Answering questions on a phone without a qwerty keyboard is a bitch, so here's what's going on with DAOC, in a list format.
There is now only 1 cluster in DAOC, a new server called Ywain. The previous clusters had too much character data between them to merge, so going to Ywain is more like going to Pendragon, you have to log in to a character, run a transfer and log out. The old servers are "archived". You can log in to them, but many zones are off limits and you can't do much aside from transferring over.
Ywain is actually 10 different servers as a front end. This means if you copy to Ywain5 you'll see people from other "servers" as "of ywain7" just like the old clusters. This is actually going to go away(unlike the old clusters when you copy over you are name checked against every server) eventually but the layoffs at Mythic delayed it. The only split zones are ToA and Housing, which works ok.
Because Ywain is a 10 server front end and each "server" holds 10 characters, you can have 100 characters total per realm. Doubt anyone would need that many, I merged all my characters from MLF and Gareth into Ywain8 with a bit of room to spare(many were duplicates).
Classic is gone now, sadly, but if you were level 50 on Classic you get Master Level 5 for free. This is done via a quest you get in the castle in Tir Na Nog, and you cannot transfer a 50 over until you do this quest. The quest is to basically talk to the same guy twice, and he will give you a token for each ML, so you need 5 open slots.
Back on a ToA server means dealing with ToA's bullshit again, right? Well, not exactly. Virtually every ecounter in ToA has been made easier for one. Then, aside from some specific artifacts that do unique things(like the Crocodile Tears Ring doing out of group songs and chants), the best gear is generally considered to be the Dragon quest/dragon drop stuff. Classic players can turn in their armor for ToA versions if you choose but some say use the classic version(it's only the chest piece that's different).
A new set of "alternate currency" has been add to the game in the last couple of patches. One is Atlantean Glass, farmed off of master level final bosses. There is a battlegroup that is in Typhon's Reach 24 hours a day farming Typhon for Atlantean glass. The bosses drop a considerable amount, and this can be spent at special merchants to "complete" ToA in it's entirety with the exception of ML10. What do I mean by complete? Well, you can go to a merchant and use Glass to buy encounter credit for an artifact instead of actually doing the encounter, another merchant has the artifact itself, and yet another sells the scrolls, and then yet another still sells artifact XP. And in addition to Glass, there's another set of merchants that do the exact same thing, but with Bounty Points. You can even use BPs to buy stuff for other people now. And of course, if you want to do it the old fashioned way, that's still and option and generally has been made easier.
ToA raids used to be as much about the fancy shit that dropped as the artifacts and MLs. Not so much anymore. Those encounters now only drop items if someone in the group needs credit(except for artifact mobs, which still have a chance to drop the artifacts). Instead, new mobs have been added to ToA called Afrits. These come in oj, red, and purple form and have the chance to drop items from the loot tables of artifact mobs based on difficulty. Additionally, they drop "essences of afrits" which can be turned in for a random item on the loot table of specific(you pick it) ML raid bosses, again with cost scaling based on difficulty. Now this is basically the lotto as you might hit the jackpot or you might get ROG shit no one will ever use, but the afrits are pretty easy to farm with 2-4 people depending on type, respawn fairly quick and drop gear that 2-4 people had no chance in hell of getting before.
Last patch added yet another form of alternate currency to the game in the form of Dragon Scales. These are similar to the Seals of Darkness Falls. Every mob in Sheeroe has the chance to drop them and the mini-dragons drop more up to the bigger ones. These scales can be turned in to a merchant in TNN for quest completion credit for the Dragon armor and weapons, items on Cuuldarach's primary loot table, and other stuff. It's likely a BP version of this will be added eventually.
Other long haul changes I can think of:
Mentalism ments are now fairly powerful now, lots of new stuff including a new group heal single target DD unique to them I think
SI Dungeon bosses reitemized/revamped(primarily galladoria, which is comparable to ToA now)
Everyone gets all expansions free now
Current status on the server:
Mid dominates Ywain right now. They might even be the largest realm, certainly in terms of RvR turnout.
Alb is middle ground but as usual when the zerg comes out they steam roll everything
Hib is currently the bastard stepchild, primarily due to population.
Server never gets below 1500 people that I've seen. Primetime the population numbers are over 3000 and seem to be edging up. One night I saw it was 50 people away from server cap. No lag in the zones I was in though, so I think the new hardware can be pushed farther.
