. First because I don't see anything wrong with it, secondly because it's been considerably balanced with the "opposite", the inter-organization tension all the time.

PBlade:
Erm...?

Inter Organizational tensions increasing can be done numerous ways, through the recruitment idea, or through the Zion Mainframe issue. Either way, you have no idea what the outcome will be, Zion may do it and things will go horribly wrong, or the Machines won't get access and inter-org tensions will hit an all-time high.

Common Enemy storylines are far too predictable. You know what'll end up happening: He'll die 'cos we all banded together to defeat him. And to add a further point of nostalgia, Anome uses the exact same powers as The Assassin: Admitteldy.

zeroone5069:
The "hmm, haven't I just seen that" part was sarcasm. Looking past the parallels between Anome and Assassin (which I had already mentioned and acknolwedged), there are still significant differences between the both plots.
So, in my eyes, saying "haven't I just see that with the Assassin?" is comparable to "haven't I just seen this sort of Machine-Zion-org-tension-jabberwocky back then?". Of course, that's not the way I think.

By the way, I don't remember Anome or any Unlimit actually announcing the usage exactly the Assassin's powers (except that Seral's paranoia was based on that, which is a heavy hint but maybe not enough for an evidence). If I'm not mistaken, the connection between the two is one of the unresolved questions so far.

You're right about the predictability, although I think that rather has to do with the way this concept is released. I could say the same about the org tension plots: at the end, it all somehow all goes well, and the next subchapter deals with another plot again.
Before the latest patch, I could've imagined so much more for the end of the Unlimit. I won't necessarily bash the way it "ended", but this doesn't have to be the only way "common foes" can be dealt with.

WGAnubis:
The perdictability is the single most major problem with common foe plots and perhaps even a slap to the face for players. You know whats going to happen, nothing you can do or think or try will change the outcome (admittedly, the outcome is scripted for everything, but the trick is to present the illusion that you have impact, common foe plots dont present that).

Im not saying that the assassin and anome storylines were the same in content, im saying the outcome was along with several major themes. Here we have two independant org bad guys who want to destory the matrix, rule the matrix, overthrow the established orgs, etc. and both have super system powers that put agents to shame, and lets not forget both badguys tried or managed to take a major character out of the picture. Basicly what im saying that that its been formulac:

bad guy introduced in some form
bad guy makes his move making him known (both attacking and or killing someone from the movies)
bad guy reveals god like powers
bad guy has period of terrorizing the matrix (Corrupt spawns, unlimit spawns, character attacking redpills)
bad guy plan revealed (Destruction of matrix or atleast redpill population, both bad for players)
orgs called to band togeather (zion=we must save the blue pills, Machines= our energy source is at risk, merv= the matrix is our home)
bad guy killed

What I would like to see, and hopefully this is happening as we speak, is say two orgs go head to head while the third org is busy in the wood work setting up something for themselves manipulating the situation in their favor and so forth. I can understand that the common bad guy set up is realitivly easy for entertaining the gamers in mass, but come on. I could go on and on, but to sum it up the current system is just rehashing the same story but with diffrent characters and backdrops.

In interlock, there were two visual effects that always have bugged me as hell: powerless and blinded. Is there something I can type into that useropts.cfg file to get rid of them?

Seeing as how many of them are dropped by totally inappropriate NPCs ("military reports to the General" and the like have been dropped by Agents aswell as Exiles), and the knowledge the player gains from them often doesn't seem to matter anything to the organization's knowledge (Niobe trusted the General despite the references in the LED Agents' documents, no one seems to take the Sarah Edmontons article into account, which also appeared in computer messages by the way).

The document at the end of Mach 3.2.4, for example: it was found encrypted at a dead Zionite's (probably killed by Cypherites) body, and was uploaded to Gray. His link suddenly went dead, and the Operator sent a copy to the operatives' inventory. So it was an official part of the mission.
But I don't remember any Machinist doubting Cryptos' identity, or the Machines trying to cover it up. It's just like it was never dropped.

Who doesn't agree that event reports/reviews, LESIG introductions and announcements/puzzles (like "Follow the white rabbit" or the Effectuator's game) shouldn't be separated? With a dozen of entries a week, that would be awesome!

I've got some logical issues with the chapter 1.1 archive missions.

When reviewing this subchapter, I've noticed something weird about the first two Machine missions, and have come to the conclusion that "Interference" should be 1.1.2 and "Redpill Redux" 1.1.1, unlike implemented.

In Zion's case, 1.1.1 "Redpill Rescue" begins with the imposters appearing for the first time and attacking a Zion team.
In 1.1.2 "Recruit with Machines", the Machines offer their help on a mission to prove their innocence in breaking the Truce.

In the Machines' case, 1.1.2 "Redpill Redux" also begins with Gray telling you about "renegades masquerading as our operatives" attacking a (different) Zion team right away, and also calls them "imposter Agents" for the first time at the end of the mission, and announces to take steps against this deception.

In 1.1.1 "Interference", that's what you do - assisting them on a mission to show them their good will. At the beginning, he says "the humans still do not trust us". This wouldn't be a problem considering the other tensions back then, but later in the mission, red-eyes appear, and the operator refers to them as "imposter agents" just like that.
Not a definite evidence because they might have been around already before, but especially compared to Zion, it seems like the order is wrong.

Yes, both 1.1.2 missions deal with bluepill recruitment, but the mission pacing hadn't began yet, and there are more cases like that. So it's a moot point.

Another issue: both in Zion 1.1.1 and Mach 1.1.2, the imposters are called "Machine operatives" before entering the area.
Tyndall then refers to them as "Agents" after the mission, and Gray already when you enter the area.
Edit: Same with Merv 1.1.1, the Merovingian redpill also attacked by "Machine operatives".

I've always thought "operatives" were redpills.

If yes, is that because the imposters' signals are weaker and can be taken as human signals?
That would prove my theory with the order, but there are several points speaking against it:
First, how do Machine operatives have different code signatures than Zion operatives and the attackers be defined as "Machine operatives" if the attacks were seen on screen?
And if they were reported by those attacked, they would've told about "Agents" right away.

Apart from that, in Zion 1.1.2, the Operator expects to see operatives where there are actually imposters, and wonders if their code was upgraded - so they don't look like redpills, after all. Further subchapters' missions seem to prove it.

Edit: Which also doesn't make sense considering the operator has already seen red-eye Agents during the first mission. I'd almost assume the order was confused here aswell, if Tyndall didn't talk about "the Machines breaking the Truce" at the beginning...

Yea, the Live Events Team - those credited at the bottom of each article.

But as who did the write it? As Tyndall, or another character? Was it stated anywhere?