Dynamic event

May 2010 screenshot

Dynamic events refer to any event that occurs in a persistent area as a result of players interacting with and exploring the world. They are called "dynamic" because there are multiple outcomes that also result in new events, creating a cascade effect. Once an event has triggered, it will develop whether or not a player attends it. Because of this, there is no real concept of failure or success – the result of any event will simply cause a change in the surrounding area. For example, if monsters are successful in raiding an area, they may become strong enough to occupy a fort, which could then be taken by players.

Events are designed to replace traditional MMORPG quests - players are notified when there is a new event nearby rather than looking for an NPC with an exclamation mark over their head. Traditional quests have negative repercussions such as spawn camping and kill stealing. Guild Wars 2's dynamic events prevent these issues by promoting player cooperation by rewarding all players that participate in the event 100% of any experience gained without the need to form a party. To keep a consistent level of difficulty along with increased participation, an event will scale dynamically based on the number of active participants. Not all events require combat to complete.

Event mechanics

Dynamic events are cyclical in nature and the events are generally chained together. Events do not necessarily follow a fixed schedule, and may only trigger if certain conditions are met - for example, if a snow storm strikes an area, or if night falls on a graveyard. Once an event has triggered, it will continue to progress whether or not players participate in that event. Although the cyclical nature of the system means that consequences are ultimately temporary, event results can persist for days, weeks, or even months until a player comes along and does something to progress the chain of events. Each event has an NPC associated with it with whom the player can talk to learn more about the story and lore behind the event.

In addition to single events, several common types of event chains can be observed: Chains of events which progress linearly as the players participate in them, and repeat after short while; Branching events which may end up one way or another; Conquest-like battles, often part of meta events, in which players side with allied faction to fight enemies and attempt to capture multiple locations or take down several enemy forces, while the opposing force seeks to do the same.

Event state

The possible event states are:

• Active – The event is running now
• Success – The event has succeeded
• Fail – The event has failed
• Warmup – The event is inactive, and will only become active once certain criteria are met
• Preparation – The criteria for the event to start have been met, but certain activities (such as an NPC dialogue) have not completed yet. After the activites have been completed, the event will become Active.

Event participation

The foremost requirement of an event is being in the right place at the right time. Events can be discovered in a number of ways, such as exploring the world, conversing with non-player characters, and approaching the heart-shaped goal markers (

) provided by a scout. Whenever a player comes within range of a new event, a New Event Nearby notification appears on screen along with an event assistant entry on the right-hand side. In the cases where the event occurs above or below the player, for example up a mountain or while swimming, a marker is used to indicate an up or down direction. The player map is also updated with a variety of event-related markers for as long as a player is within the events range. Should a player wander away from the event, any progress made is retained until the player returns to the event or the event concludes.

Event indicators

• Text color:
  • Orange text indicates a dynamic event
  • Yellow text indicates a meta event
• Brushstroke: An event is affecting the encompassed area.
• A specific foe that must be vanquished.
• An object that must be destroyed or protected.
• A task involving collecting or gathering.
• A chaotic brawl.
• An area that must be held or claimed.
• An area or NPC must be protected from harm.
• A service or assistance that needs to be provided.
• An issue that must be resolved by force.
• An object needs to be built.

Event scaling

Events scale both up and down according to the number of players who are currently participating. Events can scale in a number of ways:

• Enemy stats can be increased
• Enemies can gain new abilities
• New enemy types may appear, including veterans or even champion versions
• Enemy count can be increased
• Objective requirements may increase

Most events scale for up to 10 players. Group events and and large scale events such as the finale for meta events will scale much higher. For example, The Shatterer scales up to 100 players. Events can detect that players have not performed any actions relating to the event within a period of time and will scale down the event accordingly.

Group events

Separate from event scaling, Group Events are different in complexity and/or difficulty from other events of the surrounding area. Group Events are listed in the event assistant with "[Group Event]", and like other events are marked on the map and compass. As their name implies, they are designed to be done with groups rather than individuals as they are unlikely to be solo-able (though some can be with patience and tactics).

A list of group events can be found on Category:Group events.

Meta events

Meta events are a series of dynamic events that tells the story of an explorable zone. Meta events are displayed in the event assistant stating if the meta event is inactive or the actual dynamic event that marks the state of the meta event.

Event rewards

An event is completed with a 'gold-level' reward.

Once an event is completed, everyone who actively participated will receive rewards of coin, karma, and experience. The amount of the rewards is based on the level of the event, the player's participation level, and whether the event was successful.

A character's level of participation in an event is measured by different factors for different events, resulting in a ranking of gold, silver, or bronze participation. If an event fails, players still receive half the reward:

Reward level	Successful	Failed
Gold	100%	50%
Silver	85%	42.5%
Bronze	75%	37.5%

Higher level characters can still receive rewards for lower-level content: the rewards are increased if the character's level is substantially higher than the event level.

Karma formula

The maximum karma reward is calculated with the summation at right, where n is the level of the event. This can be approximated as:

18 + 4.5 * n

• Round the result mathematically.
• The result is +1 too high, whenever n-1 is a multiple of four.

Anti-griefing design

In order to prevent griefing, ArenaNet has added several measures to prevent a group of players from spoiling the event for others:

• Events never encourage player conflict.
• They are designed to avoid including fail conditions that can be triggered by players, although they can fail if parallel events in the chain fail.
• Higher-leveled players are scaled down in areas that are intended for lower leveled players.

Trivia

• The event system is a feature that had its beginnings in the unreleased campaign, Guild Wars: Utopia.