EverQuest’s RageFire will be going back to 1999 when it works

It’s 1999, but also confusingly not 1999

I guess the gang over at Everquest really liked the look of Runescape’s 2007-styled server, because they’ve just launched their own similar server called RageFire. Kind of. And it’s bringing back 1999-styled Everquest. Kind of.

RageFire is a brand new new “Progression Server” being added to the game. The idea is simple: you can’t transfer your outside characters in to RageFire, all account bonuses like refer-a-friend are disabled, and all of the expansions have been disabled. Steps have been taken to ensure the game is as close as possible to its 1999 release and so the game you’re playing is essentially EverQuest as it was originally released.

However, it’s also totally not like the 1999 version at all. Many of the quality-of-life updates made to the game are sticking around such as: the new AI, no weighted money, the enhanced loot system is still there, and the death rules are closer to modern EverQuest. Your corpse won’t lie around waiting to be plundered, so no more hours-long corpse raids. Bummer.

What is interesting is that Ragefire will be updated depending on player votes. It’s a bit of a convoluted system, but whatever.

The server opened on May 7 with every player starting at level one, with none of the raids defeated. Once people have managed to defeat every raid in that current version of the game, voting will open for those within 21 levels of the level cap. This will then allow people to start voting to add later expansions and content in to the game, and once new expansions are in the cycle begins all over again until essentially the game is up to date with the normal version.

Yeah I struggled following that, too.

But here’s the thing: as with any MMO launch ever, this one has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Less than 24 hours after launching, the official EverQuest twitter account said the server was being taken offline, and that players who have somehow managed to hit level 50 in such a short time are going to be wiped:

We’re working on the Ragefire server now, and removing erroneous level 50s. No ETA, but this is our team’s top priority.

— EverQuest (@everquest) May 20, 2015

We’re taking Ragefire offline for the rest of tonight.We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to resolve the issues with this server.

— EverQuest (@everquest) May 21, 2015

MMORPGs are a stable, fun experience where nothing can ever possibly go wrong. When it’s back up, all subscription-paying members of EverQuest will once again have access to RageFire.