EverQuests Age of Rediscovery: Fippy and Vulak

EverQuest, the game everyone has heard of. A lot of people have played for a short period of time at least and it is credited with being one of the first Western Massively Multiplayer games to hit the mainstream all the way back in 1999. Fast forward to the present and over the last decade it has had seventeen expansions, given birth to its sequel, EverQuest II and several PlayStation 2 games. But starting today, one server will be taking a page from Prince, and partying like its 1999. The clocks are being rolled back to when EverQuest was just a baby. Back when I had the pleasure of having my first experience with the game.

So what is going on with those folks over at EQ? Well it's a concept they've tried before with great success, a progression server. Previous attempts have been such a success they're doing it again, cleaned up a bit and the rules changed to make it more user friendly. The server, Fippy Darkpaw as it is being called will travel through the history of EverQuest at an accelerated rate so players can experience the game as it was originally. Playing as each expansion comes out in the same order it was previously released, and giving players new and old the chance to rediscover the world of EverQuest.

I had to give up playing after the first expansion came out because at that time I was just a child and my computer was made up of hand me down parts from a better, newer computer. When the Ruins of Kunark came out my computer just couldn't handle it. So I put down the game I loved and haven't touched it since. Over the years I considered picking it up at least a dozen times. But each time I faced the disappointment that I would be getting all this new content I knew nothing about all at once. I wanted to live out as they released. This server is giving me that chance. It has brought me back to a part of my childhood that has defined who I am. The game that helped me become the gamer I am today. I don't know exactly what will come as I haven't kept up to date on the lore and goings on in the EverQuest world but I'm ready to find out.

Curious how it will work? Well so was I. So I did a bit of research. After a set amount of time, 90 days for the first release then 60 days for each expansion there will be a voting period where any character over level 30 on Fippy Darkpaw will get to vote if they are ready to advance to the next expansion. Once a certain percentage of the population votes in favour of moving to the next expansion it will be done.

The reason you have to be at least level 30 is they want to make sure that only people who are on the server and dedicated to it get a vote. This isn't the only thing the players will be getting a chance to vote on. But it will certainly be the biggest and most important. Voting will be available for a week, so there is no need to feel pressured into logging in right away. Most importantly though, we will be starting out with only the basic races and classes. Others will be unlocked as the server gets to the appropriate expansion. Zones and content that were released between expansions will be unlocked with the expansion they were closest to released to. A few things couldn't be changed because they're hardcoded into the game and changing them for one server would mean changing them for all the servers.

We won't hold this against them though. From all accounts this is the most advanced and best progression server to date. And it is indeed proving so popular that a second progression server with the same rules has been opened. It is being called Vulak'Aerr. In the EverQuest lore Vulak'Aerr is the lord of the temple of Veeshan, a dragon who will summon other dragons during engagements. This brings me to Fippy Darkpaw. When I first read the name that was picked I thought to myself that everyone was insane. It was a name voted for by players but I of course had no idea what, or who Fippy Darkpaw was. He is a monster who spawns in the newbie area of Qeynos, one of the starting cities for Humans. In celebration of the release of the progression servers all EverQuest accounts that have ever been have been reactivated for a short time. As you can imagine though that's a lot of accounts, but emails are being sent out telling everyone about the reactivation.

This ultimately brings me to the end, the end for this week at least. Come back every week to find out more about my adventures on Fippy Darkpaw. Read interviews from players new and old and get my account of how the progression server goes. There will be news updates, alerts for when voting begins and anything else you may need to know if you play on Fippy Darkpaw or Vulak'Aerr. I hope you enjoy this weekly article and come with me as I enter the Age of Rediscovery.