Summer 2k11: Pie Hard

The Summer 2k11 event started on June 30, 2011, the second half of the event, with the finalist, began August 23rd.

Overview[]

Summer2k11 mainpagept2 — Pie Hard with a Vengeance mainpage

Gaians supported their favorite Gaia character by feeding them pies, after a few days characters with the lowest level would start being eliminating by three npcs a day until there were only six remaining. Those six were to be the finalists in phase 2 of the event.

Event Beginning[]

The forum "Pie Hard" was created on June 29 and Gaians waited for the event to begin. A hangout was created on launch called the Pie Paradise. During the first hours(days) of the event, Gaians got to work on earning achievements for pie tasks.

Mini-Comics[]

Jun 30

Pie Hard

Event Happenings[]

Jun 30

Announcement of Pie Hard launch.

Jun 30

Mini-Comic update: Pie Hard (Pie Hard)

Jun 30

Pies Apple Pie, Blackberry Pie, Blueberry Pie, Cherry Pie, Coconut Cream Pie

Jul 01

Pies Custard Pie, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie

Jul 05

Elimination Russell Ace Lvl 5 / Ron Bruise Lvl 6 / T-Bone Lvl 6

Pies Banana Pie, Chocolate Pie, Pineapple Pie, Rhubarb Pie, Strawberry Pie

Jul 06

Elimination Edy Lvl 8 / Lex Lvl 8 / Logan Lvl 8

Pies Caramel Drizzle Pie, Meat Pie, Mince Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, White Chocolate Fruit Tart Pie

Jul 07

Elimination Ruby Lvl 8 / Leon Lvl 9 / Mirai Lvl 10

Pies Chicken Pot Pie, Flower Pie, Ice Cream Pie, Peanut Butter Pie, Pork Pie

Jul 08

Elimination Dr. Singh Lvl 11 / Sasha Lvl 11 / Josie Lvl 12

Pies Breakfast Cereal Pie, Club Sandwich Pie, Garlic Shrimp Pie, Mac n Cheese Pie, pastrami pickle pie

Jul 08

Announcement for qualifying round nearing, including eliminated NPCs up to that point

Jul 11

Elimination Jinx Lvl 13 / Vanessa Lvl 15 / Lance Lvl 16

Pies Bacon Pie, Chili Pie, Nacho Pie, PB&J Pie, Tuna Pie

Jul 12

Elimination Bludeau Lvl 17 / Ol' Pete Lvl 17 / Barrett Lvl 19

Pies Kimchi Pie, Octopus Pie, Pickle Pie, Sauerkraut Pie, Wasabi Pie

Jul 13

Elimination Ivan Lvl 20 / Rigel and Mintaka Lvl 20 / Flynn Lvl 24

Pies Bubblegum Pie, Durian Pie, Rock Salt Pie, Soap Pie, Toadstool Pie

Jul 14

Elimination Meredith Lvl 25 / Von Helson Twins Lvl 25 / Natasha Lvl 28

Pies Bear Meat Pie, Bee Pie, Blackbird Pie, Dirt Pie, Hog's Blood Pie

Jul 15

Elimination Monia, Jay and Scuppers Lvl 29 / Peyo Lvl 33 / Becky Lvl 36

Pies Apple Pie, Blackberry Pie, Blueberry Pie, Cherry Pie, Coconut Cream Pie

Jul 18

Elimination Liam Lvl 45 / Agatha Lvl 48 / Sam Lvl 48

Pies Custard Pie, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie

Jul 19

The finalists have been chosen, the pies have been removed and Pie Paradise is left

Jul 19

Elimination Devin Lvl 71 / Moira Lvl 86

Finalist Carl Lvl 87 / Stein Lvl 87 / Louie Lvl 172 / Kanoko Lvl 213 / Ian and Rufus Lvl 216 / Diedrich Lvl 282

Aug 22 / 23

Announcement of Pie Hard: With A Vengeance launch.

