The Matrix Online, after a fairly long, mildly successfull and partially profitable run, is going to cease existing on July 31st.
Following the storyline after the trilogy of films, The Matrix Online attempted many things and got some of them right. The game tried to focus on storyline and interactive, global events, but beyond a first few good chapters after launch, these quickly became infrequent and sporadic.
On the technical side of things, the game looked quite good for its time -- but on the other hand, it required unreasonably high-end hardware to run smoothly.
The game was made by Monolith Productions, but after a few months after release, Sony Entertainment Online bought it out. SOE seemed to have reduced the staff and funding for the game, and most of the community was dissappointed by this (if my memory serves me correctly, having played the game around that time).
The Matrix Online was one of the few (if only) big MMORPGs of the time that allowed for player characters to swap skills interchangabily, allowing for instance, you to play as a Hacker guy one day, then a Combat Operative the next.
With the excessive supply of MMORPGs on the market featuring the same tired cliched fantasy world (Y.A.M.F.R.I.E.S.!), fans of science fiction and cyberpunk might miss The Matrix Online. But then again, probably not, as the game had a very low player base near the end, and promising new MMORPGs are set to take this game's place.
R.I.P, The Matrix Online.
