We thought that this weekend we would release a BONANZA of new content for you to read through. Here's what we've added to our site tonight:

• An overview of five MxO Ability Codes, our first in a multi-part series.
• DJ Sundog from Radio Free Zion offers up his take on the club culture in the MxO beta that's sprung up, in his guest editorial for us.
• Along those lines, we've completely re-done our index of Guest Editorials. We had some that we posted to our news pages when they were written, but didn't put in the index. Sorry to the authors, and shame on us. Have a look!
• In Fan Fiction, we've added fourteen chapters of Max von Lindern's SECREN for you to read and enjoy, along with an updated index of our Fan Fiction.

Matrix Online Stratics' first ever Matrix Online House of Commons has finished, and it was a rousing success. Topics varied widely from bullet time to story line to (surprisingly) even some questions concerning beta issues.

A log of the chat is available at http://matrix.stratics.com/content/community/121504_HoC.php if you missed it or want to review some of what was said.

Matrix Online Stratics would like to thank Toby Ragaini and the rest of the development for spending an hour answering the community's questions!

Matrix Online Stratics is proud to announce that today, Wednesday December 15th at 3PM Pacific time, we will be hosting a House of Commons Developer Chat with the developers of The Matrix Online. Confirmed for our guest list is lead designer Toby Ragaini.

Join us on the #StraticsHoC channel at irc.stratics.com, port 6668, or click here to use the Java client to connect directly to the chat!

We've been looking forward to this for a long time, and we hope to see you all there!

Through the lens of storytelling, frequent MxOS contributor Red Knight brings us First Day. This story merges a fictionalized account of a newly awakened Matrix Online red-pill with the actual experiences you'll encounter as a new player to MxO. It's a good read, and I encourage all of you to go check it out!

The Matrix Online, a massively multi-player online game co-published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and SEGA of America, will now ship in Spring 2005. Previously slated for a January 2005 launch, the game will expand its beta program while the overall game experience is being enhanced.

"We are committed to quality games and making this the best possible experience for players," said Jason Hall, Senior Vice President of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "Since this is our first MMOG, we are taking measured steps to ensure it will be polished and are investing additional resources into our community oriented initiatives."

The Matrix Online is an MMOG where tens of thousands of players will jack into the Matrix world to take an active role in continuing the saga of The Matrix movie trilogy. Developed by Monolith Productions in conjunction with the Wachowski Brothers, creators of The Matrix trilogy, the game will be a re-creation of the virtual world of the Matrix, employing cutting-edge 3-D graphics, networking and server technology. Gameplay in The Matrix Online will be based on intricate and exciting "wire-fu" combat, an extensive mission structure, social interaction and a completely customizable skill and ability system.

Thanks for your interest folks, but we've given away all 1000 of the beta keys Monolith has committed to supplying us with. If you'd like to get into the beta, you may still pre-order the game.

The second 500 eligible requests will be fulfilled later this week; we'll post a news item when that mailing occurs. We really appreciate all the interest!

We've had a simply overwhelming response to our beta key give away. Again, I thank everyone for their interest in trying The Matrix Online and I hope you will enjoy the experience.

Just so you know, we have given away our entire initial supply of 500 beta keys. About 100 of you made requests we don't have keys to fulfill right now. But don't worry, we've got you covered! Monolith has offered us an additional 500 keys, which we will be receiving early next week. Once we receive our new stash, we'll mail keys out to all of you who have requested them.

Matrix Online Stratics will need your help next week. We'll be forming a Stratics faction in-game for an as yet to be determined event, and we'd like you to join. Stay tuned for details on how to join our faction and event. We'll post them as soon as they're finalized.

The official website of The Matrix Online has made available additional details about the previously announced fan magazine (fanzine). The news item details how and when the fanzine will be delivered, along with delving a bit deeper into what its content might be. The magazine will also include a special map of the Matrix Mega City and pull-out posters. Check it out!

Did we get your attention? Good. Anyway, you read the headline correctly. Within the next several days, Matrix Online Stratics will be giving away 500 beta access keys for The Matrix Online.

Also, there will be a special in-game event hosted by Stratics. Once you've explored a bit and leveled up, you can join our team in the event! We also will invite and encourage our loyal readers who are already in the beta to join us in whatever event unfolds.

To sign up for a key, just click here and fill out the form! Your key will be e-mailed to you when they're available. As a courtesy to those not yet in beta, if you already have a beta account, please do not request a key for yourself. We'll announce our in-game event when it's finalized.

Finally, we'd like to announce that we're working toward an IRC chat (Stratics House of Commons) with the MxO team in the near future. Really!

Stay in touch with Matrix Online Stratics. There will be much more news to come, and fast.

Discuss this in the Matrix Online Stratics forums.

If you're passionate about The Matrix Online and would like to volunteer for a highly visible fansite, we have just the thing for you. Matrix Online Stratics seeks motivated and qualified volunteer staffers for the following positions:

• News Manager. The successful candidate will have fundamental HTML skills, succinct writing skills, and be able to find, summarize and post news items from other sites and official releases on the site expeditiously.
• Content Contributors. Successful candidates should be creative, be able to write editorials, articles and other items with a minimum of outside editing and proofreading.
• Forum moderator/coordinator. The successful candidate will have experience in operating a forum environment as a moderator. Additionally, this individual will assist in traffic building efforts for the Matrix Online Stratics community.

MxO.Walrus has posted a weekly beta report on The Matrix Online's official forums. Highlights:

• As widely announced elsewhere, those pre-ordering The Matrix Online will receive a "fanzine" along with the game. This limited-edition comic will be produced by DC Comics. It's rumored that some beta testers might even make an appearance!
• As we reported 12/5, the fee structure for MxO is official. $14.95 for one month, and yes, there will be game cards.
• The team is preparing the final large patch for the beta. This patch will contain finalized material and the last set of major revisions to the game before launch. This patch will bring the game very, very close to gold status. We're almost there!
• Beta hours: This Monday, beta hours were extended to 12/7 (12P-12A Pacific time, 7 days a week). On 12/15, beta will begin running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Catch up on your shuteye while you still can!
• The team ran its first community event last week, the GM Duels. The community team engaged players in PvP combat, pwned some people, and got pwned by more. More events are planned, stay tuned!

Warner Brothers has publicly posted the official fee structure for The Matrix Online:

• 60-day pre-paid The Matrix Online game card
• 1 month plan at $14.99
• 3 month plan at $41.99
• 6 month plan at $77.99
• 12 month plan at $143.99

...We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express credit cards for payment.

First up, I'm not sure if we ever announced this, but frequent #MxO IRC chatter and operator Fallen_Angel_Eyes has joined the staff over here at Matrix Online Stratics. FAE is responsible for taking care of our newest section: Fan Submissions (fan fiction, fan art, stuff like that).

And so, we open our new Fan Fiction strongly with three stories:

• Faith, a massive five part installment from occasional MxOS contributor Red Knight
• My Truth, a three part installment from Garutachi
• Sattakan's Awakening, the first in a multi-part installation from Sattakan.

The official web site for The Matrix Online has added 45 new screenshots to their screenshot gallery. We'd strongly encourage you to go and check them out! They include many as yet unseen NPC enemies, revelations of new fashion items, shots of new areas and centerpieces therein, some (yay!) Dual Sub Machine Gun action, and a few surprises we'll leave it to you to see for yourself! Go check it out right now!