Orson: Hello, and welcome to the Matrix Online Warcry! Thank you for coming. If you have questions, please direct them to the Question Takers (QT's), and they will be addressed in an organized fashion. Please refrain from asking direct questions to the developers as they will not be answered.
Orson: The QTs are QT:MrVandemar and {QT}RumblingSky
Orson: Now, I'll turn this over to the devs so they can introduce themselves. :)
MxO_Auberon: Hi, thanks for coming. I'm Toby and I'm the lead designer on MxO
MxO_Bornamadman: Hiya, I'm Adam Bormann, designer on combat animations, emotes, NPCs, and director of mighty mighty voice-over.
MxO_Foxbat: I'm Bruce Harlick, a game designer working on abilities, loot, and crafting.
MxO_Killrig: Hey all! I'm Brad Lansford, one of the designers on MxO. I design new features in the mission system and mission content.
Orson: Thanks, guys. And here we goooo :)
Orson: *Orphaen* What is the relation, if any, between one second in-game and one second in real life : If there are days in MxO, during what day does the Sati sky appear?
MxO_Auberon: Time passes faster in MxO
MxO_Auberon: and yes, sati's sky appears on the 7th matrix day
Orson: *Skarrde* will faction pvp be an option that can be enabled or will there only be zones to do this in?
MxO_Auberon: besides dueling, PvP will be in specific areas of the world, or separate "constructs"
MxO_Auberon: constructs are pocket worlds that are connected to but separate from the Matrix
Orson: *Rosethorn* Will Faction and Crew chat be enabled for use in AIM outside the game, like PM's are?
MxO_Auberon: faction and crew channels are broadcast style channels so these are in-game only
MxO_Auberon: AIM chat is only available with direct tells
Orson: *Svengali* can we get a first person view for simply looking around and taking screenshots? NOT combat
MxO_Auberon: no, at the moment, 1st person view is not supported. sorry.
Orson: *Aomis* Question: I have heard a rumor saying that the combat system would be like playing rock,paper,scissors.What do you think about that?
MxO_Foxbat: The system isn't rock paper scissors.
MxO_Auberon: well, i can say that the rumor is not true
MxO_Auberon: go ahead, fox
MxO_Foxbat: In close combat (or Interlock), there are four types of combat moves.
MxO_Foxbat: Each one has a different type of effect, and is extra useful in certain circumstances.
MxO_Foxbat: But there is no rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, paper beats rock type of relationships.
MxO_Foxbat: The strategy comes from identifying what will give you the best advantage in the situation.
MxO_Foxbat: There are also combo set ups, where you might want to use a Speed tactic, for example, to daze your opponent.
MxO_Foxbat: And then follow that up with a special maneuver for extra fun.
Orson: *Zallan* How will hovercrafts work in the game?
MxO_Auberon: zion's fleet has been destroyed
MxO_Auberon: but as time passes, hovercraft will be made available to players
MxO_Auberon: they will not be pilotable craft, however
MxO_Auberon: what hovercraft provide are bonuses to your crew's performance in the matrix
MxO_Auberon: so, for example, you might be able to upgrade your crew's cranial jack equipment to give you fster reflexes
Orson: *Fuse* It has been said in other interviews that the lvl cap will be 50 at launch. What type of variations or expansions, if any, are planned to modify this. Are there expansions planned at all?
MxO_Auberon: We fully intend to support the game with expansion packs, but there are no specific plans at this time
MxO_Auberon: we are committed to supporting the game with free episodic updates, and these will also add additional content to the game
Rosethorn: Reminder: If you have any questions, please send them to QT:MrVandemar or {QT}Rumblingsky.
Orson: *Zallan* Will you be adding new districts
MxO_Auberon: districts are very very big, so its unlikey that new districts will be added as a download
MxO_Auberon: so its fair to assume that new districts would only be part of an expansion pack
Orson: *orphaen* I would like to know if the Ragaini shotgun has anything to do with Mr. Ragaini, and when will the fanzine be release for pre-orders, will we get any specific sneak peeks at the content of the zine until then?
MxO_Foxbat: I always thought that Toby's last name had a certain ring to it, so I named a shotgun after him.
MxO_Foxbat: I like the round of it... "Ragaini Combat Shotgun." Look out!
MxO_Auberon: :
MxO_Foxbat: I named most of the weapons after various members of the dev team.
