My predictions:
1. (12 hours – 2 days) Blackgate defeats Tequatl. Brief celebration by the game as a whole, for being the world first and showing that it can be done. Interest in the event is revitalized as everyone attempts to be the second server to defeat Tequatl.
2. (Rest of event) Blackgate manages to defeat Tequatl a handful more times, but more often than not has issues with PUGS or cannot muster up enough DPS to defeat Tequatl. Due to Blackgate’s enormous influx of people from other servers during the event, this prevents them from mobilizing their server 90% of the time. Still, during this interim, 2-4 highly organized guild groups from other servers in the game take him down as well, to much fanfare.
3. (After event ends) Interest in Tequatl plummets as servers realize that Blackgate’s old level of coordination is impossible, due to lack of motivated players and an increase in player groups doing standard PvE content instead of joining in. Consequently, Blackgate’s occasional triumphs quickly die down, and tension between those attempting to complete Tequatl and newbies or other players questing in the zone grows. Much influx on the forums directed at bashing newbies in the zone, leading to general flame wars. ArenaNet introduces several bugfixes to Tequatl, in addition to adding an AFK timer on the turrets. This does not stop trolls from messing up the fight on occasion.
4. (Month after event ends) Tequatl is still considered one of the hardest bosses in the game, and virtually impossible to farm due to a combination of general PvErs subtracting from the available population able to fight, as well as an influx of “dedicated trollers” who make it a goal to AFK on the turrets or otherwise make the fight unwinnable. Despite ArenaNet’s attempts to patch this, they continue to find ways around it, up to and including simply not participating. There is an active push to let ArenaNet raise the population cap in the zone, or make Tequatl an instanced area for the same amount of people. ArenaNet declines to comment, instead cryptically saying that they are “looking into” ways to fix the fight.
5. (2 months and beyond) Tequatl is rarely attempted on any server, and even on Blackgate is usually ignored, with guilds on rare occasions challenging him (and usually failing). Apathy for the event grows, and even though the trolls leave due to minimal interest in the event, they are still often brought up as a reason why the event shouldn’t be attempted. From this point onwards, Tequatl is thought of as a broken, subpar world boss. ArenaNet’s cryptic comments about “looking into it” break the fight further, or are never delivered at all. From this point onwards, Tequatl is used primarily as a “prestige boss” who up-and-coming “elite” guilds from all servers challenge to show how good they are to YouTube. Despite their best intentions and accomplishments, the guild attempts are met by the populace with a shrug, a groan, and inane arguments in LA about what constitutes being a tryhard.