Ding! EverQuest Project 1999 is now officially endorsed by Daybreak Games. Nothing changes for us P99 players. Technically it has always been “legal” for us to play. P99 players actually lose out in this deal at face value because we are having Velious pushed back until August. Maybe there’s more to all of this.
The agreement establishes the guidelines that we as a project must follow, but it will allow to us continue to update the game without risk of legal repercussions.
What are those guidelines? Neither side is disclosing anything. I’m waiting until the penny drops. What’s the catch, friends? It’s more than a PR move. It’s more than P99’s Velious release conflicting with a progression server launch. Why does Daybreak decide that now is the time to set precedent, endorse and allow P99, and actually RAISE awareness for P99? P99 has never before had this much press, and now that people won’t be banned on the official forums for talking about it, P99 may actually grow.
Damage, a member of our community, brought up a very good point: There are a number of servers on the emulator that can be played, but only one (2 if you count Red) are classified as “Project 1999.” What of the other servers? He also reminded me that P99 is really the only EverQuest being streamed on Twitch. That counts for something.
Daybreak is a business and exists to make money. Where is the money in this deal? It’s certainly not the 3 month window. It’s certainly not in making P99 more popular than it has ever been. Will it be paid expansions to P99? Access to the code of P99 to incorporate some of this into their own progression servers? Bringing P99 officially under the Daybreak flag? Here’s what I’m certain of: Both sides are making money or getting something out of this deal.
