A less noted part of the upcoming game update is the discontinuation of the starting islands for Qeynos and Freeport. For those who played through the original Isle of Refuge and the later revamped revisions of the Queen's Colony and the Outpost of the Overlord, seeing the zones go is sort of bittersweet. Yes, the new starting areas are more well rounded, but now new players won't get the option to start out in Qeynos and Freeport which seems a little odd given that these are the two main cities in Norrath.



Calthine over at Zam delves into a bit of the island's history and talks a bit about the feelings that many might have over the loss of this piece of EverQuest II history in her own farewell to the isles.

We've come a long way since launch, when we were hauled bodily out of the ocean in the aftermath of Luclin's shattering and taken to the Isle of Refuge to make ourselves useful. You chose an Archetype (fighter, priest, rogue or mage) and later, when you chose your home city, had to complete a tough quest to choose your subclass. When you got to the city you were dropped off in a village catering to your race, and had to earn citizenship to even enter the city. The game wasn't as user-friendly as it is now, but there were tons of low-level quests to help you learn and eventually move you out into the world.

Read this tribute to the oldest starting zones on Zam and be sure to take one last run through the island before it is finally laid to rest.