Hehe. Gayle I kinda agree that some of the lower level zones have become like Kithicor (Deadly at night time). The skeletons that spawn in East Commonlands had a decent agro range and would wipe the floor with someone in the zone trying to xp.
Though I really did enjoy fighting the skeletons and and watching the masses destroy them. I did see a few people die that were 40+ too. I really don't know how long the events will last but the items that drop would be nice to get and alot of the time they were left to rot on the corpses. I'm sorry your friend lost so much experience. Also not sure when they will be over. From the patch message it could be a couple weeks but I'm not sure.