View Full Version : Sony Buys The Matrix Online?
Evil Avatar
06-16-2005, 02:06 PM
Computer Games Magazine is reporting (http://www.cgonline.com/content/view/980/) that Sony Online Entertainment has purchased the MMORPG, The Matrix Online, from developer Monolith, along with the rights to develop a MMORPG based on DC Comics.
It also looks like most of the development staff has been given their walking papers (http://www.corpnews.com/node/75).
This would be really cool if they add it to the All-Access Pass.
Kamalot
06-16-2005, 02:09 PM
Why would ANYONE pay for the Matrix Online? Even Sony?
Evil Avatar
06-16-2005, 02:14 PM
Why would ANYONE pay for the Matrix Online? Even Sony?
I think CGO sums it up good in their article. If you can't make one MMORPG with 500,000 subscribers... just make 40 with 50,000 subscribers.
I think EverQuest still has like 100k - 200k subscribers and I'm sure I read that EQ2 is up over the 250k mark. Start adding in Star Wars Galaxies, Planetside, The Matrix Online and whatever new products they have in the works and you can see why they would want to buy even a failed product to bolster their catalogue.
Reanimated
06-16-2005, 02:23 PM
Always cool when a big company comes in after buying something up and fires everyone.
gg
hideouslywrinkled
06-16-2005, 02:34 PM
I don't think that the Matrix IP is completely ruined. This could be a step in the right direction. (As long as Sony can overcome The Matrix Online's overwhelming suckiness.)
I've almost blocked out Revolutions now, so the concept of an MMO based on the Matrix world is still somewhat intriguing.
Mondopest
06-16-2005, 02:36 PM
I am wondering if SOE has purchased the creative rights behind the franchise or are they for lack of a better phrase "hosting" the game for Warner Bros. I am interested in how they dont see this as a conflict of interest IF SOE is now writing the story of the matrix as it unfolds.
AspectVoid
06-16-2005, 02:55 PM
I played MXO during the beta and it was fairly enjoyable until I hit a broken quest, and after a week of being unable to progress, I said screw it and stopped playing the beta. It wasn't good enough to pay $15 a month or whatever it is, though. On the other hand, as part of Sony's all access pass with EQ2, Planetside, and SW:G (also games I don't think are worth $15+ a month), it'd be a tempting deal. At that point each game would only be about $5 dollars a month, which I think it is worth.
But hey, that's me.
Kefkataran
06-16-2005, 03:06 PM
I'm going to hope and pray that that MMORPG based on DC comics ends up rocking. I'm currently addicted to DC because of the Infinite Crisis stuff, and an MMORPG in the DCU done right would easily get my dollar.
I played the beta and it was clunky and empty. I can't see any reason for buying it from anyone.
Sad to hear people lost their jobs though.
DrDocker
06-16-2005, 04:03 PM
I was the second highest bidder at 134 dollars
Heretic Machine
06-16-2005, 04:24 PM
So DC gets an MMO before Marvel? Good for them, it's nice to see the people who aren't whiney pricks get ahead of the game.
Royal Fool
06-16-2005, 04:35 PM
This is the funniest news I've heard all week. Matrix Online has been such a fucking horrible disaster from the day it was announced... and Sony think they can spin it around? Wow.
I guess the real reason for the deal is the DC comics MMO so they have something to square off with NCSoft.
A Lusty Alien
06-16-2005, 04:54 PM
Sony has an enormous capital investment in their various world servers. (Computers, Networking Infrastructure, Support Personnel, Data Backup, Building space, Power Equipment, Air Conditioning) They have just completed a massive merging of servers in an effort to consolodate the players scattered across all the servers. So now they have all this extra equipment lying dormant. I'm guessing they figure they can cheaply acquire an existing market and license, and transfer it.
It makes SOE a more valuble property, keeps the utility of their in-house equipment and adds to their revenue stream.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Anyone have any idea how many subscribers the Matrix Online has? It wasn't even listed in the top 20 pc games which is not good for such a recent release and lots of TV commercials.
http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/625/625878p1.html?ui=rssFeed
bobbler
06-16-2005, 06:09 PM
More power to 'em. As far as I've heard the Matrix Online can't really go anywhere but up.
bobbler
06-16-2005, 06:10 PM
MMOG Charts (www.mmogchart.com)
Here is population for most MMOs out. It doesn't seem to have MO though, I thought it did. Interesting nonetheless.
In all truth, if the people behind MxO (I suppose that would now fall on Sony as they ditched most everyone attached, it seems) place a few different elements within the game - new quest structure, less randomly generated crap, some profession that can be messed with - it could actually be a fun experience. As it stands, the only thing one can really do is go on a mission (which they only have, what? five types of) and do so over and over again until you level. Then you kinda do it again.
