THE DUEL AS CONFLICT RESOLUTION
"You have stained my honor, I demand satisfaction!"

The duel is a tradition as old as humankind itself. In basic terms, a duel is a directed or accepted combat challenge that is used to redress or answer a given or implied insult to one's faction or individual honor. Duels are most commonly fought out between members of the same faction. While the practice of dueling is often romanticized in literature, a duel is, in truth, very dangerous - and often ends in death.

THE CHALLENGE PROCESS
"Morpheus Challenges You to a Duel to the Death! Do you Accept?"

A player can begin a duel by simply targeting an ally and typing "/duel" in the chat window. The target will then receive a special dialog window informing him or her that they have been publicly challenged to a duel. At that point they will have a brief period of time (in seconds) to accept, refuse, or simply ignore the duel challenge. If the player accepts the Challenge, then combat begins immediately.

THE COMBAT PROCESS OF THE DUEL
"Prepare to Die!"

Once combat begins, and the two foes are dueling, both duelers are forced to target each other. The duel will continue until:

* A dueler surrenders, by typing "/duel stop" in their chat.
* A dueler is killed in the match by their challenger.
* A dueler is killed by another, or outside forces.
* A dueler runs away and gets out of the designated duel range.

If a dueler surrenders, or is killed by his or her opponent, a chat message is broadcast to all others in the area describing the shameful defeat!

DUEL RESTRICTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
"The duelist is disciplined but also unpredictable"

To begin a duel :

* Both parties must be players.
* Players must be allies.
* Players cannot be on a mission team (even a team of 1).
* Players cannot be in combat.
* Players must be able to "see" each other on their clients. They must both be in each other's relevancy set.
* Players cannot be involved in an ongoing duel or be considering another challenge to a duel.

During the duel :

* Players may only target each other.
* Players cannot be invited onto a mission team.

Stay tuned for future PVP revelations as the beta test continues!

TEAM VS. TEAM DUELING
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The second type of PvP action inside The Matrix Online is a variation of the single character Dueling System: the team vs. team Dueling System. The team vs. team Dueling System allows groups of up to eight players to challenge an opposing group of players to team vs. team combat. The Team vs. Team system will closely resemble the player vs. player PvP dueling system.

THE ARCHIVE: PVP CONSTRUCTS
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The third form of PvP combat available at launch also introduces another feature: Constructs. Constructs are "pocket worlds" which exist outside of the actual Matrix. In The Matrix Online, the Archive is a special Construct where players will be able to take on others players who work for opposing Organizations.

To enter the Archive, a player needs to purchase a network key code from a special Archivist NPC within the Matrix. Once passage into the Archive has been obtained, another NPC must be found for teleportation into the Construct.

Each of the three main Organizations (Machines, Merovingian, and Zion) has secured a section of the Archive that they use as a base of operations. These sections are no-PvP zones, heavily guarded by NPC members of those Organizations. Players will automatically teleport into their respective Organization's safe zone. A player's Organizational affiliation is determined by the player's highest ranking reputation with the Organizations, or by their specific crew's affiliation.

As was hinted at already, the Archive is much more than a PvP arena; it is a remnant from a much older version of the Matrix. It contains valuable secrets for those strong enough to seize them. In this particular situation, strength is measured by the ability to survive massive conflict, not only with rival Organizations, but with the Archivists themselves, who will fiercely guard their order's secrets.

The Matrix Online team plans to open the Archive Construct to Beta testers later this month.

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