As we get closer to the release date, Funcom has updated their frequently asked questions to give you more information about what to expect from the game. These are a good source of general information about the game. You can read the faq at this link.

IGN PC has written a new preview of Anarchy Online based upon their experience with beta 4. Here's an excerpt: While the music in beta phase three was pretty much non-existent, the music in beta phase four is so good that it almost deserves its own CD release. You never really realize how much music adds to a game until you're without it, and listening to the tunes in beta four gives you something to do while you're waiting for your health and nano points to refill. The soundtrack is very dramatic, and changes depending on where you are in the world, reflecting the general mood of the setting. You can read the whole review at this link.

There will be an irc chat with several developers of Anarchy Online at Stratics on Sunday, June 24th at 3 PM EST / 2 PM CST / 9 PM CET / 5 AM Australian Time. The full text of the press release follows: Hello, have you ever dreamed of playing a game where you can be what you want and do whatever you want? Have you dreamed about inhabiting a virtual science-fiction world like Cyberpunk, Total Recall or Blade Runner? You might want to try the upcoming massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (mmorpg) "Anarchy Online" then. Anarchy Online is developed by Funcom Inc. and is currently into beta testing. The date of it´s final release gets closer and closer and you might want to have a look about it before it is available in stores. If this all sounds interesting to you I would strongly suggest to have a look at http://ao.stratics.com which is one of the largest Fan Site Projects related to Anarchy Online. Let me explain you the reasons why I am telling you about that game. My name is Daniel Fischer, known as Stonegate in the virtual world and I work for Stratics.com which is the number 1 Fansite and IRC Network for MMORPG. We host Fansites for Anarchy-Online, Ultima-Online, Shadowbane, Everquest, StarWars Galaxies and almost any other popular Online Game. Online Games are the Future of Entertainment. We realized that long ago and decided not only to host simple Websites with all kind of Information on it. We moved forth. We invented a totally new and very interactive way for Players all around the Globe to get in Touch with the Companies who design the Games they play. We call those Events an "House of Commons Chat". Let me explain how this works for a moment. We host a large IRC Network with multiple servers beside our Fansite Project Pages. From time to time we arrange such House of Commons Chats or Celebrity Chats with famous and creative Persons from all kind of smaller or bigger Entertainment Companies. We had guests like Richard Garriot (Ultima Online), Starr Long (UItima Online), Jason Booth (Asherons Call) and many more telling about their visions, new ideas and plans on how to improve their games. Its a way for the players to actively participate on the evolution of their favorite games and to get in touch with the Developers. We see it as our mission to do those events for you since you normally don´t have a chance to talk with Developers and/or programmers. The reasons for this lenghty text are on-hand. I am proud and happy to announce the upcoming Anarchy Online House of Commons Developer Chat on Stratics IRC Network to you. It will be a pre-game release chat and you will be able to ask any question you ever wanted to ask about Anarchy Online. Funcom Inc. and Stratics.com invites you to join a very special, unique and amazing event you will never forget. Our guests will be: - Dai-Galean (Community Manager of Anarchy Online) - Chac (Lead Developer of Anarchy Online) - Amor (Lead Programmer of Anarchy Online) - Gaute (Designer of the AO core system, story and PvP) The Date: Sunday, 24th of June 2001 The Time: 3 PM EST / 2 PM CST / 9 PM CET / 5 AM Australian Time How do I attend ? To connect to Stratics IRC, first boot up your favorite IRC client. Two of the most popular clients are mIRC and pIRCH. Once your Client has been started, Access one of the following Stratics Servers by typing /server *.stratics.com: irc.stratics.com dhp.stratics.com compu.stratics.com frws.stratics.com intworks.stratics.com Or, feel free to use our own Java client via your web browser. You can access the Java client via the lefthand menubar of this website. This client connects directly to our servers and even allows you to select which channel you wish to access upon startup. After you are connected to Stratics IRC you may want to join the House of Commons Chat Room which will be #aohoc To join that room simply type /join #aohoc and press Enter. We are looking forward in seeing you in #aohoc on the Stratics IRC. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding that event feel free to email me anytime at Stonegate@stratics.com Also feel free to have a look at http://www.stratics.com for general information and http://chat.stratics.com for IRC or Event related information. I thank you for taking the time to read this and wish you all a very pleasant and informative Chat. Regards Daniel - Stonegate - Fischer Stratics Lead Event Coordinator

Everyone who applied for the AO beta should have received an e-mail by now giving them the links to download beta 4. I know I noticed a huge number of new players over the weekend, followed by a huge increase in the lag. Let the stress test begin.

