11 · Events & Live Ops

Status: Skeleton · Owner: TBD · Updated: 2026-09-23

Purpose

Define the live calendar. After launch, events are the game — they set the weekly rhythm, absorb resources and drive nearly all revenue.

To define

• The weekly calendar template (what runs on which day)
• Event archetypes and how many exist at launch
• Event currencies, shops and expiry rules
• Season pass / battle pass structure
• Login and returning-player campaigns
• The tooling: can events be configured server-side without a client update?
• Time zone handling for a global player base
• Event authoring pipeline and who owns the calendar post-launch

Event archetypes

Archetype	Example	Purpose
Solo grind	Spend resources → points → rewards	Resource sink, daily habit
Alliance co-op	Alliance boss, shared objective	Social bonding, help loop
Alliance PvP	Territory war, fortress capture	Peak drama, retention
Cross-server	Server vs server tournament	Late-game endgame, whale spend
Narrative/seasonal	Festival of a dynasty, monsoon, eclipse	Theme, art reuse, novelty
Newcomer	7-day onboarding push	Early retention

Think about

• Build the event tooling before the events. If shipping a new event needs a client release and store review, your live game is dead on arrival. A server-driven, data-configured event system is one of the highest-leverage technical decisions in the project. Raise it now, in Technical, while it is still cheap.
• Events must be built from reusable parts. A handful of templates reskinned with different themes, currencies and reward tables is how live teams survive. Bespoke one-off events are how live teams burn out by month four.
• The calendar is a rhythm, not a list. Players learn the week: grind days, build days, war weekend. Predictability is a feature — it lets people plan their spending and their real lives around your game.
• Events are the resource sink that keeps the economy alive. Design them together with Economy, not afterward, or you will find yourself printing rewards to fill a calendar and wrecking the curve.
• Event fatigue is real. Overlapping mandatory events make engaged players feel employed rather than entertained, and that is how a live game loses its best players. Leave gaps. Consider a deliberate quiet week.
• The lost-dynasty premise is a live-ops gift. Each faction gets its own festival, myth cycle and seasonal art — culturally grounded, visually distinct, and a natural fit for a rotating calendar. That is years of themed content for the price of reskins, provided the same cultural review applies.
• Decide who owns the calendar on day one of live. If it is nobody's job, it becomes everybody's emergency.

Open questions

#	Question	Blocks	Owner
1	Server-side event configuration at launch?	Tech, live-ops viability
2	How many event templates must exist at launch?	Scope
3	Season pass at launch or post-launch?	Monetisation, scope