This discussion is part of the Master article "From the Ashes - Difficulty Philosophy Discussion". Please visit that forum post (Also by me) before reading this one! Or don't, it's your life, read what you'd like.
This is one of the three discussion posts talking about the individual reward and challenge structures associated with the different aspects of the upcoming game!
These posts will be specific to the mechanics that we are familiar with in Ashes of Creation! If there are any gaps in this information relevant to the concepts of KPS, I will simply fill in those gaps with some theory crafting. If there are any corrections on factual information that need to be made, please point them out to me!
This KPS discussion will be on PvW, that being specifically Questing, World Events, and Crafting
As a reminder: KPS is an Acronym that stands for Knowledge, Persistence, Skill. These are the different potential approaches to resolving a difficult challenge!
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE PURELY THEORY CRAFTED, ANY SIMILARITIES TO REAL IN GAME ITEMS IS A COINCIDENCE, OR THEY LIKED MY IDEAS!

When I think knowledge associated with PvW it most certainly is associated with having a deep and storied memory of the different aspects of the world. Memorizing and participating in many quests, understand the locations of rare resource spawns, even knowing the fastest possible leveling path.
Earn level 50 in under 150 hours played -

Participate (50%) in 5 narrative events -

Complete a quest for every single Node on Verra -

The library of available persistence strategies in the open world is near infinite. You could persistently approach quests, events, land discovery, harvesting, freehold building, etc. Obviously PvW encompasses a much larger variety of gameplay than either PvE or PvP, so realistically I could make a library of 1,000 different achievements and associated items. It would certainly be a large task on the shoulder of Intrepid Studios to vet which of these gameplay mechanics are deserving of Epic tier items to match the power level standard of other players.
Defeat 100 Beasts (Alternatively: Humanoids. Spirits, Plants, etc.) - Beast slayers benefit - 50g
Collect 500 of a single resource type -

Turn in 10,000 gold worth of Hunting Certificates -

Earn the largest total gold from the auction house on your server (100,000g+) -

Contrary to what many MMORPG player bases tend to believe, the open world can be an amazing place to express individual skill. The ability to clear large packs of enemies near your character's strength, solo boss/elite content on your own, various other near impossible things that can be achieved. These things are often done through mastery the classes' various power fantasies.
Level 10 times without dying - Bounty of the Masterful - 50g
Defeat an Elite Quest at or around your level on your own -

Complete an entire event on your own (100%) -

Complete a main story line at or around your own level wearing no gear -
Win 3 Node Sieges, Win 3 Castle Raids, Master an Artistry aspect, Complete 50 events, Complete 100 quests -
These are obviously just a large amount of item concepts that I enjoyed making! Please let me know if you think that the concepts, or interpretations of the challenges, are off base or not! The items are far less important.. Having such minimal information on the balance and technical stats of the true in-game items.. I'm really just BS'ing. I'm more curious if you think that the challenges to earn them apply to KPS properly! Please feel free to offer alternatives.
Thanks for your time!