Shattered Kingdoms

Good evening, it's your friendly neighborhood tyrannical Lord of Fear here to answer any questions you might have about the upcoming bonanza, as well as I can anyway. I'll go ahead and try to do some quick bullet points that might address some of the questions you might have from the initial posts.

Who are The Dying Light?

- A group of pseudo-mercenaries who work towards the goal of eradicating the undead menace, wherever it may be. They do take other work to fund their endeavors as needed, and as it agrees with them. They are not a group OOCly we would consider to be restricted by aura as much as ethos. For instance, they would likely get along fine within the Empire through most its history, but Aghelian lands would be a very different story. This is not currently a PC group of course, and there aren't any current plans to flesh them out beyond what you see.

Did you know there was a game called Dying Light?

- Nope. Well, I did before I wrote this post, but not before naming the group. There were actually about a dozen names brainstormed, and we just sort of picked the one that sounded kind of cool. In theme, probably draws more from Van Helsing/Hellboy/Supernatural type hunter/researcher mythos, leather and wood, arcane arts, lots of make do, guts, and grime.

Is this about finishing up the existing Zombie GRP?

- Yes. The point of this is to put the power directly in the players hands to start finishing off the Zombie GRP, and to do so with wanton violence, destruction, and perhaps the earning of lots of experience in the process. I'll be disappointed if that counter doesn't start rolling at a good clip this weekend.

Do we have to participate in the event?

- No. The scheduled incursion, and other possible incursions that may occur over the weekend aren't mandatory events, but they should be fun and fairly short productions, so participation is greatly encouraged. In fact, it isn't even required that people actually clear the undead out and burn their bodies, however, it probably would be better for everyone if you did of course...

Is there a set number of undead we need to kill and burn?

- Yes! Well, mostly. Undead are known to add population over time, so while there is a set number, and even a friendly Dying Light member in their forward base who is willing to provide an estimate of the current number needed to be culled to have a lasting impact, but if progress stalls the undead could use that lull to start to repopulate which would be bad.

Can anyone in-game participate in this event?

- Absolutely! This event was designed to allow everyone to participate, specifically new or returning players, or even just new characters. The Dying Light group are well-experienced at outfitting relatively inexperienced recruits and finding a way to make them useful by sending them into the fray where they can aid the cause. You'll find a recruiter stationed within the newbie area with a portal that goes directly to the base, and the forward base itself near the library in Uxmal. Once there, tell the wrinkled gnome you would like to PLEDGE to assist in some way, and you will be provided with a vambrace to wear that allows you to STRIKE undead bodies and burn them. Each one burnt counts towards the total needed. You can see how many are LEFT just by concentrating on that word. If you lose your vambrace, simply pledge to help once more with the wrinkled gnome.

Do I have to burn the bodies for them to count?

- Correct. Undead are notorious difficult to keep down short of a few key weaknesses, and the way to make sure they stay down is to use the vambraces provided by the Dying Light to burn the bodies. Plus, zombies and their ilk make notoriously bad food, so you aren't missing out on much.

These weapons seem pretty powerful for their cost, is that right?

- It is! While these weapons are absolutely a limited time offering, and will be loosely monitored for any strange behavior, they are supposed to provide a significant power boost in dealing with the undead threat. Enjoy them while they last though, because once the undead are gone, so is the shop and the low low prices therein. The shop is currently due north of the wrinkled gnome and the Dying Light leader Kimberly Foster. The weapons can be repaired/resized in the training room.

They are transporting me to places that are too easy/hard for me!

- Sorry to hear that, but believe it or not there is a lot of variability in what different players and different race/class combinations can handle, regardless of benefits given to them. I tried my best to make the assignments from the Dying Light to be relatively level appropriate, but if you find yourself unable to handle the area feel free to play elsewhere, undead or not, and try again once you've gained a level or two. You can also try returning to one of the previous areas manually as all the levels they provide transport to are not only able to be walked to, but they provide sextant coordinates to you as well.

We didn't reach 5000 over the weekend? What does this mean?

