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The Matrix Online goes Offline

ZzuluZzulu Registered User regular
edited June 2009 in MMO Extravaganza
- And another one bites the dust!

Hopefully all these dying MMO's will be a wake up call to the MMO genre and the developers lurking within. Stop. Releasing. Shit.

Farewell MxO, we hardly knew ye.

Matrix Online shutting down July 31

Official forums announcement

t5qfc9.jpg
Zzulu on
«13

Posts

  • 815165815165 Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I didn't knew ye at all.

    Like, this is the first thing I've ever heard about this game, ever.

    edit:
    In May 2004, I embarked upon a journey. I decided to take the red pill in a big way—I became the online community lead for The Matrix Online.
    Had me lollin'.

    815165 on
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2009
    Good riddance to bad rubbish.

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • RizziRizzi Sydney, Australia.Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    There was a Matrix mmo?
    Seriously?

    Rizzi on
  • HavelockHavelock Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Ironic.


    The Matrix Unplugged

    Havelock on
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    This hadn't died years ago?

    Dehumanized on
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2009
    In that game your guild was your "hovercraft" crew, bearing in mind that you couldn't exit the matrix to bomb around in your hovercraft.

    Mine was the "Wardriver". I found this very funny.


    That sums up about the coolest experience in MxO for me during the time I played it.

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • ZzuluZzulu Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Honestly, I am mostly suprised it survived on life support for so long. The game should have died long ago. It's basically empty already.

    Zzulu on
    t5qfc9.jpg
  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Miles of potential, killed by horrible implementation.

    Bigity on
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Funny, my girlfriend was just asking me the other day of MxO was still running. We'll have a good laugh when she gets home from work.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • HavelockHavelock Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Bigity wrote: »
    Miles of potential, killed by horrible implementation.

    I think you just described the last two movies of the Matrix trilogy.

    Havelock on
  • DunxcoDunxco Should get a suit Never skips breakfastRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I remember my friend started playing this when it just came out, and I was intrigued.

    Then I stopped caring and completely forgot about it.

    Dunxco on
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Havelock wrote: »
    Bigity wrote: »
    Miles of potential, killed by horrible implementation.

    I think you just described 90% of everything released by [strike]the MMO[/strike] any industry ever.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • HavelockHavelock Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    touché

    Havelock on
  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Havelock wrote: »
    Bigity wrote: »
    Miles of potential, killed by horrible implementation.

    I think you just described the last two movies of the Matrix trilogy.

    It applies equally well, yes.

    Bigity on
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Also, I totally saw this coming from a million miles away as soon as Free Realms started doing gangbusters. SOE no longer needs a bunch of dead weight failures padding its Station Pass anymore, so the rest of the chaff is going to be in some tough times ahead.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • MechanicalMechanical Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    This was pretty obvious about 2 years ago. About the same time I quit.

    Mechanical on
  • TavTav Irish Minister for DefenceRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Why do developers shut things down instead of letting the fans run it? I always feel disappointed when this happens because there are people in the game losing their shit. What exactly does a company lose from letting someone who actually cares about the game run a dead franchise? I've heard about F2P MMOs in the past where fans have literally salvaged the company computers out of garbage cans run the game themselves for the few hundred people who were actually interested.

    Tav on
  • LilithiumLilithium __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2009
    I'm not sure, Tav. Couldn't you run servers for these games anyways? There are a shit ton of Lineage II, and World of Warcraft servers run by players. I think the same could be done for MxO.

    Or like, Star Wars Galaxy, from years ago, with no jedi implemented.

    Lilithium on
    What's that ringing? Ting-ting-a-linging in my head~? Oh, you're always there, making me whole. You're always waiting up for me. You're my first kiss, ever so pure, and ever so defiling, once lost, can never be the same. Fuck me. Violate me. Deny me.
  • MechanicalMechanical Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Tav wrote: »
    Why do developers shut things down instead of letting the fans run it? I always feel disappointed when this happens because there are people in the game losing their shit. What exactly does a company lose from letting someone who actually cares about the game run a dead franchise? I've heard about F2P MMOs in the past where fans have literally salvaged the company computers out of garbage cans run the game themselves for the few hundred people who were actually interested.

