Colossal Halloween Event, 31 October and 1 November

[cielchan]

Well put Gillayne. Let's hope someone will read and learn from the comments here. PvP *can* be fun, even in Ryzom. I remember the first time we had mass PvP introduced like I said before, with the temples. It was fun, even to me back then. Just red and blue dots, about equal in numbers, that's how it's supposed to be!

For the event, I was expecting a large melee battle aswell, with the NPCs making up for uneven numbers. But in the end the NPCs killed each other, the event team killed each other and players killed aggro and anyone looking suspicious.

[murmadog]

Which made it FUN rather than just mindless bashing!
If you want mindless bashing style pvp, go to some Korean grinder like Shaiya or Aion.

Tyrant Jinovitch's Army:

- Join the Matis Royal Army, under the fist of Tyrant Jinovitch, usurper King of Matis. You will need to equip a red Modi Parok, wearing a Mark of Fervor on your face and join the regular army which will meet at the borderpost of the Maze of Sprite.

- Join the Zoraï Black Circle Tribe, allies of the Matis Tyrant, opportunists and goo manipulators. Wear a black armor Modi Parok and have blonde hair.

Forces defending the Lakes:

- Join the Tryker Corsairs army led by the young Still Wyler and put on red and blue Lor-Tashok armor, dye your hair light green and come strengthen the ranks of the Lakes's defenders, grouped at Avendale.

- Join the Burning Faces, led by the young Dexton, Fyros's Emperor. Dress in a red Kostomus outfit, tint your hair red, and gather south of the Silt Sculptors Tribe, in Winds of Muse.

- Join the Leaf of Bravichi, swear loyalty to the legitimate prince Yrkanis and put on green Modi Parok strength armor, dye your hair green, display the Scrolled Wings on your faces, and gather at the north of Avendale close to your prince.

well, if "join Jinovitch's Army" = "just mindless bashing"... "forces defending the Lakes" = "carebears" then...

[deadelf]

Which made it FUN rather than just mindless bashing!
If you want mindless bashing style pvp, go to some Korean grinder like Shaiya or Aion.

this was supposed to be an rp event overall, we didn't get much of a pep talk from jinovitch or ba'gity (whatever black circle's tribe chief's name was) and im quite sure that the jinovitch's army historically wasnt decimated by kitin and carnivorous crustaceans before they actually fought with Prince Yrk

Getting killed by aggro halfway to the rendezvous while the NPC army just marches on isnt quite my idea of fun, if we could have actually concentrated on the enemy instead of worrying about something gnawing at our heels, it wouldve been better, this is just my 2 dappers.

I dont like starting flame wars on forums, you should try to avoid that last sentence of yours in the future, it's a dangerous one to throw around on a forum, specially Ryzom's...

[iceaxe68]

My experience of the battle, with comments and scorecard:

I really wanted to enjoy the battle. I was looking forward to some good historical RP, learning more about the lore, and having some sort of semi-scripted reenactment.

I didn't expect to make it, but RL did one of it's usual unexpected twists and at the last minute I was able to attend. Many thanks to my guildies who came up with armor for me as I stood aside at the rallying point expecting to only be able to watch.

I took some nice screenies of Still Wyler in his gorgeous armor. It was really awesome to see the great man in person, even as a "flashback".

We waited for a long time, then, without any clue why. Turns out, we were waiting for Jinovitch et al to reach their spot through the aggro. Found that out afterward, but at the time, it was a bit annoying, although it did give me a chance to work on some macros and generally goof around.

Then we started off at a dead run with no warning and no explanations. I had no idea where we were going, no idea who we were supposed to be fighting, and no idea why.

After we got through the Avendale portal into Loria, it got worse. From that point on, it was like a disaster film, with people running every which way in confusion, being eaten by mobs, dragging aggro on each other in their madness. Somehow we managed to reach Jinovitch and crew, at which point there was a moment of "OK, now what?" Then it devolved into chaos again.

From time to time an event character would shout something with too little context or information for me to decipher what was going on, or what I should do.

Eventually we reached some sort of conclusion, Yrkanis and Jinovitch duelled, and Yrkanis won. I think at that point we were to escort Prince Yrkanis back to Yrkanis, but then I got ganked, and basically said "screw this" and ported out.

