Rotating Ruleset for Recycle with Regular Rollover to Red?

[Vexenu]

The concept of a Recycle server has proven to be fairly popular on the forums. Others clamor for Teams PvP. Some simply think there should be a second Blue server, while a masochistic few wait with bated breath for a Discord server.

But why choose? What if we could have it all? (at least in turn).

What if we had a Recycle server with a rotating ruleset? And what if the characters made on the Recycle server, instead of being deleted when the server reset came, were instead rolled over onto the underpopulated Red server?

Not only would this allow the community to enjoy a variety of rulesets, it would invariably help to repopulate the Red server over time, leading to a notable reduction in the ubiquitous Red recruiting posts (<-- I can feel I've already won many over with this point).

One of the biggest perks of this idea would be in allowing the staff and community to experiment with different rulesets in order to keep the game fresh. The idea behind P1999 is to faithfully recreate classic Everquest. And that's largely mission accomplished. This is why we have a lot of people requesting that Luclin and PoP be added in the future. However, this is unnecessary. You do not need to add new content to the game to keep it interesting and challenging. You simply adjust the rules by which the game is played.

Imagine something like this:

Recycle season 1: Teams PvP. Duration: 4 months.
Recycle season 2: Hardcore Rules (no XP from mobs in outdoor zones) Duration: 4 months
Recycle season 3: Roleplaying (languages required, all items tradeable) Duration: 4 months

One year. Three fresh server launches with totally different experiences. No characters permanently deleted. Red server gets a steady influx of players. Winning all around.

There should obviously be an XP bonus of some type in place. The particulars could be fleshed out without too much trouble. The point is that relatively simple changes to the ruleset can drastically change how the game is played, and require zero modification to the game's actual content. P1999 with these "6R" rules remains fully and recognizably classic, yet the game takes on a fresh aspect since ruleset modifications would force us to adjust our playstyles and strategies.

What do you think of this idea? What sort of rotating rulesets would you most like to see on this server? What server lifespan would be appropriate with a modest XP bonus in place? Share your thoughts.