Summer Solstice 2013

Summer Solstice 2013 was an event to celebrate the world's longest day and the middle of summer in the northern hemisphere. It was organized by shadowfax with assistance from other gods and builders such as kagome and draak. It begun on the 4th June when a storyline started to develop where fire elementals were mysteriously appearing in the prime plane. As the event progressed more details were revealed, a repeatable quest was added until finally on the 21st June (summer solstice) new areas and a global quest opened up. The quest involved conquering two new high level areas and concluding the storyline for which players were rewarded with a special one time quest item. The quest and areas were kept open until 25th June to allow all players a chance to run them before been shutoff ready to be redeveloped and reopened at a later date. Along side the event shadowfax issued a promotional contest which is now closed.

Timeline

Date	Summary
June 4	Event announed
June 11	Mephit quest
June 21 to 25	Main event
June 25 20:40 server time	Event areas go offline
July 4	Promotional contest closes

Promotional Contest

Contest setup to help promote alteraoen in new ways. Players are invited to submit media of all types i.e. videos, screenshots, fanfic, fanart to alteraeon@facebook.com where the top three will receive a prize. Originally scheduled to run to June 21 the contest has now been extended to July 4 to allow more people to enter.

Prize structure

• 1st prize 3000 credits.
• 2nd prize 2000 credits.
• 3rd prize 1000 credits.

Mephit quest

Talking to the red mage in the town of Zin revealed the following in the build up to the main event.

The Red Mage says, 'The Church of Shadowfax is aware of recent reports of fire plane creatures
 appearing all over the Material Plane, and we are in process of gathering information
 in order to assess the situation.'

 The Red Mage says, 'The investigation into the widespread fire plane incursions continues.  
If you wish to help, bring me the remains of these so-called mephits 
that you might happen across and destroy.'

This is a repeatable quest where players are required to find mephits, kill them and bring the resulting ash back to the red mage for analysing. Players were rewarded with a couple hundred gold and an xp cap.

Mephit ash

Once a mephit is located and destroyed it will leave behind its ash. This item has multiple uses as well as being able to be given to the red mage to aid his research in exchange for gold and xp quest reward, it can also be used to brew potions, to make bombs. or even sold on auction.

Item: 'ash mephit leavings charred pile'  
Weight: 1  Size: 1'0"  Level: 90
Object is: 
Type: SPELLCOMP   Composition: FIRE
Estimated cost: 11182  
This item is in fairly good condition.

Note the mephit ash does not last forever it's condition will degenerate over time, it is therefore advisable to use it as soon as possible before it disappears.

Fire invasion counterattack

The main event started June 21 at 5pm server time, several groups ran the event and shadowfax led a group so that lower level players could also participate.

A temporary portal to the Ethereal Plane of Fire was found one up from the zin waypoint. Groups of player fought their way through the area, which was loaded with various fire elementals and other evil sky-creatures. The boss mob was Perenius the Demonlord, who, upon his death, launched the second stage of the quest.

Players then searched for the entrance to the second area, which was quickly located in the northwestern Northern Ocean. Inside this area, which was the innards of a giant machine, players fought their way to the Scalding Lord, the root of all the trouble. Upon the death of the scalding lord, all players received a cloak of flames as a reward for completing the quest.

Item: 'cloak flames fire'  
Weight: 1  Size: 5'0"  Total levels: 103
Object is: ARTIFACT LIGHT 
Type: OTHER   Composition: FIRE
Wear locations are: ABOUT_BODY 
Estimated cost: 15878  
Item has other effects:
Affects:  SAVING_COLD by 25%
Item affects you as:
Spell 'fire shield', level 90
This item is bound to you.

Areas

• The Fathomless Bathysphere
• Ethereal Plane of Fire
• Huge machine beneath the Northern Ocean

Shadowfax quests

for main article see shadowfax quests

• Locate and destroy the shrine of Igneous
• Harvest firewater weed
• Harvest a fire root
• Retrieve fragments of Shadowfax's divine essense

Reception

Event was well received and several messages from players thanking and praising the builders who helped organize it were posted to board 8.

Board postings

The following are board and show event postings by shadowfax at various points during the event.

