Everquest?!

[Ranis]

I don't think it'll be any easier in terms of difficulty. But it will be easier to find groups to play with. EQ is very old and has a lot of content. Even if you started fresh on an existing, free, server. there are so many starting zones, and so few lowbies, the game would get very boring till you got higher up in level. The free servers also have EXP boosts on zones, mercenaries, and other things to help new players get caught up to the rest of the server. But you lose the experience of all the previous expansions by leveraging them.

that's the appeal of the custom, progression servers. It's a very different rule set, and community of players. That's how i justify the cost. I think your argument holds merit if the EQ was a new game, but the target audience for these progression servers isn't new players, but old ones looking for nostalgia.