    Dunno. Would've been nice to at least get a freeplay before it went under, but they're not even doing that. Looks like it'll be an unceremonious flipping of the off switch.

    Mechanical on
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Tav wrote: »
    Why do developers shut things down instead of letting the fans run it? I always feel disappointed when this happens because there are people in the game losing their shit. What exactly does a company lose from letting someone who actually cares about the game run a dead franchise? I've heard about F2P MMOs in the past where fans have literally salvaged the company computers out of garbage cans run the game themselves for the few hundred people who were actually interested.

    In most cases, porting commercial MMOs to something a fanbase can "simply" take and run on their own is not a simple or cost-effective measure to do simply out of the goodness of their hearts. And what F2P MMOs are you talking about that people have somehow magically salvaged? I've never heard of anything except maybe Meridian 59, which was never free in any capacity, and the person who saved it from death worked on it at 3DO to begin with, and bought the rights for a not inconsequential sum.

    There was a lot of talk about this back when Tabula Rasa shut down, and developers on other MMOs have explained, at length, how this is a silly, impractical idea that nobody should ever expect to happen.

    Also, most any current private servers that are available (be it Lineage II, WoW, UO, Ragnarok Online, or anything for a still-functioning game) are doing so on reverse-engineered code. Those private servers also tend to be unstable at best and are usually missing features.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • MechanicalMechanical Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    korodullin wrote: »
    Also, most any current private servers that are available (be it Lineage II, WoW, UO, Ragnarok Online, or anything for a still-functioning game) are doing so on reverse-engineered code. Those private servers also tend to be unstable at best and are usually missing features.

    So in the case of this particular one, about the same quality of servers, eh?

    Mechanical on
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I haven't played MxO, so I can't comment on the state of their servers.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2009
    Too much copyright issues to sort out wrt the code base.

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Well deserved.

    Someone link that reviewer who had to do instalments about the game every other week and half way through he just stopped playing and instead started writing about the date he went on and what he bought at Wal-Mart that day.

    Aldo on
  • LilithiumLilithium __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2009
    I don't know. Most Lineage II servers are pretty great, along with the WoW ones too. I had most excellent time in WoTLK Alpha on a private server.

    Lilithium on
    What's that ringing? Ting-ting-a-linging in my head~? Oh, you're always there, making me whole. You're always waiting up for me. You're my first kiss, ever so pure, and ever so defiling, once lost, can never be the same. Fuck me. Violate me. Deny me.
  • ArchonexArchonex No hard feelings, right? Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    There's something seriously wrong with this, given that SOE are the main reason why MxO never did well. The first thing they did when they got the rights to it was cut all the things that made the game fun. They managed it about as well as they did SWG.

    Archonex on
  • kharvelankharvelan Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I am saddened for those that liked the game, but more so for the ignorant fools who find a copy at walmart some day down the road.
    I went into walmart the other day and saw tabula rasa for sale on the shelf for $44.99. . . seriously.
    I took it to the clerk and said 'you know this is an MMO and the game has been shut down right?'. He shrugged and just took the copy and set it back.
    So someone's gonna buy that at walmart, and that persons going to be screwed.
    There should be some sort of contract in place to prevent the sale of MMO game boxes once the MMO is officially shut down.

    kharvelan on
    go fuck yourself PA forums
  • LilithiumLilithium __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2009
    Archonex wrote: »
    There's something seriously wrong with this, given that SOE are the main reason why MxO never did well. The first thing they did when they got the rights to it was cut all the things that made the game fun. They managed it about as well as they did SWG.

    SOE: Killing EQ competition since 16 March 1999. Durp.

