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RE: Possible Story Ideas - cloudwolf - 02-25-2010

I had speculated back in the day that Morpheus had made it to/been picked up by The Oligarchs. Could explain where they first learnt about Neo instead of just Carlyne watching it on some screens for the lolz.

Maybe when people assault them in the real they stumble across Morpheus in some kind of cell? Could have him living/dying based on player actions somehow.


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Metalogic - 02-25-2010

I don't really like the idea of the Cyph being split, mainly because I dunno if the org is big enough to do a split. However, I could see Veil appointing a second in command to replace Cryptos. I also see The Kid doing the same to replace Shimada.


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Noxton - 02-25-2010

Honestly, the more I think about it, the less I think we should even focus on Cyph/EPN at first...

I could list off a mess of reasons why not, but I think it would be too much for the initial team to handle, having never done anything on that scale before. Rare was hired full time to work on this game. Most of us have jobs or school or other commitments that take up our time.

If there's one thing we should learn from Monolith it's that taking on too much or having aspirations too big will end in failure.

I'm not saying ironclad that we shouldn't deal with EPN / Cyph, but it is something to seriously consider.


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Metalogic - 02-25-2010

Well one of my ideas is to have a five member writing team, one for each org.


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Noxton - 02-25-2010

(02-25-2010, 01:34 PM)Metalogic Wrote: Well one of my ideas is to have a five member writing team, one for each org.

That would be really hard to execute. All five people would have to be able to get together multiple times a week for multiple periods of time. Also, five people pulling in five directions... Five different opinions and writing styles...

Sounds really tricky. Afterall, they all have to be 100% on the same page in regard to the story and where it's going.

I liked Ves's idea of a three member writing team where the team consists of either one lead and two writers or two leads and one writer. The leads would have equal say in where the storyline is going, but less writers leads to more consistency in the tone of the writing.

It's not like any of us are professional writers (to my knowledge).


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Neoteny - 02-25-2010

Is Morpheus being alive that much more far-fetched than Lock living or Trinity being alive as some pseudo-program? In my opinion it's not so. My other thought with that was to have the Morpheus sim be input directly into Morpheus's body (since he was killed while jacked into the simulation) by Sati, and that moment sparking a "moment of wholeness" where the sim/real Morpheus would become like the Real Morpheus prior to his demise - full memory and all, but with some eccentric ticks and such. Might be more interesting that way.

But I always liked the mystery surrounding Morpheus's alleged death and the thought that he could be alive yet. If I remember correctly there was some item which stated that the assassin's bullets were meant to sever his connection to the Matrix or something like that, so if not in a construct (which I think is kind of the most fun way to do it - arrange it like he's been the Merv's private bitch, being tortured and such in a construct for years, sustained by one of the Merv's tools in the Real ['cause why let your plaything die?]). Perhaps the Merv's been trying to get crucial information from him all these years, and that's why he's been keeping him alive, though he's never cracked. A similar reason would work for the Machines, though I think the Merovingian angle is much more fun and potentially believable.

Ultimately the point of resurrecting him is to spark life into a Zion splinter cell and get a Zion faction that's really active in the war (one which is absolutely permanent to them) and has a strong, charismatic leader with intricate knowledge of the plan of attack. If Morpheus doesn't work, anyone could sort of do it, but the rallying cry would be answered by far fewer people.

There's a similar purpose for the death of Cryptos. With him at the helm, the Cypherites are simply the puppets of the Machines, whereas under Veil, they take their own direction, do things without any rules to worry about, and report only to themselves. Cryptos really should have died at the moment the program was exposed. It was 100% in Veil's nature to murder him right there, damn the Machines, and make the Cypherites their own men. I'm not particularly concerned about numbers at the moment since, well, we're dealing with a game without population at the moment. If necessary, though, the pro-Cryptos Cypherites would be led to the Machinist side, obviously, since that was the direction Cryptos faced more towards. This could be done by Veil simply saying "If you're with him, go hug a microwave oven, dearies. We're here for the sleepy weepies - we're their nannies, we don't need our own."

Unfortunately the plot arc we left with had kind of combined EPN and Zion, which would mean that something would either need to happen to solidify the two, or something would need to happen to clarify the difference between the two. I know some EPN players are hardcore about being separate, but without anything further, it would make the most sense for the two to combine, since the mission statement essentially became the same with the war.

The Cypherites I see as just the opposite - the plot developed them in a way far removed from the Machine organization. They were the underhanded element of the Truce. They're the cold killers. They don't deal in logic - they deal in shock elements, surprise tactics, and such. There's a lot more emotion involved with the Cypherites than the Machines, and their motivation is completely different than that of the Machines. So there is a need to focus on them, and, in my opinion, to right the wrong of playing them too close to the Machines.

Ideally I think the replacement for Shimada would wind up being Sarah Edmontons' friend (I forget her name) or Sarah Edmontons herself eventually.
As for Cryptos, there's not a terrible lot out there, and I kind of see Veil as more of a "my way or the highway" lassie, which means we could play her whole crew and develop personalities there (ala Novalis - fitting almost) which I think would be fun. Barring that, there was that one Cypherite character Rarebit had been playing a bit. I forget her name, though.
(02-25-2010, 02:26 PM)Noxton Wrote:
(02-25-2010, 01:34 PM)Metalogic Wrote: Well one of my ideas is to have a five member writing team, one for each org.
It's not like any of us are professional writers (to my knowledge).

I'm an English major! That's got to count for something, right?

Anyway. I don't know if three's a good number. Sounds kind of low to me. Five sounds decent to me, though I don't think anyone should be designated control over any specific area, since creating overlap would then be difficult. Not that it's a bad idea to say "Ok, brainstorm ideas for Zion" to one person and "Brainstorm ideas for Machinists" to another, but it will take meetings, no matter what, to solidify things. 1-2 hour once or twice a week via Vent or Skype would probably be sufficient to hash things out, though.

And I say Vent or Skype because if it's text based, people will rage at each other and too much quitting and whining will happen. With voice chat people can reason and argue and such and get enough emotional tone out to understand that even if someone says they don't think the idea fits they don't think it was shit on a cracker.


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Metalogic - 02-25-2010

I like Neoteny's take on the whole situation! Honestly I don't care who leads the writing staff, as long as I am on it and I have some input on the Cypherites. Big Grin


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Noxton - 02-25-2010

(02-25-2010, 02:38 PM)Neoteny Wrote: This could be done by Veil simply saying "If you're with him, go hug a microwave oven, dearies. We're here for the sleepy weepies - we're their nannies, we don't need our own."

Everything you had to say was awesome, but I can't get over this. Total win.


RE: Possible Story Ideas - Metalogic - 02-25-2010

(02-25-2010, 03:50 PM)Noxton Wrote:
(02-25-2010, 02:38 PM)Neoteny Wrote: This could be done by Veil simply saying "If you're with him, go hug a microwave oven, dearies. We're here for the sleepy weepies - we're their nannies, we don't need our own."

Everything you had to say was awesome, but I can't get over this. Total win.

I agree, that is total win and I like how she tells Crytpos loyalist to go back to the machines. Because the Cypherites are no longer licking the machine's boot. Want to work with the toaster, then be their operatives!


RE: Possible Story Ideas - cloudwolf - 02-26-2010

Remember Neoteny, The Merv didn't have any presence in the real before his acquisition of The General. That's why it was such a big deal back in the day.