Aug 23

Manga update 53 Pie Hard with a Vengeance

Finalist Scores Carl: 130 / Diedrich: 135 / Ian & Rufus: 139 / Kanoko: 138 / Louie: 136 / Stein: 136

Aug 28

Finalist Scores Carl: 618 / Diedrich: 617 / Ian & Rufus: 628 / Kanoko: 622 / Louie: 624 / Stein: 620

Aug 30

Finalist Scores Carl: 834 / Diedrich: 836 / Ian & Rufus: 846 / Kanoko: 845 / Louie: 846 / Stein: 838

Aug 31

Finalist Closing Scores 1. Ian & Rufus: 943 / 2. Louie: 940 / 3. Stein: 937 / 4. Kanoko: 935 / 5: Diedrich: 934 / 6. Carl: 933

Pie Hard: With A Vengeance ends

Announcements[]

[NPC] admin: Announcement[]

File:Avatar admin.png

Jun 30 Gaia's Summer Event: Pie Hard! [1]

The first leg of Gaia's summer event is here! Rina has devised an ingenious method to get rid of all her surplus pies: Pie Hard, an epic pie-eating tournament that will separate the strong from the weak, the bold from the meek and the hungry from the truly ravenous.

There's just one problem: way too many contestants signed up! The first order of business will be weeding out the weak-stomached in a qualifying round. A few dozen of Gaia's finest characters are competing, and it's up to you to help your favorites out!

To get your most beloved Gaia resident a shot in the finals, you'll need to help them expand their stomach capacity by feeding them as many pies as you can get-- the more pie-eating practice they get, the better their odds of advancing to the main competition. Rina will be conveniently selling pies for the occasion!

Rina's most loyal customers-- those who buy whole pies-- will get it marked on their Stamp Card. Fill up your card once and she'll reward with you a special item; fill it up five times and she'll give you an even more special one. (If you forget what's going on you can see a helpful reminder in the rollover text for "What is it?" ).

Head to the Pie Hard event page to start shoving pies in mouths!

Let the Pie-shoveling Begin!

To rally support for your favorite Gaia NPCs, visit the Pie Hard forum!

Visit the Forum

[NPC] Cindy Donovinh: Announcements[]

Jul 08 Pie Hard: Keep shoveling those pies! [2]

The Pie Hard qualifying round is heating up! Only six finalists can make it through to the next round, and weak-stomached contenders are already dropping like flies. Twelve unlucky pie-gorgers have already been eliminated: Sasha, T-Bone, Russell Ace, Ruby, Ron Bruise, Dr. Singh, Mirai, Logan, Josie, Edy, Lex and Leon.

To make sure your favorite contestant doesn't stall out in the preliminary round, you'll need to keep shoving pies into their grateful gullets. Diedrich, Kanoko and the Ian/Rufus tag-team are currently dominating the field, but there's still time to organize a big fan push to keep your horse in the race-- don't slouch now, pie feeders!

Pie Hard!

Jul 15 Pie Hard: The qualifying round is almost over! [3]

The qualifying round of Pie Hard is almost at an end, and the field has been narrowed to just eleven contenders! Diedrich, Kanoko, Louie and the Ian/Rufus team are still getting the most attention, but the fight for the last two slots is getting more and more heated.

Carl and Moira are still clinging to the bottom two finalist seats, but Devin and Stein are nipping closely at their heels. And don't count out Sam, Liam and Agatha-- they may be a little behind, but a big weekend push by their loyal fans could definitely push them over the top.

Don't let your favorite contenders get knocked out-- jump back in and start shoving pies into faces!

Pie Harder!

Jul 19 Pie Hard: The finalists have been chosen! [4]

The qualifying round of Pie Hard has come to an end! The last two contenders have been eliminated, and we're down to the final six-- to find out who made the cut, take a look at the Pie Hard page:

See the Finalists

Stay tuned for the next round (coming later this summer) when the finalists will go head to head in a pie-eating contest... TO THE DEATH! Well, not really to the death, but it ought to be pretty intense.

Aug 18 Pie Hard with a Vengeance: How to Pie! [5]

The six finalists are now locked in an epic pie-eating battle unlike this world has ever seen before. They'll be scarfing down pies morning to night, and it's your duty to cheer them on and help keep their morale up during the horrible, delicious ordeal.

