ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

It's a great lead forward, but nut that I am, I still insist on at least some explanation of the removal of the Oligarchs, and in keeping with Ye Olde Matrixe tradition, you could put more mystery into your idea. I'm not bashing it or anything, just saying the "O hai its Morpheus" thing could be a lot more subtle or mysterious.

 Well I did say it wasn't concrete. But Yeah as for the Oligarchs, I would go with Rarebits notes and said the main body of Oligarchs were wiped out, while the remnants or those who weren't all at the No Fly Zone gather and restart, which by the way will take a long time.

And yeah I could have left out the Morpheus/ Link conversation to make it more mysterious. I enjoy constructive critisicism. Thanks Zippy

XElite wrote:

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

It's a great lead forward, but nut that I am, I still insist on at least some explanation of the removal of the Oligarchs, and in keeping with Ye Olde Matrixe tradition, you could put more mystery into your idea. I'm not bashing it or anything, just saying the "O hai its Morpheus" thing could be a lot more subtle or mysterious.

Removal of the Oligarchs = Operatives within the Simulation were split into factioning parties of those who supported their presence within the Matrix and those who sought to hinder them at every available opportunity with the long term goal of denying them entrance to the Matrix on a more permanent basis. Eventually, the opposing party found themselves victorious, coding for themselves an override code, based on a code sample retrieved from an Accelerated Exile and Agent, which disabled the Oligarchs' jack - in procedures, thus rendering them unable to enter the Simulation.

(Metaphor for DN1 yet still storyline-tastic and not too far from the truth.)

It's simple, straight, direct, and workable. I love it. Finally, someone who can get to me on my level, wherever the hell it is.

No, wait, one little add-on... "also code samples retrieved from Oligarchs.." okay, I feel better.

SampleNow wrote:

Where does this leave us?

It lets you focus on your personal characters and friends backgrounds and to start other stories.

You can never do anything that will involve a storyline character or anything that was requested from them.

Now is the time to find other Role Player and have a feud or hovercraft battles to destory there ship/fleet.

This goes without saying, and is the reason for this thread. This discussion will, hopefully, lead us all to a place where we can begin to develop our characters anew, engage other factions in hostilities, and write our own stories from our own perspectives about the end of the Oligarchs, or critical hovercraft battles, or Matrix raids or whatever.

There must be a foundation first, though. We, as a community, should agree on where the stories will begin. To borrow a phrase from another sci fi epic, "so say we all."

ShiXinFeng wrote:

SampleNow wrote:

Where does this leave us?

It lets you focus on your personal characters and friends backgrounds and to start other stories.

You can never do anything that will involve a storyline character or anything that was requested from them.

Now is the time to find other Role Player and have a feud or hovercraft battles to destory there ship/fleet.

This goes without saying, and is the reason for this thread. This discussion will, hopefully, lead us all to a place where we can begin to develop our characters anew, engage other factions in hostilities, and write our own stories from our own perspectives about the end of the Oligarchs, or critical hovercraft battles, or Matrix raids or whatever.

There must be a foundation first, though. We, as a community, should agree on where the stories will begin. To borrow a phrase from another sci fi epic, "so say we all."

umm.. yeah, this is what we should do. But, uhh, yeah, did you miss the part where its not gonna happen?

Gonna say it again, lonly using different words than I did four pages ago... We got dumped.

And can you blame the man? Look at all the s**t hes had to put up with "ZOMG UR RUINING MY MATRIX!!"

Yeah.. its a game. It even started out cool. However, it is in fact situated in the Real.

In the Real, people have lives and move on.

In the Real, not every story line gets finished to the 100% satisfaction of its fanbase.

In the Real, people do not always all "Come together" in beautiful harmony.

