Graveyard Bash - October 31st through November 6th

[Luthius]

Graveyard Bash (PvP Event)

• Graveyard Bash is a week long PvP event where players can gain temporary access to a new Graveyard Bash region
• The Graveyard Bash region is a Grey Zone where players will battle each other (among other activities) to increase their [EventScore for the event

Graveyard Skeleton Keys

• Whenever a player participates in one of our existing rotational PvP Events (Town Struggles, Corpse Creek Contests, Dungeon Flashpoints, Stygian Rifts) or any Arena Tournament and earns 1 or more Reward Points they will also be given 1 Graveyard Skeleton Key which will be placed in their Bank Box
• Graveyard Skeleton Keys are bound to the player (cannot be used by other players) and cannot be Stolen (but will drop on death)
• Players will need to spend a Graveyard Skeleton Key bound to them in order to gain access to the Graveyard Bash event
• Graveyard Skeleton Key's will be removed at the conclusion of the event

Gravediggers

• In order to participate in the event, players must first locate a "Gravedigger" NPC
• If players say "Event", "Grave", or "Bash" near the NPC, or double-click them, it will launch the Event Menu
• Players gain access to the Graveyard Bash event region by having a Graveyard Skeleton Key (that is bound to them) in their Bank Box or Backpack and then clicking the "Enter Graveyard Bash" button in the menu, which will teleport them to the region
• Players are only allowed to enter the Graveyard Bash within 15 minutes after a PvP Event has concluded (which includes Town Struggles, Corpse Creek Contest, Dungeon Flashpoints, and Stygian Rifts)

• Players can also Shift-Click the NPC and select the "Event" context menu entry to launch the Battle Event Menu

A Gravedigger near Corpse Creek


Entering the Event

• Once players enter the Graveyard Bash, they will have 15 Minutes Time Left in the region
• After a player's Time Left reaches 0, they will be Ejected back to town (the last town they used a Moongate from)

Region Rules

• The Graveyard Bash region is a Grey Zone where players can freely attack each other
• Players will ALWAYS be treated as being Recently in PvP while in the region (which will disable Aspects, Mastery Chains, Codexes, etc)
• All items on a player are considered Blessed while in the region
• Players are NOT allowed to bring Mounts or Followers into the region, and cannot summon Followers while inside
• Players cannot Steal from each other while in the region
• Players cannot Hide or become Invisible while inside the region
• Players cannot become Disguised, Incognito, or Polymorphed while inside the region
• Tracking Distances while in the region are reduced by 75%
• Players are allowed to cast a maximum of 3 Field Spells while in the event (similar to Town Struggle handling)

Graveyard Bash Hotbar

• When player enters the Graveyard Bash, they will automatically have a Graveyard Bash Hotbar displayed for them
• This hotbar shows the player's remaining Time Left in the region
• If a player closes the hotbar, they can relaunch it by typing [GraveyardBash

Surviving the Event

• For every 30 seconds the player spends in the event region, they will earn 30 points towards their [EventScore

Death Inside the Event
When a player dies inside the Graveyard Bash, several events occur:

Attackers
Killing another player in the event is worth up to a maximum of 300 points towards their [EventScore, but is adjusted as follows:

• Each player who damaged the victim within the last 30 seconds will receive points towards their [EventScore scaled based on their Total Damage % dealt to the victim (ie. 50% of total damage = 150 Event Score)
• If a player is ever Fully Healed (100% Health), it will clear all Damage History from them of players who damaged them previously
• Players will receive no points for killing Guildmates
• If the victim has less than 5 minutes of Time Left in the region, the initial 300 Points [EventScore value of the player will be scaled downwards based on that player's Time Left (i.e. a player with 3 minutes Time Left in the region would have an [EventScore worth of 180 instead of 300)

Victims

• When a player dies within the event, they will not lose any of their items
• The victim's Time Left for the region will be reduced by 5 Minutes

Resurrection

• If after dying, if the victim still has any Time Left, they will automatically resurrected and be teleported to a random location within the region

Ejection

• If dying causes the victim's Time Left to reach 0, they will automatically be Ejected from the region and their current event session ended

NPC Creatures

• A limited number of Creatures will spawn within the region
• Players can kill these creatures to increase their [EventScore by (40 * Player's Damage Dealt %) to the creature

Burial Urns

• During the event, Burial Urns will occasionally spawn in the event region
• Players can double-click these urns to damage them

• When a Burial Urn reaches 0 hit points, the last player to damage them will break it and earn 20 points towards their [EventScore

Tunnels

• During the event, a limited number Tunnels will occasionally spawn throughout the region
• If a player walks over a Tunnel it will immediately teleport them to a random location with the region

Graveyard Bash Menu Additional Info

• Below is a summary of the rules for the event (all information listed was previously covered above)

[EventScore and Event Rewards

[EventScore and Rank %

• Each player has an [EventScore based on how well they do during an event
• Players can type [EventScore to see their current EventScore for this event, with scores updated hourly
• At the end of the event, each player will have an Event Score Rank % determined for them based on how their [EventScore compares to that all other players

Example
A player who ranked 100th in [EventScore out of 1000 total players will have a Rank % of 90% (since their score is better than 90% of all other players)


