Lore Wiki » Epic Weeks » Common Epic Week Features » Objects With Symbols

Every Epic Week other than 2020 (which used a pretty similar variation on the concept) has centrally feature some kind of object that has symbols on it. There have been portals, obelisks, dormant forest guardians, even rocket boosters. Each object has always had 10 symbols on it, and completing the challenges of the symbols represents some form of progress through the plot.

Clicking on the image of one of the portals/gates/whatever the obstacle is this year brings you to the interface for that portal/gate. Each symbol represents a puzzle, trivia-based riddle, or sometimes just a community collection quest. The community must work together to solve all of the symbols on each portal. Once all symbols are solved, monsters will stop spawning at the completed portal.

Clicking a symbol lets you submit a guess for the symbol, or obtain more information about that symbol.

Completing all of the symbols is the only way for the community to complete or "win" Epic Week. Generally, all other gameplay elements are in support of getting to and completing the symbols.

Activating Symbols

The majority of symbols are "activated" by clicking them and entering the correct word or phrase. There is no practical limit to the number of guesses that can be submitted to each symbol, and no penalty for being wrong. A correct answer will cause that symbol to light up, and a wave of monsters to immediately spawn in front of the object that houses that symbol.

Trivia Riddles

Originally, all symbols utilized trivia riddles, and they are still the most common form of symbol-unlock challenge. A symbol labeled with the Riddle/Trivia type means that the unlock word or phrase will come from some kind of trivia. Perhaps it will relate to real-world history, mythology, or to a specific fandom from culture such as TV, books, movies, music -- sometimes even podcasts have been used as source material for trivia! Often, with Riddle/Trivia challenges, the shape of the symbol itself is a clue as to the genre or specific IP the riddle relates to. OCCASIONALLY, the form of the riddle's guardian is also a clue as to the genre or specific IP the riddle relates to, but this should not be relied on.

Puzzles and riddles are designed to be very challenging, on the expectation that it will be tackled by an entire community brainstorming together. Sharing thoughts and information is not only encouraged but crucial, and the use of search engines is allowed. All plot progression is communal, so it doesn't really matter who comes up with the answer to a riddle in the end.

It's common practice to post your best guesses for answers, so that anyone who happens to be online when the warriors manage to clear a path to the gate can try entering everyone's best guesses during the window of opportunity.

Puzzles

Puzzles are differentiated from trivia riddles in that all of the information needed to solve them will be contained within that Epic Week itself, perhaps in the comics and videos that told the story of the plot, or in later years in the Research Libraries that provide backstory to the main plot of the Epic Week event. These were added for the many people who said they loved working out word problems, but felt left out because they didn't happen to be a fan of any of the IP that the trivia riddles were referencing in a particular year. Since everyone had access to the identical information, more people could be included even if they didn't happen to know anything about, say, Avatar: The Last Airbender or Star Trek: The Next Generation, etc.

Puzzles and riddles are designed to be very challenging, on the expectation that it will be tackled by an entire community brainstorming together. Sharing thoughts and information is not only encouraged but crucial. All plot progression is communal, so it doesn't really matter who comes up with the answer to a symbol in the end.

It's common practice to post your best guesses for answers, so that anyone who happens to be online when the warriors manage to clear a path to the gate can try entering everyone's best guesses during the window of opportunity.

Collections

These symbols do not have a word or phrase that unlocks them; instead, they are unlocked immediately when a collection of a certain type of item has been completed. All items given to the symbol are consumed and no longer useable by the players. Sometimes symbols asking for a collection of items will also require that the items be placed into them by a certain number of discrete users. You don't have to do any brain work other than potentially coordinating with others.

For example, the condition might be described as "This seal can be opened with 50 Red Fish items. In addition, 30 different players must contribute at least 1 item."

Interaction with Monster combat

Every hour, monsters spawn in front of whatever the symbol-bearing object is. So long as there are monsters in front of an object, no guesses (or items) can be submitted to its symbols. So fighting and defeating every single monster is necessary every time the community feels it has a guess worth trying.