This is the point where the Cypherites claim they have spies in every faction, an operative aboard each hovercraft. Yeah, good one.

Did she get her hands on the BIP and the BIP was subsequently released? Maybe Wright actually dies (the respawning being swept under the carpet like the fact that critical missions make everyone deliver that same crucial piece of information and talk to that same story character at the same time), and she sees the Matrix as it truly is before her last virtual breath.

Maybe we're all screwed.

Well, it was something the guy at the other end of the line thought he could do when he reached broadcast range, even though that was a few days away. So it wasn't urgent, whatever it was. Shimada basically said: 'Nah, it's cool. I'll take care of it.' It was probably something as trivial as reporting the Kid's condition back to the troops. (I use the term lightly. )

Garu wrote:

The BIP is the program created by the Oracle that bestowed the One with "the power to reshape the Matrix as he saw fit".

Where did you hear that? That's not what the BIP did, as far as we've heard. It wasn't what made him the One. It had something to do with controlling bluepills, apparently, though I'm a little sceptical about that. I reckon Gray's either lying or doesn't know the truth either.

What Shi said is more in line with what I imagine the BIP is: it's what gave Neo his powers over the Machines themselves. It's the second stage to the Oracle's gamble (the steps being 1. create the Smith problem, 2. give Neo crazy powers, 3. result being that Neo was the only one who could help the Machines and thus barter for peace).

After all, none of the other Ones had a BIP. This is a new thing which only Neo had (although why the Oracle made a second one that's now causing all these problems I don't know).

Rarebit wrote:

You guys may find it useful to put together a catalogue of exactly what has been said regarding the interface program.

Stuff that happened in 11.2 is pretty key to arriving at an understanding of what's going on, so I guess if you don't remember your crits very well then you may have to wait until they get into the archive.

I'll need to read the transcripts again, but all I remember is Gray (or was it Pace?) saying the BIP had something to do with monitoring or controlling redpills, or keeping them in check. But as I've said, I don't believe whoever said that was telling the truth.

Ah-hah, that was it! Thank you.

Well then. If it's what he said to Wright, it's even less likely to be true.

This Trinity stuff is pretty compelling, but here's an alternative possibility for you (as if we weren't all confused enough as it is ):

Let's say Neo had the BIP, given by the Oracle whenever. I'm certain he was the only person to officially get it by the Oracle's design (she crafted it, she made the moves to break the Cycle - the Architect and the Machines had nothing to do with it). After he died (?) the Machines began experimenting with Trinity using that device the Assassin saw. But rather than taking the BIP out of her in that process, as has been suggested here, they were putting it in. Now inhabiting Trinity - alive or dead, certainly she wasn't recycled - the BIP has access to her memories.

But let's go further. Let's say the Machines hand Trinity over to the Oligarchs. At that point the BIP is in their possession, which goes some way to explaining why it was discovered in their network in the Matrix.

Why do I believe this? Because the BIP is quoting Trinity from both before and after the emergence of Neo's powers. If it were transferred into Neo during their first kiss it wouldn't have been able to say 'it's beautiful' (from their moment above the clouds) and such.

What I do want to emphasise is that the Machinesas a whole did not do anything to break the Cycle - that was all the Oracle's work. And it's been heavily implied that the BIP was entirely her design as well; they didn't contract her to make it. Furthermore, all the emphasis on Neo implies it was unique to him, that the BIP had no role in any previous iteration.

ShiXinFeng wrote:

1. Why would the Machines put the BIP into Trinity after Neo? I see no gain there for the Machines.
2. Perhaps it isn't Trinity's memory the BIP is quoting from when it says "It's Beautiful." Maybe that was a Neo memory.
3. The Machines did do something to break the cycle, though. They agreed to it. They allowed the Oracle to make the changes she deemed necessary. Hell, if I'm correct, the Architect would have even known about it when he talked to Neo.  

1. I don't know. As I said, they were experimenting. One could just as well ask: 'why did they bung it in the Oligarchs' network?'
   
2. Quite possibly.
3. I don't recall them agreeing to anything. As the Architect said to the Oracle: 'You played a very dangerous game.' The wording and intonation heavily imply (to me anyway) that she did all that without the Machines' foreknowledge or consent. After all, why would the Machines agree to a plan that involves both a dangerous viral program and a human with immense control over them in the Real?

