* Project 1999 - probably the closest to 'The Vision' that you're going to get under a modern client.
* EQClassic - Faithful recreation of classic EverQuest. What's not to love?
* TAKProject - Faithful recreation of EQMac, including the Mac client. History rocks to preserve, and will be going open source later on.
* The Edge Server (Edge II) - Probably was one of the coolest concepts for a server and set the standard for stat-based gameplay.
* Blood of the Akkadian - It is a shame no servers have the quality that this server did, but unfortunately was not sustainable to continue to pump out content using the coded systems.
* Akkadius's Funhouse - A continuation of the Times Five server that attempted to be balanced.
* Qeynos vs Freeport - I don't know why, but I loved to watch people duke it out in a shrunken Antonica. This could've been so much more.
* Enlightened Dark: Ascension - Custom content that didn't suck but still remained as faithful as possible to classic style EQ, but without classic style EQ.
* Scars of Amerous - Almost an honorable mention. Custom content in the style of raid addicts. One of the coolest tiered progression servers that lost its way over the years.
* Zebuxoruk - One of the first servers I played on in emu, made in an era before EQEmu had any resemblance to live EQ's mechanics. You had to admire the dedication of Jibbatwinkers who was constantly updating and adding new content, and the field of bone Sythrax lowbie zone area was iconic to me.
* Winter's Roar / Shards of Dalaya - Lost a lot of direction after Wiz started on Dawntide, but still remained a pretty damn cool experience similar to classic EverQuest. Had an auction house before auction houses were a thing with the listsold command.
* Scorpious2k - Probably the coolest custom server with a huge history. The custom content using Windcatcher's zone builder was both its strength and its downfall. As servers began to take structured gameplay approaches, this server lost its charm as it was too confusing for new players. A relic of a time gone by.
* EQEmu Guildwars - Emu PVP before Emu PVP became a thing, with concepts like land ownership that were way ahead of its time.
Honorable mentions that made an impact on me at some point:
* Altergate PVP
* image&devn00b's Zek's seasonal servers
* Red99
* EQ: Classless
* EQReborn & Legacy of Norrath
* Raid Addicts
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