The Matrix Online Q&A
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Q: Tell us about the pacing of the story's development. How often is the story in the world intended to progress...through monthly updates, for instance? How often can we expect to see major shifts in the game's story?
A: Cinematics every couple of weeks with some delays, I'm sure, as glitches arise. Missions will change; some old ones will become irrelevant as the story moves on. Of course, there'll be entry-level missions always available to build skills and assets and to orient new players.
A city newspaper will be in vending boxes on an irregular basis (a couple of times a week, usually)--click on them for a pop-up window of the front page. The twist is that this newspaper, The Sentinel, is written by unawakened "bluepills," who don't know the score. So the articles involving "redpills" (awakened humans) clashing with "exiles" (like the Merovingian) will be oddly rationalized, as if written by slightly confused, drugged newspapermen trying to fit unreal things into their assumptions about the world. As redpills, players will be able to read between the lines.
In addition, we've decided to put foreshadowing in The Sentinel, and run stories that parallel thematically the global story of the game. When each new edition comes out (it's just two pages) players will want to parse it line by line with their friends.
The story will advance in small ways all over the place. First, clues will be encountered on missions, then be passed as rumors, then be made explicit in the cinematics. Or they may be in evidence in the environment. We're even embedding word puzzles in the environment that bear on the mystery du jour. Pay attention to graffiti, advertising signs, pamphlets lying on the street, and book spines in bookstores.
Finally, there's a straight text synopsis. You'll read it and say, "So that's what that meant! I knew it meant something!"
