Events

A lot promises no victory — only an opponent who drew you just the same.

TL;DR: Events are challenges on a timer that the game calls from time to time — voluntary, with nothing at stake and no resources as a prize. There are three kinds: the Feud Draw, in which you are blindly matched with an opponent of similar strength and the two of you wage war by your own rules for a week; the Alliance Contest, in which all alliances measure themselves per head against the same orders; and the Solo Task, a challenge for every captain. The rewards are fame and achievements — never gold.

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What Events Are #

An event is a challenge with a beginning and an end. The game calls it, it runs for a limited time, and whoever does not want to take part misses nothing they have today. There is no stake and no prize in gold, wood or stone: whoever wins, wins fame — an achievement, a banner, an entry on the Events page. That is deliberate. Events are meant to bring movement to the sea, not to hand out riches.

There are three kinds at present:

• The Feud Draw — a duel on a timer against an opponent drawn by lot.
• The Alliance Contest — all alliances measure themselves against the same orders.
• The Solo Task — a task for every captain who wants to take it on.

Everything about events lives on the "Events" page in the "More" menu: what is running, what has been announced and how past events turned out. When an event is called, the Harbour Messengers — the bell in the top bar — and a world rumour in your logbook tell you; registration windows, your lot, start and end reach you the same way. If a registration window is open, the quest bar points it out as well. In the Community path of the quests waits the step "Visited your first event".

The Feud Draw #

The Feud Draw goes back to a proposal from the community: volunteers sign up, each is matched by lot with an opponent of similar strength, and for the duration only one law holds between the two — the law of the feud. Everything that normally stands between two captains steps aside for this pair; everything that normally happens around them stays outside. And nobody but the two of you learns who is fighting whom until the feud is over.

A Feud Draw may be open — then anyone who meets the conditions may sign up — or restricted to two alliances, whose captains are drawn crosswise against each other. The duration is stated in the announcement; as a rule it is a week.

Signing Up #

As soon as a Feud Draw is called, a registration window opens on the Events page — usually for a few days. You may sign up if you:

• play actively and your newbie protection has expired,
• are not in vacation mode,
• do not belong to an alliance that currently stands in a declared war,
• are not already in another feud,
• and do not host ships or troops of other captains on your islands.

The conditions are checked when you sign up and once more at the draw. Until the draw you can withdraw at any time without consequences — after it, no longer. The registration window closes before the lots are drawn: whoever signs up never knows who else is in the pot.

The Draw #

The lots are drawn when the event starts. The draw follows three rules:

• Similar strength. Lots are drawn only among captains of similar strength; if no suitable opponent can be found, there is no lot. Nobody gets an opponent who is vastly superior — and nobody gets a victim.
• Same home ocean first. An opponent you cannot reach would be a gift. So captains from the same home ocean are paired first; across an ocean border only if both can see the other's ocean on the map.
• Never your own alliance. The draw never pairs two captains of the same alliance — nor captains whose alliances are allied or bound by a non-aggression pact.

Whoever finds no opponent under these rules drops out — without a lot, without a feud, without a disadvantage. You can try again at the next Feud Draw.

The draw is blind: only you and your opponent know that you are a pair. While the feud runs, the only public figure is the number of participants. Who stood against whom, and how it ended, the world learns only once the feud is over.

You receive your lot as a lot card on the Events page, and the Harbour Messengers report it to you. The card names your opponent, the coordinates of their main island and the number of their islands — and sums up the rules of the feud in a few lines. It reveals no more; scouting is up to you.

The Rules of the Feud #

For the drawn pair, the following holds for the duration:

• Whatever normally stands between you is lifted. An alliance pact, a non-aggression pact or a shared alliance blocks no attack between the two of you.
• Everything is allowed — attack and conquest alike. You may attack, plunder and conquer your opponent's islands, and they yours. The usual rules of conquest remain: a main island is as protected as ever, colonisation fleets cost what they cost, and cooldowns run as they always do. The game may set a shortened colonisation cooldown against the opponent for a given feud; it is shown on the lot card.
• Strictly one on one. A combined attack against your opponent is not possible, and no third party may relocate ships or troops to your islands during the feud — and whoever hosts foreign garrisons gets no draw at all. Send them home before you sign up. Between your own islands you keep relocating as always.
• The feud shield. For the duration, only your opponent attacks you — and you attack only them. Whoever tries to attack or colonise a feud island without being the opponent is turned away at dispatch and told until when the feud runs. And you yourself cannot attack anyone but your opponent in that time. The shield is no hiding place: it applies equally to both sides, it begins only with the lot — and fleets that were already under way before that arrive.
• Scouts and trade as always. Anyone may still spy on you, and trade and the marketplace run as usual. The shield concerns only attacks, conquests and relocations.

