From the /r/mmorpg post:

https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-producers-letter-04032024

"Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of why you’re all here. It is time to talk about the new TLE server. When last I spoke of it, I explained it is not like any TLE’s before it, and now I will explain why. 

This new server will be called the Origins Server, and it will take you way back to old school EverQuest II from back in 2006! We'll start in The Shattered Lands era (no expansions unlocked), and you’ll get to experience the look and challenge of the classic world of Norrath. The seas have calmed enough for sea faring to resume, and you are plucked from the waters by none other than Captain Varlos. Soon you will find yourself on an island and then given passage to your racial neighborhoods in Qeynos or Freeport. Systems will seem less complex, stats and gameplay will be reflective of the 2006 era, and there will be more focus on grouping with that old school MMO feel! If you did not have the chance to play back then, or just want to revisit for nostalgia, then this server will be on your list to play. Beta will begin on May 2, 2024. "

From Kandor's post (lead designer)

1. There will be no spell research. There will be a 6 week beta, so make sure you participate if you have questions. We restored old art, and old hoods, we need lots of testing.

2. All stats do something, like they used to. all bosses will be original stat/buff packages. no potency, no crit, no blue stats.

3. Unfortunately, not all the code is still there, so weight was lost. No weight, weight is unfortunately, gone.

4. So as to unlocks, none of that has been decided, but we did put in new forums, so now we will be able to poll and discuss unlocks before we launch.

5. There wil be a marketplace, but it will be very limited. It will not be free trade.

6. This server is on its own depot. Meaning, it cannot be affected by Live, at all. It literally has its own patches, etc. We've never done this before, so the server exists entirely separate from the rest of the game.

7. Freeport and Qeynos are back to old school. Old quests are back.

8. no persistant instances, its old school.

9. No subcombines. The current build is right after we took out subcombines for crafting.

I'm kind of withdrawn and I don't talk a lot but I want to curate a community of chill people to play with. I just started my server and I've got 3 people whitelisted, of which 2 have shown up and those two are family members. And one person who tried to join but wasn't whitelisted, but idk how they got the ip since they're not in the discord.

I have around 300 subscribers where I posted the link, but only 3 people joined the discord (one being another subscriber, bc one of my family members hasn't accepted the discord invite yet but is whitelisted anyway bc duh). I'm just kind of feeling like the kid who invited his whole class to his birthday party but only 2 people showed up. I'm not sure what I've done wrong or if I missed an important step.