I'm just going to say this: Read what they tell you, then post.
Yes, the patcher doesn't work. I tried their main site, and that doesn't work either. However, they had a temporary page which explained... sort of... that their having hosting issues and they are resolving it as soon as they can. In the mean time, pull your belts up, snap your overalls on, and put on some shades: Theres a whole world out there.
I'm not sure if its still possible to get onto the servers. I believe it is. I know I can't because i accidentally patched EQ and won't have the correct files to make it onto the servers
but meh...