I have considered going with an anime fantasy art style, which is an obvious departure from the old art. At this time I am rather keen on the idea. Thoughts?

Also, for financial reasons expect a lot of zones to disappear in the near future.

Or possibly an art style like this:

Or this?

This is just my opinion, but I abhor anime lol. I have no idea how much time, talent or money is involved in either styles, so I can't say go the easier route. However, if you did go anime I wouldn't stop playing if the game still had a good battle and skills/talent system like it does now.
I'm not an artist, a marketer or any sort of businessman, but I think you could have an edge over other games by preserving the medieval fantasy theme. I like that my inner D&D dorkness comes out when I play NeverGrind lol. I never played Everquest but it's similiar to the D&D universe.
So many games go the cute cartoon or anime route, and maybe that niche brings in more traffic and possibly more revenue, but I think the current theme makes it more unique and "grown up."

Yep, still looking at multiple options. I know some people have a real aversion to anime, but I think it's a cool style. I just want to see what an anime orc looks like.

Could you imagine making the art for an anime tentacle terror D:

my vote is that a bit of an anime lean is okay so long as it still remains sort of a classic high fantasy thing.

if that makes sense.

i.e. i would rather see something that is obviously a dragon or obviously a goblin rather than some new stylized original sort of monster. a few originals here and there would be good, but keep it mostly classic imo.

I was talking to the artist for about 4 hours tonight. She's making Crushbone 1 and an orc as a trial. I can't wait to see what she comes back with.