id be happy to join up with you firebird, or anyone else on here for that matter. looks like the largest faction so far is the Illuminati. kinda weird that there are already groups and ship names and yet the game isnt even out yet... i also read today in my Computer Gaming magazine that UbiSoft is ducking out of the whole project... they claim that production is still underway and it will still be released in late 2004, but it looks like they are already having a lot of trouble...
ok so the way i understand the game (with everything i have read thus far) the whole game takes place inside the matrix just after Revolutions ends. there is one large main city with many familiar sites from the movies (probably places such as Metacortex, Merv's castle, the oracles appartment... you get the idea). you (as a player) are a human from Zion who is "jacked in" from a ship at broadcast depth.
during missions you may choose to fight for Zionists or Machinests. missions will be played in "pockets" of the matrix, seperate from the main city. your reward for doing missions is not currency but rather "information" which can be used to improve your character. they have also said that if you work at it hard enough, you will be able to meet some of the main characters from the movies, which will allow for bragging rights amongst gamers (im gonna go out on a limb here and say it wont be Neo or Trinity LOL). there are three main character branches that i am currently aware of 1. soldier 2. spy 3. hacker. obviously hacking is a large part of the game. Nodes must be hacked during missions in order to obtain information. also certain items in the game may have "code" on them which can improve your character (ie - clothing, weapons, accessories). opponents are harmed in various ways, the obvious is weapons, but also certain abilities may allow you to change a persons Residual Self Image which would be quite troublesome if you think about it
anyway the overall object is to free people or keep them from being freed. the Wachowski Bros. have made an entirely new storyline just for this game. the progress of the society of players will determine the direction and progress in which the plot develops. this may very well end up being the finale everyone wanted so badly... seems to me like an excuse to lead up to making more movies