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MATRIX ONLINE: DUALS TO DEATH
Source: <Matrix Online>
The Matrix Online Community Team is extremely proud to offer our newsletter subscribers this exclusive sneak peak at the first of three major Player vs. Player (PvP) combat system updates! By reading this newsletter, you are among the very first to receive this information!
Characters inside of the Matrix will have access to a duel ability!
Players will be allowed to challenge each other to mortal combat nearly anywhere inside of the game. This functionality is currently scheduled to go live in the beta very soon! Read below to find out more details about how the duel functionality will operate.
Player vs Player
The Duel as Conflict Resolution
"You have stained my honor, I demand satisfaction!"
The duel is a tradition as old as humankind itself. In basic terms, a duel is a directed or accepted combat challenge that is used to redress or answer a given or implied insult to one’s faction or individual honor. Duels are most commonly fought out between members of the same faction. While the practice of dueling is often romanticized in literature, a duel is, in truth, very dangerous - and often ends in death.
The Challenge Process
"Morpheus Challenges You to a Duel to the Death! Do you Accept?"
A player can begin a duel by simply targeting an ally and typing “/duel” in the chat window. The target will then receive a special dialog window informing him or her that they have been publicly challenged to a duel. At that point they will have a brief period of time (in seconds) to accept, refuse, or simply ignore the duel challenge. If the player accepts the Challenge, then combat begins immediately.
The Combat Process of the Duel
"Prepare to Die!"
Once combat begins, and the two foes are dueling, both duelers are forced to target each other. The duel will continue until:
A dueler surrenders, by typing “/duel stop” in their chat.
A dueler is killed in the match by their challenger.
A dueler is killed by another, or outside forces.
A dueler runs away and gets out of the designated duel range.
If a dueler surrenders, or is killed by his or her opponent, a chat message is broadcast to all others in the area describing the shameful defeat!
Duel Restrictions and Requirements
"The duelist is disciplined but also unpredictable"
To begin a duel :
Both parties must be players.
Players must be allies.
Players cannot be on a mission team (even a team of 1).
Players cannot be in combat.
Players must be able to “see” each other on their clients. They must both be in each other’s relevancy set.
Players cannot be involved in an ongoing duel or be considering another challenge to a duel.
During the duel :
Players may only target each other.
Players cannot be invited onto a mission team.
Team combat
The second type of PvP action inside The Matrix Online is a variation of the single character Dueling System: the team vs. team Dueling System. The team vs. team Dueling System allows groups of up to eight players to challenge an opposing group of players to team vs. team combat.
The Team vs. Team system will closely resemble the player vs. player PvP dueling system.
Constructs
The third form of PvP combat available at launch also introduces another feature: Constructs. Constructs are “pocket worlds” which exist outside of the actual Matrix. In The Matrix Online, the Archive is a special Construct where players will be able to take on others players who work for opposing Organizations.
To enter the Archive, a player needs to purchase a network key code from a special Archivist NPC within the Matrix. Once passage into the Archive has been obtained, another NPC must be found for teleportation into the Construct.
Each of the three main Organizations (Machines, Merovingian, and Zion) has secured a section of the Archive that they use as a base of operations. These sections are no-PvP zones, heavily guarded by NPC members of those Organizations. Players will automatically teleport into their respective Organization’s safe zone. A player’s Organizational affiliation is determined by the player’s highest ranking reputation with the Organizations, or by their specific crew’s affiliation.
As was hinted at already, the Archive is much more than a PvP arena; it is a remnant from a much older version of the Matrix. It contains valuable secrets for those strong enough to seize them. In this particular situation, strength is measured by the ability to survive massive conflict, not only with rival Organizations, but with the Archivists themselves, who will fiercely guard their order’s secrets.
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COMICS PREVIEW ONLINE
Source: <Burlyman Entertainment>
The first page of every comic in the upcoming Matrix Comics Volume 2 is available for preview. The back cover of the comics shows an advertisement for the Wachowski's next two projects: Doc. Frankenstein and Shaolin Cowboy, first editions coming out in November and December.
