We are celebrating the quincentennial anniversary of the Fall of the Seleucarian Empire to the victorious forces of the Sapient League! The festivities will last throughout the in-game year in Achaea (from January 22 through February 4th).

During Year 500, a series of traditional competitions known as the Championship Games will test the might and wit of Achaeans, culminating in a single winner who will receive, from the Great Mother Herself, the fabled Staff of Nicator as well as the choice of $700 USD or 2500 credits! There will be events and competitions for smaller prizes as well throughout the year, not to mention a lottery giving away thousands in credits and a $500 grand prize. You won't want to miss this celebration.

Schedule
All times are subject to change, but barring emergencies will not be altered.
All times are listed in GMT/UTC. If you're in London, that's your local time currently. If you're on the US West Coast, subtract 8 hours. If you're on the US East Coast, subtract 5 hours. If you're in Sydney, Australia, add 11 hours. If you're still stuck on how to convert GMT/UTC time to your local time, try this online time zone converter.

This schedule contains all competitions that grant Y500 points to the winners (see Explanation of Events below) as well as some events with separate prizes. However, we will be running games even on days without official events scheduled. There will be surprise giveaways and spontaneous events with prizes throughout the year, so don't worry if you don't see anything major scheduled for the weekdays.

Thursday, January 22nd
The first day of Year 500 A.F. in Achaea (the first of Sarapin) begins roughly sometime between3pm GMT and 4pm GMT on this day. For those in the Americas, this would be between 7am PST-8am PST or between 10am EST-11am EST. Click here to see what this time would be in time zones around the world. The precise time of the year change will become more accurate as we get closer to the date; you can use the DATE command to check in-game: type DATE 1 SARAPIN 500.

Beginning of the new year: Treasure Hunt! Plus, the Year 500 Lottery opens.

Friday, January 23rd
11pm GMT: Tumble Races*

Saturday, January 24th
7pm GMT: 24-hour XP contest begins.*

Sunday, January 25th
7pm GMT: 24-hour XP contest ends.*

Friday, January 30th
10pm GMT: Lottery drawing

Saturday, January 31st
7pm GMT: Twins Combat Tourney* begins.

Sunday, February 1st
9pm GMT: Shoot the Bandersnatch!*
10pm GMT: Quiz*
Championship Games awards ceremony follows the end of the Quiz.

Wednesday, February 4th
End of Year 500

Remember, ALL TIMES ARE LISTED IN GREENWICH MEAN TIME (GMT). Click on the time in GMT to find the time in your time.zone.

Explanation of Events

Scoring
In each of the events listed below, the winner will receive 12 points in the overall event, 2nd place will receive 10 points, 3rd = 8 points, 4th = 6 points, 5th = 5 points, 6th = 4 points, 7th = 3 points, 8th = 2 points, 9th = 1 point, and 10th = 0.5 point. At the end of the year 500 events, whoever has the most overall points will win and be awarded the Staff of Nicator. There will also be prizes for places 1-20, and at least token awards for everyone who gets even a single point.

Twins Combat Tournament
This tournament will consist of pairs of people who will face off with each other. You must choose your own pairs and both of you must be there for the tournament. You may only fight in one pair, and that pair must remain constant throughout the tournament. Although we would like to do double-elimination, due to time restrictions (this can take awhile), we will be doing a single-elimination tournament. These fights will be taking place in the various Arenas, and each person in a pair will receive the points for winning.

Quiz
A Quiz is a game-show-style game involving trivia questions of IC knowledge. Maya, the Great Mother, shall be your host for this event. Only those who have paid a 5000gp entry fee will be permitted in the Quiz, as it is unmanageable with too many participants.

Shoot the Bandersnatch!
An hour-long worldwide game of Shoot the Bandersnatch, a game that involves collecting tumtum fruits and frumious bandersnatchi using the mighty banderbow. This will be a PK event, so beware friends and foes alike in the struggle for ascendency in the Year 500 games!

Tumble Races
This is a type of race in which everyone tumbles from one location to another, racing across the land. All other forms of movement are strictly barred. There will be a number of races and overall winners at the end.

XP Contest
This marathon event is simple: Get the most xp you can from killing mobiles or doing quests over the course of 24 hours. This will be a free PK event.

Prizes for Lottery and Overall Winner:

Lottery
1st: $500 USD OR 2000 credits!
2nd: 1000 credits
3rd: 500 credits
4th: 200 credits
5th: 100 credits

Year 500 Championship Games
1st: The Staff of Nicator, plus the choice of $700 USD OR 2500 credits!
2nd - 10th: Credit prizes to be announced.

*Part of the Year 500 Championship Games.