[AresPredator]

I've been thinking about the question of a new P99 server, and I wonder if we are looking at the problem from the wrong angle.

There will probably always be players waiting for the next fresh P99 server. But every time we create another permanent server, we also create another permanent population. After enough years, that new server will eventually have exactly the same problem as the old ones: established level 60s, huge economies, veteran networks, twinks, powerleveling and a large amount of content that is no longer really part of the everyday experience of new players.

So why not create **one self-renewing server instead of another permanent server?**

### The basic idea

A dedicated P99 server with a fixed **12-month cycle**:

**Day 1:** Everyone starts from scratch.

**Months 1–12:** The server operates normally under P99 rules.

**Day 365:** Complete character wipe.

**Day 366:** The next cycle begins.

The server itself would remain the same. The community would remain the same. Only the characters, inventories, banks and accumulated wealth would be reset.

In other words:

> **One server, one community, one new beginning every year.**

### Why I think this could work

The important difference between this and simply opening another server is that the community would not permanently fragment.

Instead of:

Blue → Green → Server X → Server Y → ...

we would have:

**Season 1 → Renewal→ Season 2 → Renewal → Season 3 → ...**

Everyone would return to the same starting point.

And I think the one-year period is important.

Some players can reach 60 extremely quickly, while others may need many months. A twelve-month cycle gives hardcore players enough time to establish themselves while still giving normal and casual players plenty of time to progress.

The early level 60s would actually get to enjoy being the elite players for many months.

But their advantage would have an expiration date and no more sitting in the Tunnel...

That is the part I find interesting.

### The economy would become meaningful again

On an old permanent server, things like Bone Chips, Orc Belts, low-level crafting materials and beginner equipment eventually become almost meaningless to wealthy veterans.

On a fresh cycle, those same items suddenly matter again.

A player who can make decent low-level armor or who knows where to obtain an obscure quest item can actually become economically important for 1 Year.

Tradeskills would matter.

Low-level zones would matter.

Questing would matter.

And a level 15 character with 100 platinum would actually feel rich.

The world would constantly regenerate its economy instead of accumulating wealth indefinitely.

### The Renewal would not be a punishment

This is probably the hardest part of the idea psychologically.

The Renewal would have to be part of the server's identity from Day 1.

Players would know exactly what they are signing up for:

> **This character has one year to live.**

That changes the meaning of progression.

Getting to level 60 is still an achievement. Obtaining rare equipment still matters. Building a successful tradeskill character still matters.

But none of it becomes permanent like in Real Life.

At the end of the cycle, the character's story is finished.

And the next generation begins fresh and Powerful.

I play Rust occasionally, and despite all the things I dislike about Rust, I think the developers got one thing fundamentally right: the "wipe" keeps the game young.

On wipe day, people are not necessarily mourning their old bases. Many of them are excited to start again.

EverQuest could potentially use the same principle in a very different way.

### It could also create a shared timeline

Imagine knowing that everyone on the server is currently living in the same chapter.

Month 1:

> "Who is already level 50?"

Month 4:

> "Who has the best smith?"

Month 7:

> "Who has managed to complete Darkforge?"

Month 10:

> "Only two months left. What have we still not done?"

Month 12:

> **Wipe day.**

And then everyone is back at level 1.

Not because the previous year was meaningless.

Because **the previous year was the story of the previous generation.**

### Most importantly: no endless server multiplication

I don't think the solution to an aging P99 population is necessarily to keep opening permanent servers.

That just creates more permanent populations.

What if instead there were **one server specifically designed never to become permanently old?**

The infrastructure stays.

The rules stay.

The community stays.

The world stays.

Only the population gets a new beginning.

I have no idea whether this would actually work at scale, which is why I'm throwing the idea out here rather than presenting it as a finished proposal.

But I would genuinely like to know:

**Would you play on a P99 server that had a guaranteed 12-month lifespan and a renew at the end of every cycle?**

And if not, what would make the idea unacceptable to you?

Maybe the idea is terrible.

Or maybe we have simply never tried looking at P99's "next server" problem this way.

**One server. One community. A new Norrath every year Sylvester .**

### What Rust gets right about wipes

One of the reasons I think this concept could work for EverQuest is that there is already a game where this principle has been working for years -> Rust.

Rust wipes are not treated as a failure of the game. They are part of the game. Players know from the beginning that their base, their stockpiles and everything they have built will eventually disappear, and yet people invest enormous amounts of time and effort into them.

In fact, when wipe day approaches, the atmosphere often becomes almost celebratory. Players are already looking forward to starting over. After a month or a few months, very few people are sitting there mourning the loss of everything they built in the previous cycle. Those achievements have already served their purpose: they created a story, gave the players goals and provided a reason to play.

The important lesson is that **progress does not have to be permanent in order to be meaningful**.

A successful EQ seasonal server could use exactly the same principle, while giving the cycle much more time than Rust does. A twelve-month EverQuest cycle would allow players to build characters, economies, guilds and reputations over a long period, knowing from day one that the world has a natural end.

The wipe would not erase the value of what happened during that year.

**It would be what makes the next year possible.**