Your Favorite Event

With the discussions about lore and missing or drawn out events going on, I am a bit curious about what your favorite events from the past has been. Perhaps, if we can recall and explain why these events were fun/successful, it could give the Admins and volunteers an idea of what might work for the future? I will go first!

Back when I started playing in 2007 or so, when I was still very much a newb, there was an event involving the Gates on Mostyn (there's a book about it, I believe, but I will explain from my own memory, since that's my impression). A large gate with two doors was breached on Mostyn and leaked out very aggressive shadows. Since it was Lord Arion's island, He was in the middle of it all, as was Enorian. Arion ordered people to gather amethysts (which could be found all over Sapience) and give them to a certain someone (I think). Once enough amethysts were gathered, a Luminary, Armin, would forge a chain to keep the gate locked, because only a Luminary was able to handle fire that hot. This is, of course, a very brief explanation and one straight from memory, so it might not be 100% accurate, or I could be missing details.

Despite it being aimed towards Lord Arion and Enorian, Spines, Loch and Duiran was still very much involved. The Darkies could steal and hide the amethysts, or try to open the gates to let out shadows. There was fighting for those who enjoyed pk and tasks, like gathering gems, for those who were not. It stretched out over the course of several weeks, I think, or at least more than a couple of days. Everyone could be involved in one way or another, despite being a combatant or not, despite where in the world you lived.

So, what is your favorite event of the past? And why? Remember to point out the good stuff and keep negativity to a minimum!
SaltzAyastia
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Comments

  • Kerrithrim. The creature awoke from the seas to the east of Shastaan and started walking inland. As a typical Cabalist, Elene tried to talk to it in a bid to see if she could discern its intention. Little did I know the admin very clearly knew Elene's thought processes, and the tell immediately killed her with something along the lines of "The unalienable psyche of Kerrithrim surges through the link and fries your brain, killing you immediately". That was fun and also hilarious. Destruction of parts of the Highway because Kerrithrim travelled inwards, and the involvement/funds needed to rebuild it - that is how the Silverain bridge came to be!

    Event involving the discovery of the Lgaktian Clock by Yusri, Akaryuterra, and possibly Eleanor too. That clock was great. I enjoyed the possibilities of consequences that it could bring every time the hour hand hit a certain number.








    SeurimasObaSryaen
  • The very first event I was ever involved with, because I joined right at the start of it, was the awakening of Muadi. It was really hype, with paintings to make sense of and study and a horrific god filling up the sky. It was such a huge event, and the admin and players went above and beyond to make a brand baby new Templar feel welcome and like I was actually part of it!

    After that, despite the length making it tiresome, the Atav war. It felt really tiresome and gritty, which I think ADDED to the real fatigue of war. The admin running it found good ways to make every side feel like they did something that mattered, and we got to have a big confrontation with their King that was pretty sick. It made you feel like things you did mattered, and that's a huge part of games like this. You want to have an impact on the world around you.
    Oba
  • EliadonEliadon Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Newscendril release, NGL
    RasaniOba
  • I'll always fondly remember my first event, the Zombie Plague for Halloween 2003(?). It started with one person, the ability to speak and send tells was taken away, and every second they would autowalk one room toward an uninfected person. When they came across an uninfected instead of walking they would attack, and if the attack hit that person was now infected with the same "symptoms". I ended up holed up in the CLI spamming my shield tattoo holding back a horde of like 20 players trying to turn me into a zombie! It was an amusing and hilarious night.

    The Kerrithrim fight was hands down the best event for Cool Factor. Hekkin Ctulu rising up out of the sea, destroying Delos, and players using catapults to fling themselves up onto it, cutting their way inside, fighting off waves of the thrim that lived INSIDE THIS THING!?! And working our way to it's heart to kill it from the inside like some kind of bacteria.