Reward Items

• When the event concludes, players will earn any Reward Items where their [EventScore Rank % meets or exceeds the % range listed for that item in graphic below (i.e. players can earn multiple prizes)
• Prizes awarded to players will automatically be placed into their Bank Box (and will be "queued" for their Bank Box if no room is available)

• Evil Chalice (Random Hue) [0-10% Rank]
• Skeleton Key Trophy [10-25% Rank]
• Raven Statue [25-50% Rank]
• Animated Tombstone (4 Variations) [50-70% Rank]
• Funeral Floral Display (Random Hue) [70-90% Rank]
• Giant Eyeball (Random Hue) [90-99% Rank]
• Angel of Death Statue [99-100% Rank]

Top Players

• The players in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place [EventScore will also receive a unique Tombstone Trophy

PvP Reward Points

• Additionally, players will earn 1 PvP Reward Point for every percent of [EventScore Rank % they end up with
• Examples: A player with 25% Rank would receive 25 PvP Reward Points, a player with 50% Rank would receive 50 PvP Reward Points, and so on
• Players will only receive Reward Points based on the highest Rank % found amongst any account or IP associated with them

 

[Kerrigan]

The map layout looks great for ffa! The layout might further mitigate the effectiveness of the tunnels. Will the gravestones work as Los blockers? Was the amount of points a player can get from a mob reduced? (now it's 400, was it more in Grotto?). Great update to the event overall. I'm looking forward !

 

[Owyn]

The map layout looks great for ffa! The layout might further mitigate the effectiveness of the tunnels. Will the gravestones work as Los blockers? Was the amount of points a player can get from a mob reduced? (now it's 400, was it more in Grotto?). Great update to the event overall. I'm looking forward !

The number of active tunnels at any given time has been reduced to 2, on a 60 second reset timer.

Gravestones block movement (Impassable) but are not flagged "No Shoot". The behavior will be the same as you may encounter around Shadowspire Cathedral, for example.

The amount of points a player can get from a mob is maxed at 40, whereas player kills are worth 300.

 

[Kerrigan]

The number of active tunnels at any given time has been reduced to 2, on a 60 second reset timer.

Gravestones block movement (Impassable) but are not flagged "No Shoot". The behavior will be the same as you may encounter around Shadowspire Cathedral, for example.

The amount of points a player can get from a mob is maxed at 40, whereas player kills are worth 300.

Love it

 

[oroechimaru]

This is amazing

 

[Gilded Goblin]

Awesome idea for an event but the execution fell a bit short.
You've worked so hard to negate teaming up in Strangelands but in this event you promote it with the current mechanics. Seems like a drastic change of course on how events should be played.
Even the Grotto had teaming up but this event is much worse in that terms.

Hoping some changes can be made for next years/future PvP events.
Thanks for all the work Luthius!

 

[AreYouKidden]

Awesome idea for an event but the execution fell a bit short.
You've worked so hard to negate teaming up in Strangelands but in this event you promote it with the current mechanics. Seems like a drastic change of course on how events should be played.
Even the Grotto had teaming up but this event is much worse in that terms.

Hoping some changes can be made for next years/future PvP events.
Thanks for all the work Luthius!

That's an interesting take.. I mean it's a different style of event the Graveyard Bash, but man it does beg the question of why not build a couple of special strangelands event maps, and promote that as the PvP event for rewards for the week? Imagine a brand new strangelands map, more solo focused PvP so more people will be open to playing it. That could be a ton of fun!

 

[Gilded Goblin]

That's an interesting take.. I mean it's a different style of event the Graveyard Bash, but man it does beg the question of why not build a couple of special strangelands event maps, and promote that as the PvP event for rewards for the week? Imagine a brand new strangelands map, more solo focused PvP so more people will be open to playing it. That could be a ton of fun!

I agree it's completely different, but with all of the content that does promote guilds zerging it seems strange to promote it during a holiday event.
It's not a very healthy introduction to get people into PvP(seems like that was the idea behind this which I like) as it doesn't really give people a fair chance unless they bring their own zerg.
I'm in a position to bring a zerg but it's not enjoyable so I haven't done it, I know Owyn says to "bring friends" but this is supposed to be a sort of "FFA" event from the looks of it.

On your note, that would be fun. Solo focused pvp events with a bit more variety to the maps/layouts would be great!

 

[AreYouKidden]

I think it was more an attempt to bring PvP'rs content during events, as they'd only given to PvM'rs so far for events. Not to get people into PvP.
That said, seems like promoting PvP, and getting more people into it, would be a legit thing to aspire to.

 

[Expo]

The Graveyard Bash has come to an end! Congratulations to the number one gravedigger, Verice [xBu] – beating out over 350 other players for top spot!

• 1st Place: Verice [xBu]
• 2nd Place: Murdera [Rage]
• 3rd Place: offensive name [Rage]

Rewards have been distributed directly to participants bank boxes. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place rewards will be generated and personally delivered within 24 hours. The Brightwood Haunted Manor has also shuttered its doors for another year, but the spirits won’t rest for long: they shall return next year! Entries are now closed for the House Decoration Contest.

We hope you enjoyed all of the Halloween festivities this year!