GamiSB wrote:

Something to consider. When the war started up again Pace and Gray both stated that they did not have the program needed to reset the cycle.

Perhaps slightly off-topic (and I have a feeling we've discussed this before, quite some time ago), but did they really say they didn't have the program necessary? I thought the wording was more like there were missing factors or conditions, i.e. that the Cycle wasn't relevant.

Bingo! Exactly what I was thinking of, thanks. So maybe Pace said something else... I'll see if I can dig it up.

Here we are. I shan't post the screenshot as there are two. They can be found in this thread:
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/..._id=36300015251

Agent Pace: The One is dead, Ms. Dodson, and the anomaly eliminated.

That was in response to either of the following questions. The transcript doesn't make it clear, as I'm afraid I don't know who Ms Dodson is.

Illyria1: Ok, a new question. Will the cycle of the One be restarted, now that the truce is over?

 - or -

GQubed: Agent Pace, now that Zion has gone outside of the original parameters of the systems control, will the cycle of the One still be needed?

Congratulations! Welcome to the club.

Edit: The max rep club, that is, not the max Zion rep club. >_>

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

*gasp* I see what this really is! It's all a scam to get us Recursionites to go to Syntax! Curse you, Syntaxians! You'll not have our tea!

We already have it, thank you. And it is not pleasant.

Now, something I am annoyed about with the update is the inability to do other orgs' missions in archival form. Because that really is a new barrier to content, as that was freely available before.

cloudwolf wrote:

Yes, because people have been soooo sharing so far ¬_¬

It's been out for less than a week dude. Come on. 

I can see why people are annoyed at the level 50 requirement (I mean hey, it is a bit extreme), but this idea that you're missing out on two thirds of the story is utterly ridiculous.

I'm a lazy git and only have one character I regularly play on. That's one org for which I could run missions. Yet I never complained I didn't know what Zion and the Mervs were doing. It's all over the forums for god's sake! People write transcripts, evryone leaks information, and I daren't guess how many juicy details will be revealed when the occasional live event gets posted.

You're not missing out on the story in the slightest. Switch your argument to something more appropriate if you want to persist. For example, the fact that you're missing out on the fetch quests and 'personal' interaction with the NPCs of the missions. Let's face it: you're not missing much there either.

Think of it this way. Yes, maybe you could do all these wonderful things with minimal effort with your alt characters in the past, and now you can't. Does that mean he's made it unfair? No! He's corrected a terrible mistake and now it's fair(er).

Actually, that's the 'new' ZionMainFrame. The old one was accessed by sending /tells to it in-game, but SOE (or was it 'Lith?) wasn't fond of the idea.

Yellow, eh? Not bad though. Kind of... refreshing, like lemon sorbet.

Proper lemon sorbet, mind, not that stuff that materialises when you have an, uh, accident during the winter months.

Filled out! Not sent yet, as I don't have access to my e-mail just now.

Ha-hah! That's class.

eval wrote:

some re-textured gun

It has a unique sound too. >_>

I can't really disagree with what Ballak said, but I'll also give Rare more of a chance to run with this. And I'm never leaving anyway, so...

Criingey wrote:

Wouldnt hold your breath.. Rarebit and SOE cant do anything right!

Well now, that's a sweeping generalisation if ever I saw one. I hope it was supposed to be ironic.

Yeah, thanks. Knowing that, I can say this without hesitation: you're wrong.

Curious. Visitors? A delegation of Oligarchs perhaps, come to retrieve the BIP as the Machines are having trouble grabbing it themselves. But the people who appeared didn't look like wireframes to me, so either they're not Oligarchs or they've deigned to appear with proper RSIs.

Whatever the case, the Architect is nervous.

cloudwolf wrote:

Notice how Wright wasn't wireframey either. Think it's probably just a little too hard to draw.

You're quite right. I had to go back and watch 11.3 again as I couldn't remember what she looked like. They're almost certainly Oligarchs, then; the glow would imply that anyway.

We have been, or at least I have. Check the log of the recent Machinist meeting with Gray. I said outright he was telling us porkies - twice at least, I'm sure - but he ignored it.

