Raise your hand if you thought the sci-fi MMO Anarchy Online went under sometime around 2007. Surprise! You're wrong. And not only is it still around, it was actually just given a major facelift that has an impact on almost every aspect of the game.
Released yesterday, the 18.7 (count 'em!) update adds a brand-new starting area for new players, Arete Landing, which is a shuttle port adjacent to the renovated ICC headquarters on Rubi-Ka. Arete Landing contains a new series of quests, with an increased amount of experience awarded to players over the first 30 levels. Missions will now grant 1000 extra credits as a completion reward, and new characters will also move faster than they did previously.
The ICC renovations mean the headquarters now offers general stores and an FC shop/Phasefront dungeon, there's a subway entrance, the Unicorn Lander in Andromeda has been moved to the HQ and now has a proper door, and fast access to the Temple of Three Winds/Inner Sanctum has been made exclusive to the ICC. Major changes have also been made to professions, battlestations, vendors, various quests, the item shop, and more.
It's an extensive overhaul, and while I won't pretend to be familiar enough with the game to have any idea what "a Ganking Uncle Pumpkin-Head with a slow spawn timer" is, I do have a legitimate and very sincere admiration for its durability. Anarchy Online has never been a big player on the MMO scene, nor does it attract the visceral level of interest among non-players that EVE Online sometimes manages to stir up, and yet it's somehow managed to last 14 years in a genre that's famous for eating its young. That's impressive.
A full breakdown of the changes in the 18.7 update has been posted in the Anarchy Online forums. And if you're intrigued by the idea of an MMO that's almost old enough to drive and want to know more—it went free-to-play in 2004—hit up anarchy-online.com.