First, you'll visit the event page choose a contestant to throw your weight behind. Your loyalty is important, so once you pick a favorite, you'll have to stick with them!

While the pie eating contest is going on, visit the event forum. You'll be given a limited number of irregular, discarded pies. Throw them in the faces of other people to earn points! Post in the Pie Hard Forum for even more points!

You can use the points you earn to cheer on your favorite contestant or boo your enemies. During each round of the contest, your cheers and boos will determine whether they successfully eat the pie or not!

Hitting "Cheer" during a rival contestant's turn will help that contestant, not your own team. Of course, you're free to cheer rival contestants, if you're feeling charitable.

Contestants take turns eating pies. The counter above each contestant shows the time left until their next pie-eating round. When the counter hits zero, you may need to refresh the page to see the next round.

Once in a while, contestants who were eliminated in the qualifying round may show up to help or sabotage the finalists. Be on the lookout-- spotting and clicking on these rare events may earn you special prizes!

The final winner will be the contestant who eats the most pies. Your cheers hold the key to determining the winner, so don't slack in the enthusiasm!

Get out there and PIE HARD!

[NPC] Rina: Announcements[]

File:.png

Aug 23 Summer Event Part 2: Pie Hard with a Vengeance [6]

Yeesh! When I first started this pie-eating contest, I never thought it would cause so much drama and craziness. The final round is about to start, and I'm a little nervous-- we have six finalists left, and they're all deadly serious about eating pie.

Since we’re at the final round, things will be a little different. There will be more items, more fun and way more pie drama! First, you’ll have to pick your favorite finalist and stick with your choice. Then, you can head to the event forum and take part in a massive pie fight. Throwing pies at other Gaians will earn you points; you can use these points to cheer your favorite contestant or boo your enemies. Your cheers and boos will mean the difference between pie-eating glory and queasy defeat!

Oh... and I wouldn't be surprised if contestants from the past came back and caused a little trouble. Watch out!

You can find out more about how to play in this thread. Once you're ready to join the fun, head over to the event page; you'll find links to the forum, a new manga update, and a new hangout space where you can chat with friends and hurl some pies.

Pie Hard!

Aug 29 Pie Hard with a Vengeance: It's Almost Over! [7]

Oh my gosh! This pie-eating contest is getting pretty brutal... there's only one day left, and all the contestants are teetering on the brink of barfy ruin after so many solid days and nights of pie.

The only thing keeping them going at this point is the cheers of their fans. If you want to give your favorite contestant one last burst of energy, now's your chance-- the winning team gets an exclusive item, so the stakes are high. Also, that weird Diedrich cloney thing has been popping up a little more often lately, so if you're still looking for it, keep at it.

It'll all be over after tomorrow night, so get back in there and Pie Hard!

Pie Hard!

Aug 31 Pie Hard with a Vengeance: It's All Over! [8]

Whew! It was a pretty exhausting pastry ordeal for me, but Pie Hard with a Vengeance is over! Rufus and Ian clung to their early lead till the bitter end-- I guess people just found it too sad to boo an adorable pie-eating kitty. Everyone who signed up for team Ian will get a victory prize, and those who backed other contestants will get a slightly less victorious reward.

Here's how the rest of the contestants placed:

2. Louie

3. Stein

4. Kanoko

5. Diedrich

6. Carl

Big thanks to everyone who cheered, booed, threw pies or just hung around to enjoy the contest! To grab your winning item (or your not-so-winning item), head to the event homepage:

Get Your Final Item

Event Conclusion[]

Summer2k11 bg piecontest-end — Ian and Rufus the Cat, winners

It was a pretty exhausting pastry ordeal for Rina, but Pie Hard with a Vengeance is ended and Ian and Rufus clung to their early lead till the bitter end and won. Everyone who signed up for team Ian got a victory prize, and those who backed other contestants got a slightly less victorious reward.

Event Items[]

Event items: Pie Hard[]

File:Summer2k11 items piehard.png

Pies! Pies! Pies! - Scrumptious! Delicious! OM-NOM-NOM-NOM
Giant Spoon & Fork - Weapons for attacking any giant pies that may come your way!