    The Dreikathi arrive by airship (and then War Were Declared) the build up of discovering an ancient science lab, waking up Amal, becoming friends with this NPC over the course of a couple months through interactions and mini lore dumps (the most "oh shit" of which was when Amal tried to ask us about something very important, but whenever he mentioned a specific phrase or set of words (albedi? dreikathi? WE'LL NEVER KNOW!!!) we could only hear "a loud droning noise overcome by static" to indicate spoilers :) AND THEN THIS ABSOLUTE UNIT JUMPED INTO THE SKY AND TORE THE FIRST AIRSHIP WE'D EVER SEEN OUT OF THE AIR WITH HIS BARE FISTS!!!
    Toz says, "Dishonor on you (Mjoll), dishonor on your family (Seirath), dishonor on your cow (Bulrok)"
    ObaEleneAeryxSibatti
  • Eliadon said:

    Newscendril release, NGL

    Oh right, yes! All the shit in Enorian doing stuff for the Duamvi, going into that vortex. That one was a blast!
    Oba
  • AeryxAeryx Docking Nipsy's pay
    My favorite event of all time was probably one I worked on in the forever times ago. My favorite event in the last couple of years that I've had this character was honestly probably the Christmas event of 2019. I really enjoyed the Flintbeard dungeon. The mechanics were something else.
    Childhood's over the moment you know you're gonna die.
    ObaWyatt
  • Terry the Tarantula and Flintbeard's dungeon were both a lot of fun, and they both struck a nice balance of being opt-in and having a regular gameplay loop.

    I think the event that most sticks with me, though, was the resurgence of the Aalen Bloom that gave us our present curatives. There was drama, plot, little mini-things to do, and with curatives randomly failing, it felt really dire. Plus the Archivists were new, and they shot onto the stage by trying to extort tribute from Spirit in order to provide the material that cleaned Bloom goo from rooms.

    Probably wouldn't be great to run something thematically similar at the moment, but in terms of scope and stakes, it was pretty cool!
    (Web): Abhorash has joined your web.
    (Web): Abhorash says, "Nerds."
    (Web): Abhorash has left your web.



    Alela's Affirmations
    ObaWyatt
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    edited August 2021
    So, back in the Ye Olde Times, I didn't actually interact with the events much myself. It seemed like something that mostly happened to other people. I was generally more focused on interpersonal RP; not to say they didn't matter, they made the entire world feel more vibrant and alive. BUT, because of this, my take on events is pretty much focused on modernity and the events I've seen in the past couple of years.

    THAT SAID! The Bloodloch Rebellion event that's still ongoing is, in my mind, the gold standard for how unplanned(ish) events should go. The event started more or less as @Tedrunai goofin' around and dunkin' on Bloodloch with some silly posters, but when he saw people really responding to it (turning it into a more or less serious mystery to be unraveled), he slowly scaled it up and incorporated actions from players in small ways that made them feel like they were a part of the story ('cause they were!) It slowly became more serious, and essentially, since I've watched Game of Thrones now, became a direct lift of Dany's arc with the Sons of the Harpy. And now it's essentially become a big rebellion event where the outcome of several major zones in the game is determined by players.

    What I loved about this event is that it mirrored how real things happen in our real world. You don't always know when you're in a situation that it's going to become something bigger. Think about a fight you have with a friend or significant other. Do you always know a massive fight is coming? Sometimes. Sometimes you just strike a nerve, or one tiny thing causes a minor conflict, which begins to drag in other things along the way, both of you pull in your recent frustrations and tensions, and it builds and builds, and all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a real hootenanny. And because this was how this event was structured, it, man, it really roped me in in the beginning. Heck, it was so fun that I, personally, felt motivated to even shove other people who otherwise might not be the types who get to be at the forefront of these events into the limelight so they could have some fun with it and feel important. It really felt like one of those events where everyone had a part to play, whether it was finding new murdered guard bodies in the street, examining a corpse for evidence, or questioning a witness (or shoving them into a bird cage).

