Frequently Asked Questions
To be honest, since this is a new site, I haven't received any questions, let alone frequent ones. So for now I've decided to fill this with answers to questions you may have in hopes of preempting any initial confusion.
Question: Why did you decide to create this web site?
Answer: There are plenty of great MxO storyline websites out there, but it seems that live event transcripts are spread throughout the digital ether of the internet. So I decided to gather up the numerous transcripts I've collected and attempt to create a more centralized location for them and any others I may receive. It is my hope that this site will be informative, and that it encourages people to send in transcripts so we can increase our overall knowledge.
Truth be told, this site was inspired by Romav's idea for a website that he was working on (I even sent him a transcript he was looking for). Romav, if you're reading this, I'm not trying to steal any thunder. If you wish to get in contact with me so we can discuss anything, feel free to do so.
Question: A live event transcript website? Don't we already have the Live Events section of the official MxO forum?
Answer: Oh yes. And don't get me wrong, it's a great section. It keeps us informed, gives us extra commentary from the characters, has great pictures, and shows us stuff that the players may not see (such as the conversation between Anome and the Network, and /tells between various characters).
But the fact is, some posts do not have all the dialogue that occurred during the event. Some posts have absolutely none. And of course, the posts do not cover the events that occurred before the creation of that section of the forum.
Question: Why is the dialogue so important to you?
Answer: Heh, well ... I'll admit to a bit of an obsession with gathering live event dialogue. Plus there are places online where you can get transcripts of the trilogy and The Animatrix. There's even a site that has much of the dialogue from Enter the Matrix. I hear Zelda fans make text dumps to help facilitate discussions of the games' storylines.
I guess it's because the live events represent actual occurrances within the Matrix universe. Everything that was said is part of what happened. For example: Let's say there was a live event where the Oracle stated that peanut butter cookies are her favorite. I agree, it's a small detail. But this would be something that is canonical, and it's something that reveals some detail about herself. It doesn't become common knowledge if the general public doesn't know about it.
And for many people, transcripts are one of the few ways for people to read the dialogue from events that they never experienced. I honestly never encountered any of the Novalis II crew (unless you count "post-Double Cross" Veil), so my only experience concerning them come from transcripts.
Question: There are some pieces of dialogue from different characters that basically say the same thing but to the different organizations. Isn't that redundant?
Answer: Yes, but it's still part of Matrix universe, and I'm also interested in displaying the overall series of events in the storyline, and not just a plot synopsis.
Question: I have transcripts that include storyline details that I feel should be kept hidden from the public. Is that okay?
Answer: Certainly. I understand if you feel that there are details that shouldn't be revealed. But eventually it gets to the point where we all know of these details, and it becomes unnecessary to hide them.
For example, there's an edited transcript of a meeting with Agent Pace on the MxO forum. We know by now that they were talking about the case of cheat code vials. Yet there's no uncensored version of this transcript, as far as I know.
My concern is that there are live event transcripts that are lost or unknown to the general public due to people wanting to kept details hidden, even after they've become well known facts. You don't have to send me anything if you don't want to. But I'd appreciate it if you sent it in, especially if it becomes unnecessary to kept it secret.
Question: What if the event was very personal to me, and I don't wish to share it?
Answer: Live events, especially ones where we've had one-on-one interaction with the characters from the story, can be very personal to some people. I can sympathize. But no matter how widespread a transcript becomes, it's still your personal encounter with that character. Your meeting with that character is an official part of the Matrix universe. In some ways it's more official than meetings with characters in critical missions, where the person witnessing the events both is and isn't your character.
You do not have to send in any transcripts if you don't want to. I will also delay putting your transcripts up for as long as you wish.
Question: Where did you get the transcripts on your site?
Answer: I don't have any donated transcripts just yet. Many of them are ones I've found by searching the internet with a fine-toothed comb for event dialogue. I copied them in case the sites went down permanently (and some of these sites have, such as Radio Free Zion). Others are event logs that I made myself
Question: Did you know that some of your transcripts aren't complete?