Ouch. The thought of planning out those GIFs to synchronise like that makes my head hurt. Must be why I'm not an animator.

WoKeN wrote:

Wait a minute..wut?

http://comms.planetsidesyndicate.co...read.php?t=4313

Ouch. What does it say when the first reply to his post is about as negative as you can get? Must have been disheartening as hell.

Still, I can't see Brewko as a Dev myself. At least he ain't trying to muck things up here. Imagine the trouble we'd see if he and Rarebit had conflicting ideas. Or rather, as Rarebit would clearly be in charge, the trouble we'd see if Brewko went off and did his own thing.

Oh, wait, we've already seen that.

Correct me if I'm wrong (seriously; I'd love to hear some good news), but I don't think SI Radio so much as glances at MxO these days.

And does Catzi Radio still not have a Web site, blast it? 

What is the current situation of your faction?

The Glitch Society is bordering on inactive, but there are - I'd estimate - about five or so people who jack in when they can. Unfortunately it always seems to be at different times, so we tend to miss each other and we're rarely seen en masse as a result. I've put all recruitment efforts on hold because I feel guilty letting new players see the more desolate side of MxO, I don't think we'd be able to help them into the game as much as we used to. We're the third oldest faction in MxO, and will be celebrating our fifth anniversary this month (subject to my ability to organise something), so maybe we'll see a few old faces around then.

Have you merged with another faction?

No, unless you count absorbing a crew into our ranks many years ago. And we'd only consider merging with a faction if we kept a) our name, 'cos our faction is one of the oldest and has too much history, and b) our site, 'cos it's the best.

Did your faction disband in the past 2 months?

Nope, not even for administrative reasons (e.g. a broken faction name, inactive captain, etc.). And we never will disband fully either; the Glitch Society will survive as long as there is just one member remaining, and I've always professed at least my intent on staying with MxO until the servers close for good.

What's the status on your server with factions?

I can only speak of Machinist factions because I don't follow the other organisations at all (except maybe the Cypherites, only because their shufflings and politics are so loud you can't help but notice). I reckon at the moment SOCA is doing the best, followed closely by the Watchmen who were doing the best but months ago. And then there's always the faction filled with people who quote the most 4chan and make the most noise, but I think some of them are leaving MxO so I can't predict their future. Apart from that, most other factions are getting steadily smaller, a process only slightly impeded by their individual recruitment efforts.

Compelling. I've been working on some powerful storytelling tools for the Glitch Society Web site, but I haven't so much as glanced at them in ages. What I'm saying is, if you need help with a site (and it won't take too much time - my attention tends to wander after a while, unfortunately) count me in.

...As long as it's called something other than 'Fanimatrix'.  Just read that out loud a few times.

Bayamos wrote:

There's a tiny chance that someone will be instated to fill Rarebit's position, but as I think Yas said last night, SOE wouldn't send their best and brightest to MXO. Planetside's deeeead, and got Brewko as a developer. That's not a dig against Brewko, who is cool. But he had no design experience that I know of, and that's what I think we will get if anything at all. Someone who doesn't know the story, tools, or community, and if they make anything it'll make you miss pew pew lazars.

...

I have seen the future, and it is Brewko becoming our main Dev. oh god

Count the number of times Yas has used the word 'swansong'.

Friday the 13th?

So, Thursday the 19th, right? 

sugaree wrote:

It can only be:  every player will receive an FM-1500, and the mobs are being suitably reinforced.

*Shudders.*

All the good stuff is Downtown, in the northern neighbourhoods.

alethios wrote:

The MMO business model works in very mysterious ways

No it doesn't.

I find the idea of a sudden revival - spearheaded by Warner Bros. no less - to be laughable.

What's the problem, Odj? Croesis and I are asking for different things. I thought that was obvious.

No, it doesn't. You're not doing what Rarebit's done, nor in the right quantity.

You can throw up countless examples of better art. I'm not looking for a better example of mapping, a better texture, a better model, a better script, a better anything. I want to see someone do all the numerous different things Rarebit's done - in a 40 hour working week, with his qualifications and experience - irrespective of quality (but within reason).

Can anyone do more than that? You seem to think it's possible. Heck, you seem to think he should have been able to rewrite the game from scratch for this update.