Ugh, two problems I seem to be having is I can't force a change to the properties of my folders when booted into XP Pro 32.  When I look at them for a folder, the 'Read Only' box is not checked, it is filled with a green square.  I can uncheck that so the box is empty and hit apply, but it doesn't actually change and the green square is back when I check again.  BLECH.  Could this be part of the problem?

phi wrote:

Firewall settings for The Matrix Online

It sounds like you may have some ports blocked.

Phi, I'm sorry to be coming back to this so cluelessly but can you point me toward something that explains how to unblock the ports you mentioned in the linked thread?

I'd really love to get back into MxO and this has been so frustrating.  I played on two other XP computers and never had these problems.  I'm guessing it has to do with having Vista 64 also installed on this machine?

Hmm.  I get the same error prompt either way, even on a fresh reboot.  If I leave it alone it still pops up the error instead of restarting to patch.

If I try skipping the full system check and just log in, I get so far as entering my login name and password and clicking accept and then it just freezes up after a few seconds.

I'm trying once again to get back to the Matrix, but am once again hitting roadblocks. I'm attempting from the XP 32 side of a dual boot XP 32 / Vista 64 system.

When I try and load up the launcher, if I toggle on the 'Patch Full System Check' the green text scrolls down saying it has authenticated and needs to restart and then the window closes (regardless of whether I click the restart button) and an error box reading 'Only one instance of the game can be running' pops up.

If I leave the 'Patch Full System Check' toggle off, I can log in with my username and password and then it freezes up on 'Athenticating...' after a couple of seconds and I eventually just need to manually stop the process in the Task Manager to remove it.

Anyone have any suggestions?

They can't look anywhere, for now.

MxOElliMann wrote:

Othinn = teh horny

Mark me down as teh horny then too.

I get a little confused on the historical timeline here, so some questions and thoughts:

The height of human civilization is said to have been some time in the middle of the 21^st century, right?  Humanity was united in celebration as it gave birth to AI?  The war with the Machines actually started in 2092 and the major fighting was over within 10 years.  The Matrix, however, was set to the year 1999 because that was the perfect mix of chaos, conflict, peace, etc. and technological know how for humanity to accept the simulation.  

I understand there were at least two failed attempts at the Matrix, a heavenly utopia that humanity rejected followed by a more hellish simulation that was also rejected, which were followed by five or six full cycles of ‘the One’ transition.  Morpheus suggested his guess that it was closer to the year 2199 in his first speech to Neo, but he also says that there has been a century of conflict with the Machines before the big battle in Zion.  He was also not aware that Neo was just another in a series of ‘the One’ transitions though.  Is it fair to conclude that the Machine created ‘the One’ cycle lasts about 100 years on average?

If that is true, then it has only been somewhere between around 600 years since the actual war that devastated the Earth in the Real, right?  This is regardless of the ‘the One’ cycle within the Matrix, how long those last, and what happens to its plugged in human denizens upon the scheduled slaughter of everyone in Zion (which may or may not ever happen again, thanks to the now faltered Truce and the building of New Zion?).

So the story has continued here in MxO and we have Zion-aligned redpills operating out of New Zion, and the suggestion that Merovingian and Machinist redpills have their own outposts in the Real as well.  During the Truce, it would have been at least somewhat safer to go exploring about some of the blasted surface ruins left behind by humanity, right?  This would probably still go on now for scavenging efforts I’m guessing?

What I’m sloooowly getting at is that it hasn’t even been a thousand years.  There should be ample evidence of humanity’s history hidden out there among the ruins to be found by those with the courage and daring to scout and scavenge about for them right?  I think the movies suggested that the major human metropolises went on for miles and miles, with accompanying tunnel networks beneath that are now hovercraft pathways.  I’m assuming here, but surely there were still smaller cities and rural cities that wouldn’t necessarily have been utterly reduced to rubble like the major population hubs right?  

For example, it makes sense to completely level massive New York of 2092, but not so much that one stop light coastal town of two hundred people a hundred miles away.  If that is true, and they only rounded up the people there or the people just evacuated and abandoned it, what if they had a library?  Maybe a buried time capsule with a plaque noting it was there?  Maybe the books/contents would be ruined after 600 years, but what about any DVDs that might have been there/inside?

If any of the above is true, isn’t it possible that redpills and free born humanity since the end of the last cycle of ‘the One’ have confirmed humanity’s history by now?  Morpheus was aware that there has been a century of conflict, he was just several centuries off in terms of how much time had actually elapsed.  Surely in a hundred years some enterprising hovercraft crew would have stumbled upon information in the ruins and made it back with that historical data to share it.