IGN PC has posted an interview with Anarchy Online lead programmer Martin Armor. Here's an excerpt: IGNPC: What major features still have yet to be implemented? Martin Amor: Some of the bigger features are implemented but not in the beta yet. For example the fixture-system (you can decorate your apartment) is not in the beta yet even if it's finished in code. Other stuff around apartments are also missing e.g. the possibility to upgrade to a bigger place and to invite over friends, however that will be enabled soon in a patch. You can read the full interview at this link.

If you signed up for the Anarchy Online beta and did not originally get accepted, you can soon expect an e-mail with a login/password. All 100,000 people who signed up are beging sent a beta key. You can download the beta software now if you want. Just be forewarned that it took me about 3 hours to download using a cable modem. The full story is at this link.

Funcom has moved its beta forums to its main site and opened them up to the public. There is quite a bit of interesting information there for people interested in the game, and the developers seem to be responding to questions. You can check out the forums at this link.

The following info was taken from the Anarchy Online main site: "We are about ready to start beta 4. The CD will be available for download week 23. The link will be posted here. All (yes we said ALL) beta applicants will receive an e-mail containing a CD-key. This CD key will grant access to the beta. The CD-keys will be sent out in chunks starting week 23. Please check ASAP that your e-mail address is correct. NDA will be lifted and the beta-WEB-site will be transferred here to the official AO-WEB-site. It is not decided yet if the last weeks of the beta will be open for everyone." Of note, week 23 corresponds to the beginning of the week of June 4th.

Still wondering if this is going to be worth playing? Well check out the coverage from other sites:

Gameznet's AO Preview

Gamespot's AO Preview

IGN PC's AO Preview

Crossroads' AO Preview

I figured that as my first post to the board, I would comment on some of the stuff about Anarchy Online that I saw today at E3. For those of you who haven't heard, there have been several versions of the beta recently, and what they demonstrated at E3 was version 11.0, and I have to say it was impressive. I spent about 15 minutes with Tommy Strand showing me and my buddy around the game and with us picking his brain, although I'm pretty sure he had no idea it was me... Some of us, myself included, have been playing in the beta for some time. Allakhazam's review of AO from earlier in the week echoed my sentiments on the game up until today, and now I'm pretty excited about the release date (and praying that I get into the next beta phase). There were several things about the game that were really incredible in its current form. First of all, the graphics were a lot faster, with rendering all the way out to the horizon in the playfields, so trees and rocks no longer "pop" when they get within range, as well as improved speed overall. The computers they were using were 800 MHz with GeForce2's running the graphics, and it just looked great. They've also tweaked around the interface quite a bit, changed some of the icons, and it seems more responsive. All just kind of finishing touches. The most incredible thing that Tommy showed us was the Grid, as it's called. He described it as being like the Matrix (not the movie, but the cyberpunk version). You travel to a Grid entrance point, and you enter a digital area that looks like a large blue chamber (this is gonna be hard to explain, I can tell right now). On the floor were openings that would take you from place to place. Basically, you could enter the Grid in Newland and travel across the room, and drop through to Tir or Athens and pop out there. So what's the difference between that and the whompas you ask? Well here is where it gets really awesome. Above the floor is a crisscrossing network of bridges. As you become better at your skill with using the Grid, you enter up on these higher platforms, and doing so allows you access to exit points that are more and more remote. The highest platforms (and therefore the remotest areas) require a high level of skill to get access to. Most characters can only enter the Grid at specific Grid entry terminals which are found in most towns, but Fixers can enter the Grid anywhere they want to, and take their whole group with them. The other really incredible thing that Tommy showed us were the vehicles (yes, they are now in the game). Basically you have a vehicle in your inventory (that's the weird part) and you equip it. You then become a vehicle, which ranges anywhere from silvery motorcycle things, to a carrier ship, to a really small scout ship about the size of a large pumpkin. You can then move around the game in these ships, many of which fly, and it is a bit safer and faster, although monsters with ranged attacks can and will still attack you. Some vehicles you can attack back with, some you can't. Obviously I was overstimulated at the booth, but there's a little bit more. Turns out that they changed the way newbie areas worked. From what Tommy said, they're still planning on having 50,000 people in the world, but are very aware of the problems in newbie fields when that many people enter at once. Their solution to this is unique, which is that whenever you make your character, you are dropped into a newbie area that you and maybe two dozen other people share, and that's it. Others can't come into that area, so you are never fighting for kills or stuff like that. As more characters are made, they just make more newbie fields for you to play in. These all connect to the regular world areas as well, so you can escape and use those newbie areas if you so desire. Overall, I must say that I was very impressed with the way the game now looks. If they've also fixed the stability issues that have plagued them recently, then AO will be the game to buy this summer.