## DataNode1 Mainframe Connection Established...
## Welcome Medical Officer Soulfire...
## Begin Report Log...

I send this communication out, knowing full well the risk I am taking.

Our last incursion into the Matrix was an idealistic one, to say the least.  Strong examples seem to be the only thing to shake people out of their apathy, and we saw fit to provide one.   That message did not go unheard, and there were...reprisals.  It didn't matter what tech we had to evade the Machines; every time we came up with something new, the enemy seemed to find a way to counter it.  Stealth no longer mattered, and we began to take increasingly bolder risks just to complete our tasks.

It was decided that our Matrix incursions would need to be mitigated; stepping up our operations in the Real would make us more effective.  We are very adept at evading the Machines there, and over time, we have become...exceedingly efficient at it.

But now something draws us back.  What it is, we cannot say.  However, I would like to say this:  we have not forgotton who we are or what we are here to do.  We do NOT care what happens to us, as our lives were forfeit to this cause long ago.  We remember our friends, and those that have already given their lives for the cause.  Theirs is glory unimaginable.

So I leave this message to our supporters out there...the Mentor is alive.  The cause is ours for the moment.  It matters not where any of you have come to call home.  Your heart and soul belongs to ZION, it always has.  We sincerely hope you make the right decision, should that time ever come.

## Encryption Protocol Initiated...
## Secure Data Uplink in Progress
## Veridicus Mainframe Acknowledgement Received...
## Transmission Ending...
## Connection Terminated ##

I have to say...I'm about as disappointed as I've ever been with my fun level concerning the game.  It isn't because of lack of content or anything like that.  No, this problem has a more human face.

My fun is being infringed upon by the OOC actions of several players within the EPN org who decided to take my IC post "Marcus Tripp:  Bluepill" as a personal attack on the entire EPN organization.  They've taken it to such an extreme that I am receiving personal attacks in game as a result.

What irks me the most is that OOC, I've come to know and respect many of those players.  I make the post, and suddenly, I'm some sort of traitor or something...can you believe that?  Does that even make sense?  Yet there it is...someone's got some beef to pick with me at Camon C, or I'm doing a mission and BAM!

What the heck is wrong with these people?  The event in question concerned a mistake on the part of a bluepill played by a LESIG member that was shot by a neighborhood gang.  Apparently, the death was unscripted, but at the time, I didn't know that.  I decided to get some RP going, injecting as much emotion as I could, lamenting his death.  I had no idea that my RP would become fuel for a preposterous OOC fire.

To my attackers:  Please stop.  I'm asking nicely that you back off.  My fun is being affected, and that's not fair.  I pay my 14.99 every month to have fun, and this stopped being fun a while ago.  Any further attacks will result in CCRs, because I don't pay to be harrassed.  I pay to play, and to be absolutely honest with you, I think your actions have been absurd in the extreme.  There could have been some nice RP as a result of my post, but instead you chose to take IC criticism OOC. 

We can't always be the good guys, people, so take your IC licks as they're meant to be taken.  Hell, PoP sat on codebombs, and we endured IC and OOC criticism as a result, but we didn't start attacking people personally.  We fleshed out the RP, and created some awesome rivalries that are still talked about today.  We loved every minute.  A big tsktsk to you for ruining that opportunity and showing an immaturity uncharacteristic of the roles you play.

That's all, folks.  Thank you for reading.

Let me begin by saying that the Prophets of Peace is a Morphite faction having no ties to the E Pluribus Neo organization or the Kid.

We came as observers to an EPN attempt at freeing bluepills. We didn't know we would be witnesses to the death of a bluepill.

EPN was sent to scour Richland for three potentials: Kathy Dawson, Marcus Tripp, and Mitchel Harper. According to EPN Liasion Officer Zeissman, these bluepills had been identified as ready to accept the redpill. All they needed to do was find them.

Through a web of deceit and manipulation, EPN operatives brought the three bluepills to a run down building in Dannah Heights. The bluepills were told various lies, some of the choice ones being that they had won a trip, or had been invited to a seminar. We waited for Shimada to arrive, and she presented the choice to the bluepills.

None of the three appeared ready at first. Marcus himself wanted time to think, but the EPN operatives pushed, putting massive pressure on those poor souls to take the red pill. They had many questions, and did not appear to be bluepills ready to take the red pill, at least from our perspective. The only thing I could equate it to was a pack of wolves surrounding their prey, ready to pounce at any moment.

Eventually, Kathy Dawson and Mitchel Harper accepted the red pill, despite all their confusion. Marcus did not, taking the blue pill. He was escorted from the meeting after that. The Prophets of Peace stood there, aghast at what had just taken place...and my captain was first to question EPN's methodology. He was told (by a certain prominent EPN operative) that his logic was flawed.