Event Items: Pie Hard With a Vengeance[]

File:Summer2k11 items piehard-facepaint.png

Face Paints, by choosing a contestant for part 2

Team Carl Face Paint - Show your team spirit with this brightly colored, mostly lead-free paint.
Team Diedrich Face Paint - Show your team spirit with this brightly colored, mostly lead-free paint.
Team Ian and Rufus Face Paint - Show your team spirit with this brightly colored, mostly lead-free paint.
Team Kanoko Face Paint - Show your team spirit with this brightly colored, mostly lead-free paint.
Team Louie Face Paint - Show your team spirit with this brightly colored, mostly lead-free paint.
Team Stein Face Paint - Show your team spirit with this brightly colored, mostly lead-free paint.

File:Summer2k11 items piehard-pennant.png

Pennants, by cheering for chosen contestant 20 times in one go or 50 overall

Team Carl Pennant - Let's go Carl LET'S GO!
Team Diedrich Pennant - Let's go Diedrich LET'S GO!
Team Ian and Rufus Pennant - Let's go Ian and Rufus LET'S GO!
Team Kanoko Pennant - Let's go Kanoko LET'S GO!
Team Louie Pennant - Let's go Louie LET'S GO!
Team Stein Pennant - Let's go Stein LET'S GO!

File:Summer2k11 items piehard-shirt.png

Shirt, by cheering 200 times over all

Team Carl Shirt - Official licensed Pie Hard merchandise. Machine washable for easy removal of pie filling stains.
Team Diedrich Shirt - Official licensed Pie Hard merchandise. Machine washable for easy removal of pie filling stains.
Team Ian and Rufus Shirt - Official licensed Pie Hard merchandise. Machine washable for easy removal of pie filling stains.
Team Kanoko Shirt - Official licensed Pie Hard merchandise. Machine washable for easy removal of pie filling stains.
Team Louie Shirt - Official licensed Pie Hard merchandise. Machine washable for easy removal of pie filling stains.
Team Stein Shirt - Official licensed Pie Hard merchandise. Machine washable for easy removal of pie filling stains.

File:Summer2k11 items piehard-end.png

Winning and consolation, obtained by end of the event

Pie Cape - Luxurious and delicious. Truly a winner of winner's cape.
Food Coma - Too many... pies.... so.... sleepy......... uuuughhhhhh

Event Items: Special[]

Store Items[]

File:Summer2k11 items treehouse.png

(The Treehouse)

Rina's Pie Print Apron - I tried eating the pies on my apron once, and I found out they weren't as tasty as they looked. :' c
Live Free or Pie Hard - Just another day in paradise.

Formula 1: Live Free or Pie Hard - Use this formula to craft Live Free or Pie Hard! / *This formula and components only available during Pie Hard with a Vengeance*

Alchemy components: (1) x Bottled Abrasive Sexuality / (1) x Devin's Soothing Mantra / (1) x Diedrich Clone/ (1) x Gro-gain Beard / (1) x Moira's Tunes / (1) x =Mr. Bibble's Silky White Cat Fur / (1) x Ol Pete's Fleas / (1) x Rina's Secret Pie Ingredient

Components: Alchemy[]

Bottled Abrasive Sexuality - Warning: Strong side effect of becoming a stalker.
Devin's Soothing Mantra - In stressful moments, you need to relax with some soothing noise.
Diedrich Clone - ' 'Did you know I can reproduce myself?' '
Gro-gain Beard - The hair tonic known to have strange effects.
Moira's Tunes - For the hardcore punk rock fans.
=Mr. Bibble's Silky White Cat Fur - A piece of fluffy fur ball from Mr. Bibble.
Ol Pete's Fleas - W-what?!! Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?!!!
Rina's Secret Pie Ingredient - It has a very fragrant flower smell to it.

Criticism & Compliments[]

Currently a WIP

Glitches & Problems[]

Copied verbatim from Gaia Online thread by Developer

Jun 30

Hey all,

There was a small glitch with pie purchases not logging correctly and thus not counting on your stamp cards. This has since been fixed and we apologize for any inconvenience it caused you. If you were affected by this we can go ahead and grant back the gold you spent on the pies that weren't logged.

