Early this morning we discovered that an attacker had placed malicious code on our sites that may pose a security threat for some users. The code exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer and attempted to install the Downloader.Delf.11.AZ trojan.

We have removed the offending code and as of this moment our sites are completely safe. It should be noted that this warning applies only to our web content and not the forums, which were never compromised. Additionally, users of non-IE browsers should not be affected.

If you have visited our sites within the past 48 hours using Internet Explorer we encourage you to run a virus scan using your preferred anti-virus software or a free web based scanner.

Please feel free to contact tech@stratics.com if you have any further questions, comments or concerns.

Tune in to the Ninth Official SOE Podcast. We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can fire off an email to us at feedback@soe.sony.com or head over to the Show Notes and give us your comments. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.

High-Bandwidth |

Low-Bandwidth |

First Place: [CoZ]LostProphet
The artist applied the last touch of paint with a flourish and declared: "Dogs playing poker has nothing on this!"

Second Place: ZippyTheSquirrel
If you think this is weird, you should have seen the reception!

Third Place: Fractor
After marrying the couple, it was time to send them on their honeymoon. Sadly, the 01 construct was the only one available.

Editor's Choice award: Jeffers
The way the Archivist read from the atlas had everyone in tears.

---

Thanks to everyone who submitted entries for Traxada's Caption of the Week Contest last week. You can participate in this week's contest on the Residual Self-Image Forum.

Image Retrieval Complete Subject: Events Name: Winter Holiday Notes: The 2006 Winter Holiday Helper, flanked by her icy companion, models several of the items players will be able to collect during the 2006 Winter Holiday event: White Formal Gloves, and a Black Formal Hat. (The gloves are just the bits on her hands; they don't include her white sleevelets.)

View Larger Image

Discuss this article on Broadcast Depth.

Tech and Account Phone support will be unavailable on Thursday November 23rd and Friday November 24th in observance of the US holiday.

Chat support will be available during its normal time Monday through Friday 10am through 7pm PST at station.sony.com/chat.

Email support is always available at station.sony.com/email.

Our Self-help knowledgebase is also available at station.sony.com/kb with answers to your questions.

Phone support will return on Monday November 27th at its normal hours Monday through Friday 10am through 7pm PST.

Beginning today, Monday, November 20, you can download EverQuest II, EverQuest, PlanetSide, and The Matrix Online at no cost with your T-Mobile HotSpot subscription! There are two packages available to subscribers.

Gaming Pack Offer
T-mobile offers new subscribers to their HotSpot service the ability to download EQ, EQII, PS, and MxO at no cost and play for up to 30 days for free.

Gamer on the Go Offer
T-mobile will allow subscribers of any SOE subscription based PC game to use their HotSpot service to play SOE games for $4.99/month (does not include SOE subscription price)

You can visit the T-Mobile HotSpot website for more information on the promotion and the SOE Station website for information on games and game keys.

Veil - What if they're watching us, right now? - Forums
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300002225

Tyndall - Unidentified broadcast - Forums
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300001833

The Effectuator - [6.1.4] Someone get him a lampshade! - All worlds
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005429

Veil - [6.1.4] He's been giving away Anome's dirty little secrets - Syntax
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005420

The Kid - [6.1.4] Ms. Utley, we'd better get you out of here - Syntax
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005352

Flood - [6.1.4] A notorious rowdy - Vector
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005228

Cryptos - [6.1.3] Take two, and call us in the morning - Vector
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005190

Tune in to the Seventh Official SOE Podcast. We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can fire off an email to us at feedback@soe.sony.com or head over to the Show Notes and give us your comments.

You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.

High-Bandwidth | Low-Bandwidth |

Hello,

We will be upgrading one of our primary web servers this weekend and this will require some limited downtime. This maintenance is scheduled to begin early on Saturday, November 4th, 2006. We will do our best to keep the downtime to a minimum.

This upgrade is intended to improve stability, performance and security for our primary web server.

Veil - What if they're watching us, right now? - Forums
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300002225

Tyndall - Unidentified broadcast - Forums
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300001833

Flood - [6.1.3] The guards have been far too lenient with them - Recursion
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005097

Niobe - [6.1.3] We're going to have to get access to their facility - Vector
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005143

Agent Gray - [6.1.3] We require a code sample directly from the target - Vector
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300005045

Malphas - [6.1.3] He is...excitable - Vector
http://forums.station.sony.com/mxo/posts/list.m?topic_id=36300004944

Halloween Masquerade 2006

Of course the big news this week is all about the Halloween Masquerade. The response has been great so far, and we're all happy that you're enjoying the event. There have been a few concerns, which I'll address here.

