Everquest is one of the few ongoing MMOs to dive into experimental servers, generally temporary servers featuring anything from permadeath to progression (the server starts at the base game and expansions open as players progress), and more. The 51/50 server, for those not in the EQ-Know, is where players start at level 51 with 50 levels AP, in order to get them into the meat of the game as quickly as possible. The servers, sadly, have not been very popular, and for a while now the air has been all about mergers.
Mayong, Zek, and Fioriona are the three 51/50 servers on Everquest, and after great discussion between staff and players, Sony has begun the process of merging, starting with Mayong. Currently, the 51/50 ruleset has been removed, and no new characters can be created at level 50. The Mayong server will be merged in September, although players can ship their characters off early for $10 (a discount on the normal fee).
SOE has stated that new information regarding this merge, as well as the upcoming changes to Zek and Fioriona will be coming “soon™.” As one developer put it:
“It’s not as simple to merge servers as it is to, say, merge a little rum into some cola. We’ll be choosing the server that Mayong merges with by the usual method (dart board).”
Everquest’s next expansion, House of Thule, goes live in October this year. More on the Everquest mergers as they appear.
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