Answer: Yes, to my shame. Even the transcripts I made aren't always complete. For starters, I currently have an odd connection problem where it'll disconnect at random points during the day with no warning. It's really aggravating when it happens during events. Also, I'm not always with the characters when they speak, and sometimes I just lose their location altogether. I will gladly accept any transcripts that are more complete than the ones on this site, even if it's just one extra line of dialogue.
Question: Some of these aren't transcripts. They're more like stories or fanfiction. Why is that?
Answer: Those are from places where live event transcripts were converted into a more story-like format. One such place was the old Mega City Times site (not to be confused with the Sentinel-style web page of the same name). No offense to the great writers of these stories, but if any of you happen to have a transcript of those events then I'll replace them. I prefer transcripts, personally.
Question: What dialogue will you accept from me?
Answer: Anything. Text from area chat, tells, system messages, e-mails, etc.
Question: Do you accept LESIG dialogue transcripts?
Answer: Absolutely! I consider the LESIG characters and events to be just as canon as the rest of the story.
Question: What do you consider to be non-canon, live events wise?
Answer: The only events I do not consider to be part of the Matrix universe are anything that happened during beta, anything on the QA server, and anything that used the zombies and yeti from the Halloween and Winter events as a central theme, though I do consider the snowfall from the Winter event to be canon.
However, I believe that what is and isn't canon is a matter of personal opinion, so you're free to accept any or all of the above as actual events. And I will accept transcripts from these events as well.
Question: Do you have any transcripts that have a ton of player and system spam in them? I find them hard to read.
Answer: I do have some. I'm going to put the LE and LESIG character dialogue in bold text in the hopes of making it easier to find and read. If I've gotten any bold text wrong, or missed an LE or LESIG character's text, then feel free to point it out.
Question: Hey! I made that transcript! What are you doing with it?
Answer: I only copied it in case the site it was on got shut down. I don't wish to see these transcripts become unobtainable. I am by no means trying to take credit for these. In fact, I've marked all the ones that I've made, and have credited the makers of the other transcripts (or at least the ones that I know of). If you wish to contact me to talk about it, feel free to do so. But please, let's keep it civil. I mean no harm.
Question: Okay, now that the event questions are out of the way, who are you?
Answer: I go by the handle "Othinn" on Syntax. I was on Linenoise before the server merge. In beta I was under the handle "Leangle" on World 1/Algorithm. And some people may know me as "Crimzonite" (especially those who were in MxO Stractics' IRC chatroom back in the days before beta).
Question: Haven't I seen you at a bunch of live events on Syntax?
Answer: Most likely. I actively seek out live events so I can participate in them, and satisfy my need to archive live event dialogue. If you see me nearby, don't worry about it. I'm there to archive the dialogue, and I only tell maybe two or three people I trust about the event, because I believe that events are better when you don't see half the population of the server trying to occupy the same space.
And there's a very good chance that I will help you in your event, since my character is rather neutral. And even if my character didn't agree with what was going on, he most likely won't interfere, due to the fact that he wants to stop the organizations from fighting. Interfering would damage any chance of reaching that goal.
Question: Why is your website so sparse/glitchy?
Answer: This is my first attempt at making a website, althought I've been using the internet since 1995. Funny, huh? Also, I'm currently more interested in the informational aspect of this site, and not the aesthetics of it. This could easily change though, since I hope to update this since for a very long time. If you have any comments, ideas, or if you want to point out any mistakes, then contact me.
Question: Archival Science in a Post-War Simulation?
Answer: I wanted a neutral name for this site. Not something that suggested any specific organization or group (i.e. "Zion Archives"). I was stuck looking for the name for a while. At one point I started doing Wikipedia searches for words related to transcription and archiving and found "archival science", which seemed to fit the subject of the site quite well. The rest just slid into place.