Question
 

I'm sure that somewhere in the mass of posts this question has been asked before but I can't seem to find it.

Why isn't the agreement with Daybreak Games that allowed P99 to exist public? I for one would like to know what those are so I can see exactly how far P99 can go. Is it hard locked at Velious or is that just something that has grown from the rumors generated from the lack of the agreement being made public? Just curious about some things.

I have no idea but wouldn't be surprised if they signed a NDA.

It's neither rumor, nor derived from the 2015 agreement. The owners of P1999, from day 1, repeatedly stated that expansions beyond Velious are off the table. This was their own intention for P99 long before any legal agreement was ever made. Hence even if it were included in the agreement, then at most it was merely formalizing a decision the admins had long since already made. At one time the admins used to say that custom content was possible. This appears to have fallen by the wayside, could be due to the legal agreement, but more likely due to either admin opinions on the matter changing or due to simple developer fatigue/burnout.

They had halloween/xmas events that were custom content so I don't think that is entirely off the table.

But the fact that they've always wanted to recreate an experience as close to classic as possible kinda rules out significant custom content additions.

They turned me into a puma once. I wonder if telling this story will get them in legal difficulty.

It's hard locked at velious because the expansions after velious blow ass and in the minds of many including the staff luclin is where the original game took a turn for the monstrosity it is today. I enjoyed certain aspects of luclin and PoP but on balance I'm glad they are absent from this project

A simple google search will help you https://www.everquest.com/news/project-1999-daybreak

Not public. They have stated it allows them to operate through Velious and not beyond. BUT, they have also stated in the past that it doesn't prohibit them from adding "custom" content. For example, I'm assuming they could add a couple zones from the classic map that didn't get added until later (if they ever wanted to take on that big project).

I would guess that if they ever did any sort of custom content thy would clear it with the IP holder first.

P99 Devs will never add any custom content (outside of Rooting dragons lul) because they are only interested in re-creating classic the EverQuest client as it existed from 1999-2001. They have successfully done this, and are only going to continue to fine-tune said client so that it matches perfectly (as far as content) the experience you would have had in 1999 - 2001. Similar to how TAKP offers a niche with an older client.

This is a niche that Daybreak does not offer, because they will not
a) pay developers to create and
b) expect players to download
a second client with old systems to play classic EverQuest. Therefore, they allow P99 to fill this niche.

When it comes to QoL improvements, things that "aren't classic" - That's what TLPs are for (in the eyes of Daybreak). So if you want to create a server that offers something other than a very niche system, and you want to take donations, or host thousands of concurrent players - you're gonna get slapped with a C & D.

Will be interesting to see if the actual legal agreement comes to light during the course of the lawsuit between daybreak and THJ project. I would imagine an attorney for THJ would find tremendous value of bringing up evidence of Daybreak condoning fan-based emulatiuon projects existing using their IP as a defense for THJ's existance.