Flameseeker Chronicles: Community, contests, and minion apocalypse

This week's Flameseeker Chronicles is a bit of a departure. Rather than compiling a guide or a wrap-up of the latest news or content, we're going to sit back, relax, and have a little bit of fun. The timing couldn't be better: We're in a post-convention lull for Guild Wars 2, Winds of Change part two has arrived and been played through, and Halloween events aren't here quite yet.

It's a chance to take a bit of a breather, so this week I'm focusing on some community events and a little extra. Jump past the cut and let's get started!

Pink Day in L.A.

OK, maybe not everyone is relaxing. The crews from Gamers Giving Back and the Gaming World Entertainment Network (that's right, GWEN) have a very busy week ahead of them as they put the finishing touches on Pink Day in L.A.

If you're new to Guild Wars in the past year, you may not be familiar with this event, but it's one you definitely don't want to miss. So what is it? Pink Day is an in-game event created to help raise awareness of breast cancer.

The annual event began way back in 2007, according to the Pink Day timeline: "It started with an idea thought up by a small guild to bring awareness of breast cancer and to give gamers the chance to show their support for fighting against it. The event itself lasted only a few hours across three international districts of Lion's Arch. There were no big gatherings or giveaways. Red and silver dyes were given out to players who wanted to show their support by dying their favorite armor set pink. Even for its small size, it was seen as a success at the time."

Pink Day had a bit of a rough road and nearly died out in 2009, but it more than made up for that when the event returned to the scene with a vengeance in 2010. Rhonda from Gaming World Entertainment World set out to revive it, and she and her crew did a better job than anyone would have dreamed, raising over $11,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Pink Day in L.A. isn't just a "hey, give us money on this day" event. It's one of the biggest fan-created parties of the year in Guild Wars. It happens this Saturday, the 15th, from 1 to 7 p.m. EDT in the international districts of Lion's Arch. Districts 1 to 14 will be hosted, meaning that there will be a team doing trivia, running minigames, and handing out party favors in each hosted district. The event team has amassed a truly impressive pile of loot for trivia prizes, both in-game and real-world. It's got Obsidian Armor and Armbraces to trick out your Hall of Monuments, a Charr plushie, a Razer Naga mouse, and many, many more items.

Of course, the big goal is to raise money for cancer research, so a monetary donation is your ticket to the really cool prizes. Anyone donating at least $10 CDN will be entered to win one of 66 (and counting!) prizes, both Guild Wars-themed and otherwise. There are movie props, jewelry items, clothing, comics, and plenty more. The goal this year is to raise $13,337.00, and every little bit helps.

Guild Wars Guru has kindly provided a round-up of details for the event, so head there for all the full lists of everything and then get to Lion's Arch early Saturday for a good spot!

Halloween contest

This event might not be quite as huge as Pink Day, but I'm still excited about it because the prizes are great and it's a community effort. The Guild Wars Online forums are keeping us occupied while we wait for the Mad King to arrive by encouraging creativity in a Halloween contest.

Entrants can flex their creative muscles however they desire: through literature, music, video, or any form of artistic expression. Simply show off your best Halloween-themed Guild Wars art by October 25th, and the GWO team will give 10 winners some great in-game prizes, including weapons, armor, minipets, and various title points to give your Hall of Monuments a little more shine.

The GWO forum has all the details -- good luck!

MVOP

MVOP is back in the saddle after a hiatus to accommodate that pesky real life, and we're resuming our Thursday night meetups. We're currently working through Eye of the North in normal mode, and this Thursday night we're starting with Forgotten Relics in the Charr lands. How far will we go? Will we go all out and finish the entire story line?

There's one way to find out. Meet us Thursday night in Doomlore Shrine, Japanese district 1 at 9:00 p.m. EDT and join an MVOP team to play with us. You don't have to be an MVOP member, or even an alliance member -- the more the merrier! We'll create as many teams as needed and maybe even make a race of it.

The best laid plans of ArenaNet and men

I want to finish up this week on a fun and silly note. If you haven't seen this video, do so -- it's a hilarious example of what happens when various game mechanics come together in just the right way. Throw in a bit of the unpredictable human element, and wackiness ensues. It's no Corrupted Blood, but I got a kick out of it.

So what happened? Well, three things. First, you may remember that back in May of 2010, ArenaNet implemented a fun new way of banning bots and cheaters. If you're logged in when you're banned, your character becomes a flaming corpse sprawled on the ground.

Second, and more recently, ArenaNet introduced the Flux effect. It's an environmental effect that's present in PvP outposts and arenas. It changes monthly, and the current version is called Minion Apocalypse: "Each player death deals 50 damage to all nearby creatures and spawns a masterless bone horror (level 20)."

Third, people still bot and cheat, and they still get banned Dhuum-style. Remember I said that Flux is present in towns? Do you see where I'm going with this? See above reference to wackiness.

ArenaNet took care of it with the October 4th update, stating that "the Zaishen have put down the apocalyptic minion outbreak in PvP outposts," but everyone enjoyed the laughs in the meantime (and thank Dwayna that the deaths didn't count against survivor titles. Can you imagine leaving your survivor in an outpost, going afk, and coming back to that?)

All right, that's it for this week -- I'll see you Thursday in Doomlore and Saturday in L.A.!

Rubi is a longtime Guild Wars player and the writer of Flameseeker Chronicles here at Massively. The column keeps a close eye on all the events in Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, and anything bridging the two. It's also the home of a weekly summary of the travels of [MVOP], Massively's Guild Wars guild. Email Rubi at rubi@massively.com.