Real Life First Name: Thompson
Forum Handle: Neoteny
Main Character Handle: Neoteny
Main Character Bluepill Name: Tom Slayboughn
Server: Recursion
Organization: Zion (Independant/Morphite)
Where in the real life world do you live?
Since I'm in college, I kind of live in two places at once. I live in a suburb just outside of Reading, Pennsylvania and I attend college (and thus also live) in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
How long have you played The Matrix Online?
I started playing in June of '05, so it's been about 3.75 years now, closing in on number four.
What other MMOs have you played?
The first MMO I played was Star Wars Galaxies. I actually picked up MxO at the store because I couldn't find any SWG time cards and the game was promised a Combat Update that I didn't really want. EverQuest II is the only other game I've subscribed to (via Station Pass). I have also tried City of Villains/City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, 9Dragons, and some less notable MMOs.
What type of work do you do?
I am a full-time student studying English with a concentration in Education. I'm also a Resident Assistant at the college, which pretty much means I yell at people to turn down their music and bust anyone who's drinking underage.
What got you into gaming and what sort of games do you like the most?
Well, I was interested in video games even as a little kid. One of my friends at daycare had a Game Boy when I was about 4, and I wanted one. So I got one of those huge gray bricks for my 5th birthday. I had Super Mario and Tetris, I think. Later on I got a Super Nintendo which really got me into gaming - I had Final Fantasy VI and IV (titled II and III for US Release on the SNES) and they were my prize possessions. As far as what games I like, I enjoy MMOs if I can get into them (like I have with MxO), action games if I'm any good, and strategy games. I'm currently playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI and it's eating my life away.
What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other then playing The Matrix Online?
I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend and my friends. I'm also a member of a sketch comedy group and am one of the principle actors in it. I've also written a couple sketches for the group, one of which will be played out under my direction at the end of the month. I'm also very interested in Japanese, I'm taking my second course in the language now, and will be traveling to Nihon in May for a month.
What is your highest character level in The Matrix Online?
I have two level 50 characters and many more not level 50 characters.
How or why did you choose your main character's name?
Aha! Here's where I get to debunk all of the rumors. At the time that I was registering a name, I was playing Metal Gear AC!D on my PSP. I had tried registering my normal names of "Eclipse" and "Spectre," and was unwilling to accept a misspelling as I had with my names in SWG. There's a point in Metal Gear AC!D where they reference the winner of the Pied Piper of Hamlin trials as the "Neoteny" which means "mind bender" or "puppet master" in the game. I liked the sound of it, and chose it as my name. At the time, I had completely forgotten that the main character of the Matrix trilogy was named "Neo." I also later found out that "Neoteny" is a biological term referring to the anomalous retention of juvenile characteristics in adult organisms.
What Branch (Coder, Hacker, Operative) and ability tree is your main character?
Neoteny was a kung fu grandmaster at the time of his death. He was a duelist for about 6 months prior, and has had previous stints as a hacker and knife thrower. About the only combat tree I don't use is Coder.
Why did you choose the Branch and ability tree that you did?
Originally, when I was unpacking the game and observing the combat trees before I ever even logged in, I realized that I wanted to go the martial arts route. I saw that there were three branches and really wished for a Tae Kwon Do branch, since that's my favorite martial art. However, I realized that Kung Fu and Karate were probably going to be the most popular and so I resolved to use Aikido. I didn't like the way it worked and managed to build myself a really strong kung fu loadout, so I've stuck with that ever since.
Is your main character in a crew, if so, what rank is the character?
Neoteny is the captain of the Saltpillar.
Is your main character in a faction, if so, which one and what is their faction rank?
Neoteny is the leader of Nightmare Corps faction, and was previously a rank 2 captain in the Trust.
What was your favorite chapter?
I really enjoyed the chapter where Cryptos started showing up around the city in his boxes and Symmetric and the Kings of Never cracked the BUCKLED URGE code, but I'd have to say my favorite was probably chapter 8, where all hell broke loose. So many people were questioning their affiliations, and it was that impact which really affected the decisions my character has made. I really wish that the attitude of the story would return to that time.
What is your favorite neighborhood?
I've always had a thing for Baldwin Heights. I think it's just that the neighborhood reflects a lot of what we'd seen in the Movies. That big city with loads of skyscrapers and official looking structures thing. I always go there for a dose of Matriculation.
Who is your favorite NPC?
My favorite NPC is probably Veil. She really represents what I view the Cypherites as. Cold blooded with an acid tongue. Runner up would be Morpheus (both real and fake) because I think the contrast created between the two entities of man and simulacrum really created an interesting situation, and I based a lot of my character around the climate surrounding Morpheus.
What is the most $info you have ever spent at one time and what did you purchase?
Well, if you can count it, RedBindi bought me the Zion Archive key and I paid about 65 million $info back into The Trust faction bank. The most money I've actually given to a player or market was when I paid Cap0ne 50 million $info for his Machine Archive key.
Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so, what is it and why do you keep it?
I have a few of these - the red pill I got from Zeissman for the signature competition, the Scanline Receiver I was given as a hint to the Hedrakelik/Conneron situation, a Blue Frag 7, and even two tie clips.
What do you like best about The Matrix Online?
There were things I liked the best about The Matrix Online - live events and hovercraft battles. Both of the people responsible for those things have since left us, which is disheartening, but aside from that it's got to be player role-play and the (majority) of the community we have here. Sure, we're a little on the small side, but it creates an environment where everyone knows everyone, and so if somebody screws up, they're accountable. And if someone succeeds, they get the praise they deserve. It also means that you really know what's going on with the people around you, and I kind of like that.
How would you describe your best experience playing The Matrix Online?
I spent a lot of time on a combined LESIG/Rarebit event looking to track down a Cypherite spy in Zion. The plot was very complex and I got incredibly involved. It, uh, did take a lot of hinting for me to realize that the code we eventually broke was a name, heh. There was a lot that went with that, though - the primary informant was killed by Kerevola, and when the spy was rooted out, Festaneve, the Cypherite courier, was left without a job and I was able to convince him to get himself "reinserted" (whatever that means now that it's been debunked by the storyline). It got me feeling very involved with everything, and is possibly the reason I've stuck around as long as I have. I miss the old Recursion Cypherite LESIG team a lot. Second to that is probably the "Dead Winter Dead" event which was just recently wrapped up when QuiDormit used Zion's killcode to disable Neoteny's EJP and MetaLogic fired the shot that killed him. It was a lot of fun to have people come out to kill my character after he got involved in placing code bombs around the system and it was a lot of fun using as much of Datamine as possible. I don't think everyone realizes just how large that construct is and how much utility there is to it.
Do you run or work for an MxO Fan Site or Radio Station?
I've started running hovercraft battles since Vogt stepped down. I'm currently working on mirroring Vogt's hovercraft battle site at http://hovercraftbattles.110mb.com/index.htm. Pretty much, this is just a site that was put up so that there would be somewhere that everyone could view the updated ranks and experience, since the only other option I had was to upload the htm page to MediaFire after every battle.
Discuss this article here.
