Well see I'd dispute that. The very first wipe just after EQ went from beta to live was complete.
The second was also complete but after a massive ammount of tears from test players I believe they reinstated toons with no gear.

I only played there when the servers were patching.

Also worth mentioning they have the /testbuff command on the test server to give you a level 25 with cruddy gear.
And along with the double exp is the veteran rewards that includes a daily exp boost.