You are currently reading board 8 'Dentin's Board (Room 8)'.
Date:    2013 Jun  4 15:23
From:    shadowfax
Subject: Summer Solstice Celebration
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark your calenders!  This June 21st we will be having our Summer Solstice
Celebration!
We have a host of new areas and content that we'll be releasing
thereabouts, and, on the eve of the Summer Solstice, there is a global
event for all to participate in!  Consult the Red Mage for details.
We're also holding a contest!  See the next post for details!

You are currently reading board 8 'Dentin's Board (Room 8)'.
Date:    2013 Jun  4 15:24
From:    shadowfax
Subject: Alter Aeon Promotional Contest
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alter Aeon is expanding its social network contacts into all sorts of a
new, previously untouched venues.  We're on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube,
Tumblr, Myspace, Google and many others, and we are continually adding
more!
To help attract new players to Alter Aeon in these new markets, we're
putting together a promotional video.  We need your help!
Send us your Alter Aeon media!  We need videos!  We need screenshots!  We
want to see you playing Alter Aeon!  Record yourself playing or skyping or
whatever!  Use whatever client or accessibility software you like!  It
doesn't matter if you can see or not.
Not sure what to do for video?  Check out our Youtube channel at
youtube.com/AlterAeonProductions for examples.
We'd also love to see your fanart or fanfic!  Draw or write a story about
your favorite Alter Aeon characters!
Don't worry about editing or anything.  We'll take care of all that.
Mulitiple submissions are acceptable and encouraged!  Send them to
alteraeon@facebook.com.  (Subscribe to Alter Aeon Mud if you haven't
already!)  Make sure you include your player name with your submission so
we know who you are!
I will choose whichever submissions tickle my fancy the most as first,
second and third place winners.  First prize will be 3000 credits, second
prize 2000 credits, and third prize will be 1000 prize.
While we will always been happy to accept your videos, pictures and
fanworks, this contest will end June 21st, on the day of the Summer
Solstice.

You are currently reading board 8 'Dentin's Board (Room 8)'.
Date:    2013 Jun 17 12:33
From:    shadowfax
Subject: Fire Plane Invasion!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fire elementals found widespread across the mainland are now attacking
on sight.  You will need to take precautions when encoutering them.
Since fire plane creatures continue to encroach upon this world, we can
assume that what is taking place is no less than a prelude to a full scale
invasion.  The Church of Shadowfax is actively searching for a reasonable
means of stopping the elementals at their source.  We should have a
solution very soon.
In the mean time, the Red Mage continues to collect mephit leavings for use
in this research.  You can help by bringing him some.
(The fire invasion counterattack will begin on Friday, June 21st at 7pm. 
That is 10pm system time.  After the event, the invasion areas will remain
open over the weekend so that everyone has a chance to play through them.)

Date:    2013 Jun 21 21:17
From:    shadowfax
Subject: Summer Solstice Celebration Event
------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, we just wrapped up our lead run of the Fire Plane Invasion event.  For
any of you who missed it (or just want to run them again), the event areas
will remain open until Tuesday night.  They'll then be remodelled and
re-opened in the near future.  The Red Mage will also accept the leavings
for any mephits still floating about for the next few days.

Date:    2013 Jun 21 21:21
From:    shadowfax
Subject: Alter Aeon Promotional Contest - Extension
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our promotional contest was to come to an end tonight, but I don't have
enough submissions as of yet to give out all of the available prizes.  So,
the contest deadline will be extended until July 4th.  See post 200 on this
board for contest details.

Event Information
------------------------------------------------------------------
Fire Plane Invasion!
Minor fire elementals have been found throughout the world for the
past couple of weeks, and they have always been passive and fled when
approached.  However, they are now attacking on sight!  Players are
advised to take precautions when encountering them.
Since fire plane creatures continue to encroach upon the world, we
can assume that what is taking place is no less than a prelude to a
full scale invasion.  The Church of Shadowfax is actively searching
for a reasonable means of stopping the elementals at their source. 
They should have a solution very soon.
In the mean time, the Red Mage in the city of Zin continues to
collect mephit leavings for use in this research.  You can help by
bringing him some.
The fire invasion counterattack will begin on Friday, June 21st 5 pm
PST, which is 5 pm server time.  After the event, the invasion areas
will remain open over the weekend so that everyone has a chance to
play through them. 

External links

• Alteraeon youtube channel
• Alteraeon facebook