What we'll need from you is a screen shot of the Piehard Event page and also of your stats in the Piehard forum. If you know how many pies you didn't get counted for then you can include that as well, but we at least need the two screen shots so we can refund your gold.

Once you have this information please send it all in an email over to membertalk @ gaiaonline dot com with the title of "Piehard Event Glitch".

Make sure to include your username when you send the email or we will not be able to process your email.

Before you report remember that when playing the event 6 slices make a whole pie. You'll get 1 sticker for every 6 slices of pie you purchase.

Update 07/05/11:

We believe the current issue has been fixed. In order for it to work for you, you will need to clear the cache on your computer. Once you have done so the event should work correctly for you.

To learn how to clear your cache, click this link: Clearing your Cache

Jul 03

Known Bugs

The Way Too Many Pies achievement is currently only granting if you fed the same NPC 1,000 times. It should be granting for having fed a total of 1,000 pies (slices or whole) regardless of who it was. A fix will be pushed out tomorrow morning. If you were feeding an NPC that was eliminated fear not, when the fix goes out it will still count those feeds as well.
-Fixed

On some browsers notably IE (but sometimes others) requests to our servers are failing. The symptoms of this are nearly identical to the last fixed bug but with an easily identifiable difference. Those with this bug are able to continue purchasing pies in quick succession and rarely receive the "come back later" message. If you are experiencing this please note that those requests are not actually being processed and so no purchases actually being made.
I'll push out a fix for this Tuesday, in the interim if you experience this I recommend after each purchase you wait 20 seconds and then refresh the page to confirm it went through and your pies are increasing as you're expecting.
-A fix for this was pushed this morning. The fix involved some javascript changes, so to make sure your browser has the latest version, please follow your browsers instructions to remove all cached data then visit/reload the event page for the changes to take effect.

Dev Alerts[]

Jun 30

Piehard Event Launching

The Piehard summer event part 1 launch is in progress. Beware bugs, animals, cakes, site glitches, random explosions and strangers. Should you run into any of these, assume the party submission position.

...don't think about that too hard...

Jun 30

Piehard Launched

Hey guys, the event is in full swing, be sure to go check it out. There are 9 possible achievements in this event, though not all of them are claimable today, so be sure to check back and keep participating so you don't miss your chance to claim them!

Starting tomorrow the pies will be swapped out around 13:00 P.D.T. and will continue to be swapped out each business day until we have 6 contestants remaining. (Note: The office will be closed on the fourth.)

Starting Tuesday, we'll begin eliminating npc's, so be sure to round up support for your favorite and keep the pies coming.

Not digging the main event? Try just hanging out in the forum. We've added new emotes for the event! There's also some hidden ones, waiting to be discovered...

Edit 17:24 PDT

When playing the event please note that 6 slices make a whole pie. You'll get 1 sticker for every 6 slices of pie you purchase.

Jul 02

Piehard Event Bug Fix

I just pushed a bug fix for the Piehard event. This fix addresses the following.

Symptoms

Buying pies only to have them disappear when you reload the page. (This also means the NPC would not have registered as being fed)
Completing the first or all the cards and not getting the item grant link.

Solution

Added a missing check for data validation before executing purchase code. For some users the system would fail to get their game data but proceed as though nothing was wrong. The event page would continue to update normally while our servers had no data to save.

Now when the system fails to get the users data an error message will be returned advising you to refresh the page and try again.

Notes: Those experiencing this bug would have lost no gold. On resetting the page whatever gold you had before the data failed to save is what you will still have.

Still running into problems? Please continue to post bugs in our Bug Reports and Technical Support forum. I or a member of our Administration staff will address them as we can.

Edit 7/3 8:26 PDT

Found another bug with nearly identical symptoms, a push for it will go out Tuesday, You can read about it here.

Jul 06

1,000 Pies achievement

Noticed a lot of post questioning how this works so I figure I should clarify.