I'm not complaining about the ganking, it was a free PvP zone and a$$hats will be a$$hats - it was sadly expected, from the moment I realized we would be in a PvP zone. They even announced that they were about to commence ganking. How thoughtful. I'm used to muting them at RP events, but there's no way to mute a launcher or an axe. It just wasn't fun for me, so I left. I blame the event organizers for failing to think it through, though with the understanding that they were probably trying to do what they could with existing mechanics, which aren't really capable of doing this sort of thing properly. Maybe OP battle mechanics would have worked better, but I don't know if they could be pressed into use for this.

The blame for the aggro is mixed. I think the idea was for the mobs to still be turned off, but apparently the players voted to bring them back (or so I've heard rumored, but haven't confirmed). Note to event team: Instant polls only get the attention of people who are upset, and leave out the majority who never even are aware that there IS a poll until afterward. (Like me...) A perfect example of letting the inmates run the asylum.

All in all, an almost total waste of time. If it were not for my awesome friends being there to hang out with, and Hekla's great lore commentary in team and guild chat, the worthlessness would have been absolute. I'd have had more fun digging. (And did, a little while later.)

Scorecard:
(ABCDF scale)

Event Idea: A
Event Organization: C-
Event Mechanics: F for major fail
Event Staff: B (for effort, not success)
Hekla: A++ for awesome


Despite my complaints, I hope that this sort of thing will continue, with lessons learned and improvements made. I'll certainly be there, although I may be quicker on the TP trigger next time if it's not "doing it for me". I think many people did that, as there seemed to be fewer around near the end. Or maybe Fijoo ate 'em.


EDIT:
I do want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the other activities I was able to attend over the weekend. I don't want the event team to become discouraged, at all. Please, keep trying, and working at it, and getting always better. I just hope that similar future events will incorporate hard lessons learned from this one.

[lorac]

I've been around forever and I usually don't make public comment about anything but I must say a few things about the past Halloween weekend. (yes, Loracas does speak)

We applaud the event team for all they tried to accomplish, I do have a good idea what it takes to create such things.
Dazzie and I both were excited about upcoming events and we prepared most the week beforehand. We tried to attend everything and we had alot of fun for the most part. There were a few frustrations though.

The Pump'kin hunt was tedious but good fun. We became obsessed as we watched our standing on the scoreboard. I'm still lookin for pumpkins, found a few on the way to work this morning. We would have placed higher except for the other distractions this weekend. (Jetlag, Daz had her sights on you dude)

The mini-mek races were a blast. Seeing me on a mini had me on the floor. Dazzie and I ran all 4 races. We finished side by side in the Matis race (but Daz missed a waypoint and she didn't place). We both crashed during the Tryker race and got totally lost in Zoria. The Fyro race was "ON" and I really thought we had the lead at one point. Does anyone have the posting for the races? I forgot to take a screenie of the scoreboard.
The mek races were a definate hit with us and should be a regular thing.

We found the Ghost Town just in time for the yubo attack. Hope there are no pics of me running with yubos on my butt. The kincher invasion was a little much though, they spawned right on top of us.

We prepared the best we could for the Jinovitch re-enactment with the short spec provided, but we did manage to show our colors. I was surprized to only see 8 homin donned in green to support our Prince, but we did fit in 1 team. This event went bad as soon as we hit the PvP zone. It's shortcoming became evident and deadly. I had prepared to stand tall with my Prince but found myself healing team in cheap heavy armor just to keep us alive. It was frustrating to see so many fallen commrades that couldn't be aided. The regular outpost mechanics would have suited this event much better, and no mobs would have made it less confusing.

Didn't care much for the kincher spawns in Yrk, gave me a couple of DP's

All-in-all, Dazzie and I had a blast this past weekend. We were glued to our keyboards all weekend. We appauld the event team for their efforts and encourage them to continue their endevors.

Thanks guys,
Loracas & Dazzie of CaraVia

[mariann]

Had an awesome time despite only being able to play for maybe 40 minutes tops. Found only 40 pumpkins, but managed to reclaim my mount lost outside of Thesos two months ago. Finally managed to get to Yrk, of course I went to the stylist (first time I was able to since leaving toon creation). and managed to lose my mount again... this time to bandits in Heretic's Hovel. One day I might get a lakes TP but not worrying too much. Moonie just has to live with a three land cp'r

Can't wait for the next event.