Event
- For API events that can be handled by the UI or addons, see Events.
Events (also known as World Events, Seasonal Events or Holidays when appropriate) are happenings on Azeroth, Outland, alternate Draenor, and in the Shadowlands, only available in the game at certain times and not others, ranging from several times a day, to annually, to one-time historical happenings never to be seen again.
The contents of an event can vary from small yet ferocious free-for-all skirmishes for loot, to world-wide friendly celebrations, to ongoing military campaigns.
Types of environment changes accompanying events include:
- Caravans, tents, or wagons being added to an area
- Decorations on buildings
- New fixed devices
- New mobs, quest givers, vendors, or other NPCs
- Special drink and food
- Holiday-specific quests and quest rewards
- Holiday-themed recipes
Ongoing events
Over the course of Azeroth's troubled history, the times of celebration have fallen under the shadow of the conflicts that have shaped and scarred the world. Every day, as new challenges surface, new champions answer the call to arms, relishing the glory and the rewards of battles well fought. Below are details of some of the current disturbances warranting investigation - and participation - by the world's most adventurous heroes. Times listed are in server time.
- Argent Tournament — located at the Argent Tournament grounds in northern Icecrown.
- Gurubashi Arena Booty Run — Every 3 hours, at the arena in Stranglethorn Vale.
- Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza — Sundays from 2-4pm, in Stranglethorn Vale.
- Darkmoon Faire — First week of each month, in Mulgore and Elwynn Forest, and primarily on Darkmoon Island.
- Darkmoon Deathmatch — Every 3 hours at the southern pavilion of the Darkmoon Faire, during Faire week.
- Wanderer's Festival — Sundays from 9-11 pm in Krasarang Wilds
- Legion Assaults — Introduced in patch 7.2.0.
- Faction Assaults — Introduced in patch 8.1.0, these consist of invasions by the Horde or the Alliance forces in Kul Tiras and Zandalar, respectively.[1]
- N'Zoth Assaults — Introduced in patch 8.3.0.
- Covenant Assaults — The various Covenants of the Shadowlands storm The Maw to push back The Jailer's influence.
- Time Rifts — Every hour, Soridormi tasks adventurers to clean up the Tyrhold Reservoir of incursions from alternate timelines.
- Fyrakk Assaults — Repel Fyrakk's attempt to take hold of the Dragon Isles.
- Dreamsurge — Harness the naturally occurring powers of the Emerald Dream due to Amirdrassil.
- Superbloom — Help Sprucecrown and Clarelle encourage growth in Amirdrassil.
Seasonal events
To help offset the strain and tension of constant warfare, the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance occasionally organize full-blown festivities for their people, centered around holidays and special events. What better way to celebrate the year's victories and other achievements than in the company of a few thousand of your closest allies?[2]
Azeroth event | Time period | Related real life event | Additional info |
---|---|---|---|
New Year | 31st Dec - 1st Jan | New Year's Eve | Gregorian calendar; added in patch 2.0.1. |
Lunar Festival | Varies (Spring) | Lunar New Year | Chinese calendar; added in patch 1.9.0. |
Love is in the Air | 7th Feb - 20th Feb | Valentine's Day | Added in patch 1.9.3. |
Noblegarden | Varies (Easter) | Easter | Added in patch 1.3.0. |
Children's Week | 1st May - 7th May | Children's Day - Japan Mother's Day - US (and in most other countries, including: Belgium and the Netherlands) |
Added in patch 1.4.0. |
Midsummer Fire Festival | 21st June - 5th July | Midsummer Canada Day - CAN Independence Day - US |
Added in patch 1.11.0 (also contains the Fireworks Spectacular). |
Pirates' Day | 19th Sept | International Talk Like a Pirate Day | Added in patch 2.4.3. |
Brewfest | 20th Sept - 4th Oct | Oktoberfest - Germany | Added in patch 2.2.2. |
Harvest Festival | 27th Sept - 4th Oct | Roughly Thanksgiving - Canada, US (actually celebrated in October and November in Canada and US, respectively) Columbus Day - US US Stress Test ended: September 12, 2004 |
Added in patch 1.6.0. |
Peon Day | 30th Sept | EU Closed Beta began: September 30, 2004 | Observed only in Europe,[4] added in patch 1.12.1. |
Hallow's End | 18th Oct - 1st Nov | Halloween | Added in patch 1.8.0. |
Day of the Dead | 1st Nov - 2nd Nov | Day of the Dead | Added in patch 3.2.0. |
WoW's Anniversary | 16th Nov - 30th Nov | Typically celebrated in November around the 24th, the release day of World of Warcraft. | |
Pilgrim's Bounty | 22nd Nov - 28th Nov | Thanksgiving | Added in patch 3.2.0. |
Feast of Winter Veil | 15th Dec - 2nd Jan | Christmas | Added in patch 1.2.0. |
Micro-holidays
First introduced in patch 7.1.5, these new "micro-holiday" events offer brief holiday-style activities for players to take part in. Unlike the larger holidays like Hallow's End, which run for weeks, these micro-holidays usually only last a day or two, and often involve specific events taking place in the world or celebrate important moments in Azeroth's history. These micro-holidays are only meant for fun and therefore do not offer any significant rewards like permanent pets or mounts, but can still provide some variety and opportunities for hijinks, as well as breathing new life into some of the more static parts of the game world.