    Obviously bigger world events can't really be run this way at all (although, honestly? HONESTLY? They could be. You just gotta be able to commit when you see something taking root), especially not pre-planned ones. But I maintain that this is a type of event that should be dissected more upstairs in the future. 'cause, honestly, I can tell you from my perspective that it makes even interacting with MPOS'd mobs that is just some Celani being a bartender feel more alive. Why? Because you feel like any interaction can organically become something bigger if it makes sense. Like if I shoot someone dead IRL, the cops will come for me; obviously death is a lot less serious in Aetolia, but I guess what I'm getting at is that even the illusion, the perception of causality can give players a crazy amount of immersion and hype for stuff. And actually having the occasional event/interaction that does have a degree of causial reaction is going to foster that perception. Every MPOS interaction will end up being more fun for everyone, I guarantee it.

    XavinAlmolMjollOba
  • Oba said:

    With the discussions about lore and missing or drawn out events going on, I am a bit curious about what your favorite events from the past has been. Perhaps, if we can recall and explain why these events were fun/successful, it could give the Admins and volunteers an idea of what might work for the future? I will go first!

    Back when I started playing in 2007 or so, when I was still very much a newb, there was an event involving the Gates on Mostyn (there's a book about it, I believe, but I will explain from my own memory, since that's my impression). A large gate with two doors was breached on Mostyn and leaked out very aggressive shadows. Since it was Lord Arion's island, He was in the middle of it all, as was Enorian. Arion ordered people to gather amethysts (which could be found all over Sapience) and give them to a certain someone (I think). Once enough amethysts were gathered, a Luminary, Armin, would forge a chain to keep the gate locked, because only a Luminary was able to handle fire that hot. This is, of course, a very brief explanation and one straight from memory, so it might not be 100% accurate, or I could be missing details.

    Despite it being aimed towards Lord Arion and Enorian, Spines, Loch and Duiran was still very much involved. The Darkies could steal and hide the amethysts, or try to open the gates to let out shadows. There was fighting for those who enjoyed pk and tasks, like gathering gems, for those who were not. It stretched out over the course of several weeks, I think, or at least more than a couple of days. Everyone could be involved in one way or another, despite being a combatant or not, despite where in the world you lived.

    So, what is your favorite event of the past? And why? Remember to point out the good stuff and keep negativity to a minimum!

    I remember this event! Very fun

    Oba
  • LinLin Blackbird The Moonglade
    Juxa Steelhew. I was in the Pools when it was going down, so what I can say about it is a little limited, but that event, to me, was a perfect, timeless snapshot of everything an event in Aetolia should be. It affected everyone. Everyone, ideologically, had a reason to oppose Juxa - it wasn't relegated to a single guild or a single city. Juxa herself was ferocious, intimidating, and rarely overstayed her welcome, typically dipping in somewhere, causing a lot of damage, and getting out, without any ass-pulls or dumb reasons why she should randomly be unassailable. We were so passionate about the event that we designed systems around it, completely from scratch (I did a Papers, Please clone; one of the volunteers designed a territory capture system for Hashan; etc. etc.).

    The best part about the event? We didn't plan it. Someone in the Pools said "hey what happened to the Demon Blade" and the entire thing snowballed. We were all working off the cuff, totally improvising (I even got to sit in the driver's seat of Juxa when the volunteer handling her couldn't make it for the day, he liked something I said on her so much that it's one of the random login screen quotes!), no agenda, no schedule, no expected outcome for how this was all going to shake out, except that obviously, eventually, Juxa would probably lose. We kept it going until it stopped being fun, at which point that was it - it ended, everyone learned their lesson, and the landscape of Sapience was altered permanently.
    XavinObaXenia
  • The Juxa even was pretty much perfect. It was a freakin' blast playing with the territory capture mechanics, and I think there is even still some evidence of what went on with it around the Ithmias - barricades and such mentioned in rooms. I think there's one or two lines that were left dangling from that event, though. I think there was some black ylem stolen from somewhere that was never accounted for, and a certain knife infused with some of that stuff is still around out there.