Points and Outcome #

The feud is scored. There are three ways to feud points: a won attack on your opponent, a held defence against their attack, and a conquered island of your opponent's. A won attack counts more than a held attack, a conquered island the most. Whoever has more points at the end wins; a tie ends the feud undecided. Feud points are event points — they never flow into the rankings and bring no resources.

Whoever gives up after the draw or enters vacation mode has lost the feud — immediately. Only their own feud shield falls: anyone may attack them again, and they themselves still may not attack anyone until the feud ends. Their opponent's shield stays in place until the end of the feud — otherwise giving up would be a way to hand an opponent over to one's own alliance in the middle of the week. After the end, a truce currently applies to all participants for 48 hours: no attacks on participants, no attacks by participants. After that the feud is history — and becomes public: the feud board on the Events page shows the pairs, the outcome and the points.

On top of that there are two achievements: "Feud Lot Drawn" for everyone who received a lot, and "Feud Victor" for everyone who won a feud. The victor's achievement deliberately carries no fame points — a victory in a duel is always someone else's defeat, and that is not weighed in fame.

The Alliance Contest #

The Alliance Contest sets all alliances the same orders — orders as you know them from your alliance's Weekly Orders: spy reports, naval battles, answered distress calls or deposits into the treasury, say. Which of them count and how long the contest runs is stated in the announcement; as a rule it is a week.

Nobody has to sign up: every alliance with enough active members takes part automatically — a small handful is enough. Scoring is per head: an alliance's contributions are divided by the number of its active members, so that a small, alert alliance can hold its own against a large one. The total stands beside it, but it does not decide. And only genuine contributions count: the contest uses the same counting rules as the Weekly Orders — what does not count there does not count here either.

At the end, the alliance with the best score wins. It receives the "Contest Victor" achievement as an alliance, a banner in its hall and a line in the alliance chat — and the world hears of it as a world rumour. There are no resources.

The Solo Task #

The Solo Task is the simplest form: one task for everyone, with a goal and a deadline. For instance: file so many spy reports, fight so many naval battles, send so many care packages, answer so many distress calls, complete so many market trades or collect so many beachcombing finds. You do not have to sign up — whoever manages the task within the deadline has completed it.

You see your progress on the Events page and, while the task runs, as a line next to the Daily Orders in the sidebar. There is no loss if you do not make it, and no resources if you do.

The reward is the "Event Chronicler" achievement family: bronze for the first completed Solo Task, silver currently at five, gold at fifteen. Completed tasks accumulate across all events.

Frequently Asked Questions #

Can I hide from others during the feud? No. The feud shield applies equally to both sides: only your opponent attacks you, but you attack only them. It begins only with the lot, and fleets that were already under way before that still arrive. And whoever stands in a declared war cannot sign up in the first place. A Feud Draw is no way out of a running dispute — it is an additional one.

What if my opponent gives up? Then you have won. If your opponent withdraws after the draw or enters vacation mode, the feud is decided at once: their feud shield falls, yours stays in place until the end of the feud — and after that the truce applies. Nobody can attack you in that time, not even them, because whoever gives up may attack no one until the end; and you remain bound by the feud just as before.

Do I really lose my island? A secondary island can fall in a feud just as it can outside of one — the feud allows between the two of you everything the game otherwise allows between strangers. But no more than that: your main island stays as protected as ever, and the costs and cooldowns of a conquest are the same as always — unless the feud sets a shortened colonisation cooldown against the opponent; that is then shown on the lot card. Whoever signs up should know what they are risking — and that their opponent risks the same.

Can my alliance help me? With advice, with spy reports, with trade — yes. With ships and troops — no. A feud is a duel: no combined attack against your opponent, no third-party relocations to your islands, and your allies may not attack your opponent themselves either — the shield turns them away. And whoever hosts foreign ships or troops on their islands gets no draw at all — send them home, and you are in.

Is there gold? No. No gold, no wood, no stone — at any event. What you win is fame: an achievement, a banner, an entry on the feud board. That is deliberate, so that an event never becomes an obligation.

How often are there events? As often as the game calls them — there is no fixed rhythm. Every event is announced before it begins: on the Events page, through the Harbour Messengers and as a world rumour in the logbook. Whoever does not want to hear of it misses nothing they have today.