The Keg End Horror

Keg End: a live event holiday dedicated to the pursuit of a really big party you never get to, but you do get leftovers.

At least, that's the impression I got.

My running theory is that Paul Barnett felt so strongly about the inclusion of a beer-centric live event that he stripped naked and sat in the lotus position on the board room table until the staff capitulated. The design document for the event probably had the word "BEER!" written 255 times on it, too.

Not even mentioning or hinting about *other* beer holidays in *other* MMOs where you force your character to swill down enough virtual booze to kill their liver, but I kind of like the idea of a live event that's party-based. Not that I'm a big (or even small) drinker in real life, but there's always the connection between dwarfs and beer that makes me smile. They do love it so. I'm not sure how all the other six races feel about partaking in a dwarf holiday, but they can take a number and stand in line for their own time. I hear the elves are going to have a flower-picking festival, or some such.

Keg End seems as though it sampled heavily from Witching Night and Heavy Metal for its inspiration -- Witching Night's slow-as-molasses influence bar and RvR boss mobs to down, Heavy Metal's excellent task list and encouragement of doing weird things in the middle of PvP -- while adding truly excellent fireworks to the mix. Man, if nothing else, Mythic's shown me that they can do fireworks. Boy howdy! I really wish there were more than the three, that's how good they look.

I'm of mixed feelings about the event, after a couple days of (ahem) drinking it in. I mean, I like the theme, it's a good theme, the idea of an end of the year party where all the beer has to be consumed or bad crap will happen. I think Kentucky operates along that line of thinking. But as I said earlier, it seems as though the entire event is leading up to a huge party we're never going to see. There might be a party for all I know, but I'm out in the middle of snowland grinding snotlings and cursing their drop rates and low respawns.

I have to say, while the tasks that take place in RvR are fun and pretty easy to do, the PvE stuff is anything but. Essentially, we've gone back to camping a la EverQuest, where we need to find certain mobs that may (but probably will not) drop certain loot. You find a little area where there's a thin herd of snotlings or ogres, and you plant root there, and grind and grind and grind and grind. Your influence bar mocks you as it sometimes goes backwards before creeping ever-so-slowly to the right. You have to find an impossible amount of kegs to drink, and the worst part about it all is that you have to compete with others.

That's right -- instead of joining hands and sashaying in a friendly dance, this sort of camping over very limited spawns fosters the kind of selfishness and hard feelings that I thought were gone from MMOs (or at least a dying breed). You may be in a party with guildies and friends, but on everyone's mind is the thought: "They're splitting the influence... they're rolling on the loot I need... I wish they'd DIE but I am morally above that sort of pettiness, so I shall grin and congratulate us all for a job well done as I advance only one baby step forward in this event."

To grind in a small area where you really don't want others around, even if you're bored and lonely? It's downright horrible. A guildie showed me a grinding spot earlier, and I've logged in now and then to hack out a half hour in it before closing down the game. Anyone who comes near -- Order, Destruction, GMs -- I feel this urge to huddle over and emit Go Away rays. They might steal my spawns! My preciousss sssspawnssss!

I shouldn't have to tell you, I really hate getting in that mindset. It's antisocial and selfish and idiotic.

The problem is that what most of us are grinding for is that stupid backpack that never drops, but every once in a while you see a guy going by wearing it and it just enrages you into action that much more. The influence rewards from Keg End are so-so -- I'm in it for the trophy, but that elite reward is the cat's butt. 15 summons to the capital city? Congrats, I've saved 5 silver on purchasing 15 guild recall scrolls. Bravo.

Why that backpack, like the capes from Heavy Metal, isn't an influence reward is beyond me.
I think I'm a bit hostile and aggravated from having to grind so much today when I want to do other, more productive things like help my faction defend a fortress under attack (which happened) or work on Tome unlocks or get that RR up so I can wear my new gear. But, no, I'm locked into the Quest for the Backpack, because it's a Limited Time Only.

/grit