Client-Crash Issue

We're still working on a fix for the client-crash issue. Everything points to something wonky with the zombies, but we haven't nailed it yet. We're hoping to have a fix ready for testing this weekend, which would allow us to get it out towards the middle of next week.

Zombie Bite

Yes, the zombie bite works all the time. Then again, Antibiotics work all the time, as well. Want to avoid zombification? Use an Antibiotic--they beat the virus while the effect is running, as well as when you initially use one. Holy Water works 100% of the time, too.

Doing anything else would've required some balancing and, heck, wouldn't be nearly as fun as ensuring we...er...the zombies infect everyone they come across.

And if it's just the animation or RSI on your character that you don't like, Halloween masks override the zombie visuals and animations. And there's nothing like watching the Taskmaster bite someone on the neck. :)

Wave Timing

Yeah, the waves do come quickly. It's mostly to compensate for the fact that the poor zombies just have an awful time with guns. If you'll notice, when you have a wave on you, you're only 1-on-1 with no external damage coming in. It wouldn't feel nearly as dangerous if you had a rest in between.

We know that has lent itself to ninja-looting and it would be nice if we could do something about that. There have been a lot of suggestions on the forums that help avoid that; such as hanging out on rooftops or simply moving to a less-populated area before a zombie spawn happens. I spent almost an hour yesterday wiping out zombies before I got caught up in mass combat with another group of players.

Also mentioned is that you can roll out of Interlock with a zombie and loot the bodies while your immunity timer is going. It gives you enough time to at least loot a body or two before getting drawn in.

Shield Smashing

That the zombies decimate player combat-shields falls in the same category as the wave timing: Without ranged attacks, the zombies aren't that dangerous without some edge. You may have also noticed that they can (and do) initiate Interlock with their bite attack.

This also falls under "they're temporary", as we likely wouldn't do something like this with enemies players had to face as a regular part of the game. (Okay, well, I don't think we would; but Rarebit and Dracomet can be pretty evil.) Honestly, I just stopped putting my shield up to save the IS for bashing zombie skulls.

SOE Jack-O-Lanterns

This year, the entire Community Relations Team bought pumpkins and carved Jack-o-Lanterns for their game communities. This led to my discovery that "The Matrix Online" doesn't exactly fit well on a pumpkin of any reasonable size (after a couple hours of mucking about, that is). However, undaunted by this roadblock, I was able to come up with this:

 

Sadly, the green glowstick wasn't bright enough for a decent night-time shot. :(

You can see all the JoLs on the Station Forums.

Bug Fix

In case you missed it, we did get a bug fix into the Halloween Update, as well. We finally took care of the bug that allowed players to have two title-Ability effects running at the same time. We wanted to take some time testing the fix and this was the best opportunity to get it into the game. Enjoy!

Upcoming Change to CS Interface

If you play other SOE games, you probably already know that we're changing the CS in-game interface. And, if you've joined The Matrix Online before we came to SOE, the new system will be familiar to you.

In the next couple weeks, we'll be changing the CS ticketing system to RightNow Technologies software. This means that using the /ccr or /report command will open an in-game web-browser window for reporting your issue.

At this time, we're looking at potentially releasing this change on November 9, as we didn't want to do it during the Halloween event. This is just the "heads-up" and I'll have more information on the new interface in the coming week.

See you on the other side next week.

Discuss this article on Broadcast Depth.

Data Node One posted information about some "sexy," if you're into 'em, looking zombies, who've made their entry courtesy of Halloween Masquarade:

Subject: Exiles
Name: Halloween 2006
Notes: The ugliest customers in the Matrix: Zombies. They'll be visiting all the good little redpills during the 2006 Halloween Masquerade in the following locations:

• Slums: Mannsdale Housing Projects and Camon Heights
• Barrens: Manssen Park and Gracy Heights
• International: Furihata and Ikebukuro
• Downtown: Creston Heights and Edgewater

 

Welcome to the annual Halloween Masquerade in The Matrix Online! We know you've been dying for more details, and this article will tell you everything you need to know about the event.

Well, almost everything. ;)

Halloween Masquerade 2006: October 26 through November 6

This year's masquerade begins when we update the servers the morning of Thursday, October 26 and will run until we update the servers again the morning of Tuesday, November 7. We're calling November 6 the last day for the event, as it will be early on the morning of November 7 when we restart to remove the effects.

