The Matrix Online - going offline, permanently.

[SunnyD]

Another MMO bites the dust.

Most people will say "no big loss". But I suppose what this reinforces is that MMO's aren't all cash cows, and with 3 closures this year (Shadowbane, TR and MxO) companies are taking their profitability seriously these days.

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. Later that year, many of you joined me as you jacked in for the first time. It was a brand new world?a vision of online games that didn?t involve elves, spaceships, or dragons. We became part of the Matrix storyline; living our own adventures in the world painted by the movies.

It seems not so long ago I was jumping into Mara Central and going toe-to-toe with other devs at E3 2004. I had no idea this journey would take me to a whole different company, managing a major revision of the game, and my first producing gig. ?Long, strange trip? doesn?t describe the half of it.

Now we?ve seen how far the rabbit hole goes and it?s time to wake up from that dream (or go back to sleep, depending how you look at it). On July 31, 2009, we will be jacking out for the last time. It?s a bittersweet moment for everyone involved with the game; as a player or as a developer.

It has been a good run. Where many games have fizzled out before or shortly after launch, by August we will have lived on in our home at SOE for more than 4 years. To this day, I have never worked with a community as dedicated as The Matrix Online community.

I?ll be at Fan Faire this year showing The Agency and hanging out with any redpills making the trip. The past couple years have been a blast, so I hope to see some of you there again..

The team will also be whipping up an end-of-the-world event. It won?t be quite the same as having over 100 developers in the game as Agents like when we ended beta, but we have 4 years of tricks up our sleeve. It?ll be a chance to revisit all the things that make MxO the memorable experience it is. And how could we pull the plug without crushing everyone?s RSI just one more time?

I have a lot of fond memories from my years working on MxO. We?ve had a good time in the Machines? little playground and will be sad to see it end. I hope everyone enjoys the last few months of playing The Matrix Online.

See you on the other side.

Daniel ?Walrus? Myers

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KeithTalent

 

[Quiksilver]

July 31st the Matix will be no more

Well, I can't say I'm not surprised; I don't know of anyone who even played it.

 

[SunnyD]

Beat you by ONE minute.

 

[Genx87]

Haha I didnt even know it went live and that is has been for 4 years lmao. I remember seeing beta announcements or something for it but then forgot all about it.

 

[lupi]

What this, something by popcap?

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Beat you by ONE minute.

My title was better

 

[James Bond]

Wow did anyone ever even play this?

 

[Beev]

I played the beta a long time ago and wasn't impressed. Never looked at it again.

 

[coloumb]

Nobody wants to play anything but fantasy based orcs and elves MMO's...

Alas this sucks because I'm really hoping KOTOR MMO is a success.

 

[sandorski]

"Jack in", well, there's the problem right there.

 

[KeithTalent]

I actually thought the concept sounded very cool, but the execution, from what I've seen in various videos, did not seem to lie up to the concept. A shame, because if done correctly, this game could have been very cool.

KT

 

[Fox5]

How much could it cost to keep a minimal amount of servers around for the still paying customers? All development is done, you don't have to add things, just leave it running as long as people are paying.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: coloumb
Nobody wants to play anything but fantasy based orcs and elves MMO's...

Alas this sucks because I'm really hoping KOTOR MMO is a success.

Except for me. I'd like to play something WITHOUT elves in it for once.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Fox5
How much could it cost to keep a minimal amount of servers around for the still paying customers? All development is done, you don't have to add things, just leave it running as long as people are paying.

ever consider that there might be so few players now that it is no longer profitable or even go dead even?

 

[Kalmah]

Hmm.. well I've never even heard about this game nore ever seen an ad. Guessing that might have something to do with it.

It sounds interesting, I would have probably tried it too.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: Fox5
How much could it cost to keep a minimal amount of servers around for the still paying customers? All development is done, you don't have to add things, just leave it running as long as people are paying.

ever consider that there might be so few players now that it is no longer profitable or even go dead even?

Yeah, probably once it gets under a few thousand.
You don't even need a server set up on site (though if the company runs more than one type of server, that's an option), it costs a rather small amount to run a single server, and probably not much more for a couple. It seems like if development on the game stops, just keeping the servers running could easily be paid for (and scaled to) practically any number of players.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: coloumb
Nobody wants to play anything but fantasy based orcs and elves MMO's...

Alas this sucks because I'm really hoping KOTOR MMO is a success.

Well I think there is a market for non fantasy MMO's. The problem is the few that have come out have had bad implementations. So they flutter in the wind. EVE Online is the only non fantasy MMO that has had any kind of lasting success.

I'd also like to see somebody try an RTSMMORPG.

 

[Gothgar]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: coloumb
Nobody wants to play anything but fantasy based orcs and elves MMO's...

Alas this sucks because I'm really hoping KOTOR MMO is a success.

Well I think there is a market for non fantasy MMO's. The problem is the few that have come out have had bad implementations. So they flutter in the wind. EVE Online is the only non fantasy MMO that has had any kind of lasting success.

I'd also like to see somebody try an RTSMMORPG.

CoH/CoV is still going kinda strong I think.... sorta

 

[TridenT]

Originally posted by: Gothgar

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: coloumb
Nobody wants to play anything but fantasy based orcs and elves MMO's...

Alas this sucks because I'm really hoping KOTOR MMO is a success.

Well I think there is a market for non fantasy MMO's. The problem is the few that have come out have had bad implementations. So they flutter in the wind. EVE Online is the only non fantasy MMO that has had any kind of lasting success.

I'd also like to see somebody try an RTSMMORPG.

CoH/CoV is still going kinda strong I think.... sorta

Err... I doubt it... I haven't played that game in over a year and I am pretty sure it is not going "strong." Last I checked the servers would get down pretty low at night.

It was a super fun game though. I want to play it still.

 

[guyver01]

Originally posted by: James Bond
Wow did anyone ever even play this?

Apparently not..

During the transition of the game from Monolith Productions to Sony Online Entertainment in August 2005, 9 of the existing servers were merged into 3.



That right there spelled the death of this title.

When you drop your servers by 2/3 ... you really dont have a popular title.

 

[guyver01]

Originally posted by: Fox5
How much could it cost to keep a minimal amount of servers around for the still paying customers? All development is done, you don't have to add things, just leave it running as long as people are paying.

They already have a 'minimal' amount of servers... 3...
In August 2005, 9 of the existing servers were merged into 3.

1 RP , 1 PVP, 1 Normal.
Can't get any more minimilastic than that.