The Daybreak team got the two beta servers, one PvE and one PvP, for the nostalgia bound EverQuest II time locked expansion server project they have been pitching for a bit.
Should probably just be “Nostalgia Servers”
Maybe a bit later that they expected, but at least on the same day as planned.
The question now is whether or not to dive in. The instructions given in the forums are easy enough to follow.
Beta client is on the list
Though if you don’t want to re-download the whole client again, Feldon at EQ2 Wire has you covered with some additional download details.
While they are testing out a queuing system for the server, things will otherwise be pretty much as announced previously. I have a post that lists out the details that have been shared so far.
There is still no Isle of Refuge, so the starting zones remain the Frostfang Sea and Darklight Wood. There was a “more on this later” tacked on to the end of the starter zone bullet point, but I do not know if we have heard anything else beyond technical reasons why bringing back the Isle of Refuge would be a huge pain.
Unlike the EverQuest progression server beta, you will have to have an All Access subscription in order to play on this beta server. No free peek at nostalgia this time.
So now that it is there, do I dip my toe in and see what things look like?
I am generally not fond of betas here in my dotage. When I was younger I would throw myself into such things, but now I often feel my time is better spent elsewhere as I tend to value the progress and virtual possessions I accrue, so knowing it will all be wiped shortly… and perhaps repeatedly… can be a disincentive.
On the other hand, I am genuinely curious about how popular such a nostalgia driven servers will be. Even with key elements of the old days missing… just keep chanting “Isle of Refuge” over and over… there has to be some draw.
Can you even get to this zone anymore?
Just being able to start out on a fresh server that won’t allow transfers is going to bring a few players in. Some people will do it just for the challenge. And there were reports that the queue was already in play, though that could just be Daybreak setting the server limits low just to see if the damn thing even works.
I will have to consider whether to play or not this weekend, though given the pace Daybreak has been setting lately with these projects, if I deliberate long enough I might be able to go straight to the live versions of Stormhold or Deathtoll, the PvE and PvP servers respectively.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 