Dark Souls 2 is something of a black sheep among the beloved FromSoftware titles, As there are many with mixed feelings about its standing in the trilogy. Despite this, there exists a small but passionate group of gamers that love the awkward Dark Souls middle child, and they are doing everything they can to keep the fire from fading. "Return to Drangleic" is an annual community event in which gamers flock back to the game all at once, allowing for the full experience including PVP and co-op to be relived in a way that wouldn't be possible without this type of planning.
"Return to Drangleic" started in 2017, and saw Dark Souls 2 fans breathe new life into the game. With the influx of players, both the PVP and cooperative aspects of the game also came back to life, albeit breifly. The event has had varying success in terms of attendance, but excitement seems to be high for the 2021 version of the event.
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For those interested in participating in fifth annual "Return to Drangleic" community event, its official start date is February 27th. The event will run for two weeks until March 13th, and there are a few important rules to follow. In order to encourage the most amount of online play, it is recommended that all players start a brand new character. On their journey, players should engage in co-op and PVP as much as possible, but it's okay to play through at one's own pace. It's also good to remember that most players will be using the Scholar of the First Sin edition, but there is usually a small group still playing the original version as well.
Perhaps the most important rule of all is that players need to leave a message by the Majula bonfire with the phrase "Don't give up Skeleton!" This tradition started back in the original "Return to Drangleic" event and references a meme in which Dark Souls 2 players would show their support for the various troubled skeletons found in the game.
Judging by the 2000+ upvotes (at the time of writing), it seems like players shouldn't have any issue finding others to play with during their run of Dark Souls 2. For those that stopped playing Dark Souls 2 before finishing it or even skipped over it entirely in favor of Dark Souls 3, this is a great way to go back and experience what the game was truly like at launch and to face some of Dark Souls 2's most memorable bosses.
Dark Souls 2 is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.