We left the meeting after that, and were welcomed into the afternoon sun by the sound of gunshots. I swore, readying myself for what I assumed was an attack. Unfortunately, I wasn't greeted by an attack. To my horror, I saw a terrified bluepill, screaming in horror as a Bullet chased him past the Blue Line. I cursed myself for not having had my Clamors at the ready. By the time I could get in range to grab the Exile, I was too late. Marcus Tripp was dead.

An EPN operative tried to resuscitate him with Restore RSI, but I knew it was a fruitless endeavor. Screaming in rage, I saw one of the EPN officers who had been given the task of presenting the bluepills with the red pill. His reaction was simple: "It was his choice."

It wasn't this man's choice to die. EPN's methodology today led to the death of an innocent; his blood is on their hands. Our logic was proven right in a pool of blood on the streets of Dannah Heights.

May he find peace at last.

Is this what EPN stands for? Is this what they put those black coats on for? I wonder...were the last words that went through Marcus Tripp's head "For Neo"? What a shame, that this man died never knowing who Neo was, or what he stood for.

My name, for those who do not already know me, is Soulfire.

For years (2, to be precise), I have trained for a moment such as this, and though my progress was significantly slower than that of my peers, I have at last arrived at a milestone important to any successful operative's life.

I'm turning level 50!  Woo hoo!

Those who know me know how big this is for me...I honestly didn't think I'd make it to 50, but here I am.  The plan?

I'm throwing a bit of a shindig, this Saturday, the 10th.  I will be turning 50 in full view of the public (oh, the scandal!), but that's not all.  I'll be going all out for this thing, so be prepared for some surprises.

Time:  4 PM MCT (Megacity Time, PST)

Date:  3/10/2007

Location:  The Cobra Lounge (also known as the Red Bear Club), an unmarked club close to Baldwin Heights Central HL.

Dress code:  Formal...dress to impress!

Anyone and everyone is invited!  I love this community; it wouldn't be the same game without you guys.  It would be an honor to meet you all in person and in turn facilitate a special time for you to get to know the men and women that make up the best server in MxO!

Though the event is in Downtown, there will be armed security available to keep the area clear of NPCs.  Factions, if you have newer players who haven't seen Downtown yet, or don't have the Baldwin Heights Access Node yet, this would be a prime opportunity for such things.

There will be a pre-party gathering in the Network Media plaza directly in front of the Baldwin Heights Central hardline approximately 10 minutes before the party.

SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY!  BE THERE!

A very gracious host (who wishes to remain anonymous) will be hosting the event on their radio station.  The address will apparently be sent to me the day of the event, so it will be announced at the pre-party gathering, as well as during the party.

My name, for those who do not already know me, is Soulfire.

For years (2, to be precise), I have trained for a moment such as this, and though my progress was significantly slower than that of my peers, I have at last arrived at a milestone important to any successful operative's life.

I'm turning level 50!  Woo hoo!

Those who know me know how big this is for me...I honestly didn't think I'd make it to 50, but here I am.  The plan?

I'm throwing a bit of a shindig, this Saturday, the 10th.  I will be turning 50 in full view of the public (oh, the scandal!), but that's not all.  I'll be going all out for this thing, so be prepared for some surprises.

Time:  4 PM MCT

Date:  3/10/2007

Location:  The Cobra Lounge (also known as the Red Bear Club), an unmarked club close to Baldwin Heights Central HL.

Dress code:  Formal...dress to impress!

Anyone and everyone is invited!  I love this community; it wouldn't be the same game without you guys.  It would be an honor to meet you all in person and in turn facilitate a special time for you to get to know the men and women that make up the best server in MxO!

There will be a pre-party gathering in the Network Media plaza directly in front of the Baldwin Heights Central hardline approximately 10 minutes before the party.

SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY!  BE THERE!

A very gracious host (who wishes to remain anonymous) will be hosting the event on their radio station.  The address will apparently be sent to me the day of the event, so it will be announced at the pre-party gathering, as well as during the party.

My name, for those who do not already know me, is Soulfire.

For years (2, to be precise), I have trained for a moment such as this, and though my progress was significantly slower than that of my peers, I have at last arrived at a milestone important to any successful operative's life.

I'm turning level 50!  Woo hoo!

Those who know me know how big this is for me...I honestly didn't think I'd make it to 50, but here I am.  The plan?

I'm throwing a bit of a shindig, this Saturday, the 10th.  I will be turning 50 in full view of the public (oh, the scandal!), but that's not all.  I'll be going all out for this thing, so be prepared for some surprises.

Time:  4 PM MCT (Megacity Time, PST)

Date:  3/10/2007

Location:  The Cobra Lounge (also known as the Red Bear Club), an unmarked club close to Baldwin Heights Central HL.

Dress code:  Formal...dress to impress!