The 1,000 pies fed can be either whole pies or pie slices. This achievement means total that you have fed, It is not specific to any npc, feeding one NPC 150 and another 850 will still grant you the achievement.

Jul 18

Pies End

The first half of the Piehard event is nearing its conclusion. Now's your last chance to support your favorite remaining NPCs! Looks like Carl, Stein, and Moira are in a fight for the finish... Can loyal Devin supporters bring him back from the brink! Watch as the drama unfolds on Piehard's landing page.

Tomorrow when we are ready to update the finalists the ability to purchase pies will be disabled. The event forum will remain open until the end of the week, then it will be locked down and remain so until we are ready to launch Part 2 of the event.

Aug 22

Event Soft Launched

Hey everyone, Pie Hard with a Vengeance, the second half to the Pie Hard summer event is currently soft launched. That mean the forum and event page are active and playable but the wing sticker, event header and event icon are disabled.

Once the announcement is made the remaining elements of the event will be made active. Until then, feel free to Pie Hard.

Aug 23

Event Launched

Hey guys, the exciting conclusion to the Pie Hard event has launched!!!

In this event expect four new achievements, 5 items (one claimable only when the event ends), lots of pies in the face, and 30 new forum emotes!! (including 6 secret ones.) As well as an update to Pie Paradise so you can pie your friends and taunt them at the same time!

All this and it won't cost you a single Gaia Gold piece...so head over to the event page, live free and Pie Hard ...with a Vengeance!

CURRENT NPC SCORES:

Carl: 130

Diedrich: 135

Ian & Rufus: 139

Kanoko: 138

Louie: 136

Stein: 136

Note: The event will run until next Monday or Tuesday then the event page will be updated to include the final item grant based on who won. Ties will be decided at Gaia's discretion.

Aug 24

Pie Hard: Pie User Fix

Late last night I read reports of and confirmed the following bug involving pieing other users. A fix for this has been made and is now live. Sadly I have no way to recover any lost data... Sorry guys

Aug 28

Pie Hard Score Update!

Hey everyone, thought I'd give a score update so everyone knows where they stand... and what vengeance must be enacted to win!

Carl: 618

Diedrich: 617

Ian & Rufus: 628

Kanoko: 622

Louie: 624

Stein: 620

Live free and Pie Hard ...with a Vengeance!

Note: The event will run until next Monday or Tuesday then the event page will be updated to include the final item grant based on who won. Ties will be decided at Gaia's discretion.

Aug 30

Final Score Update!

The event will be ending tomorrow night, Pie wisely!

Carl: 834

Diedrich: 836

Ian & Rufus: 846

Kanoko: 845

Louie: 846

Stein: 838

Aug 30

Pie Hard Event Ending

The Pie Hard with a Vengeance event will be ending tonight ~9 PDT.

A winner will be declared and the event page will then give out the final item. The final item will remain claimable for approximately a week, so don't forget to go get it! ..Until then, happy pieing!

Aug 31

Pie Hard Closing Scores

1. Ian & Rufus: 943

2. Louie: 940

3. Stein: 937

4. Kanoko: 935

5: Diedrich: 934

6. Carl: 933

Don't foget to visit the event page for your final event item grant! The grant will be available for a week so claim it while you can! smile

Thanks for playing!

Sep 02

Event Forum Takedown

Just a heads up the Pie Hard event forum will be archived this coming Tuesday, this means users will no longer be able to post in the forum but it will be available for viewing.

The event emotes have been added to our patch rotation and should launch some time next week. Special thanks to Carbonphyber for taking the time to make sure they would work in most areas of the site.

Even after the emotes are made available site wide, the hidden emotes will remain hidden... to my knowledge two have yet to be discovered...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Trivia[]

This is the first event to have up to 43 characters participate.
This is the first event to release the most badges, thirteen in total.
There were emotes created as well as the return of the cat emotes from the Meowbook event.
Due to the achievement, Pieversity, being known hours later by Gaians and a few glitches, there was feedback about missing the first day of pies. Those who missed them got the opportunity to try and achieve Pieversity by waiting for the re-release. However, the second to last day of pies would not see this treatment, as the second phase of the event was approaching.