I have discussed this with a few people now in game.
I was always under the impression that, although Paineel was released as an optional download shortly before Kunark was released, The Hole actually didn't go live until shortly
AFTER Kunark went live.
I finally found the patch notes to support my claim.
Kunark was released in April while The Hole went live in June.
Feel free to browse and discuss:
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/hist...es-2000-1.html
(hint, use ctrl+f to find the patch notes mentioning "The Hole" )