    LinOba
  • I liked whomping her LT and getting the line for it. We started as a pack trying to swarm it, then Moirean was like "maybe super Toz?" instead, so I got drowned in arties, priestess cards, etc.

    Jox was my favorite. I played politics and got a treaty signed, there was a cool fight at the end, and I got to RHK everyone back awake to save on mask filters. Plus I miss speedrunning Beneath.

    Arbre-Today at 7:27 PM

    You're a vindictive lil unicorn
    ---------------------------

    Lartus-Today at 7:16 PM

    oh wait, toz is famous

    Karhast-Today at 7:01 PM

    You're a singularity of fucking awfulness Toz
    ---------------------------
    Didi's voice resonates across the land, "Yay tox."
    ---------------------------

    Ictinus11/01/2021

    Block Toz
    ---------------------------

    limToday at 10:38 PM


    you disgust me
    ---------------------------
    (Web): Bryn says, "Toz is why we can't have nice things."

    BulrokOba
  • My favorite event in recent memory was Toz's office getting blown up. All of the world stuff was cool and all but exploding office wins it.
    MjollAlelaAyastiaRihrinObaEoros
  • LinLin Blackbird The Moonglade
    The time Piper turned one of the Dhasan's offices into an unannounced ball pit was great too.

    Or that guy setting off a bomb in Moirean's office.

    For some reason Spirean offices are one of the most dangerous places in the game.
    TetchtaOba
  • Toz and Emir might have also blown one of them up once. I didn't realize they had such an explosive history.
    Copperhead of the Third Spoke says to you, "Intelligence matrix in moniker Bulrok reveals above average results when compared alongside proximal presence."
    TetchtaObaEoros
  • Bulrok said:

    Toz and Emir might have also blown one of them up once. I didn't realize they had such an explosive history.

    ftfy
    (Web): Abhorash has joined your web.
    (Web): Abhorash says, "Nerds."
    (Web): Abhorash has left your web.



    Alela's Affirmations
    BulrokObaTozEoros
  • TeaniTeani Shadow Mistress Sweden
    @Alela, my viewpoint of the resurgence of the Aalen Bloom event was the complete opposite, mostly due to its confusing beginning, dropped balls, lack of information, and consistently having things happen only around Howling. It's great that some people liked it, but important to know some players were affected very negatively by how it was set up.

    I agree with Oba on the Gates on Mostyn event. That was a fun one! I also recall the release event of Eastern Itzatl being fun, with Sir Robert Lyesmith (Severn) fooling my extremely blue-eyed Paladin. I also liked a lot about the Three Widows war, even though there were some things that could be improved on.



    Oba
  • For me, War of Night. I was upstairs for the majority of it, and then when I stepped down I got to have fun exploring the new places, and dealing with the aftermath. For me as a volunteer I just had a ton of fun.
    Xavin
  • edited August 2021
    Like a few others have said, events have mainly been things that happened to other people, although I think I was part of the mob on the Kerrithrim kill event so that's technically my first experience with it. And also like other people, the main events I've participated in happened on the other side of things. That said, the one that sticks in my mind (as much as anything ever does) is the arc the Haern at the time did with Alshek the Sky-Darkener, Haern becoming infected with the Bloom taint, and Raest moving to Duiran--that whole kit and kaboodle. I can't say how it was received by the players, but I hope it was good! It sure was a lot of fun to help with. I have a deep and abiding love for Shaman and Dendara RP accordingly. Narrator: This surprises no one.