The Events the team had planned were fun and I played through some of them - namely the "Search for Neo" story-arch - and if they could try and do that on a continuous basis rather than peppering them throughout once every two weeks to a month, it would make for a much more interesting experience. The problem is, everyone in the game wants to be The One or Morpheus or something similar and an MMO doesn't tailor itself to that. There isn't a big sense of helping the greater good within MxO and I think that's it's biggest downfall. Even though the game is split into factions (Zion, Machines, Merv), it still feels individual.
I think MxO has potential, it's just being handled poorly. I think the MMO community could use a good cyber-punk type of adventure, but Monolith really dropped the ball here. It's almost as if it was released with a skeleton of an idea rather than having meat attached. If Sony can make this do a 180, I might re-subscribe to give it another whirl.
I won't hold out though :)
kokyunage
06-16-2005, 06:55 PM
Always cool when a big company comes in after buying something up and fires everyone.
Have you actually played Matrix Online? I'm not sure these developers deserved to be kept on the payroll.
Have you actually played Matrix Online? I'm not sure these developers deserved to be kept on the payroll.
Yeah, everyone who doesn't deliver on something should be fired. Immediately. No wonder America's job-rates are in such decline.
Babbster
06-16-2005, 07:09 PM
Yeah, everyone who doesn't deliver on something should be fired. Immediately. No wonder America's job-rates are in such decline.
What? Should they be kept on the payroll to sit around shooting paperclips around the office while more capable people handle the actual work?
I haven't played TMO and I surely don't know anything about the activities within the development studio. But, for me it seems pretty simple: If you don't do your job, or don't do it up to the standards of your employer, you should be fired. Doing otherwise is a really good way for an employer to run a business into the ground and THAT doesn't help anybody [except the competition] maintain an income.
kokyunage
06-16-2005, 07:24 PM
o wonder America's job-rates are in such decline.
Take a look globally. Last time I cared to pay attention we were slightly above 5 percent unemployment. That's virtually unheard of anywhere else. Germany's is at 11 percent (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=71000001&refer=news_index&sid=as0vGJBvnMGM). France's is at a similar level I believe. The only other "westernized" country that has a comparable level currently is England. They are going through an economic boom.
What? Should they be kept on the payroll to sit around shooting paperclips around the office while more capable people handle the actual work?
I haven't played TMO and I surely don't know anything about the activities within the development studio. But, for me it seems pretty simple: If you don't do your job, or don't do it up to the standards of your employer, you should be fired. Doing otherwise is a really good way for an employer to run a business into the ground and THAT doesn't help anybody [except the competition] maintain an income.
But they did do their jobs. And, as a once-subscriber to MxO, i got an email listing when and what the Events were going to be in the coming year, so I know they have this whole thing mapped out. Beyond Good and Evil didn't catch on like it should have. Does that mean the development team didn't do their jobs and should have been fired? Of course not. I realize MxO isn't nearly as good, but you get the idea. I guess I'm just not seeing how you can pinpoint where their job wasn't done. They set out to make an MMO based within the Matrix universe. They did that. The look and feel of the Matrix they actually captured very well. When I fought someone, I felt pretty pimped-out with my little suit and kung fu lightining kicks.
Firing most of the staff seems like a very knee-jerk reaction.
Take a look globally. Last time I cared to pay attention we were slightly above 5 percent unemployment. That's virtually unheard of anywhere else. Germany's is at 11 percent (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=71000001&refer=news_index&sid=as0vGJBvnMGM). France's is at a similar level I believe. The only other "westernized" country that has a comparable level currently is England. They are going through an economic boom.
Perhaps I should have been more specific and just said "Ohio." I guess I can't speak for the whole of America, but Ohio continues to lose jobs left and right. Then again, we do have the lowest rated Governor in the entire country (hurray for Bob Taft!).
This is not a thread-hijack. We now return you to your regularly scheduled board discussion.
Zanzibar
06-16-2005, 07:57 PM
What? Should they be kept on the payroll to sit around shooting paperclips around the office while more capable people handle the actual work?
I haven't played TMO and I surely don't know anything about the activities within the development studio. But, for me it seems pretty simple: If you don't do your job, or don't do it up to the standards of your employer, you should be fired. Doing otherwise is a really good way for an employer to run a business into the ground and THAT doesn't help anybody [except the competition] maintain an income.
Oh for fuck's sake, stop talking out of your ass. Have you ever worked for a game company? If not, then STFU.
Top-rate companies with top-rate employees often turn in clunker games because of design issues or mismanagement. To say that everybody who worked on MO 'deserves to be fired' is like saying that everybody in America deserves to be spit upon by the rest of the world because we produced Michael Jackson.