It means there were a few technical difficulties, some of which should have just been resolved. It also means things went about how we thought they would, and this was already somewhat planned for. I mentioned satisfactory progress before because we knew this might take a little bit of time, zombie hordes are hordes for a reason.

What "Satisfactory Progress" is will be determined by how far we make it by 10 pm Pacific Time today, Monday, July 17th. At that time, we'll lock in the number left. The bonus XP will continue as long as 25% of that number is dealt with by the same time following day.

For example, if we make it to 2000 left that would mean 500 would need to be removed by 10 pm Pacific on Tuesday, July 18th. The same will be true on Wednesday and Thursday. As long as that progress continues, the bonus XP remains, but with luck we will be ready to continue forward on Friday.

And with that, I'm opening the floor to everybody for any additional questions you might have...

So weapon availability is limited to the event. Will those weapons that were bought also disappear, or will people be able to keep them after?

Edit - second question. Are some areas of the game "opening up" as the event goes along and the ticker counts down? I found one area where the undead were gone but wasn't sure if it was a progress thing or just that it got changed over manually for some other reason.

Weapon availability should continue for some time, but once they are gone, they are gone.

This even is primarily designed for clearing the roads, but it should segway into clearing up everything eventually and other spots may be cleared up sooner rather than later.

We didn't reach 5000 over the weekend? What does this mean?

It means there were a few technical difficulties, some of which should have just been resolved. It also means things went about how we thought they would, and this was already somewhat planned for. I mentioned satisfactory progress before because we knew this might take a little bit of time, zombie hordes are hordes for a reason.

What "Satisfactory Progress" is will be determined by how far we make it by 10 pm Pacific Time today, Monday, July 17th. At that time, we'll lock in the number left. The bonus XP will continue as long as 25% of that number is dealt with by the same time following day.

For example, if we make it to 2000 left that would mean 500 would need to be removed by 10 pm Pacific on Tuesday, July 18th. The same will be true on Wednesday and Thursday. As long as that progress continues, the bonus XP remains, but with luck we will be ready to continue forward on Friday.

Keep up the good work everyone, may the unliving be dead in your wake.

So, as stated elsewhere, you guys and gals figuratively and literally killed it. The zombies were done for well before the agreed upon time, but we've went ahead and allowed the bonus XP to run regardless as a reward for the hard work.

I just wanted to give a heads up that it was decided the bonus XP will be ending as of 8 pm PT Wed July 19th, so if you need time for any last minute leveling sprees you have a bit of prior warning.

However, the next part of the process(and bonus xp) will likely be beginning the weekend of the 28th, so you won't have to wait long to jump back into the undead killing fray, but with a bit more scholarly purpose this time(and a few individual rewards).

Thanks again for the participation everyone, and I hope to keep seeing you around.

I will be posting something shortly in the Announcements forum as well, but just to give everyone a heads up. The next portion of this shindig is going to pushed back a bit, and I apologize for any inconvenience that is going to cause anyone. There are a few different reasons for this, one of which is that I really want to do a bit more testing on some of the scripts involved this time just to make sure we have fewer frustrations in the heat of bonanza this time. On the bright side, that does mean the undead slaying weapons will be available longer as well. Also, in the next couple of days the assignment vendor will be offering something for those characters of higher level to check out as well to help them get ready, so all is not entirely lost.

Again, I just wanted to let people know the bonus bonanza XP would not be happening this weekend, and as soon as I have a firm date and more information about related events I will be letting everyone know.

P.S.: The next portion of the event should include some individual rewards for top performers as well, in addition to the more general rewards of bonus XP and undead genocide.

Been a few weeks. Did the next part happen and I missed it, or did it get postponed?

It was postponed. We'll be sure to post about the next portion here and in the game before it starts.

Since it's basically on me that it's been postponed for so long, I figured I would take the opportunity to just own that for a second. I have had some issues that have greatly limited my computer access, and I should have done a better job of communicating that to everyone in relation to the event stuff going on. As Dulrik said, there will be something posted with some more information, but we should be moving forward/skipping forward towards oblivion, or the end of this event much sooner rather than later.