Comics Writer Takes The Matrix Online
Posted on April 26, 2005
Fans of The Matrix film trilogy will be happy to hear that the world of the Matrix lives on, on the Web as a multiplayer online game called The Matrix Online. The Chicago Tribune has an interesting feature about the game and the man who who was entrusted by the Wachowski brothers to take the Matrix online: comics author Paul Chadwick. Chadwick talks about the writing process and what it was like working for the Wachowski brothers.
"If we don't inspire players to role-play, we haven't done our job. But going along, staying in character is something of a trust the players keep. I understand British theater people call unintentional giggling onstage 'corpsing,' as a skit being performed quickly 'dies' from such misbehavior. Similarly, if players don't buy into being an agent of the Merovingian, say, and say or do things that break the illusion, our collective enterprise falters. Ultimately, though, it's incumbent on us to throw enough engaging conflicts, characters and surprises at players that they are content to dwell within the fiction.To get in The Matrix, it will cost you $15 a month for unlimited play and $50 for the software. Time magazine thought it was one of the five games that is so good it's worth having sore thumbs. So, there you go."[T]his is kind of funny. I've found myself in an odd position, politically. The Monolith team [which builds the game from Chadwick's directions] shows me far too much deference, being the 'oracle of the Wachowski brothers' as I am. The brothers, of course, are occupied making new movies, and not actively managing the game. Basically, when I finish a new draft of the year's outline, I run it by them, and they offer 'notes' -- corrections and approvals. But nobody's ever given me a deadline schedule, or even pressured me too much to produce more. So far, my healthy guilt complex has caused me to produce enough content to stay ahead. But I could benefit from a rigorously structured editorial process."