This is it! Here we go! Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about is how different things will be in the Shadowlands. I do this to prepare you a bit, like the advice from a fellow traveler just coming back, from the place you are about to embark. I guess many of you already know many of the things I am about to mention, but I guess some don't, so this might be in order. Shadowlands will not be Anarchy-Online or Rubi-Ka as you know it. In fact, Rubi-Ka might feel like a walk in the park compared to what you will encounter when you cross over. The first and most likely the most drastic change you will notice is that the environment looks completely different from Rubi-Ka. Gone are the big plains, the red dust and the dryness. After the initial introduction to the new environment, ambience, sound and graphics, you might start to explore the gameplay. The new gameplay is the focus of this article. Don't get me wrong I love to talk and care very much about the unique ambience in Shadowlands. However, the ambience is a "built in" part of Shadowlands and I believe everyone will be able to appreciate it, easily and effortlessly. Other issues are bound to be more controversial and requires some attention and it is important for us to let everyone know that changes introduced to the gameplay are made in order to make Shadowlands more challenging and interesting. They have not been made to take the fun away. So lets plunge in. When you cross over you might notice that your Treatment and Nano-Recharge kits will no longer work. The kits are an integral part of life as a Rubi-Kanian, and living without them will indeed feel very strange, the same goes for First Aid stims. These have been exchanged with "similar" but not 100% the same equipment called "coils" and "spindles". These are for sale in Jobe and some from the travelers in the land. Compared to quick heals on Rubi-Ka the healing in Shadowlands will work over time and will drastically change the game play. You can not rely on a "quick-pop" to refill your health or your nano-pool. You must think ahead and in general be more careful. In addition to the Coils, there are many new items, nanos and perks that replenish your health and nano-pool available for some professions. The next thing (or maybe the first thing) you will notice is that your vehicles, flying or not, will not work in the Shadowlands. These wonderful inventions of freedom rely on a technology that was decided not to be introduced into Shadowlands. Why, you may ask? Mainly because gameplay wise Shadowlands was designed more like a dungeon and an indoor area. The idea is to offer a predictable and more controlled gameplay experience and to make the challenge greater for everyone. Furthermore Shadowlands has more challenging monsters, more challenging navigation and more challenging AI. At large, it is a much more challenging place to be. Hopefully these are challenges you will enjoy, not find illogical or bad! Having said that - Shadowlands is extremely big. It has more than 20 new big play-fields and 40 small gardens with shops and other tiny areas. The core production of Shadowlands started prior to Christmas 2002 and has since been a major focus for the staff who has put in a lot of work to make a game that is now double in size. It is now one and a half GB and has changed in many, many ways. Sadly, as with most MMORPG expansions, all the new goodies might introduce some problems. This might be obvious but the reason why I highlight this is to let you know that we will fix and patch the problems as quick as we can. There has been a beta going on for quite some time and most of the problems should have been located and fixed. A special thanks goes to the many thousand beta testers for their great contribution. Anyhow, we are prepared for any surprises and hope you will be patient with us for the next few weeks while we will work relentlessly day and night trying to fix any issues that appears. We will strive to inform you on the ongoing process and you should see the improvements quickly. Never the less. All the "warnings" and "alerts" does not take away the excitement the AO team, all of us, yes all the employees at Funcom feel at this moment. We haven't been this pumped and excited since the launch more than two years ago. In my opinion the team has made something majestic and beautiful, and I can not wait to share the Lands of Light and Shadow with you! Everyone, wish us good luck! Yours truly, Gaute Godager Anarchy-Online Game Director