All new and old masks and special event objects and spawns will run during this period.

Jack-O-Lanterns

The Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns are back! You'll find these objects placed in various spots around the city. Players can activate the JoLs to spawn enemy NPCs based on the more "Halloweeny" Exiles we have in the game: Lupines, blooddrinkers, succubi, and nightmares. When activated, the JoL will spawn three NPCs targeting every player within a certain radius.

When you defeat the three NPCs that spawn on you, they'll leave behind a safe. Inside the safe, you'll find one of nine masks. The common ones are male lupine, female lupine, male blooddrinker, female blooddrinker, succubus, nightmare, or Francine (we'll get to her in a moment). The rare masks are the gargoyle and Tengu.

To use a mask, right-click the icon in your Inventory and select Activate. (Note: You cannot activate masks by putting them into your hotbar.) To deactivate a mask, SHIFT + right-click the mask icon below your hotbar.

Hardline and Club Decorations

Our hardlines and clubs will be decked out again in with special Halloween textures and lighting effects. Perfect for your Halloween parties!

Darkness Reigns

What would Halloween be without a dark night and full moon? We are re-implementing the special skybox, including the increased darkness, for the entire period of the event.

When Zombies Attack!

New this year, zombies will infest two neighborhoods in each District. As you travel through these areas, waves of level-appropriate zombie NPCs will spawn on you with one goal: spreading the zombie virus.

That's right: Zombies possess a special attack that, if successful, will turn players into zombies as well! Assuming you survive the attack, not only will you be able to loot the zombies for one of the new masks, but you will become one of the living dead.

By the way, the system doesn't know if you have a male or female RSI, so your zombie form may be a bit...different. (Zombie RSI changes can also occur when teleporting.)

And who wants to be a zombie all by himself? Once you've been infected, go to your Actions panel and you'll find the "Zombie Bite" Ability under the Awakened Discipline. Add that to your hotbar, then go find someone flagged for PvP and share the love!

Curing the Disease

There are three ways to cure a player infected with the zombie virus. The first is to exit the game and log back in. Of course, that's no fun at all, so there are two other methods.

Any player infected with the virus can use any Antibiotic pill to remove the virus from her RSI. That means you need to consider carefully whether you want to use an Antibiotic during combat to remove other effects.

Lastly, Holy Water causes a large amount of damage to NPC zombies. In addition, when used against a player during PvP combat, it will clear the zombie virus from his RSI. Zombie hunters would be well advised to keep a supply of Holy Water on hand.

New Masks

Each defeated zombie NPC has a chance of carrying one of the new Halloween masks. If you've been keeping up with the news, you'll know that two of the new common masks are the Taskmaster and Ethereal and one of the new rare ones is Tengu. Now for the last three common masks, beginning with one of Tengu's friends: The Warrior.

Next, your chance to look like an Agent of a different stripe. Here's Belial.

And, last but not least, everyone's favorite cake vendor: Francine. (You'll have to supply your own cake.)

Stratics and Sony Online Entertainment are pleased to be able to offer you an opportunity to try The Matrix Online for free for ten days! This free trial offer will provide for you an opportunity to try out this great game and it could not be easier to do so. All you need to do is complete a simple form and you’ll receive your trial license, then you will be sent to download the file. It is as easy as that!

What is The Matrix Online?
The Matrix Online is the future of the Matrix, picking up right where the trilogy left off. The revolution is over, but within the Matrix a secret war still rages – a war of control between the machines, the Exiles, and the people of Zion. Join the continuing storyline of The Matrix where you decide who to oppose and what to believe. Only your courage and perseverance can protect the legacy of Neo’s sacrifice. Jack in!

To get your free 10-day trial of The Matrix Online, visit this page and follow the instructions!

[ Jack in and enter the Matrix now! ]

The Golden Cogs, Stratics' annual E3 awards, return for their second year in the mix! This year we've pulled one of our awards, Best Sound, and added Most Innovative, Best Franchise, Best Original, Best Hardware, and Best Development Tool.

What we want to know is what do you think? We would love to hear your feedback regarding our selections for this year's Golden Cog awards.

Do you feel we have made a wrong choice for any particular award? Do you have your own opinion as to who should have won the Best Gameplay award or Best of Show? Then please feel free to let us know!

We have created a forum thread for our readers (you!) to offer their feedback. Please join in and offer your ideas and opinions, we'd love to hear from you!