Mapserver Madness! (Four-One 2022 Invasion Event)

[Cobalt Arachne]

Mapserver Madness! (Four-One 2022 Invasion Event):

---

After GM_Bot went rogue last year and was subsequently suppressed by our capable server admins, we thought all was well!

...We thought wrong. 😱

Small bits of the unknown and mysterious code that suddenly gave rise to GM_Bot's sentience have escaped and begun proliferating itself! We've now received reports that it has manifested within the various mapservers that run the zones of our fair City of Heroes!

We do our best to keep our mapserver instances happy and healthy, but as you are all aware, the map server can be a fickle beast. Often disconnecting unexpecting victims at a moments notice, we thought it was likely just bugs in the code, but new information has arisen that shows there may be more...

Something unnatural, more malevolent...

The crisis we now face threatens the fabric of our world! The mapserver has gained sentience, and become the Dreaded Mapserver!™
It has had enough of our super-powered antics and has deemed all player life as requiring immediate extermination!



Assembling the most terrifying, under baked, and volatile code it could conjure, the Dreaded Mapserver has assembled a violent army of glitches, bugs, broken scripts, and other abominations to attempt to wipe out all life as we know it!

It is up to the brave players of our world to rise and combat the sentient Dreaded Mapserver, drive back its wicked and unstable minions, and to exterminate the fiend's sentience with a hard reboot!

Those who muster the courage to face these aberrant distortions will find themselves as much as tenfold times more experienced than they were before, with an untold bounty of influence, infamy, and information that comes with such triumphs!

We wish you noble souls the best of luck as you work to save our world! 

 

---

DISCLAIMER:
This is a short, for-fun invasion event! Thus, there are no unique badges or rewards that can be missed, but we hope you will enjoy the x10 reward scale!
Level some characters! This silly invasion event will run through the weekend until regular Tuesday maintenance time. ~FREEM!

---

Author's note: The mapserver has stocked up on a lifetime supply of Blue Spider© brand Hero Repellant™ and Dr. Caretaker's© Signature Costume Bleach™; Beware!

[Glacier Peak]

[MetalSiryn]

Oh my god this is SO much fun!  I hope this becomes yearly!

[kelika2]

First, there was Winter Lord Babies.

15 years later..

[Faelia]

  On 4/1/2022 at 6:31 AM, kelika2 said:

First, there was Winter Lord Babies.

15 years later..

Expand  

I knew it was reminding me of something.

[Crystal Dragon]

I love this event, thank you! It's awesome!  *currently working on alt number 47*

[wjrasmussen]

I just discovered that while it is 10x experience, the "mobs" are only level 1.  Perhaps a bug or something else...

[Cinnder]

My compliments to the designers of the bug mobs.  Outstanding!

[Ura Hero]

  On 4/1/2022 at 5:25 PM, wjrasmussen said:

I just discovered that while it is 10x experience, the "mobs" are only level 1.  Perhaps a bug or something else...

Expand  

Mobs scale in invasions.  Level shown means nothing.

[wjrasmussen]

  On 4/1/2022 at 7:18 PM, Ura Hero said:

Mobs scale in invasions.  Level shown means nothing.

Expand  

April Fools

[mechahamham]

The event invasion and the vectored knockback brawl (BOOM! SURPRISE! FREEEEM!) are delightful. Thank you for the wonderful present!

[Cobalt Arachne]

Oh my!

I've received reports that GM_Bot has once again begun accepting tells and distributing costume upgrades in-game.

I'm sure everything will be fine...

[arcane]

Would be cool if the OP actually explained when/where any of this happens.

[Timewinder]

  On 4/1/2022 at 10:13 PM, arcane said:

Would be cool if the OP actually explained when/where any of this happens.

Expand  

 

Perhaps you haven't spent much time in-game. Invasion events (like Nemesis and Rikti invasions, when active) occur pretty constantly in random zones, and their starts and stops with locations are always announced in your chat box with a taunt from the enemy character.

[The_Warpact]

  On 4/1/2022 at 10:25 PM, Timewinder said:

 

Perhaps you haven't spent much time in-game. Invasion events (like Nemesis and Rikti invasions, when active) occur pretty constantly in random zones, and their starts and stops with locations are always announced in your chat box with a taunt from the enemy character.

Expand  

You might want to look at his post count, ole Arcane has been around for quite a long time. 

[The Caretaker]

Yes, by default you may need to add the Zone Event Message channels to your chat tabs.

 

May the Ford Centaurus absorb your wrath!

[momentarygrace]

This is very fab, thank you oh evil Mapserver! I needed some insanity to cleanse my emotional palate from the taste of "reality".

 

[Shocktacular]

Are Praetorian zones included in this event?

Oh wait, the OP said "information" too, which is Praetorian. NVM

Edited April 2, 2022 by Shocktacular

[Snarky]

Is this whole thing another stupid April Fools like the baby you couldn't get rid of?

 

I generally think the HC team does a good job.... but it seems April 1st is just an excuse for them to troll the player base most years.....

[Bopper]

What I wouldn't give for next year's April Fools event to have a Giant Monster of the New Years Baby. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man kind of size. 

[ZorkNemesis]

  On 4/2/2022 at 12:54 AM, Bopper said:

 Stay Puft Marshmallow Man kind of size. 

Expand  

 

The next time someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!

[Glacier Peak]

On a Friday night, on Indomitable, there aren't enough players in one zone to spawn an invasion..

...at least as far as those willing to show themselves in the search

 

GOT IT TO SPAWN! 😄

 

Also, amazing custom enemies!!!!

Edited April 2, 2022 by Glacier Peak

[The Caretaker]

  On 4/2/2022 at 2:30 AM, Krimson said:

I just attempted this and my button bar got lagged to the point that I couldn't use it, so I left and as if by magic, the lag went away. Then I was informed that the lag and button bar shenanigans are part of the event. Heh.. No thanks.

Expand  

That is not part of the event. Lag cannot be replicated like that casually. It's possible that enemy density or fx had an effect on your client.

[Apparition]

  On 4/2/2022 at 1:27 AM, Glacier Peak said:

On a Friday night, on Indomitable, there aren't enough players in one zone to spawn an invasion..

 

 

 

...at least as far as those willing to show themselves in the search

 

😪

Expand  

 

 

To be fair, it looks like you're a Rogue (rock on!).  That won't show anyone in a blue side zone, and those tend to be more populated.

 

As a villain at heart, I make it a point to get event leagues going in co-op zones so everyone can participate.  Somehow, I managed to get a league with four full teams in Imperial City last night, on Torchbearer.  Torchbearer isn't much more populated than Indomitable.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Apparition

[Clave Dark 5]

Figures one of the days of the week I'm rarely on (and online) that there was something fun going on.  Didn't see this till just now!  *shakes fist*