diff --git a/etc/as-pom.xml b/etc/as-pom.xml
index ea589a11..480413c1 100644
--- a/etc/as-pom.xml
+++ b/etc/as-pom.xml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.threerings</groupId>
       <artifactId>naryalib</artifactId>
-      <version>1.2</version>
+      <version>1.8</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
       <type>swc</type>
     </dependency>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 0dcbd9fc..5242b364 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.samskivert</groupId>
       <artifactId>samskivert</artifactId>
-      <version>1.1</version>
+      <version>1.3</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
@@ -76,10 +76,11 @@
       <version>2.0</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
+    <!-- optional dependencies -->
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.threerings</groupId>
       <artifactId>narya</artifactId>
-      <version>1.4</version>
+      <version>1.8</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
       <optional>true</optional>
     </dependency>
@@ -139,6 +140,7 @@
       <scope>compile</scope>
       <optional>true</optional>
     </dependency>
+    <!-- testing and other dependencies -->
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.ant</groupId>
       <artifactId>ant</artifactId>