9. It's what you make of it really. Though how much you indulge and what you indulge makes a difference. Example, my character Mave (Zion Affiliated) never eats inside the Matrix. He knows it isn't real so he doesn't bother with it. As for hugs and other acts of affection, I believe them to be quite "real". Again, it's what you choose to make of it.

"I've seen men shoot whole clips at them and hit nothing but air"

"When you see an agent you do what we do... run... run your *CENSORED* off"

Matrix Lore Questions / Newbie Seeks Enlightenment – Part Deux

So, here are a few more queries from the endless stream of questions bouncing about my head about the wonderfully mysterious and darkly gritty world of the Matrix Online.

9. How similar is the experience of the senses both inside and outside of the Matrix?  I understand that the Zionists tend not to indulge while a lot of the Merovingians and Machinists don’t hesitate to do so.  In the movie, Cypher was enjoying the heck out of a meal with an agent even as he was talking about how he knew it wasn’t real.  Is there any discernable difference between the refreshing sensations of breathing in a cool breeze as it is whispering over your face and through your hair when inside the simulation of the Matrix as opposed to out in the grim reality of the Real?  What about human contact?  Is an affectionate hug the same?  Is something lost in physical intimacy inside the Matrix or is it just the same?  

10. Speaking of life in the Real, what is the actual physical state of our redpills after awakening and how long does it take to progress to some semblance of a typical adult capability in terms of walking, talking, etc.?  I remember almost nothing about this from the movie other than there was a process of removing all the plugs but the one behind the head.  If my redpill was a professional ballerina/dancer in the Matrix, and has that knowledge but zero muscle memory in the Real, I wonder what the possibility of ever actually rising to that level in the Real would be?  With all the downloading of information for use in the Matrix, does that transfer to the Real as well?  Does my Balletic know Kung Fu regardless of where she is, jacked in or not?

11. There was some suggestion earlier in the thread and that I’ve seen elsewhere that the Matrix-governing Machines are able to adjust the memories of their plugged in human battery bluepills as they see fit.  Regardless of what this might mean where the actual size and scope of the Matrix simulation is concerned, what does this mean for our redpills that are jacking in?  Is it possible to make imprints into the mind of a redpill that is simply jacked in but far removed from their jelly filled battery pod from their bluepill days?  Didn’t Agent Smith actually superimpose himself onto a Zionist in the Real during one of the movies?  If this is possible (the adjusting of perceptions, not necessarily the possessing of ‘bodies’), how do our Redpills protect themselves from this?

Thanks for any insights anyone is willing to share!

Balletic wrote:

 I'd pick the blue pill in a heartbeat. 

*gasp*

She single? ^_~

Here ya go and fixed it for ya. Uhm welcome to the Concrete Code Jungle btw.   =P

Illyria22 wrote:

I don't believe that the MegaCity is all there is to the Matrix.  Aside from the reference of Morpheus being seen at Heathrow, there is a mention in one of the Matrix comics about some redpills traveling to Mexico.

The city may not be the entirety of the Matrix, but I do believe it's where most if not all of the hardlines were placed by the Machines (probably to keep a better eye on the redpills they knew would be using them).

 

 

Illyria

And let's not forget the infamous "core network" line from the movies which I always thought of as meaning in the city proper.

But there's also a message from Agent Pace suggesting that an Unlimit who was from Brazil only had memories of being there and that they were artificial. So who knows for sure.

((Wow, Nynlil, this is really incredible!  I don’t know how I missed this in the last couple of days of forum browsing but I’m so glad I found it.  Please keep going, your writing is fantastic!  ))

Wow, thanks everyone for all the fantastic answers and input!  I’m loving this community here, both ingame and out.

RE: Scope of the Matrix simulation

Darminian jogged my memory a little I think with comments about how Morpheus was an international terrorist in the movies.  I don’t remember exactly those actual scenes but I think that is what I came away from them with years ago as well; the inference that the Matrix was a simulation of the entire planet, just rolled back to 1999 with a restart through the ‘the One’ cycle every unknown number of years. 

I don’t really see any issue with that working that way in the Matrix Online either just because out-of-character game development/technology constraints prevent players from doing that.  You have to deal with the same thing in City of Heroes, for instance.  Just because you can’t technically leave Paragon City with your superhero doesn’t mean the rest of the world isn’t there.

It sounds like an MxO game developer has established that the game doesn’t follow the movie on this though?  Or is it suggested that the various suggestions about Morpheus’ global status are just propaganda from the Machines to further the illusion and emphasize that he’s Public Enemy #1 (or was at the time)?

Hmm, actually…if a problem with the original versions of the Matrix was that they were being rejected by humanity for various failings, maybe that’d be an argument for the idea that the Machines reproduced the whole planet for their simulation.  Having all of the human battery farms plugged into the Matrix located in a single city that no one ever truly leaves seems like it’d make for a lot of opportunities for people to self-substantiate (did I use that term right?).