Azeroth Event | Date | Known reason for celebration |
---|---|---|
Call of the Scarab | January 21 - 23 | To celebrate the opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj. |
Hatching of the Hippogryphs | February 19 | |
Un'Goro Madness | March 17 - 19 | |
March of the Tadpoles | April 5 | |
Volunteer Guard Day | April 23 | |
Spring Balloon Festival | May 8 - 10 | |
Glowcap Festival | May 27 | |
Thousand Boat Bash | June 6 - 8 | |
Auction House Dance Party | July 22 | |
Trial of Style | August 17 - 21 | |
Great Gnomeregan Run | October 14 - 15 | |
Moonkin Festival | November 12th | |
Kirin Tor Tavern Crawl | December 7 |
Unique events
A number of one-time-only World Events have occurred throughout the game's history. Most of these events have either directly resulted in changes to the game world or preceded the launch of a new expansion. They are distinguished from removed content by the fact that they were planned to last only a short time after release (at most one major patch) rather than being removed due to either considerations for new content or gameplay concerns, updates, and other fixes. Note that simply being introduced and removed quickly (e.g. a quest added in patch 3.3.5 and removed for The Shattering) does not qualify something as a One-Time Event or part of one - it must be related to a unique period or occasion.
- Radiant Echoes — Taking place with patch 11.0.0, this world event preceded the release of The War Within. The event had remembrance events in Searing Gorge, Dustwallow Marsh, and Dragonflight and fought previous bosses from the past including Remembered Onyxia, Remembered Ragnaros, and Remembered Lich King.
- WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria — An event in World of Warcraft which allows players to re-experience the entirety of the Mists of Pandaria expansion at an accelerated rate.
- Hearthstone's 10th Anniversary — An event in World of Warcraft celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hearthstone.
- Secrets of Azeroth — Discover secrets across Azeroth and other planets. This event provides transmogs, mounts, and pets and mostly everything are still available even after the event has ended. Only the [Arcane Influence] was unique to the event and can no longer be obtained.
- A Greedy Emissary and Welcome to Sanctuary — Celebrated the launch of Diablo IV in 2023. The first event introduced new Diablo-themed items and brought back old items from Diablo's 20th Anniversary event. The second event provided an event-long buff that increased reputation and experience.
- Tempest Unleashed — Taking place with patch 10.0.0, this world event preceded the release of Dragonflight. The event had invasions in Tirisfal Glades, Badlands, Northern Barrens, and Un'Goro Crater.
- Death Rising — Taking place with patch 9.0.1, this world event preceded the release of Shadowlands. The event, similar to the Scourge Invasion event, had rares in Icecrown, a world boss in Eastern Plaguelands, and the Zombie Infestation started once again.
- World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary — This anniversary was unique by introducing a special version of Alterac Valley (Korrak's Revenge, a tribute to its earlier versions) and a Deathwing-inspired mount ( [Obsidian Worldbreaker]), acquired by defeating previous expansions villains in [Memories of Fel, Frost and Fire].
- War of the Thorns - This was the Battle for Azeroth pre-expansion event. After the discovery of [Azerite] in Kalimdor, Sylvanas decides to assault the night elf territory, and eventually manages to burn down Teldrassil.
- Diablo's 20th Anniversary — Celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Diablo franchise.
- Legion Invasions — Taking place with patch 7.0.3, this world event preceded the release of Legion. The event featured the invasion of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms by forces of the Burning Legion. It was also the first pre-launch event in which characters as low as level 10 could participate in defending affected zones, thanks to new tech allowing mob level to scale to the player's.
- World of Warcraft 10th Anniversary — This anniversary featured Tarren Mill vs Southshore and Level 100 Molten Core.
