Players assume the roles of new colonists to Rubi-Ka or the Shadowlands. There are three game servers: two for English-speaking players and one for German-speaking players, each holding an identical copy of the game's persistent 3D virtual world. The worlds are occupied by human players, and computer-controlled characters, both friendly and hostile. Characters are not able to interact with one another across servers.
The game begins with the player creating a unique character, choosing its name, gender, height, weight, and facial features. Each character is also one of the four humanoid "breeds". The final choice is that of the character's profession, similar to the character classes of other role-playing games: Adventurer, Agent, Bureaucrat, Doctor, Enforcer, Engineer, Fixer, Keeper, Martial Artist, Meta-Physicist, Nano Technician, Shade, Soldier, or Trader. Each profession has access to a unique set of abilities, such as healing or slowing down enemies. If players chose not to remain members of the initial neutral faction, they are able to join either Omni-Tek or the Clans.
With no specific objective to win Anarchy Online, the player advances the game through the improvement of a character's skills over time. The game's multiplayer nature and "free-form" gameplay encourage creating social networks, and cooperating and fighting with other players. Players communicate with each other by typing text in chat windows, and occasionally through emotive character animations. Like most role playing games, Anarchy Online provides structure for role-playing events. Events are organized either by players, or officially by Funcom staff.
Groups of players, large or small, are often required to complete objectives. In addition to forming teams and informal chat groups, joining a player organization is encouraged. These are, like guilds in similar games, officially recognized groups bound together for technical and social benefits. Organizations are able to build their own cities across the game world, control areas of land, run player markets, and access other special content.
Among the most distinct gameplay elements of
Anarchy Online are dynamic missions. The player or team is given a set of tasks—usually related to the story—to complete somewhere in the game world; in return, they are rewarded with experience points, items, and money. The player or team is told to go to its location, and finish some task inside for their reward. Dynamic missions, like many other encounters in Anarchy Online, are "instanced": each mission area is available only to the owners of the mission.