RE: Bluepill to Redpill transition

Thinking about it after posting, I can definitely see how returning to a job or having any lingering concerns about finances or general property wouldn’t make a lot of sense given the nature of the Matrix and coding things into existence within it.  So it is more the social aspects I’m pondering I guess.  

I’m still a little confused about what you’re all saying about the changes surrounding the transition itself.  I guess I just assumed that our characters were born, grew up, and appeared a certain way as a bluepill.  Then whatever happened that led them to be awakened and become a redpill, and then they still looked just the same physically, just much more stylishly (hee).  It didn’t occur to me that the system might make updates to the simulation to compensate for a pod suddenly being empty though beyond what the bluepills would do on their own.

For instance, because I’m such a complete newbie, it has been easy to roleplay my character Balletic as…well…a pretty clueless newbie.  She has really been groping around in the dark.  I’ve been reluctant to do a lot of character background design or fanfic writing yet until I had a better grasp of what’s really going on so I can color within the lines as much as possible.  So I haven’t really decided a lot of details about her previous life as a bluepill, the extent of her local family and friends, other than she had some that she cared about.  I’ve mentioned an aunt she was close to in game.

My thinking was that it wasn’t necessarily the case that much may have changed for the bluepills she knew.  Say her aunt is her only family and they don’t talk every single day.  So Elle/Balletic doesn’t call for a week (the week since she was awakened and has been stumbling about her new reality), that might not be too great a departure from the norm to raise the aunt’s concerns.  Maybe a week isn’t long enough for a missing person’s report to be filed?  And if it was, what if Elle just suddenly showed up again with a story that she’d been hiking in the mountains or off to a dance convention out of state?  Maybe out of her previous character, sure.  But out of the realm of acceptable possibility, I wouldn’t think so.

I guess I’m trying to establish whether it is believable that she would be able to safely salvage social links to bluepills she was close to without putting them all in danger, or if it was even possible if they think she’s dead now because of some sort of system correction when she was unplugged.  It sounds like there are a fair number of obstacles to consider and brainstorm about.

Okay, as I’m what amounts to a complete and utter newbie to the lore of the Matrix, I’m absolutely full of questions.  I’m not sure the questions below are in any special order beyond off the top of my head, but I DID make an attempt to search out the answers from various fan websites and these forums before posting.  So please be gentle if the next thread over explains everything and I somehow missed it.  

1. Mega City is where the current game environment is located obviously, but is it the actual total supposed expanse of the Matrix?  I’m trying to figure out if the Matrix is a global simulation of the entire Earth circa 2100 or just Mega City, with boundaries no one ever questioned for some reason like the movie Dark City.  Or is the whole world simulated, visiting Paris and New York and Moscow is possible, and we just suspend our disbelief as players about not being able to go there for the same reasons we have to in any other game where real estate of the fantasy world is limited by development time and technology?

2. RSI are the visual representation of how our characters perceive themselves, right?  So do they age or change at all based on any changes the operator is undergoing in the real world?  Is that up to the redpill at all, or is the RSI mostly a subconscious manifestation?

3. Once a person becomes a redpill, gets unplugged, and starts jacking back in as an operator for their faction, what changes actually happen where their ability to relate to bluepills and the world they knew is concerned?  The redpill knows the truth, but the bluepill isn’t any wiser.  Is there any reason a redpill couldn’t carry on like normal with bluepills if they desired to?  If they had family and friends, could they still safely carry on with those family and friends if they wanted to?

4. Another question on the same train of thought, what other in-Matrix changes take place for a redpill as far as their former bluepill lives are concerned?  Yesterday, they had a bluepill identity, a job, financial responsibilities, maybe property, and so on.  Today they’re awakened to the truth and living on a hovercraft.  Do they still have access to all that stuff in the Matrix if they desired?  Are the changes forced on them by their new status in the Matrix or is it just usually by choice?

5. Once again on the same track, without understanding all the details of the current state of affairs, what is the general idea of what each faction is generally working toward?  What is the general view of each major faction toward the Matrix and how it should be interacted with or even lived in by their redpills?  It occurs to me that a hovercraft crew might be annoyed by a crew member that wants to jack in and hold onto parts of their old life, because that is just wasted time taken away from furthering the mission of the faction.  Or maybe not? 

6. I saw a reference somewhere to a place called Abaddon?  It seemed to infer that it might be some kind of Merovingian follower’s holding in the real world?  Like New Zion, but for Merovingian types?

