USH'S MATRIX GAME FOURTH ASSIGNMENT (PHILOSOPHY PATH)- 'The Journey'
No briefing. The players are in the hands of the Renegade Programme Melitus. Melitus has encrypted their coding so that they crash a hardline when they access it meaning the players cannot return to the real world. Those who made it to Melitus to confront him have learned that Melitus has the same powers as the Oracle, and has used his foresight to set-up this situation in advance.
Unable to harm Melitus in any way, and isolated form any help inside Melitus' domain, the players have no option other than to accept the choice Melitus gave them. To drink the wine he offers, and to continue down the road that the renegade Captain Jericho- the ultimate objective of the player's mission- took, to understand his choice to side with Melitus, in which case Melitus offers to undo the encryption Or to not drink, and face the consequences.
Those who did not drink have been subdued by the Xiao Emo, a very nasty piece of work who apparently takes orders from Melitus. Those who drank were soon taken out as well, by something in the wine.
It is those who chosse to drink the wine that we shall now concentrate on.
Ok folks, here goes. I have described the boundaries of this Philosophy path many times before, and shall not do so again- you knew what you were signing up for. But just some last second reminders:
- Think, but do not try and be too clever. A prevaricating smart-arse scores nothing.
- You will be timed, because this Path has to move on at roughly the same pace as the other. But do NOT be hasty. Once you put something down on the thread, you cannot change it.
- Be consistent. I am not interested in your intellectual level of sophistication- remember, Philosophy in the Matrix has to be Neo-proof. So I am far more interested in coherence and conistency than any form of startling insight into the nature of things.
- If you are confused or have queries, I am afraid that I, Ush, cannot help you. That is against the nature of the section. As the Oracle does not tell you exactly what is going on or what to do- because it is important that YOU do these things, not her- likewise I cannot guide you through. However, there is a capacity to discuss things and get help WITHIN the game system, so use that.
- Have an open mind. This is very important. A closed mind will learn little. Also, respect each other's difference in opinion. Discuss it, disagree with it, but don't condemn it. Not wanting to make anyone nervous here... but to condemn it is not your job... remember, this is a personal exercise for each of you. You are not trying to outsmart anything. Some form of forced team approach to the problem will not help you. Let everyone submit what they want to submit. I guarantee you, so long as you make an effort to engage with things, nothing you submit will ve discarded as stupid. The only problems will be those submissions that are not relevant. Remember, not engaging means you lose.
- And to develop on that... you may not seek help from outside the thread., I cannot halt personal messaging; it is no great disaster if you talk things over with others, I guess. But- and this is for anyone else reading this- whilst 'visiting' players from Combat can make encouraging or dispariging comments, they absolutely can NOT give you advice. This is your Path, not theirs, nor is it relevant for anyone not playing the game.
All that understood... is everyone ready to begin?
Note- whilst some have done it in the beta thread, could all players please update their stat and skill options in the character creation thread. I believe everyone here has still to do that.