    That being said, I have to say the recent start of the whole "cult of K" thing where I tabbed back just in time to find myself in possession of a cursed item was..a Ride. It was so fun. I've never been directly and personally roped in like that, and it honestly brought back some of the 'magic' of the game for me. I think it was the first time, and certainly while playing Mati, that I felt genuinely challenged by roleplay and trying to decide what my character would actually do in a situation they were thrust into. It was an amazing opportunity for a fledgeling character. I'm not sure where that event has ended up now, but it was a super engaging couple weeks for me and truly nothing can replace the thrill of playing ball with an admin who's there to play, too. FWIW, the common thread between those two that I can discern, is that there's a big kerfuffle with some breadcrumbs that makes space for players to interact with each other, and postulate, etc. (crucial), then the next big kerfuffle happens. However, I will also say that in between those plot-progressing points, there were always little stirrings of the pot, just as a 'Hey, This is Still Going on.' For the former, it was Haern on OT or appearing to I think that year's Eireachdus, discussing things, unveiling his new appearance, and so forth. We would also mpos the mobs used for the event just to chat with players, fill in players who weren't there and had questions, and so forth. For the latter, I would be standing in Duiran and for the next week or so in between the two developments I was privy to, I would be accosted by cultists--or one time, one literally just winked at me and slid on by. Y'all I was SPOOKED haha. The paranoia was both real (but fun) and roleplayed (serious business for my character).

    Anyway, like most of my posts, this has gone on way too long. But so far as I can tell, the main takeaway is that events are always best with an improv element, regardless of whether you have an arc that you are sticking to or not. There has to be give and take to create that spark. I also know that it's difficult to do because of the potential time spent scouting involved, but there's a special kind of magic when, rather than relying on a big name that everyone Knows roleplays and is good for that kind of thing, you pick a nobody to interact with. The heavy bits of improv and bending in the wind can be left to admin who feel super comfortable with roleplaying and also the tools in their toolbelt as an admin, but the other is a great way for new Celani to cut their teeth, if you give them a scaffolding for an event/reveal, or let them create their own mob as a sideline in an event that they can then reliably mpos to sprinkle in more lore, or just enhance the flavour. Just my two cents. I had crazy fun being able to do that and it helped me get a grasp on my arsenal for roleplay.

    Edit: Also as someone who has wanted to play a Nazetu since 2009, then came back to the War of Night having happened and Nazetu being playable, I was equal parts SO BITTER I MISSED IT and SO THRILLED that it even happened. Even the event posts are enthralling to read.
    WyattOba
  • WyattWyatt PoolsImmortal
    My favorite event would probably be the Jox event. There's something about the emergence of Varian as a real character in the story for the first time in however many years that was what the zoomers might refer to as a "pop-off" moment for me. I remember being on a voice call with others at the time and being speechless as I witnessed the events play out at the end of the event. The whole process of the seals breaking, the threat of the Chaos entities on the horizon, the way the players came together and each side had special items or powers they could provide to turn the tide of the fight against the dregs - it was all a really engaging event for me as a player, and getting to deal with the aftermath and how my character's roleplay changed/how they viewed the world was different from it.
    Oba
  • My favorite event was the original Aalen Bloom. I had an incredible amount of fun trying to be out and active and RPing with people while trying to avoid catching the Bloom myself. I eventually did catch it, and had to hide away in the old Bahir'an house (Anaphiel's house) in Djeir until I blew up.

    It was just a lot of fun trying to figure out a cure and man, the events just kept coming right then, making it feel like the whole world was truly falling apart. Kerrithrim, Dreikathi invasion, sludge, Aalen Bloom. I think Xavin and I were both Overlords at the time too, Xavin Keeper for part of it, so being in leadership when everything was going down was kinda crazy.
  • Probably the Chaos War. That's not to say it was perfect: the constant entity spawning dragged on a little bit; the boss fights towards the end were very laggy; the antagonist was a little bit too much cackling evil (for me, at least, obviously ymmv). Some of the reasons I like it are more personal - like how Eaku took on more of a leadership role hunting down chaos portals when others weren't available, which helped develop the character in an interesting way - and so aren't necessarily applicable to what makes a more generally good event.

