When The Matrix Online was released, I really wanted to like it. I'd recently had surgery and needed something to keep me busy while I recuperated in bed for several months. The world was The Matrix. Between the news items, the radio blasts, AIM accounts, events, daily updates and more...The Matrix had entered my realm. Or, I it's. But the game was plagued with design issues, lag, instability and a general malaise by the players. When it transferred into Sony's hands, I'd finished recuperating and went back to work. I didn't leave the game because I'd lost interest; I simply no longer had the time. And well, it took effort to play.

While at Sony's Gamer Day in Los Angeles, they thoughtfully reminded us that yes, they do indeed own this property and it's still running. Funny the things you forget when you're forever looking at "new" stuff. And well, I was going to be in Seattle in four days time. Might it not be interesting to drop in on Sony Seattle and check things out? Could be interesting...Things have changed a bit under Sony's tenure. My time with Rarebit, the driving force behind MXO's daily events, was a pleasant surprise.

I'm not sure who's the more dedicated to the game, the small group of developers assigned to it or the - quite frankly - fanatical players. Over the years, they've separated into very distinct organizations. The Machines look very much like Agent Smith. The Merovingians have his flair. The Zionites range all over the map - as you'd expect. Oddly, I believe it's the first game I've experience where the majority of the players were male avatars; and when I say majority, I mean about 9:1.

There are now sub-factions as well. As Zion is the default when you enter it's always the most populated. There are now the Cypherites, a sub-culture of the Machines: they were led by Cryptos and have been about keeping people in the pods, even to the point of handing out blue pills. However, they're rather flailing at the moment because it's been found that they were a puppet organization and were overrun by The Machines. (It's good to know The Matrix hasn't changed!) EPN or E Pluribus Neo, was led by Michael "The Kid", Neo's new champion. With Neo gone, he's picked up the standard and now leads the charge. The players get a sub-tag on their name showing they're a member and there are events designed specifically for them.

During my visit I was to see a "Merovingian" event but that was to include both Machines and Merovingians. This is a game with no quest system, no scripted event system, no tools whatsoever to complete events and yet Rarebit completes an event each and every single day. I was rather in awe that he managed to talk to me, prep his support players - he uses players to help run the events - and prepare for the event. Planned to occur in the afternoon for the EU players, we spent the early afternoon talking about improvements to the game since it (and he) had left Warner.

Downtown, that lagfest of NPCs that none of us would ever visit? They recently (as in 3 months ago) discovered a problem with NPC pathing, fixed it, and it's now safe not only to enter it but they're creating missions for the area. An entire area of the world is now open for play!

Originally, level progression was designed in a radial pattern from the center. The problem was, when completing missions, you'd have to yo-yo through areas of greater levels to get to your destination. Lots o' death. Added to the occasional lag death. Not fun. Now, level progression runs from North to South. Death to death?!

Think about it for a moment, this is The Matrix. Static missions simply make no sense. It's an ever changing world of competing organizations for domination. But, how long can you keep that up? This was part of the problem when the game was with Warner. The events became bigger and bigger - each one needed to top the previous event. Huge events were created for a minute portion of the players to experience. Yet, all of this fantastic content was being created and none of it was re-useable. Years of content...just gone.

To this end, they've put in the "history" of The Matrix. You can "enter The Matrix" and play/view the first six chapters of the game (they're currently on chapter 7). Completing them will result in a reward, not to mention a sense of accomplishment and perspective on why things are the way they are now. Dropping into such a politically factionalized game with no perspective would be utterly confusing for the new player!

Finally, they've begun to add static content (not to be confused with neighborhood contact missions). Doing so in context has been difficult but with the help of writer Paul Chadwick - who was given carte blanche by the Wachowski brothers and still keeps in touch with them - Rarebit's dedication and a lot of creative effort, they've succeeded in adding two to date with a third on the way. They currently have "Pandora's Box" (four mixed mission/content arcs covering levels 30-50), and the "Area K" content for levels ~45-50. They're currently working to complete an additional arc for levels 30-50.

However, when your event schedule includes:

• 1 mission per week for each faction in the main storyline
• A planned event for each Organization
• 2 random events each week
• Continuous story write-ups in character with images the following day

Oh, I've nearly forgotten! They've added temporary PvP or Pacification Zones! These are fantastic during events! No need to be on a hostile server to participate in an event to its fullest extent. Rarebit simply places one at the most opportune moment and either lets loose or stops the action from occurring as needs be!

So, to the event at hand...some back story...follow me if you can (I had to follow him!).

Back at the beginning of the game, there was the General (I so hope I get this all correct!). The General was responsible for creating the "red-eyed agents" who attacked all humans, even those allied with Machines. The General is basically a rogue machine and has kidnapped Sati, the girl (from the films) that controls the Sun. The Merovingian has allied himself with the General as a matter of convenience and is working with him to create a "kill code" to take out the Oracle.

As an aside, the world is rather red and it's assumed to be so because Sati is unhappy. She's not keeping the sun out and all bright and shiny.

Agent Pace, the first female Machine Agent and known to be as warm as a machine can be, has been attacked by the "kill code" prematurely. The Merovingian grew impatient and decided to test it out on her but since the code was intended for the Oracle, it did not kill Pace, only damaged her.

Rarebit had to first gather Merovingian players and convince them it is in their best interest to risk detection to gather intelligence. Then, he had to call Machine players to the same room and act as Agent Pace, informing them of "her" condition while the Merv players are cloaked and watching.

It was interesting to watch as the event unfolded. Rarebit managed both factions with ease and knew immediately when players had logged onto alternate characters to become involved in the event. He'd scheduled this one specifically to try and involve EU players. At one point, one of the cloaked players opened a door, alerting the Machines to the fact that someone was in the room and starting everyone off at a run.

In the end, Agent Pace indicated she was ok, though not back to full duty. The Merovingian appeared at a nightclub to see what intelligence had been gathered and encourage people to enjoy themselves. Players were genuinely involved and excited. Some exclaimed that it was the first time ever they'd seen The Merovingian! An event every day!

One of the things I remember about playing the game was that, due to design - it is The Matrix and if you want different skills you just reprogram yourself - there was never a need to make an alternate character. It left the new player areas empty. It was a real problem. With many small events happening frequently, it's less of a problem. People want to experience them. They know they will occur. But, there's a hitch. They don't know which of the three servers it will occur on or which of the Organizations will be receiving an event that day. So, everyone has alts of varying levels and everyone plays them.

Rarebit knew all of the characters by name, which were alts and which were players he'd never seen before. He took special care to interact with those that he'd not seen at events. It was...well, great!

I have fond memories from my time in The Matrix of finally reaching the stage where I could perform the cool Aikido moves (I didn't take Kung Fu). I have not so fond memories of dying repeatedly due to lag and server displacement because it simply couldn't update where I was! What I was never able to achieve, and I what I experienced during my time at Sony Seattle, was an acute sense of community. The players love the story, the intrigue, the chance to be involved. The developers are just as excited. It was an interesting change of pace from being shown the "cool quest system" or the "random loot drops". This was all about the players and the events and intrigue they give them.

If they save Sati I'm going to ask her to add a few more hours in the day so perhaps I can play again, if only for a little while. It piqued my curiosity. Six chapter's worth of content...that could take me more than a little while.