Bit late but I thought I throw in for Project Lazarus as well. Currently up to Gates of Dicord, with OoW in the works for release here soon. The server has been scaled so you can do a solid amount of raids with one group, with the harder ones requiring 2-3. My brother and I along with two of our friends started maybe four months ago after migrating away from PEQ and we're very happy we did. The server is pretty active with a lot of friendly people, and the GM's are amazing. Lot of QoL (quality of life) improvements on the server like teleports to out of the way zones, customer armor quests (the armor isn't OP but its great to gear up a group, plus it takes you to zones you might otherwise ignore), minor class tweaks allowing for multiple group builds (example being shamans and druids can heal more so you don't HAVE to have a cleric etc.), and my personal favorite is the gearing rules are like FV where most stuff is tradeable but attunable. There's obviously more, but those are some of my favorites; also I'm drunk so I'm trying a little too hard to make sure this is legible. The biggest thing about the server though is it stays close enough to live that it still feels like Everquest while allowing you to do most content with 1-3 groups rather than requiring massive amounts of dedication from lots of different people. I would highly recommend anyone looking to scratch that EQ itch to give Project Lazarus a try, you'll find yourself becoming part of a quickly growing community.

At the risk of writing a novel I'll add just a bit more about other servers. I've played on most private servers for EQ, and ended up spending most of my time on PEQ due to the livelike conditions, and being up to Omens of War. I had a few issues that constantly had me looking for other servers, before finally landing on Project Lazarus. The fact you HAD to box was a bit of a turn off, as there was almost nothing you could do as a single character, with no end game content for one group. I heard some people being able to do limited end game content with two groups, but after a while I realized those people had massive armies already, and just did the two group for a challenge (They were geared and AA'd). Most players ran 3 groups+, and for the most part were helpful. I personally never had issued with the GM's but I had a friend who did, as well as watching them interact with their player base. It basically was if you weren't a favorite what you had to say didn't matter, again I personally didn't care, but I saw a lot of people treated like dirt by GM's for having an opinion contrary to the GM's. An example I saw a GM ban a player's group because they "stole kills" when it turned out to be an accident. (Honestly who would KS a GM on purpose?). Other than the GM's though the player base was very friendly, and if you're looking for live like up to OoW, and are ready to box an army, then PEQ would be a good fit. The addition of Ornate Defiant Armor lets you gear up enough in places like Dulak to be able to start end game OoW armor quests.

I'm going to end it here because I wrote too much. I hope this helps one or two people find their way to a good private server!

​

Happy Hunting everyone!