High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Anarchy Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) published and developed by Funcom. Released in the summer of 2001, the game was first in the genre to include a science-fiction setting, dynamic quests, free trials, and in-game advertising. The most ground breaking feature in Anarchy Online, however, was instancing. During its first month of release, many stability, registration, and billing issues hurt public perception of the game and most gaming reporters said it was the worst launch of an MMO in the history of the genre. Funcom decided to spend about 6 months fixing the game and based on user and reviewer feedback, they also completely remade the beginning experience of the game. The company then took the "fixed game" on a press tour to convince reporters to give it another try, even though reviews and scores had been printed months before. At the same time, the company needed to build subscribers which was very difficult, given the reputation of the game. So Funcom introduced the first "free trial" of the game and gave out returned boxed copies for free at the 2002 Game Developer`s Conference to spread the word. The "fixed" game was such an impressive effort that most gaming publications were happy to tell their readers about the improved game, although they did not change their original scores. By the end of that year, Anarchy Online had recovered from the launch woes and even won the MMO of the Year award from PC Gamer. The company went on to create expansions, including the Shadowlands expansion in 2003 that earned several Editor`s Choice awards.