MxO_Auberon: As for the fanzine, i unfortunately don't have any dates at this time
MxO_Auberon: i've seen proofs tho, and its pretty cool
Orson: *rosethorn* Can you talk about Crews and Factions and how they will factor into the Matrix? We've heard something about faction wars, can you describe those?
MxO_Auberon: Crews and Factions are player created social groups
MxO_Auberon: A crew is a group of players, up to 12
MxO_Auberon: When a crew is formed, its based around loyalty to an organization
MxO_Auberon: an organization is one of the super-powers in the game (Zion, the Machines, the Merovingian)
MxO_Auberon: In PvP, you are fighting against members of the opposing orgs.
MxO_Auberon: so when you join a crew, you are essentially agreeing to fight for a specific org
MxO_Auberon: finally, multiple crews working for the same org can join together to form a faction
MxO_Auberon: i hope that makes sense
Orson: *rumblingsky* How will attributes interact with abilities and skills?
MxO_Foxbat: Attributes affect abilities by providing increases to the various character "stats".
MxO_Foxbat: Certain abilities provide boosts to these stats, which include such thing as movement speed, combat tactics, health regneration rates, etc.
MxO_Foxbat: The attributes provide persistant and subtle boosts to certain of the stats.
MxO_Foxbat: Over time, you can tailor your character to be more effective at certain types of activities by increasing the appropriate attribute(s).
Orson: *Rosethorn* Will piercings be added to the character customization? What about other types of customizing?
MxO_Auberon: yes, there are piercings included in facial details during character creation
MxO_Auberon: and you can further customize your appearance with different accessories like hats and sunglasses, etc.
Orson: *rumblingsky* How will you give players the sense that this is indeed the Matrix right from the beginning?
MxO_Auberon: We tried to re-create the experience neo had being pulled from pod
MxO_Auberon: this continues into the tutorial as well
MxO_Auberon: each moment in the game was created with as much tie-ins to the movie as possible
MxO_Auberon: music, sound effects, color schemes etc
MxO_Auberon: we were fortunate to get a lot of the movie actors to participate as well
Orson: *Aomis* Question: Is your clothing set forever or can you change clothes everytime you jack in?
MxO_Auberon: you can change your clothing on the fly, whenever you want
MxO_Auberon: and its updated in real-time
Orson: *Zallan* Will there be player driven vehicles?
MxO_Bornamadman: No, there will not be player driven vehicles at this point.
Orson: *Dystle* Will user-created content ever be a feature for MxO? (like tattoos or flags w/ a crew logo on it)
MxO_Auberon: unfortunately, its not possible to support the amount of content that players could generate
MxO_Auberon: in addition, we would have to review the content for appropriateness, etc
MxO_Auberon: and that would be a whole lot of work that we'd rather devote to gameplay
Orson: *Skarrde* What kind of sponsored events can we look forward to?
MxO_Auberon: like sponsored by budweiser ;)
MxO_Auberon: there will be in-game events as part of our ongoing service, and most of these will tie into the ongoing story
Orson: *verloren* In the matrix, your hairstyle is different then your hair actually is in the real world. Can you customize your hair, piercings, tatoos and such as you play. It could be a code, perhaps... that would allow you to customize your character a bit in game?
MxO_Auberon: initially, no you won't be able to customize your hair
MxO_Auberon: but if there is enough demand, we would certainly consider that as a post-launch feature
Orson: *orphaen* Can we assume since you have public dev chats like this, if you have beta testers, you're giving them chats to answer their questions too?
MxO_Auberon: well, the beta testers get a whole set of forums where a lot of the devs participate
MxO_Auberon: but no there aren't beta tester specific chats like this
Orson: *zallan* what type of advancement can we expect? will xp and info be geared toward the long term or can we expect to cycle through our characters fairly quickly (couple of months)?
MxO_Foxbat: Initially, you'll advance fairly quickly.
MxO_Foxbat: But then your advancement will slow a bit, allowing you to explore the content more at any given level.
MxO_Foxbat: You'll be with your character for the long term.
MxO_Foxbat: But since you can acquire and configure your character with any ability in the game, you'll really have the luxury to try many different things during the course of your character's career.
MxO_Foxbat: You get flexibility and longetivity, which I think is really great.
Orson: *doodness* hi.. can you please ask Toby if the recent delay will allow them to finish the stuff they intended to finish for the Jan release? Did they leave any features out to make the spring release?