    Lilithium on
    What's that ringing? Ting-ting-a-linging in my head~? Oh, you're always there, making me whole. You're always waiting up for me. You're my first kiss, ever so pure, and ever so defiling, once lost, can never be the same. Fuck me. Violate me. Deny me.
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited May 2009
    Yeah, I pretty much unsubbed when they axed the compatibility with AIM.

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • ScooterScooter Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Archonex wrote: »
    There's something seriously wrong with this, given that SOE are the main reason why MxO never did well. The first thing they did when they got the rights to it was cut all the things that made the game fun. They managed it about as well as they did SWG.

    I think it was inherently flawed in that one of the major goals for someone in the Matrix is to get out of the virtual world.

    The only way to win is not to play.

    Scooter on
  • 815165815165 Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Scooter wrote: »
    Archonex wrote: »
    There's something seriously wrong with this, given that SOE are the main reason why MxO never did well. The first thing they did when they got the rights to it was cut all the things that made the game fun. They managed it about as well as they did SWG.

    I think it was inherently flawed in that one of the major goals for someone in the Matrix is to get out of the virtual world.

    The only way to win is not to play.
    Though there can be decades of endgame content.

    815165 on
  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Archonex wrote: »
    There's something seriously wrong with this, given that SOE are the main reason why MxO never did well. The first thing they did when they got the rights to it was cut all the things that made the game fun. They managed it about as well as they did SWG.

    I'm all for bashing SOE, but the Matrix IP was already groaning beneath the weight of the second and third movies in the trilogy. I'm sure the IP will get a dusting-off in ten years and be remade into a decent movie we'll all see along with a companion console game that none of us will play, but Neo and Trinity simply didn't stay culturally relevant the way we expected they would back in 1999 when we thought this was the most amazing movie ever.

    It's not entirely their fault that they had a hard time selling an IP that no one's really interested in anymore.

    SammyF on
  • HavelockHavelock Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    but Neo and Trinity simply didn't stay culturally relevant the way we expected they would back in 1999 when we thought this was the most amazing movie ever.

    It's like The Star Wars That Never Was.

    Havelock on
  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Havelock wrote: »
    but Neo and Trinity simply didn't stay culturally relevant the way we expected they would back in 1999 when we thought this was the most amazing movie ever.

    It's like The Star Wars That Never Was.

    Yep. I deleted it because of economy and succinctness, but my original version of that post pointed out that during the 14 year span between 1983, when Return of the Jedi left theaters, and the 1997 release of the remastered A New Hope, kids were still dressing up as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader every year for Halloween--many of them children that weren't born in time to see the movie in theaters. Ditto Indiana Jones. I haven't seen anyone dress up as Neo for Halloween since around 2001.

    SammyF on
  • ArchonexArchonex No hard feelings, right? Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    SammyF wrote: »
    Archonex wrote: »
    There's something seriously wrong with this, given that SOE are the main reason why MxO never did well. The first thing they did when they got the rights to it was cut all the things that made the game fun. They managed it about as well as they did SWG.

    I'm all for bashing SOE, but the Matrix IP was already groaning beneath the weight of the second and third movies in the trilogy. I'm sure the IP will get a dusting-off in ten years and be remade into a decent movie we'll all see along with a companion console game that none of us will play, but Neo and Trinity simply didn't stay culturally relevant the way we expected they would back in 1999 when we thought this was the most amazing movie ever.

    It's not entirely their fault that they had a hard time selling an IP that no one's really interested in anymore.

    The actual game was alright. It wasn't really anything special in terms of gameplay (You go to the mission. You judo-chop the mans, you level up, and get better judo-chops.), but it had some neat features that no other game has really sported yet.