We are in the Real now. Story over. It really doesn't matter that Rarebit said "the story is in our hands", because there is not any mechanism for us to execute the story and too many potential storytellers. Rare was being, as ever, hopefull. I agreed with his ideas and most of the story outline (and, yeah, im sorry, but i dont think he was lieing when he said the Bro's gave their approval for the overall story concept. And i don't believe they just rubber stamped it either. Would you take yer most famous work of art and say, "here ya go, do whatever you like with it."? Maybe they didn't approve every word, but they approved of the general shape of the story. And as far as Canon, I dont think there is one. This was the canon of the Game, nothing more. The comics are something else. And its pretty clear that the Brothers are ok with alternate stories and endings, just look at the other two games.)

However, I think IF Rare believed that, as players, we could take over the "Official" story, he was daead wrong. And he never said that. I just think that where we go from here, is now up to us. Individually. Not as a group, for the simple reason that its impossible, and resulting conflict of attempting to do it would only drive more people away from a game thats in its apparent death-throes already.

We don't need a "concensus" on what happened IC. We need to get over this idea. We need to play the game for whatever reasons we individually have to continue playing. We need to write whatever stories we want, post them, and let people tell us what they think.

We need the "Official" story to become an Open RP, where anyone is free to post and create their own ideas about what the Matrix is.

I'm sorry, but if you have built your Characters around the "current" events of the game, you need to accept that they are gone, and rebuild your character. I alos think we need to accept that there is, now, basically NO CANON. Its gone. How can you have an Official story that has no ending and never will? You can't. So Canon is over. We don't need it any more. Instead, look at the last four years like it was all one big Player event. The event planner(s) quit, so we never get to play it out.

Can I say it one more time?

MOVE ON.

So, Psilody, just out of curiosity, how are you going to play it? In character, I mean. You going to ignore the last few chapters? Play as though Rare finished the story?

Just call it like you see it is all I'm asking.

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

XElite wrote:

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

It's a great lead forward, but nut that I am, I still insist on at least some explanation of the removal of the Oligarchs, and in keeping with Ye Olde Matrixe tradition, you could put more mystery into your idea. I'm not bashing it or anything, just saying the "O hai its Morpheus" thing could be a lot more subtle or mysterious.

Removal of the Oligarchs = Operatives within the Simulation were split into factioning parties of those who supported their presence within the Matrix and those who sought to hinder them at every available opportunity with the long term goal of denying them entrance to the Matrix on a more permanent basis. Eventually, the opposing party found themselves victorious, coding for themselves an override code, based on a code sample retrieved from an Accelerated Exile and Agent, which disabled the Oligarchs' jack - in procedures, thus rendering them unable to enter the Simulation.

(Metaphor for DN1 yet still storyline-tastic and not too far from the truth.)

It's simple, straight, direct, and workable. I love it. Finally, someone who can get to me on my level, wherever the hell it is.

No, wait, one little add-on... "also code samples retrieved from Oligarchs.." okay, I feel better.

Huh? If this is following chapter 14, the removal of the Oligarchs is already explained with both the Trinity kill code (killing any who were using the Trinity program to inhabit human bodies) and the reset of the Matrix following Trinity's merge with the source (which got rid of Oligarch override control, rendering the remainder unable to jack in).

I don't see why the Oligarchy couldn't have left the Simulation again when it was revealed that Trinity was a program and the two Oligarchs could be satisfied with this information as they would be the only ones knowing it? Maybe Rare posting up how it was suppossed to end in chapter 14 got a lot of you looking in the wrong direction of the story. The story is Now... why not leave from there? The override ingame content to further back up that story arc. along with 50+ Live Event posts. A possible reason for the leaving could be explained as we (the Redpills) actually together do stand a chance of killing them.. a thing they're not very happy to admit but it's a fact and they'll have to adjust to that fact. Sure it was with the help of Carlyne that Zion got the kill on Halborn but still.. The Merv could be the missing link (and heck he's have had no real role to play in the story for a year or more, maybe just maybe he could be the one with the codes to keep the Oligarchy out forever.) Then we're basicly back to the three orgs and sub-orgs again. Where we go from there I guess we could work out either a war or a peace negotiation fundament. It's that hard?.. yet, we've agreed on an imaginary universe for 4 years... let's try to reel this in still all together and maybe start to look at all the servers as one big one? I could be dreaming but still the overall outcome would be greater than the small personal sacrifices imho.

