Anarchy Online is a massive multiplayer role-playing game , set nearly 30 000 years into the future. Players immerse themselves in a thriving, constantly developing online game-world with thousands of other players connected at the same time. [images]It is the year 29,475 A.D. Humanity has populated many of the worlds of the Milky Way. You are an inhabitant of a tiny planet in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, - the mining outpost of Rubi-Ka. The planet is ravaged by the ever-present conflict between the governing corporation Omni-Tek - and the rebel clans fighting the regime. [images]The player - you - can participate on any level you want in this conflict. You can rise through the departments of Omni-Tek, set up your own clan, - or try your luck as a freelancer, seeking fame and money on your own..Only a few thousand years ago Rubi-Ka was a planet without major life forms. Then Omni-Tek discovered Notum on the planet. An intensive terra-forming project was initiated, and several hundred years later the compnay started settling. Soon Rubi-Ka was teeming with exotic life-forms and strange technology.Today all the four major breeds in the galaxy are well-represented on the planet, covering all sorts of professions. The ongoing conflict makes the planet a profitable destination for all the latest and newest equipment and technology. Hostile monsters of all kinds are attacking brave adventurers in the wasteland between the cities. Both in Omni-Tek and the clans important characters wage a battle with brain and brawn about the soul of the future.[images]You are represented in this world by a customizable avatar, chosen from a set of breeds - each with unique graphic features. You will be able to customize skin tone, clothes and more.Each character is defined by 6 abilities and 40 core skills, with a great range of specialized skills further defining them. This implies that when you have chosen the shooting rifle skill, you could specialize further in a specific choice of rifle. Or, you could focus on being very resistent to a certain type of poison. Tired of little elves with bows? Fed up with spell-flinging goblins? Bored to death by the solitary world of linear games? Despair not. Freedom is on its way, and its name is Anarchy Online.Funcom will create a deep and evolving story where thousands of players participate in both the day-to-day happenings, and the big epic conflict between the mega-corporation Omni-Tek® and several rebel clans. The player decides who his or her character will support. [images]You are represented in this world by a customizable avatar, chosen from a set of breeds - each with unique graphic features. You will be able to customize skin tone, clothes and more.Each character is defined by 6 abilities and 40 core skills, with a great range of specialized skills further defining them. This implies that when you have chosen the shooting rifle skill, you could specialize further in a specific choice of rifle. Or, you could focus on being very resistent to a certain type of poison. The game world will take approximately 3 hours to walk across. Not counting any problems like impassable terrain and getting past monsters. The terraformed part of the world is described in the atlas https://www.anarchy-online.com/world/map.html. Omni-Tek are planning to terraform other parts of the planet.[images]Will the players be able to own their own vehicles?The vehicles exist mainly for public transportation and to create a setting for the cities. It is difficult to envision a future world without vehicles, but we are not yet sure whether privately owned vehicles are going to be a part of the gameplay. At the moment we will focus on beta and release. After release we will consider which new features we will add to the game. The game has a variety of mutant, alien monsters to vanquish in combat with a wide selection of futuristic equipment. You may participate in both pre-defined and generated quests. There will be enough meaningful quests for everybody. Player-killing is punished by its consequences. It is also suppressed in selected civilized areas. [images]How will Anarchy Online handle player-killing? There is a many-layered strategy: Player-killing will be handled in different ways depending on what area the character is in. Inner cities have mood-manipulating drugs in the air (popularly known as Happy Gas), that prevent all player-killing. Civilized areas around the cities have guards that will react to player killing. In political areas a player will only be able to attack opponents from the other side in the Omni-Tek/clan conflict. War zones in the wilderness will be free-for-all.It will be possible to play an interesting character without having to go into the wild areas. The risk is up to the player, but the character will be rewarded for going out in the wilderness between cities.[images]There will be no rewards, or just small ones, for player killing. Questing, monster killing and fun game-playing is more rewarding, regarding xp and items, than player killing. A majority of the player-killing should be quest and story-related. When player-killing has a game world-related motivation and all involved players know the risks, we think this activity could be quite funNano technology is in most things on Rubi-Ka. It is in all living things and a lot of the inanimate as well. It has become nearly transparent enhancement to all elements of life. With the right equipment and skill a character is able to attract a cloud of nanobots and make them do your bidding. It might be perceived as magic, but it is just chemistry and shifting of atoms and molecules. [images]There are five nano skills. They represent different ways to use nano bots - such as creation of matter, manipulation of matter, or moving of matter. The nano technician has to know some or all of these skills to be able to use nano formulas. A nano formula is a specialized skill derived from one or more of the skills. Some nano formulas are hard to obtain, and might only be obtained by performing a specific quest or buying it at very high cost. You will have to develop a skill to a certain level, in order to learn the formula. A higher skill means that the formula will have greater power. [images]A couple of examples: Moving an object from out of your reach to your hand requires the Item Teleportation formula derived from the Material Dislocation nano skill. Creating an object to do damage to your opponent requires the Speeding Bullet formula derived from the Material Creation skill and Material Dislocation Skills (first create the object, then send it toward your enemy.) A new player will be able to choose formulas, but will learn that some are off-limits because the underlying skills are too low or absent. A more experienced player will be able to see how the formulas are derived from the skills. I hear you asking, how is death handled in Anarchy Online?In all cities on Rubi-Ka, there are offices where a character can buy insurance. The insurance ensures that your items are returned to you when you die. The higher the level of insurance, the faster your items will return into your possession. With the insurance you have the possibility of storing your cell structure for safekeeping at any time, for a price. [images]If the character dies, it will be re-created based on this information. All experience earned since the last molecular scan will be lost. The player decides when and how often he wants to update the stored cell data. Of course, the most rewarding monsters will be far from facilities with a molecular scanner. And travelling in enemy territory could be very dangerous.As hinted, you yourself make up most of the storyline in this world. However, you are not alone, and Rubi-Ka is not a static world. The natural world will run its course, political events will unfold and the many players will influence the overall situation in the game world. You can try to influence, or simply adapt. It's your call. [images]Additionally, at all times there will be many available quests, such as treasure and bounty hunting, involving dangerous monsters, fascinating knowledge to sort out, fantastic tales to relate to and challenges that need to be overcome. [images]It can be everyday challenges like "How do I earn the money to buy me the right equipment?" or more epic ones like "How can I pass the Silicoid Robot-warrior without activating it"? "Maybe it would be better to try to join forces with others?" To answer the last question for you: Yes, at all times you'll be better off finding companions. The focus of Anarchy lies on cooperation and interaction, and many of the more dangerous tasks will be out of your league if you operate on your own.