Understanding the “Crisis Christmas Gift” in Riders of Icarus Event

I’ll be honest, I was enthralled by Riders of Icarus when it first came out. It seemed like the MMORPG had a promising future with its unique feature of catching mounts/minions. However, their strategy of monetizing the storage of these creatures was off-putting. The eventual shift towards a “Play-to-Earn” crypto model was the final nail in the coffin for me.

Presently, my involvement with the game is limited to keeping an eye on their website, half-expecting to see an announcement of its closure. Surprisingly, the game continues to exist.

Let’s diverge a bit and discuss their holiday event.

At first glance, the event seems reasonable enough. After all, the Yeti presence justifies the winter-themed image. In the event, you’re given the mission to aid Mary in retrieving materials for gift-manufacturing, which have been stolen by her treacherous assistants. While ridiculous, the event comes with a dungeon and rewards.

However, two aspects stand out as odd. 1) In the game’s narrative, Mary’s assistants, who are on strike, absconded with the items. Your mission is to ‘deal with’ the striking assistants, which seems rather extreme without knowing their complaints. 2) The event is strangely named “Crafting a Crisis Christmas Gift”, which doesn’t make much sense. Perhaps it’s just a mistranslation. Regardless, the term “crisis gift” leaves me stumped.

There might be something I’m overlooking that the regular Riders players are aware of. If that’s the case, please enlighten me in the comments.