I don't think (or at least, I hope :( ) that the recent huge number of EQ patches is related
to EQEMu; it's just that Verant have been making a huge number of changes and additions to the
balancing, items etc, with the new newbie item quests, focus items, NPC caster changes etc., probably
partly to try and keep up with all the other MMORPGs, and also most of these patch additions have required several
further patches in order to debug or rebalance them
Maybe the packet/checksum values etc. are randomised for each version, to prevent hacking (not specifically emulator-related)