Escape (event)

Escape
Date:	May-June 2010
Place:	Ellicott Place Railway Station
Result:	Zombie victory
Combatants
Survivors x Zombies
Groups
- Survivors :	Escape
- Zombies :	No Escape, The Ridleybank Resistance Front, Militant Order of Barhah, Feral Undead, Minions of the Apocalypse, Extinction, Red Rum, EVIL
Commanders
- Survivors :	CaptainVideo
- Zombies :	Red Brinded Cat of No Escape, Papa Globule and Adward of the RRF, Liche and Amber of the MOB
Strength
- Survivors :	500 survivors who were bored with Urban Dead
- Zombies :	400 zombies driven by the scent of bra!nz in the air
Casualties
- Survivors :	No one inside Elicott was left alive. Coupled with ruined surroundings, 500+
- Zombies :	Approximately 100

Flipyap killed a zombie with a fire axe. (5 minutes ago)

Flipyap said "i will fight you basterds until i die" (4 minutes ago)

A zombie dragged Flipyap out into the street. (2 minutes ago)

The Escape Event was a high-profile siege that occurred on the western border of Malton towards the end of May 2010.

Dissatisfied with the state of Urban Dead, CaptainVideo founded Escape. His stated goal was to gather enough players together and "Bum-rush" the western border. The plan consisted of a show of numbers (similar to the historic Zombie Strike of 2005) in order to pressure Kevan into allowing them to permanently leave Malton. Escape was originally intended to be a group of both survivors and zombies, but received minimal support from zombie communities and ended up being almost completely a survivor group. Although Escape had no leader and was decentralized, Captain Video put out a nightly radio broadcast on the Emergency Broadcast System throughout most of May. This was a mixture of marching orders and propaganda. Metagaming wasn't introduced until the chosen day was already close at hand.

The hopeful escapists gathered in Ellicott Place Railway Station at the border of Owsleybank to perform a calling out to Kevan, using the nearby Woodborne Building as a rotter revive station for incoming escapists, and Thirlby Walk and The Sendall Monument for standard revivifications. The date that had been set for the symbolic ultimatum was the 1^st of June 2010, and group organizers augmented their plea with notes of entreaty and the threat of violence or mass suicide should their demand not be met by their set deadline. Before long, ferals and zombie hordes targeted Ellicott Place Railway Station. The event concluded on the 27^th of May, when the zombies eventually killed every member of Escape, ending what had quickly become the biggest siege in almost two years.

Escape holds a significant place in the recent history of Urban Dead. At the time, it was the largest gathering of players for two years, and continues to be to this day. The event itself also exemplified the long-term stagnancy of Urban Dead's once thriving culture and growth, as the unexpected success of the event proved how many players in the game had grown tired of the current state of Urban Dead as a game. A constant decline in player numbers and a lack of updates may have contributed to this outlook.

After the event, many of the players who had failed to escape joined up into a large horde, eventually joining the Big Bash 3.

Location

The "Escape Zone" Border The Woodborne Building (Rot RP) The Dawney Building Border Ellicott Place Railway Station Hodgkinson Drive Border Waller Auto Repair Thirlby Walk (RP) Border The Sendall Monument (RP) Howord Way

Comparison

	Escape	No Escape and allies
Goals	Varied by member, but included: Being lifted from Malton and taken someplace else (such as Monroeville). The opportunity to “opt out” of Malton and receive a block of text that provided closure as their accounts were canceled. An end-game scenario, in which survivors and zombies would fight a final battle followed by Malton being closed.	Kill a large number of survivors, namely the escapists.
Motivation	Game updates had become infrequent, and Malton stagnant. Escapists viewed this as boring.	Survivors are broadly regarded as a delicacy among zombies, to be eaten as frequently as possible. The event was regarded as an opportunity to increase zombie numbers. Many zombies viewed the escapists as ignorant or naive. In their mind, Escape had all the flaws of a typical survivor, but to a much greater degree.
Propaganda Poster

Timeline

30 April - CaptainVideo creates the Escape movement to leave Malton. Propaganda begins to be spraypainted throughout Malton.

8 May - Escape hits 100 members, all aiming to leave Malton.

12 May - Escape has over 200 members.

16/17 May - The counter group, No Escape, is formed by Red Brinded Cat. Escape now has over 300 members.

22 May - Escape has over 400 members. 300 survivors are in Ellicott. The Ridleybank Resistance Front declares its intention to besiege the station.

24 May - The Woodborne Building, a longtime Rot Revive, is attacked, as it was intentionally left unbarricaded. The ease with which this food is acquired attracts may more zombies, while giving those there a reason to stay.

25 May - Woodborne is ruined by Jadkor of the RRF. The adjacent Dawney Building, which housed ~30 survivors, is destroyed by a joint RRF-MOB strike. These gains for No Escape sounds the eventual death knell of Ellicott.

26 May - Ferals breach the building, forming a beachhead of ~10 zombies before being booted by survivor firepower. Later that day, a joint strike between Auxunit 10 of the RRF and Bairn Cathairn of the MOB results in a larger beachhead of ~20 zombies.

27 May - Zombies swarm inside to kill the 300 survivors exposed by the previous day's assault. The battle lasts slightly more than 20 hours. Before the end of the day, more than 160 zombies were standing in the ruined building, all survivors having been eaten or fled. Shortly after this, ~40 survivors attempted to retake the Dawney Building, to no avail.

28 May - Waller Auto Repair, which held 100+ survivors, is ruined. Most survivors fall back to restock.

June 1^st, as the escapists rush to what ended up as their demise.

1 June - In an unorganized but determined attempt to reclaim Ellicott before the climax, survivors rush in, killing and combat reviving what zombies they could, while meatshielding to slow zombie retaliation. After less than four hours of bloodshed, every survivor to remain inside had been killed, and zombie numbers remained around 140.

Legacy

Proffesor Chaos: "I hate you zombies. Looks like 400 plus survivors are going to quit. Congraulations"
A zombie: "Harmanz nah haz manbagz? HAR HAR HAR!"

Ellicott was ruined, and the alliance of major zombie groups that had made up the No Escape movement went separate ways once more. Following the crushing political defeat for survivors, many participants on both side of the battle decided to join The Third Big Bash; It looked to be the next big event, and was performed by the side that had proven its worth in battle. The transition from Escape to Bash was clean, and the city wide survivor:zombie ratio gradually (albeit briefly) turned in favor of the dead.

Over a month later, survivors quietly reclaimed the no longer significant area from lingering ferals.

Transcript of the Final Battle

This

is an account of the final battle of Escape, on June 1^st, with indicated omissions where data is lost, during which survivors attempted to retake Ellicott. Prior to this, the building had been held by a horde of 100+ zombies since its fall on May 28^th. It has been compiled from at least three different sources.