7. I’ve seen a thread or two about where non-Zionist redpills live outside of the Matrix, with a suggestion that the Machinists might live in barracks outside the Machine City, but there wasn’t much about where the Merovingians might live beyond their hovercrafts.  I guess a Merovingian aligned hovercraft visiting New Zion is out of the question too, right?

8. My vague recollection was that if you die in the Matrix, you die in real life on the hovercraft too.  What is the explanation for why our redpills survive defeat and are able to come back?

That’s probably enough for now, though I’m sure I’ll be back for more.  Thanks so much for any responses and helpful guidance ahead of time!

Okay, as I’m what amounts to a complete and utter newbie to the lore of the Matrix, I’m absolutely full of questions.  I’m not sure the questions below are in any special order beyond off the top of my head, but I DID make an attempt to search out the answers from various fan websites and these forums before posting.  So please be gentle if the next thread over explains everything and I somehow missed it.  

1. Mega City is where the current game environment is located obviously, but is it the actual total supposed expanse of the Matrix?  I’m trying to figure out if the Matrix is a global simulation of the entire Earth circa 2100 or just Mega City, with boundaries no one ever questioned for some reason like the movie Dark City.  Or is the whole world simulated, visiting Paris and New York and Moscow is possible, and we just suspend our disbelief as players about not being able to go there for the same reasons we have to in any other game where real estate of the fantasy world is limited by development time and technology?

2. RSI are the visual representation of how our characters perceive themselves, right?  So do they age or change at all based on any changes the operator is undergoing in the real world?  Is that up to the redpill at all, or is the RSI mostly a subconscious manifestation?

3. Once a person becomes a redpill, gets unplugged, and starts jacking back in as an operator for their faction, what changes actually happen where their ability to relate to bluepills and the world they knew is concerned?  The redpill knows the truth, but the bluepill isn’t any wiser.  Is there any reason a redpill couldn’t carry on like normal with bluepills if they desired to?  If they had family and friends, could they still safely carry on with those family and friends if they wanted to?

4. Another question on the same train of thought, what other in-Matrix changes take place for a redpill as far as their former bluepill lives are concerned?  Yesterday, they had a bluepill identity, a job, financial responsibilities, maybe property, and so on.  Today they’re awakened to the truth and living on a hovercraft.  Do they still have access to all that stuff in the Matrix if they desired?  Are the changes forced on them by their new status in the Matrix or is it just usually by choice?

5. Once again on the same track, without understanding all the details of the current state of affairs, what is the general idea of what each faction is generally working toward?  What is the general view of each major faction toward the Matrix and how it should be interacted with or even lived in by their redpills?  It occurs to me that a hovercraft crew might be annoyed by a crew member that wants to jack in and hold onto parts of their old life, because that is just wasted time taken away from furthering the mission of the faction.  Or maybe not? 

6. I saw a reference somewhere to a place called Abaddon?  It seemed to infer that it might be some kind of Merovingian follower’s holding in the real world?  Like New Zion, but for Merovingian types?

7. I’ve seen a thread or two about where non-Zionist redpills live outside of the Matrix, with a suggestion that the Machinists might live in barracks outside the Machine City, but there wasn’t much about where the Merovingians might live beyond their hovercrafts.  I guess a Merovingian aligned hovercraft visiting New Zion is out of the question too, right?

8. My vague recollection was that if you die in the Matrix, you die in real life on the hovercraft too.  What is the explanation for why our redpills survive defeat and are able to come back?

That’s probably enough for now, though I’m sure I’ll be back for more.  Thanks so much for any responses and helpful guidance ahead of time!

I’ve been having my first go at the Matrix Online for a little over a week now, I think.  I was impressed with the game from the start and having a pretty good time just mucking about as completely clueless newbie (I do recall being taken to see the movies years ago, and I remember really enjoying the story and all the philosophy, but those vague recollections are about the extent of my MxO education).   Then a couple of nights ago my foray into the mysteries of the Matrix started to take a quick turn from the surprisingly satisfying to the downright extraordinarily immersive.  

I have to say, deciding to take a break from running missions to go exploring and club hopping may have been one of my smartest gaming decisions in the last couple of years.  My clueless Balletic stumbled upon a foursome dancing the night away in Club Duality and I’ve been absolutely hooked and unable to wait for more ever since!  This is the most immersed and completely plugged in (hehe, am I being ironic?) I’ve been in too long.  I couldn’t be more excited and looking forward to my little opportunities for gaming time at night now and I just wanted to say thanks to the awesome roleplayers of Le Prieure de Merovingien for including me in some of your fun, and now taking me under your wings as a crew member as well.

Seriously, the Matrix Online has got to be one of the best kept secrets of the MMO market.  I’d have been racing here months ago if I’d even had a clue how much fun lay in wait.