Here are the details for the latest Earth & Beyond game update!

When flying around the galaxy, you'll notice changes and revamped areas in several sectors. V'rix presence has increased in Deneb and Freya sectors. New Maelstrom Hounds, called the Fenrir, have been spied clawing up ships in the Mondara Shear. Officials have been unable to stop the renegade attacks on the crew and passengers of Pleasure Yachts from Friendship 7.

Most of the patch is content-related, and includes new boss MOBs and new loot associated with these uber and semi-uber encounters. The Bogeril may have some new 'Mishuns' fer folks hankering to talk to 'em! Please take some time to explore the galaxy and discover some of the new additions in your travels.

The Celestial Warder can no longer be summoned thanks to the Alien Researchers on the storyline forums. Interested parties and researchers can now converse with the Celestial Warder uninterrupted!

And with this month marking the first anniversary of Earth & Beyond, there just might be a surprise looming on the horizon...

Community

Congratulations goes to Benadict for winning the Dev for a Day contest with his InfinitiCorp trade epic entry. Benadict has won a trip to Electronic Arts Headquarters to spend a day with the Earth & Beyond team and learn some of the elements involved with evolving a design from concept to implementation!

This Saturday (September 27, 2003) members from the Earth & Beyond team will host 8 simultaneous birthday parties in celebration of our first anniversary! Please stop by and grab a slice of birthday cake if you happen to be near an iGames center in NY, NY - Miami, FL - Southgate, MI ý Fort Worth, TX ý Fort Collins, CO ý Bellevue, WA ý Pomona, CA or San Jose, CA!

Just in from Net-7...

Civilians under attack?

Net-7 is receiving several unconfirmed reports from the Glenn Sector of Beta Hydri that civilian pleasure craft are currently coming under attack. Distress signals have been picked up near Friendship 7 which seem to indicate that unidentified assailants are attacking non-combatants in the area.

The yachts reportedly originated from Friendship 7, which is one of the more popular vacation spots in the galaxy.

Local authorities are asking that any pilots in the area respond and lend aid. Assistance may be needed in locating survivors, and possibly in fending off the attackers. Net-7 has reporters en route and will bring you updates to this developing story as they become available.

New construction in Aganju

Sources based at Kinshasa-Mbali have informed Net-7 that new construction projects have apparently begun in the Aganju Sector of 61 Cygni.

The new projects are reportedly being undertaken by the Alliance, which is led by Nostradamus Smythe. While details on the new construction projects are sketchy, it is safe to assume that they are designed to strengthen the Alliance's foothold in Aganju.

Any Net-7 correspondents in the area are encouraged to investigate and provide further details.

V'rix force moves into Deneb

V'rix advance scouts in the Roc Sector of the Deneb System are being reinforced with a growing invasion force, according to reliable sources in the area.

Net-7 has verified accounts from several sources that report large numbers of V'rix invaders moving into Deneb. Any civilians still in the area should evacuate immediately. Net-7 is currently attempting to get a definitive statement from Progen officials on this latest incursion.

In addition to the V'rix push into Deneb, we are also receiving reports of several V'rix ships being spotted in the Freya Sector of the Aragoth System. While Net-7 is still working to confirm these reports from Freya, pilots in the area should exercise extreme caution, as early reports indicate that these V'rix are highly advanced.

Enjoy!

-Niobe

Here are the details of the patch:

General

• Made improvements to server stability.
  
• Reception of Net-7 space broadcasts has been improved. The broadcasts are now clearer.
  
• Registration now gives better feedback when using gametime codes. After completing registration, the number of days you registered for will now be displayed.
  
• Fixed a bug for guild permissions that did not remove demotion privileges after the permission had been removed from a rank. Guild members should now only be able to demote lower ranking members if they have the permission.
  
• Net-7 news announcements will now continue when you move to a different room in the starbase. Previously, the announcements would stop after entering a new room.
  
• InfinitiCorp ships near the GETCo campus in Earth should no longer be attacking the GETCo drones in the area. An occasional attack may still occur, but they should be infrequent.
  
