The Matrix Online Interview

Stratics has conducted an interview with Monolith's Paul Chadwick about the upcoming movie-based MMORPG, The Matrix Online. A snip:
Q: Obviously, you have a major part in the creation and on-going story of The Matrix Online. You are taking the Wachowski Brothers' story, which they are notoriously very parental about, and continuing it on. Tell us a little about the relationship you have with the Wachowskis and how it lead to them entrusting you with this project and their story.

A: It started with a long discussion. They had a theme for the first year (peace, and the things people do to wreck it,) some specific ideas for tone, gameplay and characters. One particularly surreal new character stands out someone concerned with disposal. But they were also ready to release a little control. It's a Massively Multiplayer game, after all. Chaos, or at least emergent behavior of a system, is the order of the day.

I was struck with their notion that the Exiles, like the Oracle and the Merovingian, were like Greek Gods. They are prone to human passions, powerful, but not strictly regimented into a Christian duality of good and evil. Still, big trouble for humans caught in their machinations.