Anyone and everyone is invited!  I love this community; it wouldn't be the same game without you guys.  It would be an honor to meet you all in person and in turn facilitate a special time for you to get to know the men and women that make up the best server in MxO!

There will be a pre-party gathering in the Network Media plaza directly in front of the Baldwin Heights Central hardline approximately 10 minutes before the party.

SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY!  BE THERE!

A very gracious host (who wishes to remain anonymous) will be hosting the event on their radio station.  The address will apparently be sent to me the day of the event, so it will be announced at the pre-party gathering, as well as during the party.

We're studying graphical functions in math.  If a function has a lot going for it, you get a combo of stretching/shrinking, moving, flipping, etc.  You have to break down each piece to affect the original to get the answer.  The whole process sounds lengthy, especially with bigger functions, but it's actually pretty straightforward if you can image well in your mind.  In my case, it really doesn't involve paperwork.  However, my teacher wants us to "show our work", so we have to make seperate graphs for each step we took to get our final result.  That's cool, since I know that in math, you're supposed to do that a lot.  It's called "solving analytically".

However, in this one case, it really shouldn't involve having to construct separate graphs, especially when the book doesn't tell us we have to in the instructions.  Also, some of these functions can get pretty long, so many steps are required.  My teacher's explanation is just that we probably need the practice.  Ok, fine.

Despite this, I insisted, and questioned the teacher.  He scoffed at me and basically told me to not worry about having to use excessive paper, that I was paying a lot for my education and that a few more dollars wouldn't matter.  I replied immediately, "Well, money isn't the issue for me, sir.  I'm not struggling.  My reasons were more environmental."  Then, something very embarrassing happened.

For those that know me, I'm a big fan of trees.  Those that know me also know that I'm no tree-hugger.  I'm liberal, but not flaming liberal.  I'm certainly not a GreenPeace member, nor ever will be.  I'm not vegetarian in the least, cause I likes my animals medium-rare.  Basically, I'm not a hippy (no offense to the real hippies out there, I'm just using a generalization).  Yes, at one time, I was even a member of the Republican Party.

But I am a big fan of trees.  Ever since I was little, I've looked at trees just as I look at humans.  I don't differentiate between the two in terms of worth, though I know that God (my opinion) put them here for us to use.  They are ancient beings worthy of our respect, and if it wasn't for them, we'd have died long ago.

Cutting a tree down is like murder to me, but I'm also Yaqui Indian.  When you have to kill, you use as much of the animal as possible, thanking its spirit for its sacrifice.  So when I see a tree cut down needlessly, or because it wasn't cosmetic enough, I bawl on the inside and weep a bit on the outside.  I do all I can to spare trees an untimely death - buying nothing but recycled paper, making sure I don't waste the real paper I have, always using the recycle bin.

My church, the Methodist church, gives you a packet full of adverts for various commitees as well as resolutions, information, etc. when you attend our larger legislative events.  Most people tend to take one look at SOME of those papers, then discard the whole *CENSORED* thing when the event is over.  It's something I find aggravating each time I attend, though I will take the packet, since some poor tree had to die to get it to me.  Who am I to simply cast away its sacrifice?

You want to know what happened when I said what I said in math?  The class laughed at me, and so did the teacher.  I was, naturally, infuriated, but bit my tongue.  He finally addressed me, still chuckling, and said, "Well if you're so concerned with the environment, you can use recycled paper."

Who says something like that?  I continued to bite my tongue, knowing that with a class full of laughing students, I wasn't going to win any moral victories.  What I wanted to say was, "Well, begging your pardon sir, but I actually already use recycled paper.  Look, I wouldn't dream of telling you how to do your job, as I am the student and you are the teacher.  I'm definitely not going to demand that EVERYONE start using recycled paper either.

However, if you were to simply allow us to work the problems out with a minimum of steps (unless the problem says otherwise), we could all save at least 50-100 sheets of paper per class, just on this issue alone.  I don't think that's an unreasonable - or laughable - request."

I've never felt more humiliated in all my college years.  Not only that, but you'd figure that after seeing the response I got, the closet environmentalists in the class would've approached me afterward and given me some sort of pat on the back, "job well done", etc.  No one spoke to me at all after that.  It truly appeared that the issue didn't matter, and it certainly didn't matter that their fellow classmate had just been humiliated for trying to do something good for the world we all live in.

I'm not a hippy.  I know when I've been put in my place, and I know which battles to fight.  It's just a math class, and I'm going to show my work as instructed.  I won't forget what happened to me today, though.  It's a part of me now, forever.

Maybe now I can understand why environmentalists are so angry all the time.  I'm still eating meat, though, and driving my six cylinder car.  Sorry, I likes my meat, and I likes my cylinders.  However, on this one issue, I'm with you guys.  Don't let it go to your heads.

