Nothing Ever Goes Just Right

On Friday, July 31st, The Matrix Online will shut down for good. After a decent five year run. It’s both saddening and comforting at the same time. The game had such promise and potential, but it always was and always would be a niche game. The sequels of the trilogy divided people so strongly that the game was probably destined for this.

I remember first seeing Revolutions in the theater, opening night of course, and having Neo’s death be so sudden and unexpected. Obviously I wasn’t really paying attention. But for a year now, I’ve watched the death of MxO approach like an oncoming train. I knew it was coming as soon as Paul Chadwick left as the game’s only writer. At that point, the game’s only remaining developer, Ben Chamberlain, took over as a one-man-show. The guy seemingly put in 25 hour days with this game. He was dedicated, and he wanted to tell a story. I can’t fault him for that. But the story he wanted to tell just wasn’t the matrix. I grew increasingly tired of it, and on December 3rd, 2008, I jacked out of the matrix.

At the end of Reloaded, Neo learned that the coding of the matrix is inherently flawed. Paradoxically, the code must be inefficient in order for the system to operate efficiently. The code must allow for the incalculable variable of choice. Choice is what gives humanity its power, if only we would exercise it. And much like in the films, by exercising my choice to leave the matrix I felt a particular sense of power. I was free.

At the beginning of the game, as a player you are given the choice to take the red pill or the blue pill. But looking back now in retrospect, by taking the red pill you are essentially succumbing to the matrix. Not escaping it. I think that’s the final irony in all of this. Maybe Cypher was right all along.

I don’t mean to imply that I regret my past five years with this game. It was definitely a fun and unique experience, and I’ve met a group of people who I am proud to consider family.

Since the announcement that the game will be closing, it has become de rigeur within the community to find out where to place blame. Most people blame SOE for not nurturing the game to its potential. Others blame the game itself, citing various bugs and balance problems that made the game unplayable for some. A small few blame the community, and if I had to point a finger it would be in this direction. There are some very remarkable people in the MxO community, and these people were a pleasure to associate with. But the rest of them, the majority of them, aren’t worth their weight in salt. I’ll be glad when they can no longer inhabit a world that I’ve spent a decade growing to love.

It’s been raining around here a lot lately, and rain in the matrix always signified change.

In Revolutions, the Oracle tells Neo that “Everything that has a beginning, has an end.” For a long time this felt true, but now I’m not sure. While the game may be ending, the Matrix isn’t. It’s been here for longer than most of us realize. It is not a series of films, but a concept that is simultaneously innate and complex. A concept that has been with us since we first looked inward and found a sprouting awareness. It has taken countless forms ever since, and it will continue to do so.

And it’s here where I’m deciding to pick up. To present the concept of The Matrix through my own interpretations. I don’t know what will come of it, but I know that it is what I want to do.

Yes. I want to write Matrix fan-fiction.

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