The Great Hunt has begun! The climax and theme of this Hunt is the trouble that started with Kvand, the wandering minstrel. The types of mobs that you are fighting in this event are a direct result of the actions and reactions that your fellow players took when playing with Kvand.
During this Great Hunt, which will last for 48 hours (until 23:59 GMT on Sunday, July 31st) you will earn double experience to all mobs killed and quests completed, and you will lose no experience for dying.
Angry spirits have been released across Aetherius from a temple that may or may not have been devoted to a certain nameless pretend Godling. To listen to the spirits, and to attempt to quell their murderous rampage, type LISTEN SPIRITS.
You cannot listen for the angry spirits in an area that is loyal to an organization (such as a city or a towne), and the room that you are in must be outdoors. A spirit will be summoned to your location and will begin to attack you. The strength of the mob will be dependent on your level, thrown in with some randomness.
As you kill more and more spirits, the spirits that you fight will get stronger and stronger. The people who kill the strongest of each type of spirit (there are 11 different types) will earn special rewards at the end of the Great Hunt. If you die, the spirits will weaken again.
Each spirit will increase your points in the Great Hunt. Stronger mobs are worth more Great Hunt points. If you earn 100 points in the Great Hunt, you will win 5 bound credits. If you earn 1000 points, you will win 10 more bound credits. If you earn 2500 points, you will win 15 more bound credits. That's a grand total of 30 credits just for logging on and killing some mobs.
The Great Hunt is divided up into three tiers. The tiers are:
Tier 1: Levels 100+
Tier 2: Levels 76 - 99 (inclusive)
Tier 3: Levels 1 - 75 (inclusive)
If, during the course of the event, you level up past one of the tier boundaries, all of your past kill scores will transfer to the next tier. So, say Janus has 100 points and is currently level 75, competing in tier 3. If he levels up to level 76 during the event, he automatically moves to tier 2, and all of his points move with him.
This means that there is a finite upper bound to the number of kills you can earn in tier 2 or tier 3. This will no doubt require a bit of strategy to try and maximize the number of points you can get without moving up to the next tier. Should you focus on dying more in the Hunt to decrease your spirit strength and fight mobs that are worth less XP (and fewer Great Hunt points), or larger mobs that may get you to the tier cutoff sooner, but are worth more points in the Great Hunt?
The top 10 scorers in each tier will win bonus bound credits. The bonus prizes are:
1st: 500 bound credits
2nd: 450 bound credits
3rd: 400 bound credits
4th: 350 bound credits
5th: 300 bound credits
6th: 250 bound credits
7th: 200 bound credits
8th: 150 bound credits
9th: 100 bound credits
10th: 50 bound credits
PK rules apply normally during this event. If you have a valid reason to attack someone, you're free to do so. If you do not have a valid reason, however, don't go out picking fights without justification. If you are attacked and killed by someone, I would strongly suggest that you refrain from insulting or questioning your killer. Just move on. If you're killed repeatedly by the same person without any continuing justification, file an issue against that person and we'll do our best to handle it.
Penned by my hand on the 17th of Aequitas, in the year 643 AD.