    But I do think aspects of it were really neat for everyone involved. It included everyone because Chaos was, at the time, an enemy of about everyone. The portals spawned in random locations which meant that most of the world was involved somehow - it filled the feeling of apocalyptic threat. There was a lot of neat rp (at least from my perspective, I was obviously only active in the Spirit groups and can't speak for Shadow) from the people either on the frontlines or waiting for the next set of portals. While obviously the threat was worldwide, it made a good environment for personal story development - it was, in some ways, hands-off from admin to a certain degree during parts of the ongoing story, but with enough already in motion that we had things to work with. Certain groups were able to track the portal locations better, but I never ran into an issue where they were unwilling to share that information. I believe the finale was scheduled for a fairly convenient time on the weekend and so more people were able to attend. Lots of things that combined together to make the event more fun, imo.
    Rhine
  • BenedictoBenedicto Tentacles Errywhere!
    I barely remember any events other than being on the periphery of them because of timezones. I'd always get to be involved in the build up and then miss the excitement of the final phase. To a degree, it's lessened my desire to be overly interested in any kind of event because things so frequently happen outside of my gaming timezone that I've just learned not to be overly excited for anything because I'll invariably wind up missing it or investing time to no end. One of the reasons I've had zero interest in the 'K' event is because I've yet to be present when literally anything happened regarding it. The information I have is from people discussing it or informing me after the fact.

    Therefore my favourite event is one that I actually got to be involved in (and so wins by default). The release of symbiosis and becoming a Duamvi. It was a real thrill to have an active hand in the climax of that event and have some very poignant moments with fellow Templar and Aban. The event had a profound impact on how I RP Benedicto and has become a core part of who he is now.

    Also, maybe selfishly, the wedding of Aloli and Benedicto and the buildup to that involving Chakrasul, Ethne and Bamathis and a whole host of other people. It was an absolute hoot having to deal with all the moving parts and personalities involved in that and the log of the wedding ceremony remains one of my favourites to read.
    image
    TeaniObaRhineWyattZeheiaWjoltyr
  • Benedicto said:

    I barely remember any events other than being on the periphery of them because of timezones. I'd always get to be involved in the build up and then miss the excitement of the final phase. To a degree, it's lessened my desire to be overly interested in any kind of event because things so frequently happen outside of my gaming timezone that I've just learned not to be overly excited for anything because I'll invariably wind up missing it or investing time to no end. One of the reasons I've had zero interest in the 'K' event is because I've yet to be present when literally anything happened regarding it. The information I have is from people discussing it or informing me after the fact.

    As a fellow Euro, I know absolutely nada about the K cult event. And I haven't been a part of events in a really long time. When I started playing back in the day, I played 13 hours a day (not even joking) spending most of my nights in the game and going to bed at 5-7am. That is the only reason I could get involved. Since then, I have realized that a healthy sleep schedule is very important for my mental health so I simply can't do that anymore. Having all events, both admin run and player run, be around Howling just makes it not worth it and I put my energy into day to day stuff instead. So I hear you on this, but with a little luck, our new British Ictinus will help change that up a bit!
    SaltzBenedicto
  • Don't feel bad. I am American and I know absolutely 0 about the K event other than cultists and Kalena threatening to behead me if I sat in the chair. 
    BenedictoObaEorosWjoltyr
  • Sit in the chair, COWARDS! I love the little trips it takes me on ^_^
    Toz says, "Dishonor on you (Mjoll), dishonor on your family (Seirath), dishonor on your cow (Bulrok)"
    TetchtaIazamatAyastiaEorosAlela
  • TetchtaTetchta The Innocent
    Easiest way by FAR to break into the Syssin guildhall.

    EorosAlela
  • If I get in there again without getting jumped by Feirenz I'm buying a warp stick and exploring the rest of the western wilderness >:D
    Toz says, "Dishonor on you (Mjoll), dishonor on your family (Seirath), dishonor on your cow (Bulrok)"
    RhineXavinEoros
  • You aren't my boss anymore troll!
    Eoros
  • I would sit in that chair if I could find it :(

    TeaniEoros
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