1. Cyclical - "They're very cyclical in nature. They don't have a clear beginning or end."
2. Multidirectional - sensitive to player input - "Events are not just pass/fail. You don't just black and white succeed or black and white beat them. Based on how the players interact with the event means that whatever happens next is different."
3. Timebased - Some (not all) Dynamic Events will change according to player input at different stages once an event has activated (EG: beginning-middle-end) will lead to different directions of branching (depending on the specific DE)
4. Layered - Some DE chains will lead to the same locations and even run parallel to each other leading to some emergent gameplay and kick off further DE chains in other areas. EG: "Particular events in this area involve dozens of different events, all contained within various chains." "Almost all the events in the game are part of chains that branch off into different directions depending on the actions the players take."
5. Triggered - Some Dynamic Events will happen with some regularity on their own (players or no players) while others are triggered by players (different triggers available) and yet some others are entirely random. Events react to the (game)world, not to individual players.
6. Persistent - Events will progress regardless of whether players are participating in them or are even in the area and may cycle for different durations. Events occur pretty frequently so an empty map wouldn’t stay that way for very long.
7. Scaling - More mobs spawned, more skills unlocked for mob(s), higher mob levels, more conditions or for more players to win/lose an event allows proportional challenge to player numbers/damage output etc
8. Combinations - "These event cycles vary dramatically on a case-by-case basis. In some large event chains, depending on player participation and the outcome of events, the chain could go entirely from one end to the other over the course of hours before it cycles back. In other cases, the event may change the world for 10-15 minutes before it can cycle back around. Some events only occur when specific conditions are met, like a snow storm rolls into the map, or night falls over the graveyard. If an event reaches one end of the chain, it could sit at that point for days, weeks, or months until a player comes along and decides to participate in the event chain. We’ve tried to vary the conditions that trigger events and change the length and variety of the event cycles so that everything feels organic and unique."
9. Rewards: Success/Failure both lead to rewards (different amounts) and proportional participation and intangible-exchangables (gold, xp, karma) and medals of completion/achievement. "If a player or group of players were to figure out a way to cause an event to fail, it would often just cause another different event to pop up."