Look at Episodes I-III. By your example, the entire ILM staff should have been sacked because of Lucas' crappy story and lousy directing.
Babbster
06-16-2005, 09:13 PM
Oh for fuck's sake, stop talking out of your ass. Have you ever worked for a game company? If not, then STFU.
Note that I said right up front that I don't know the details of this situation, so the statement that I'm "talking out of [my] ass" is a fair bit harsh.
I was responding to the implication that people shouldn't be fired when they don't "deliver." When people don't deliver in their job - as defined by their employer - then they should be fired...maybe with some counseling beforehand, but certainly if they don't improve then they shouldn't be retained just to drag the company down. One doesn't have to work in the gaming industry to see this as an essential truth. It's also an essential truth that when properties are transferred, such as in this case, there's no reasonable expectation on the part of employees in the defunct business that they're going to keep their jobs - especially if that company already has a system and people they believe (right or wrong) can handle things.
Making games is a complex process, filled with any number of potentially disastrous pitfalls. That does NOT, however, render its employees immune from blame when a game goes wrong (wrong in this particular case meaning it doesn't meet expectations). Again, though, my qualification of knowing nothing about the internal situation as regards TMO should have made it clear that I was making a general response to someone who was generalizing to the extent that he was referring to some systemic problem in the whole country instead of one damned videogame.
In short, take a pill.
In short, take a pill.
if it is red, carefull.
Anyway, not delivering is a bit of a problem. What didn't they deliver? How do you know what they were suppose to deliver? And how do you know that it was their fault and not the suits fault?
In short, lets stop guestimating and talk about what we know.
p.s. it drive me carzy. the shor for Matrix Online is MXO, not TMO ;)
Babbster
06-16-2005, 10:15 PM
Anyway, not delivering is a bit of a problem. What didn't they deliver? How do you know what they were suppose to deliver? And how do you know that it was their fault and not the suits fault?
I'm going to say it a third time and that's it: I DO NOT KNOW IF THESE EMPLOYEES HAVE EARNED THEIR FATE OR JUST GOT FUCKED BY THAT FICKLEST OF FINGERS.
It boggles my mind that reading comprehension is so difficult for you people.
yup, putting caps lock on makes you so much more lovable and understandable. It also makes you sound so knowledgable and sweet. You should do it more often.
Need a hug maybe?
Babbster
06-16-2005, 10:26 PM
yup, putting caps lock on makes you so much more lovable and understandable. It also makes you sound so knowledgable and sweet. You should do it more often.
Need a hug maybe?
Alcohol would probably work best, despite its deleterious side effects...for some reason, I'm in a bit of a mood today.
:)
happens to all of us.
Killing some brain cells always helps improve the mood. ;)
Zanzibar.. you said it perfectly.
What the hell were you thinking babbster? alot of these people worked their asses off and probably made incredible coding, textures, scripting, networking etc. And they should be fired because the design team / management screwed up? I have worked on many projects and some turned out really bad. I still did my part well and people recognize this. Letting an entire team go is kinda evil. Still it's different in the game industry where a team sometimes stay together to work on projects. It's hard to say if they all got fired or they all left themselves because they perhaps didn't want to have 50% of them fired.
bobbler
06-17-2005, 01:48 AM
Well, from the places I read the story from... 26 employess didn't get canned -- that may well be most of the team that was still working on it (live team).
Citing an unnamed source, The Corporation is reporting that The Matrix Online has been sold to Sony Online Entertainment. Unfortunately, widespread layoffs were part of the deal, everyone but 26 of the MxO staff have been given their 60 day notice. I’ll see if I can dig up some more details on my own
The place Kotaku got it says it has been confirmed by 4 seperate sources.
Kefkataran
06-17-2005, 06:31 AM
To be completely reasonable, the likely truth is that both sides are a little correct. Of the employees fired there were probably a nice ammount that weren't "delivering" or getting the job done to the best of their ability. But there were probably also some number that were doing fine. That's just how it works, really. Connecting it to any sort of unemployment problem in the U.S. or otherwise? That seems tenuous at best. Most of those fired will probably have new jobs with other development houses soon enough.
Talanvor
06-17-2005, 03:47 PM
The companies also disclosed that Sony Online had acquired Warner's "The Matrix Online" game. All 25 staff members currently operating the subscription-based massively multiplayer online game have been offered their existing position under the new ownership.
That was from the article about Sony and WB announcing the new DC MMORPG under development, so yeah, little more confirmation. Glad to read they didn't get fired though. Never played their game but at least these people aren't out of a job.
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