The Matrix Online Interview
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Q: How did you approach to challenge of writing for a MMORPG? It must have been a daunting prospect.
A: It was a matter of (successive approximation,) in B. F. Skinner's terms. After that meeting with the Wachowski Brothers I wrote a memo of what we talked about. They said continue. I wrote an outline ten times as long, adding more to that story. They said continue, but don't kill that character. I wrote another version four times as long. More detail came each time, and we're still adding more every week, even if it's just characterization or foreshadowing.
In the process I learned what the game could and couldn't do, in terms of delivering story, and rewrote to exploit its strengths and drop ideas that would cost thousands of dollars worth of effort and entertain only four or five players in a one-time event. It's been an education.
