Wipe

It usually comes "soon", and erases all player characters, caps, items, bases, tents, factions, etc. After a wipe, all players start over and a new season begins. It is a data purge of part of server database, where player information is stored.

A temporary time called "Pre-Wipe Madness" may occur for perhaps a week or more immediately prior to a wipe, when crazy things happen. Hidden locations like tents and bases might be exposed for all players to see, creating opportunities for sudden, intense PvP battles where such normally do not occur. Bases get raided and items are stolen, but who cares? It's all about to be wiped at that point anyway. Rare items can be found and game staff might even place Power Armor barely out of sight in the streets of major towns, for any of us to find. Sometimes hundreds of items are dropped on a town map like flowers, Small Statuettes, drugs, rare guns and ammo, etc. You might find a Mr. Nixon doll or a Fuzzy Painting. Pre-Wipe Madness is temporary crazy fun and usually draws in some of the semi-active players who are waiting for the next season. Signs of Pre-Wipe Madness are not necessarily proof that a wipe is about to happen though, so don't count on it. For example, in Season 5 there were signs of Pre-Wipe Madness almost 6 months prior to the actual wipe, so new players found Power Armor at Hub in late summer 2011 as most of the population was anticipating a wipe very soon. However, Season 5 did not end for almost 6 more months, in early Jan 2012.

Developers opinion:

But there is no date set and no wipe planned. If a wipe has to come, we will announce it some time before.
Source: (http://fonline2238.net/forum/index.php?topic=1464.15)

See Also

• The FOnline: 2238 Timeline, Seasons of Development