• Sharim and Shinwa MOBs lacking visual weapon effects have had visual effects added.
  
• We have improved the way we handle gating animations. Gating animations should be more consistent now.
  
• You will no longer be thrown across the galaxy after losing connection while gating.
  
• Fixed several typos.

Missions

• Jackson Pruddett has vanished and his whereabouts remain unknown. If you have not completed the DigiApogee investigation, you will need to forfeit the mission.
  
• Fixed a bug where the "Sun at Noon" mission could not be completed under certain circumstances
  
• Fixed a bug where the Crystal Temple in Arduinne Planet was summonable. The temple can no longer be summoned.
  
• Fixed a bug where mission order was not updating correctly if a mission was forfeited. Mission logs will now correctly renumber the remaining mission entries.
  
• Responding to supply and demand concerns, executives of the Mars construction project have increased payments for ores required for the project. The project will now pay more than anyone else in the galaxy for ores needed to complete the project.

Combat & MOBs

• You will now see the name of the MOB on the hulk (corpse) after killing it.
  
• Fixed problem where players could interrupt MOBs' skills by initiating warp.
  
• Fixed a bug where Mordana Destroyers were spawning out of formation in asteroid belts in Kitara's Veil. Destroyers no longer spawn by themselves.
  
• Fixed a bug where some Yee Lo Novice Red Dragons had no faction associated with them.
  
• The spawn rate of Oni Daevas in Xipe Totec has been increased.
  
• The Purifier sect of the Mordana has grown alarmed at the fatality rate of their philosophers. Members have been encouraged to show more caution in selecting places to work. Their rate of appearance will remain the same, but they will be less predictable in their location.
  
• Fixed a bug where V'rix and other ships refused to stay in formation. The chance of finding a stray V'rix will now be rare.

Exploration

• Earthcorps has reported the appearance of V'rix raiders harassing Terran ships in Zwiehander and Witberg Sectors.
  
• New, much tougher Maelstrom Hounds, dubbed Fenrir by explorers, have been sighted in Mondara Shear.
  
• V'rix have been sighted in Freya. Travelers to Freya should proceed with caution.
  
• Several construction projects have begun in Aganju.
  
• Explorers have reported a new crystal structure at the Crystal Temple in Arduinne. They claim this makes communication with the temple easier.
  
• The V'rix have moved into Deneb in force.
  
• Decreased asteroid despawn times from 5 minutes to 30 seconds once the asteroid is closed by a prospector. The reduction in asteroid despawn time should minimize mining disruption caused by 'cherry-picking'. If the asteroid is reopened within the 30 seconds, the timer will be reset to 5 minutes. Asteroid spawn times have not been changed.
  
• Pleasure Yachts, embarking from Friendship 7, are coming under assault.
  
• Fixed a bug with exploration experience for asteroids AC 127 and AC 128 in Ardus. You will now get experience for visiting both asteroids instead of only one of the two. This fix will affect players who have not yet visited the asteroids.

Trade & Items

• Many drops in Aquitaine are now tech level 9.
  
• Improved the drop rate of flavor loot on all Aquitaine inhabitants.
  
• Increased the availability of Dark Matter resource asteroids in Aquitaine.
  
• Increased the availability of Dark Matter resources from MOBs in Aquitaine.
  
• The level 9 BlackSun Satyr will no longer drop because it could not be equipped by any profession. Another item has replaced it in the loot tables.

Interface

• Tooltip text for environment buffs and debuffs has been changed to give a better description of the effect(s).
  
• Fixed a bug where the item reuse timer would not be displayed immediately after changing sectors.
  
• You will now have an option to 'Refine Stack' when refining alloys.
  
• Fixed issue where avatars were not centered in their screens during player to player trade.
  
• Improved feedback when someone is removed from a private channel. Messages will now be displayed to both the channel and the person removed from the channel.
  
• Reworded skill description for Directional Teleport to be more specific. Changed "Teleports targets in the direction they are facing", to "Teleports targeted group member in the direction they are facing".
  
• Buff and debuff categories will now be displayed on buff icons. Players will now have information about what category a buff belongs in.