'The Matrix' ever-loaded: A game for the committed

The launch of "Matrix Online" is the biggest splash yet in the business of massively multiplayer games.
The New York Times
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[Drale]

I want what he's smoking..

"The launch of Matrix Online is the biggest splash yet in the business of massively multiplayer games." This has to be the funniest line I've ever seen in a while. I've been a follower of MMORPG for almost 4 years now (spending about 3 years in DAOC, beta tested numerous others and currently playing WoW) and Matrix is far from being a "good" MMO game.

It's interesting how the author of this article brushed off the success of World of Warcraft. Does he even know what 1.5 million subscriber means? Anyone who is following MMO industry knows that WoW has definitely broken the barrier as far as US subscription numbers go (Lineage has 1+ millions in Korea). Does the author know how many subscriber Matrix Online has? Does the author have a stock/financial interest in Warner Bros? Does the author even try to play Matrix Online?

[Karios Kasra]

Not entirely correct.

Lineage keys are given out freely. You grab a key, plug it in, and play the account at a public cafe for whatever hours you can afford. They do NOT have 1+ million steady subscribers like WoW does.

[Karios Kasra]

As far as I can tell...

MxO is hardly making a dent in the MMORPG market. The gameplay is poor and there is no incentive to choose it over other games. I have played MxO beta for a while, and the only thing great about the game is the first five hours of flash and glamor. After that you've seen it all, and it gets extremely tedious.

1.5 million for WoW is unprecedented and its impact is on par with the first Everquest. However, this isn't an article about WoW, so brushing it off as an outlier is fine with me.