In 1999, Everquest changed the gaming world forever. The huge, completely online, and fully 3D world of Norrath shook gaming as a whole to it’s core. While the MMORPG wasn’t a brand new concept, none had been made to the scale of Everquest. It may not look like much now, but Everquest is without a doubt one of the most influential games of all time. Many of gaming most successful franchises, like World Of Warcraft, can trace a direct lineage to Everquest.
It is now 2019, and Everquest is still alive and well. While obviously not the juggernaut it was twenty years ago, the game still receives regular updates and boasts a healthy community. In honor of Everquest’s 20th anniversary, Daybreak Games is spinning up two brand new progression servers.
These servers, named Selo and Mangler, will both be “true-box” servers. This mean that players will only be able to play with one account at a time on each computer. “True-box” servers prevent players from running several instances of the game and running an entire group off of one computer. This encourages players to be social and work together, which they’ll have to do in order to survive. Everquest can be incredibly difficult and punishing, especially by today’s standards. Both servers will spin up starting Saturday, March 16th and will require a membership to play. However, the similarities between each server end here.
Selo
Selo will be a “fast or casual Progression Server”. This makes sense seeing as it shares a name with the line of Bard songs that increase run speed. Experience on this server will be earned at almost double the rate of other progression servers, which are already more generous than the original Everquest release. In addition, instances and rare spawns will reset more often. This means less camping for exotic items and an overall more streamlined experience, which is favorable for less experienced players or anyone just looking for a nostalgia trip.
Selo will begin in the Shadows of Luclin era of Everquest. This means the Beastlord class , a fan favorite, will be available right from the get go. This also grants access to many quality of life functions like the Bazaar, which allows players easily to put their items on the open marketplace for sale.
More information on Selo can be found here.
Mangler
As the intimidating name implies, Mangler is going to be a progression server aimed at hardcore players. Experience values and rare spawns will be tuned much closer to the original Everquest release. Players will also lose more experience upon death. However, they won’t have to make the dreaded corpse-runs, which used to be a core penalty mechanic of Everquest.
Mangler will begin just as original Everquest did. This means no Kunark or Velious, only original content will be unlocked at the start. Content unlocks will initially happen every 12 weeks until after the Gates Of Discord expansion. From then on, expansions that do not include a level cap increase will remain current for just 8 weeks before the next unlock. If an expansion does include a level cap increase, it will last for a full 12 weeks before the next expansion is released.
More information on Mangler can be found here.
Other Anniversary News
In conjunction with these new servers, Daybreak is planning other special 20th anniversary events. Details on these have not been publicly announced just yet but are set to include “a new land, raids, and rares with a story about preserving our past.” Best of all, this new content is free! Daybreak has also hinted at hosting a fan event in real life this summer, although more details won’t be given till March.
I’ve been playing Everquest off and on for almost my entire life at this point. This news made me log in again for the first time in a while, and I can confidently say you’ll be able to find me on Mangler when the time comes. Hope to see y’all there!