<View the preview>
<Download the preview>
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MATRIX ACTORS IN MATRIX ONLINE
Source: <The Matrix Online>
Many actors that participated in the Matrix movies also appear as characters in the Matrix Online:
KEY TALENT JACK INTO THE MATRIX ONLINE
Massively Multiplayer Online Game Extends The Matrix Saga With Character Voice And Physical Likeness Of Film Talent
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and SEGA, today announced the confirmation of select talent, including Laurence Fishburne, Monica Bellucci and Mary Alice, for The Matrix Online, the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) based on Warner Bros. Pictures' popular Matrix property.
Capturing the authenticity of the Matrix films, Fishburne (Morpheus), Bellucci (Persephone), Alice (The Oracle), Lambert Wilson (The Merovingian), Harold Perrineau Jr. (Link), Harry Lennix (Lock), Nona Gaye (Zee), Collin Chou (Seraph) and Tanveer Atwal (Sati) have provided voice-overs and their character likenesses to the game. Don Davis, the film composer for the Matrix trilogy, is also providing the score for The Matrix Online.
"Since The Matrix Online is the legitimate continuation of the Matrix storyline, we felt that it was imperative to preserve character continuity between this game and the films as much as possible," said Jason Hall, Senior Vice President of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "On Jan 18th 2005, the Matrix storyline will resume right where it left off, and players will see, hear and ultimately interact with familiar characters while they make gameplay decisions that can become permanent legend in the storyline of the Matrix."
Launching on January 18, 2005, The Matrix Online, co-published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and SEGA, is a MMOG where tens of thousands of players will jack into the Matrix world to take an active role in continuing the saga of The Matrix movie trilogy. Developed by Monolith Productions in conjunction with the Wachowski Brothers, creators of The Matrix trilogy, the game will be a re-creation of the virtual world of the Matrix, employing cutting-edge 3-D graphics, networking and server technology. Gameplay in The Matrix Online will be based on intricate and exciting "wire-fu" combat, an extensive mission structure, social interaction and a completely customizable skill and ability system.
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INTERVIEW WB INTERACTIVE
Source: <GameSpot>
GameSpot spoke with Jason Hall, senior vice president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment:
GameSpot: The game previously had a November release date. What’s behind the change and how will the development team be using these extra months?
Jason Hall: There are a couple of components behind the change, but the main thing is some opportunities presented themselves that allow us to do a much [larger] release as opposed to just the United States. [We'll now] include the vast majority of Europe in the same launch effort. We feel that that’s a compelling enough opportunity.
GS: What was the main reason for that?
JH: Well, the Matrix Online is the continuation of the story of the Matrix, and on day one of the launch, the story continues [with] what happened to Morpheus. All of these questions start to get answered. If we do a simultaneous launch, everybody can experience the story on a going-forward basis at the same time, as opposed to having a six-month lag between what’s going on in Europe and what’s going on in the United States.
GS: Will there be a limit to the number of gamers who can populate the closed beta beginning in November?
JH: Currently we have not set a limit, but that’s not to say that there won’t be one.
GS: How solid is the January release date?
JH: I can assure you that it’s going to ship on January 18. From a technical standpoint, if we really wanted to not include other countries, we could have shipped it a little bit earlier. This is why we’re very confident in our ship date. Our decision revolves much more around maximizing the opportunity with the Matrix and reaching as many users as possible, and much less around things like a technological or production hiccup.
GS: Absent a clear storyline during the beta, what will gamers be able to do inside the gameworld?
JH: During beta there are physical game mechanics that are newer to the genre than [what] the Matrix Online brings to the table. People will be able to experience the combat system, which is different--much more tactile than any other MMO. They’ll also be able to see how our mission system works, how they’re going to be able to have varying degrees of exploration in the game. The game is designed to accommodate people who want to spend 20 hours on the game at a time, or 10 minutes, and there’s a whole design system supporting that, and it relates to how the mission system functions.