Hello guys and gals, Soulfire here requesting your help.  I know there are some of you out there who have a nack for throwing outstanding parties, and I could definitely use your input.

What goes into a great party?  Cool games?  The right radio station?  Prizes?  Location, location, location?  Post your thoughts here, or send me a PM if you wish.  I'd appreciate any help you can give.

He was a good man; the odds were irrelevant when it came to helping those he cared about most.  I never got the honor of meeting him, though I seriously doubt he would have referred to it as an "honor".  No, I think he'd have just shrugged his shoulders and said something like, "We're all here to do what we're all here to do."

His name was Neo, and despite his System-granted powers, he refused to let even that confine him.  He did what he had to do, and did it better than anyone ever has.  For that reason, I want to emulate him, as best I can.  I will never be the One, but I can try to make his mentality my own.  However, even Neo had a teacher.  Without him, things may not have turned out the way they did, and many of us might not be here today.

I seek such a teacher.  For years now, I have been content with my current neurokinetic level.  I enjoyed every victory I celebrated knowing that I had made a difference despite my limitations.  Unfortunately, events are transpiring that threaten those closest to me, and I am content no longer.  The time has come for me to claim my own powers.  Without them, I can only do so much, and with so much to be done, I cannot afford to wait any longer.

Of course, there are those out there that do not wish to see me achieve this success.  To them I say:  Your time is fast in coming, and there is little you can do to stop this.  One way or another, this milestone will be reached, System be damned.

((I am looking for someone to work with to help me get to lvl 50...I'm on limited time, but when I'm in it would be helpful to have someone to run missions with.  Grinding has never been something I enjoy, but I've found that it goes by much faster with someone more knowledgeable than myself.  Any takers?  I'm on PST, and tend to be in either early mornings, late afternoons, and late evenings.))

Wow...E-crack...I've always had a problem when someone comes along and calls this game E-crack.  For me, this game never had quite that quality.  Being the "fanboy" that I am, I, at first, played the game to be wrapped up in the future storyline of the Matrix universe.  You know, a movie that I could be a part of; but a drug-like quality?  LOL...this game has FAR to go before I can even begin to perceive it that way.

I'm sure many of you will (well, probably most will just ignore my usually verbose statements) say, "Well, Soulfire, you aren't representative of this community.  Many of us DO find it as stimulating as a drug-induced experience."

So quick to point out the community.  It's certainly a...way to defend one's point.  Unfortunately, the community has little to do when we're talking about the general populace.   The truth is...this game just doesn't have what it takes to be popular as it stands. 

Let me say it again:  this game just doesn't have what it takes to be popular as it stands.  It did certainly have potential, and has done a decent job of retaining a loyal fan base, but my friends, the numbers simply aren't there.  The numbers tell us that this game just can't stand up to powerhouses like WoW, CoV, CoH, etc.  There are a myriad of games out there that are gleaming examples of what can happen when a game becomes TRULY successful.  I couldn't say that any of them had live events like the ones we used to have, though.

Are people actually content to attend...lol...meetings with events characters, then perhaps complete an almost inconsequential objective, such as tracking and defeating some inconsequential villain?  Seems like all we ever do is attend meetings, or track something down.  Then, the "event" ends, and we are forced to entertain ourselves until the next one.

Yes, yes, I know.  We've heard arguments like this before.  I'm not writing a *CENSORED* thread, as there are SO MANY of those out there already.  What I'm questioning is the character of many who play this game, and the lies they tell themselves before jacking in.  Is it the attention you crave?  I know leadership of a faction can sometimes inflate the ego a bit, and it's probably cool to have others "look up to you", after a fashion.  Or is it friendships?  Is it wrong of me to laugh when I hear about certain lvl 50s spending over 7 hours jacked in almost everyday, when they could be spending their time doing better things for themselves or their loved ones?

If you don't like it, Soulfire, just quit, right?

Not on your life, chum.  I'm not suffering as I shell out my $15 a month to a company that is INCAPABLE of handling this concept properly.  Just because this company is taking care of things for now doesn't mean that ownership might not change to a company that can bring out the full potential of the concept.  I hold on to the hope that this game will get better eventually, and I have loads of patience.  I may not jack in everyday - don't think I could stand the boredom - but I can stay and watch from afar, hoping my baby, the baby I beta-tested, becomes what it was destined to be.

I'd love to call it E-crack.  Too bad I can't...and you all know I'm not alone in my thinking.  Just look within your heart.  Be true to yourselves, ladies and gentlemen.  Be honest, and think of what I've said the next time you jack in.  Perhaps this seed will grow, and that marvelous human trait of questioning the nature of things will emerge from its slumber.

 Until next time, Operatives.

Message Edited by Soulfire1 on 02-25-200601:03 PM

Message Edited by Soulfire1 on 10-21-2005 12:36 AM