- Iron Horde Incursion — Taking place with patch 6.0.2, this unique world event preceded the release of Warlords of Draenor. The event featured orcs coming through the Dark Portal, ravaging the Blasted Lands and taking over Blackrock Mountain.[5] An extensive quest line saw players battling the Iron Horde invaders in a phased, level-90 only version of the Blasted Lands.
- Battlefield: Barrens — Taking place in patch 5.3.0, this event transformed the Northern Barrens, introducing hundreds of new NPCs, new areas and a number of dynamic events, along with a range of rewards for participation. Focusing on the building conflict between Garrosh Hellscream and his loyal Kor'kron and the rebelling forces of Vol'jin's Darkspear Rebellion, adventurers from both the Horde and the Alliance were able to assist the rebels in their preparations for the coming war against the warchief. Players secured supplies for the rebellion by defeating Kor'kron units and their powerful commanders, escorting their faction's supply caravans through the zone and even stealing supplies from overturned Kor'kron caravans.
- Elemental Unrest — Beginning on 11 November 2010, this event is the precursor to the devastating events of the Cataclysm expansion.
- Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall — Beginning on 7 September 2010, these world events were the first precursors to the Cataclysm expansion and allowed Alliance and Horde players to assist in the retaking of Gnomeregan's surface and the Echo Isles respectively.
- Night Elf Mohawk — This mini event happened in patch 3.2.2: Night Elf Mohawk NPCs were added in the starting zones, offering players the [Mohawk Grenade] (only those who believed in them).
- Zombie Infestation — Introduced in patch 3.0.2, this world event was a precursor to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion and featured plagued crates that would transform players into zombies with the ability to pass the zombie plague onto others. It was followed by a reprise of the Scourge Invasion world event from patch 1.11.0.
- The Spirit of Competition — This event occurred simultaneously with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and simply rewarded players for completing battlegrounds during the event.
- Battle for Sun's Reach — Introduced in patch 2.4.0, this world event occurs once per server and requires the completion of a number of daily quests on the Isle of Quel'Danas in order to allow the Shattered Sun Offensive to take over and rebuild the town of Sun's Reach.
- The Dark Portal Opens — Introduced in patch 2.0.1, this world event was a precursor to the The Burning Crusade expansion and featured the forces of the Horde, Alliance, and Argent Dawn fighting back against the demonic legions entering Azeroth through the Dark Portal.
- The Scourge Invasion — Originally introduced in patch 1.11.0, this world event involved an invasion of Scourge forces across the world to coincide with the release of the Naxxramas raid instance. During the invasion, several regions of Azeroth came under attack by Scourge forces. Members of the Argent Dawn organized a worldwide counter to the Scourge invasion, keeping an eye out for any necropolis sightings and passing on their information to all adventurers willing to aid them in their struggle.
- Gates of Ahn'Qiraj — Introduced in patch 1.9.0, this two-part world event occurred once per server (until patch 3.2.0) resulted in the opening of Ahn'Qiraj. It was comprised of a quest chain completed by a single player to obtain the Scepter of the Shifting Sands to open the gates themselves, as well as a server-wide war effort to gather materials for the Horde and Alliance to battle the insectoid menace that issued forth from the opened gates.
- Elemental Invasions — Introduced in patch 1.4.0, this event was marked by random elemental invasions in Silithus, Winterspring, Un'goro Crater and Azshara. This was recurrent event that happened approximately every 3 days, and it was only removed in patch 4.0.1.
Other events
- PvP Brawls — Changing every week, a PvP brawl changes how to experience battleground or arena gameplay or re-introduces older content for current expansion play such as Ashran brought back from during Warlords of Draenor as Classic Ashran.
- Bonus Events — Changing every week, a bonus event can provide quests for doing world quests, battlegrounds, dungeons, and other content.
- Timewalking is available when its relevant bonus event is up.
- Turbulent Timeways
- End of beta event — Took place at the end of the World of Warcraft beta.
References
- ^ Official preview - from worldofwarcraft.com
- ^ From the old official World of Warcraft website - worldofwarcraft.com/community/ingameevents (archived version).
- ^ Guinnes World Records Gamer's Edition. - Archived from the original (02/2010).
- ^ http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/events/calendar.html
- ^ chaud 2014-05-04. Warlords of Draenor - Developer Interviews, Blue Tweets, DLC #438. MMO-Champion.
External links
- World of Warcraft Community Site In-Game Events page of the Official site.
- World of Warcraft Europe In-Game Events page of the Official European site.