Dunno, just having the Oligarchy back out with Trinity leaves too many ends unfinished. The Oracle would still be "dead", the war would still be raging and surely we'd want to do something about the Oligarchs regardless of whether they're in the simulation or not (they've already attacked EPN at the no-fly etc).

Besides, too many people would want to save Trinity to just ignore it and carry on with their lives.

Rare's outlines and conclusion are all too convienient of a set-up for a static setting to just ignore imo.

cloudwolf wrote:

Huh? If this is following chapter 14, the removal of the Oligarchs is already explained with both the Trinity kill code (killing any who were using the Trinity program to inhabit human bodies) and the reset of the Matrix following Trinity's merge with the source (which got rid of Oligarch override control, rendering the remainder unable to jack in).

What, you mean pretend all the stuff that happened between 12 and 14 happened and then start on 15?

...

That's stupid.

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

cloudwolf wrote:

Huh? If this is following chapter 14, the removal of the Oligarchs is already explained with both the Trinity kill code (killing any who were using the Trinity program to inhabit human bodies) and the reset of the Matrix following Trinity's merge with the source (which got rid of Oligarch override control, rendering the remainder unable to jack in).

What, you mean pretend all the stuff that happened between 12 and 14 happened and then start on 15?

...

That's stupid.

I...  agree. 

Fen wrote:

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

cloudwolf wrote:

Huh? If this is following chapter 14, the removal of the Oligarchs is already explained with both the Trinity kill code (killing any who were using the Trinity program to inhabit human bodies) and the reset of the Matrix following Trinity's merge with the source (which got rid of Oligarch override control, rendering the remainder unable to jack in).

What, you mean pretend all the stuff that happened between 12 and 14 happened and then start on 15?

...

That's stupid.

I...  agree. 

:: Checks to see if the Matrix is about to crash::

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

cloudwolf wrote:

Huh? If this is following chapter 14, the removal of the Oligarchs is already explained with both the Trinity kill code (killing any who were using the Trinity program to inhabit human bodies) and the reset of the Matrix following Trinity's merge with the source (which got rid of Oligarch override control, rendering the remainder unable to jack in).

What, you mean pretend all the stuff that happened between 12 and 14 happened and then start on 15?

...

That's stupid.

Why not though? We can all agree the rest of the story (chs. 12-14) is never going to see the light of day, right? I mean even if another story Dev were to show up, he/she would probably not continue Rarebit's story (maybe this would be even more true if we TOLD them not to continue it, but I digress), because it's already been published. Kind of like trying to read the book after you've read the CliffsNotes.

I think many of us are of the opinion that Rarebit's departure was the result of downsizing expenses for a product at the end of its life-cycle. Maybe it was mutual; we'll likely never know. My bet is, though, that SOE is not going to hire another Dev of Rarebit's ilk. We may get another Dev, but it'll likely be someone who doesn't have the backing of Warner and/or the Wachowskis, and thus this replacement Dev will likely be relegated to game fixes and, at best, low-impact (brief) story character appearances.

So, we continue the story on our own terms. I think that's pretty much what Rarebit had in mind for us at the end of Chapter 14 anyway. As Cloud said, he wraps most of it up pretty neatly, as though he were planning this all along.

But, as I've said before, we need to continue it from a mutual, agreeable starting point.

xenin wrote:

cloudwolf wrote:

So it looks like theres 3 main suggestions popping up:

• Chapter 8, perpetual war, before the Oligarchs.
• Chapter 12.1, perpetual limbo with the current situation.
• Chapter 15, post-Rarebit's outlines.

