Skill system Base skills: As in many RPGs, characters in Anarchy Online gain experience points, and thus levels, through defeating enemies and completing missions. However, a character's level has almost no direct impact on his capabilities. Instead, the game is skill-based. Each level awards the character with a number of Improvement Points, which may be spent at any time to raise skills of the player's choice. It is these skills that determine what a character is capable of doing. The improvement cost of each skill depends on profession; however, no skill is denied outright to anyone. Since there are 85 improvable skills, character development is flexible and complex. Perks: The perk system adds skills to the base skills a player has earned. Players earn one perk point every 10 levels, and one perk point each level after they reach level 200 (40 total points). These points are used on so called "perk lines", most of which have 3 to 10 levels of improvement that stack with each other. Each perk may have a bonus to a skill(s), a powerful new ability, or both. There are over 30 perk lines in-game. Unlike base skills, perks can be reset and reused as many times as the player wishes with a 2 hour wait period in between. These are only available to those with the Shadowlands or Alien Invasion expansions. Research: Anarchy Online's third skill system comes in the form of research. Research is gained by designating a percentage of your earned xp towards research lines. This percentage can be changed in real-time with no time limits. Each profession has around 7 unique research lines, each of which have up to 10 levels of improvement. Unlike perk lines, once a player has learned a new line of research it cannot be lost or reset. Research is only avaiblable to those with the Lost Eden expansion. PvP and faction PvP The war between the Omni-Tek corporation and the Clans continues in the form of player versus player combat. Designated areas allow characters to freely attack anyone of similar level but from a different faction. A player may also "flag" himself or enter special arenas to allow combat even against members of his or her own side. Additionally, with the release of version 17.8 a new dueling system as been added to the game. Players can challenge each other to one on one duels, as long as they are within the normal PvP level range. Factional PvP is further supported by the introduction of tower sites and orbital battle-stations in the Notum Wars and Lost Eden expansions, in which players can fight to control different areas. The benefits of control include experience bonuses for one's entire faction, the right to construct buildings that provide skill bonuses to the player or his entire organization, and bragging rights. Social There are a variety of social elements in Anarchy Online, ranging from emotes to social clothing. Over 200 new social clothing items were added with Alien Invasion, on top of the hundreds of existing social clothes. A variety of emotes are also available to express emotions or dance at parties at one of the many night clubs. Several popular shoutcast radio stations like GridStream Productions are operated by players which, among other things, help organize in-game events. In the 17.8 patch of Anarchy Online, a social equipment tab was also added in order for players to display whatever clothing and armor they wish while still getting the benefits of armor and weapons located in their regular wear tab. Economy The in-game currency is the credit. Unlike many MMOs, Anarchy Online has no traditional money-making class. Shops do provide basic items up to a certain quality, but almost all mid- and high-level items must be looted in one way or another. Because of this much of the game's economy comes in the form of trade and barter with other players in major cities. Those with goods and services that others want will find no lack of money. For instance an Engineer who has the skills to craft an item, or a Fixer who can acquire items quickly from missions. The Alien Invasion expansion allows organizations to create market buildings where individuals can set up personalized shops. Additionally, not all items are bought with credits. 'Victory Points' are acquired through PvP battles, 'Paid Points' are bought with real-world money, and 'Veteran Points' are awarded to long-time players. Items acquired through 'Paid Points' and 'Veteran Points' are not beneficial toward the skill of the characters, nor do they serve as a significant advantage over players without these points. Instead, they serve as either social items or items of small conveniences. Dynamic mission system Players can generate private missions in dynamically-generated indoor zones. Players can customize many of the mission's details, such as how powerful its enemies will be, what tactics they prefer to use, and whether the enemies are more likely to be humanoid or creatures. The mission will also have an objective, such as defeating a named enemy within the mission area or locating a randomly-placed item, and a reward consisting of an item plus some combination of experience and credits. Tradeskilling There are several skills and tools that can be used to create or modify most items in the game. This is commonly known as tradeskilling. Because the tradeskills are increased the same way as other skills, a player will often need to decide between developing his character's ability to create items or to fight. Tradeskills range from simple combinations to complex and involved builds that require a large amount of items. Although any class can raise these skills, Engineers and Traders will excel the most. Instancing Anarchy Online has both team-instanced areas and instanced-zones. Servers automatically generate multiple instances of certain heavily-populated zones to the extent necessary to prevent overcrowding. Dynamic missions, on the other hand, are team-instanced and only available to those in your team. Transportation Three forms of global transportation exist in the game world: Whompahs, the Grid, and the Fixer Grid. Whompahs: The whompah network connects key cities via point-to-point teleportation booths. It can take multiple trips, sometimes through hostile territory, to reach one's final destination. On the upside, all whompah booths can be used by anyone simply by entering them. The Grid: The Grid is a hub. Grid travel involves exactly two trips: one into the Grid, one out. Characters enter the Grid at terminals in key locations throughout the world, travel directly to their desired exit terminal, and leave. Unlike the whompah, Grid terminals require varying amounts of Computer Literacy skill to use. The Fixer Grid is accessed via special keys that only experienced Fixers can produce. It may be entered anywhere the normal Grid can, but has different and more plentiful exit locations. Vehicles: A wide array of personal transportation options are available including flying jets, hover bikes, hover boards, and scout mechs. Other crafts exist but are rarely used due to having very specialized utility or being exceedingly difficult to acquire. There are many types of any particular vehicle that vary in cost, speed, and aesthetics. Hover boards are the only vehicle that can be used inside the Shadowlands expansion playfields. Additional equipment Many MMORPGs allow players to equip various armors, weapons, and jewelry to improve their performance. Anarchy Online goes two steps further. First, each beneficial nanoprogram ("buff") affecting a character takes up a certain amount of nanocontrol units, or NCUs. Players can improve their characters' memory gear to allow more powerful programs to be applied to them. Second, characters can wear an entire additional set of equipment inside their bodies in the form of implants and advanced ancient symbiants. It should be noted that members of the Shade profession, due to the process which their bodies are subjected to in order to gain their unique abilities, are too frail to use either implants or symbiants, and instead make use of solidified spirits captured from creatures in the Shadowlands. Insurance and death The game features insurance terminals where players can "save" their character. The terminal captures a character at a particular moment of time, and upon the character's death, the terminal recalls and resurrects the character at its location. The act of resurrection has a negative impact on the character, termed "resurrection sickness," which temporarily reduces skills. In addition, upon dying, all experience that the character gained since the last time he either insured himself or gained a level is transferred to a separate pool, where it no longer counts toward advancement. Some experience is recovered from this pool, as a bonus, each time the character subsequently earns new experience, until all XP lost from the death is recouped. Leets A "Leet" is a furry, cuddly creature resembling a rat. Living up to their name, leets speak in leet speak and have a strong following of players. The names of the various kinds of leets found in the game world plays on the term, with progressively stronger leets named Eleet, Leetas, Soleet, Phear Leet and Supa Leet, in addition to special unique leets named Joo, Ownz and brb. Their cuteness has in many ways made them a mascot for the game, with calls for plush leet dolls being common, and stories such as the Leetville series being made. Additional variations of leets have appeared in the game during special events such as Halloween or Christmas. Players are able to transform into a leet through the use of an aptly-named nanoprogram called "Pronouncement of Greatness."