MxO_Auberon: we're not adding any new features due to the extension
MxO_Auberon: instead, we are dedicated to polishing the existing game and insure a problem-free launch
MxO_Auberon: although its tempting to use this time to add new features, it wouldnt be responsible
Orson: *verloren* Every movie has an end, and TMO is considered as a new movie in the matrix saga. Will there be an actual ending in this?
MxO_Bornamadman: The MxO story is an on-going, serial story, more like tv show or comic book. There are definitely ends to story lines, but there will always be multiple story lines going on. So, no, there is no real "end" to our game. It will live FOREVER!!! MUHAHAHA!! ...er..pardon me.
MxO_Auberon: BAM
Orson: *Skarrde* Are there multiple servers and if so will it cost to move from server to server?
MxO_Auberon: yes, there are multiple servers or world instances, and its technically possible for characters to transfer characters between
MxO_Auberon: but we haven't determined if this will be a service that we make available to our customers
Orson: *mxodraconis* With this section from the Walrus announcement "..are investing additional resources into our community oriented initiatives." does this mean that there will be a type of MxO Fansite Kit being released? If so when can we expect it or more community oriented initiatives?
MxO_Auberon: I don't know if a fansite kit will be made available, but i can certainly ask our community team
MxO_Auberon: but in general, we are committed to supporting the community in any way we can
Orson: *doodness* apart from the yearly storyline set by the brothers at the beginning, have they ever came and talk to developers to ask how the progress is going or have the tested the game themselves yet?
MxO_Auberon: yes, as matter of fact, andy wachowski called me to tell me how happy he was with the beta
MxO_Auberon: he even reads the forums
Orson: *zallan* will there any form of permadeath at all? What will the penalties of death be and how long will they last?
MxO_Auberon: no, there will not be permadeath in the game. we feel that this is too punishing a penatly for players who are expected to invest potentially hundreds of hours in a character
MxO_Auberon: when you die, you lose any code that you were carrying in your inventory
MxO_Auberon: in addition, you are sent to the loading area and when you reenter the world..
MxO_Auberon: you have a temporary "death trauma" penalty applied to you
Orson: *verloren* Will there be different servers for different playing styles, i. e. to role playing, and to more action based playing?
MxO_Auberon: we haven't determined if we there will be dedicated role-playing servers
Orson: *rumblingsky* will we be able to color facial features independantly? Such as beards, tattoos, eye color? Are cutomizations something we choose as a package or can we totally customize our appearances (eye color, shape, placement, etc)?
MxO_Bornamadman: Curyesrently, those types of things are "facial details", which you pick as a "set". You can change betweena few colors associated with that set. For males, that includes facial hair, hair color and tattoos and piercings. For females, it's tattoos and piercings.
MxO_Bornamadman: There are also a number of "make up" sets
MxO_Bornamadman: Underneath all of that, there are pretty large variety of faces that you can set your character to.
Orson: *verloren* How interactive is the game? What I've heard, it's going to be really interactive, but is it true that you can enter every building you see? How about every floor? Every room? Can you sit, throw, or shoot a chair into pieces?
MxO_Auberon: you can enter almost every building
MxO_Auberon: like 95% of them
MxO_Auberon: and with the exception of some of the skyscrapers, every floor can be entered
MxO_Auberon: and you can sit in chairs, but you cannot destroy them
MxO_Auberon: but bullets leave bullet holes, and pigeons fly away when you chase them
MxO_Auberon: we've tried to make the world as immersive and interactive as possible
MxO_Killrig: If you've taken a mission, the floor of the building for the mission location will be available to you and your mission team.
Orson: Final question: *Amoral_Pryde* I've heard beta testers are going to be featured in the fanzine. How are they being chosen?
MxO_Auberon: we've selected beta testers that we really felt were adding to the community an testing effort in general
MxO_Auberon: there are certain people, we felt, who's efforts should be acknowledged
MxO_Auberon: in general, we consider the fanzine as sort of a "thank you"
MxO_Auberon: for all the hard work the beta testers have done for us
Orson: That'll do it on our end, folks. On behalf of Warcry.com, I'd like to thank the developers from the Matrix Online for being such great sports and answering our questions ? and thank you for your continued support. I'm going to turn it over to the guys for one last goodbye.
MxO_Auberon: Thanks everyone for coming
MxO_Foxbat: Yes thank you very much!
MxO_Auberon: Oh and don't forget to pre-oder :)
MxO_Auberon: er..order :
MxO_Foxbat: Hyper-Jump Beta rules!
MxO_Bornamadman: Thanks! Pre-Odor!
MxO_Killrig: See you in the Matrix...