In the beta, people will be able to experience how that works, why now you can get in and out of the Matrix in 15 minutes and actually accomplish something. On top of that, they get to check out how the graphics look, how the game runs, how it performs on their systems, and they can learn how relationships form within the game. So when the story goes live [in January] they have a pretty good idea and sense of direction that they want to take. The experience is not super linear.
GS: Jason, how do you want players to judge the Matrix Online?
JH: We have worked very hard to capture the elements that made the first movie special and to heighten and bring those elements into the Matrix Online, so I’m hoping that the game players experience that and really get a sense of that place. I’m hoping that they essentially get the sense that the specific story that’s going on in the game matters, and that they affect it.
One of the big problems in MMOs that I see is that they are very general. They're not necessarily cumulatively taking everybody somewhere, and from what I’ve seen during the testing and what I know we’re planning, it’s so much more compelling to actually be part of a real ongoing fiction, that’s contemporary on top of that. I’m hoping that the gamers who play the game appreciate that, that they realize we’re not just giving them a sandbox to play in, but it’s actually a sandbox with a purpose and that actually has a direction.
That aside, from the basic stuff like the combat technology being used, from the fact that we’re probably the most dense game in terms of content--each building is fleshed out, it’s a whole real city there--I don’t want to sell the Matrix on technology or graphics, I want to sell the Matrix on what the content is.
GS: Have you decided on the game's retail price and subscription fees?
JH: Those pieces have been decided, but Sega is a part of that discussion and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me at this point to discuss that.
GS: How are you approaching the marketing of the Matrix Online? And does the new date, one that's even further out from the release of the movies, make promoting the game more difficult?
JH: Thematically, we are approaching the marketing for the Matrix Online from the standpoint of 'it is a good game unto itself,' so the distance that we get from the movies is not as relevant to us as you think.
The game is fun whether you saw the movies or not. And we built it that way. We’re not trying to take an exploitive take on the Matrix properties in building a massively multiplayer game. We’re trying to make a massively multiplayer game that stands on its own [and] continues the story of the Matrix, but it’s fun in its own right.
GS: What are the hoped-for sales numbers you're floating within the organization?
JH: I can’t tell you that, but I will tell you that we have high hopes for the product. Our hopes are completely rooted in the quality of the game product that we’re delivering, not in the fact that it’s the Matrix, so [therefore] it’s guaranteed to sell.
GS: Are the Wachowski brothers involved in the game currently?
JH: They’re not in there looking at textures, but they are supervising the story.
Read the rest <here>.
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VOLUME TWO: 176 PAGES
Source: <The Matrix.com>
More on the second volume of the Matrix Comics:
THE MATRIX COMICS: VOLUME TWO, in stores this December.
Of the most surprising news, we just couldn't help ourselves. We made this volume 16 pages larger than the first with NO additional cost. Yes, that means this volume clocks in at 176 pages.
Plus, get ready for a bunch of new material between these covers, all new to the printed page. Even Paul Chadwick's story, Déjà Vu, which saw print back in '99 as a free giveaway, gets the full color treatment this time around.
With no further fanfare, we offer today a first look at Michael Oeming, Peter Bagge, more art from Kaare Andrews, and a new look at the stories by Tim Sale, Ted McKeever and Paul Chadwick. This is by no means everything to look forward to in VOLUME TWO, with its one dozen stories (plus a surprise or two), but will hopefully give some sense of what is shortly hitting shelves.
For more: visit the <Burlyman Entertainment> website.
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THE MATRIX COMICS: VOLUME TWO COVER
Source: <The Matrix.com>
The official site posted the cover of the second volume of Matrix Comics. The 160-page book will contain another 12 stories set in the world of the Matrix. According to the official site there will be previously unreleased comics in the book that'll take up events where Revolutions ended.
Click the image for a larger version:
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© 2004 Code 808