    One of the best ones was the Live Events Team, or LET. Back before SOE bought it they were out in full force and were the main reason to play the game. You could literally waltz down to Mara C and see Morpheus teaching some zionist players about why Machines are evil. Or find a bunch of agents canvasing the area to take out rogue programs and players associated with the Merovingian. Hell, there's even some stories floating around where main characters like Morpheus and Ghost hooked up with players to do missions.

    The fun part of the game was the events. At any one point in time there'd be something awesome going on. For example, the first event was a server-wide invasion of "fake agents", that'd zone in the way the agents did in the movies.

    You could literally be walking down an alley (And early on in the game, not many people had superjump, so you were doing alot of walking.), when four agents would appear around a corner, forcing you into an epic chase with you scaling buildings ala Infamous using pipes, running through dark back alleys, and generally just trying to avoid getting zerged by their overwhelming numbers if the fight turned bad against them.

    The end of beta event was a special brand of crazy, too. The sky turned into a giant, bloodshot eye. The machines announced that they were "shutting down the Matrix", Agents were everywhere, butchering everything, and people would randomly burst into flames, or "implode", causing them to fold in on themselves, and die.


    Of course, as soon as SOE bought the game they did away with all that. It was only about half a year to a year later when they realized that the game was utterly generic without the LET and brought it back in a limited capacity. Still, nothing of that level of quality ever happened again as far as I can tell. Players ended up going from being the driving force for events, to watching Ghost and Niobe kick ass in cutscenes as the "storyline" progressed.


    The storyline also got extremely retarded under SOE. When they ran out of the script that was written for them they started introducing things like "cheat codes" that NPC's would get. Apparently the Matrix was a giant game or something, and an ex zionist NPC figured out the konami code to the Matrix.

    Archonex on
  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Okay, but the critical difference between that and, let's say, what Sony did to Star Wars Galaxies with the NGE is that SWG had subscribers to complain about how SOE broke the game. If a tree falls in the woods, and no one's around to hear it....

    SammyF on
  • TavTav Irish Minister for DefenceRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    kharvelan wrote: »
    I am saddened for those that liked the game, but more so for the ignorant fools who find a copy at walmart some day down the road.
    I went into walmart the other day and saw tabula rasa for sale on the shelf for $44.99. . . seriously.
    I took it to the clerk and said 'you know this is an MMO and the game has been shut down right?'. He shrugged and just took the copy and set it back.
    So someone's gonna buy that at walmart, and that persons going to be screwed.
    There should be some sort of contract in place to prevent the sale of MMO game boxes once the MMO is officially shut down.

    A shop in town here has Asheron's Call 2 for full price on the shelves

    :(

    Tav on
  • ZzuluZzulu Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    they also killed morpheus in this game

    Zzulu on
    t5qfc9.jpg
  • ArchonexArchonex No hard feelings, right? Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Zzulu wrote: »
    they also killed morpheus in this game

    To be fair, the ingame reasons for Morpheus dying aren't all that wrong. He really had it coming, what with them playing him as getting more and more radical after the movies. Dude was being a massive dick by the time he took a bullet.


    I mean, he'd touch off "code-bombs" in the Matrix to try and destroy it and force people to realize what was going on. Nevermind the casualties or the fact that the Machines were starting to get edgy about the Zionists because of him.

    Archonex on
  • LilithiumLilithium __BANNED USERS regular
    edited May 2009
    Zzulu wrote: »
    they also killed morpheus in this game

    Whuh? If anything, I would have Matrix Online not called Matirx Online, and it would have been more like a structured story-orientated Second Life, with a few of it's features removed. Too many goddamn variables in the Matrix story. Can't just have it take place in the Matrix.

    Has there been a game where you slowly see the Matrix for what it is, and follow a story similar to Neo's, minus the super powers?

    That would have been cool.

    Lilithium on
    What's that ringing? Ting-ting-a-linging in my head~? Oh, you're always there, making me whole. You're always waiting up for me. You're my first kiss, ever so pure, and ever so defiling, once lost, can never be the same. Fuck me. Violate me. Deny me.
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