Now the question is which one should "the devs" mark as "official", because lets be honest, we'll never agree among ourselves.

((Definately Chapter 15, post-Rarebit's outlines. His notes will needs a few tweaks but it is ok. As for afterwards, well I been thinking about that, but for obvious reasons this isn't concrete.))

Okay here is what I thought about for Chapter 15.1 Cinematic and story:

[stuff]

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

It's a great lead forward, but nut that I am, I still insist on at least some explanation of the removal of the Oligarchs, and in keeping with Ye Olde Matrixe tradition, you could put more mystery into your idea. I'm not bashing it or anything, just saying the "O hai its Morpheus" thing could be a lot more subtle or mysterious.

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

cloudwolf wrote:

Huh? If this is following chapter 14, the removal of the Oligarchs is already explained with both the Trinity kill code (killing any who were using the Trinity program to inhabit human bodies) and the reset of the Matrix following Trinity's merge with the source (which got rid of Oligarch override control, rendering the remainder unable to jack in).

What, you mean pretend all the stuff that happened between 12 and 14 happened and then start on 15?

...

That's stupid.

O.o

Morpheus and to a much lesser extent the Oracle are key figures that should be in the gameworld if it is to encourage and stimulate new players to involve themselves in rp and storylines....its just marketting potential (and wow factor)  that should not be wasted imo.

Equally we come to the matrix and spend an inordinate amount of time 'jacked in', people party here, plan campaigns here, fight here, its a situation that really only rings true if a shaky truce is in place.

The backstory to how they arrive there can include all the events of MxO to date or it can seemlessly integrate with the end of revolutions, this is the status the gameworld needs to be set to if there is to be any hope at all of consistent future player developed rp. In the end Rp and story involvement should not just be relegated to a smaller and smaller crowd of elite rp'ers it needs to be accessible to players old and new, returnees and more.

In the absence of a future dev led story we should lobby Walrus for a one off statement/change that puts the matrix in a state that encourages players to be involved and become part of an online city trying to drag itself away from a pointless war and into a mutual future dealing with threats, terrorism and corruption along the way. That would leave us with somewhere to go, the alternative is a sad mis match of threads some resolved some denied, some misunderstood that leaves no one on the same page and worse the game itself is presented in a state that says one thing but does another.

ShiXinFeng wrote:

So, Psilody, just out of curiosity, how are you going to play it? In character, I mean. You going to ignore the last few chapters? Play as though Rare finished the story?

Just call it like you see it is all I'm asking.

How am I going to play it IC at all? That is to say, under what circumstances would i be called upon to have an IC response to story events that are not happening?

Even when we HAD a story, I was never one to stand around Tab W asking people "So, what ya think about them LV's?" If there was a LE going on, then it seemed pertinent what my IC stance on the current situation was, and I played from that. That stance was always based on psi's core character anyway.

I think my point is more, THERE IS NO MORE CONTINUING STORYYLINE, ERGO, I DON"T NEED AN IC RESPONSE. I'm not really worried about character continuity, psi's character can be what it its, without an official storyline. And theres not anybody playing this game that doesn't know whats (not) going on, so who's going to really see some "discrepancy".

Again, I don't believe for one minute that, as a community of players, even IF we agreed that, say, "the outline is canon, lets start at 15." that such agreement would actually lead to a continuing official story.

So yeah, again, it doesn't matter how I would play a response to the story, because there isn't a story to play at all. What's the point? Who am I going to RP with about an "official" story line that ended and no longer exists? Myself?

So, ya know, come up with yer idea, start a Player Event thread and say "hey, Our group of people have agreed on this, and we are going to play out a story based on it. participants welcome."

To me, that's what it means for the story to be in our hands. Not, "hey, lets all spend 6 months arguing and debating what did or didn't happen, where it's going to go, who's going to get it there... blah,blah..."

Not worth it. Just enjoy what's left and stop worrying about it.