Festival of Firepower Xiii - "Nerf Herders"

Entropia Universe Discussion Events
1

[CENTER]Loot, Invention, Discovery[/CENTER]

Some time ago I looted a Drone Head… The CPU, data transmitter and receiver were all still intact, and occassionally it would emit a burst of static. Now and then these static bursts would clearly contain a definite pattern, as if it was still receiving and transmitting messages…

A Technician helped me amplify the signal… Basically we hooked the head up to a power source, a signal booster and a Xlite Display Screen. For some time now I have been able to observe data transmissions between Akbal-Cimi and the Robot Forces on Calypso…

Most of the Data is pretty non-descript… Standard operating codes, software upgrades, repair and maintainance, mostly the basic data link reasserting itself repeatedly to maintain contact with the Drones here. Routine stuff is always in Hexadecimal. I’ve had no trouble translating it, but there’s never been anything of any use.

Occasionally I see what must be important messages… I can tell because they are usually one-time messages, of a paragraph or more, instead of the usual constant repeated “chatter”. These messages are invariably deeply encrypted and I have never yet managed to break the code.

But this morning I stumbled across something extraordinary… It was a message in the “One-time Data-Chunk Must-be-important” style, only it had not been encrypted, it was just in standard Hex. It looked like this:

[FONT=“Fixedsys”][size=“1”]46 72 6F 6D 20 43 61 6C 79 70 73 6F 20 49 6E 66 69 6C 74 72 61 74 69 6F 6E 20 55 6E 69 74 20 74 6F 20 41 6B 62 61 6C 2D 43 69 6D 69 20 48 69 67 68 20 43 6F 6D 6D 61 6E 64 A 41 73 20 69 6E 73 74 72 75 63 74 65 64 20 74 68 65 20 69 6E 63 72 65 61 73 65 20 69 6E 20 53 74 61 6D 69 6E 61 20 61 6E 64 20 52 65 67 65 6E 65 72 61 74 69 6F 6E 20 6C 65 76 65 6C 73 20 6F 66 20 46 65 66 66 6F 69 64 20 4D 61 66 66 6F 69 64 20 41 74 72 6F 78 20 41 6D 62 75 6C 69 6D 61 78 20 41 6C 6C 6F 70 68 79 6C 6C 20 45 73 74 6F 70 68 79 6C 6C 20 61 6E 64 20 41 72 61 6E 65 61 74 72 6F 78 20 73 70 65 63 69 65 73 20 6F 6E 20 50 6C 61 6E 65 74 20 43 61 6C 79 70 73 6F 20 68 61 73 20 62 65 65 6E 20 73 75 63 63 65 73 73 66 75 6C 20 61 6E 64 20 4D 65 63 68 20 69 6E 76 6F 6C 76 65 6D 65 6E 74 20 68 61 73 20 67 6F 6E 65 20 75 6E 64 65 74 65 63 74 65 64 20 55 6E 69 74 20 32 20 68 61 73 20 63 6F 6D 70 6C 65 74 65 64 20 69 64 65 6E 74 69 63 61 6C 20 6D 6F 64 69 66 69 63 61 74 69 6F 6E 73 20 74 6F 20 74 68 65 20 41 75 72 6C 69 20 70 6F 70 75 6C 61 74 69 6F 6E 20 6F 66 20 43 72 79 73 74 61 6C 20 50 61 6C 61 63 65 20 57 68 65 72 65 20 77 65 20 68 61 76 65 20 66 61 69 6C 65 64 20 6D 61 79 20 74 68 65 73 65 20 6D 6F 62 73 20 73 75 63 63 65 65 64 20 44 65 61 74 68 20 74 6F 20 61 6C 6C 20 48 75 6D 61 6E 73[/size][/FONT]

Something told me it was worth translating… So I ran it through a basic Hex Decoder. It wasn’t difficult, try it yourselves. I didn’t really expect to find anything interesting, since there was no encryption. How wrong I was.

The message content chilled my blood…… Here it is:

[FONT=“Fixedsys”]From Calypso Infiltration Unit to Akbal-Cimi High Command
As instructed the increase in Stamina and Regeneration levels of Feffoid Maffoid Atrox Ambulimax Allophyll Estophyll and Araneatrox species on Planet Calypso has been successful and Mech involvement has gone undetected
Unit 2 has completed identical modifications to the Aurli population of Crystal Palace
Where we have failed may these mobs succeed
Death to all Humans
[/FONT]

The awful truth became shockingly clear to me…

The Robots Engineered the recent Regeneration Nerfs! It does make a sickening kind of sense. They have repeatedly tried and failed to overthrow us hardy humans. So now they look to other ways of getting the better of us, by turning the Mobs of Calypso against us, and genetically enhancing their ability to hurt us.

Only blind luck has brought this discovery to us… Had the Unit on Calypso encryted this message I would never have found it. We have indeed been fortunate to stumble across a glimpse of the enemy’s plan.

They cannot be allowed to get away with this… I don’t know about you but I am proud to call myself a Citizen of Calypso, and will happily fight and die (repeatedly) to protect my home and my friends.

As a GloryHound I can think of only one possible response…

[SIZE=“4”][CENTER][B]We Fight!

:handgun:[/B][/CENTER][/SIZE]

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[FONT=“Comic Sans MS”][CENTER][B][I][SIZE=“4”]Solution

People of Calypso, I’m afraid I must call on you once more…[/size][/i]

We thought the Robot War was over, we were wrong…

Regeneration rates of the Mobs YOU love to hunt have been Boosted…
And it’s the scheming cowardly tin-cans who are responsible.

We must show them we’re stronger than they are.
We must show them their plan will Fail.

Hurrikane and the GloryHounds have no choice but to organise…

[size=“6”] Festival of Firepower Xiii :[/size]

[size=“7”]Nerf-Herders! [/size]

[size=“4”]The Classic 6 hour Team Hunt Event
On Saturday 3rd January 2009
at 17:00 MA time
until 23:00 later that night
Start/Finish : Nymphtown Catwalk
24632 12608 Eudoria[/SIZE]

That’s just a little way NW of Nymphtown

Here it is, look

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/8/8/0/3/fof_xii_start_thumb.jpg[size=1][br]Click to enlarge[/br][/size]

That’s Nymph you can see in the background…

It served well as a starting point before,
It will serve us well again.
[/center]

The Festival of Firepower is a Free to Enter hunting event that has run successfully for several years. It began as a celebration of the sheer firepower of a team of hunters with Big Weapons. Back then it was Bravos. These days there are many many fine death-dealing weapons to choose from…

Here is a link to the previous rounds… https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/events/88262-history-festival-firepower.html

[CENTER]And here’s how the results went…

FoF 1 “Bravo Owners Take Note” won by : No-one
FoF ii “Festival of Firepower 2” won by : Everyone
FoF iii “The Rig” : Absolute carnage, who knows Who won?
FoF iv “Ugly Cull” won by Gloryhounds
FoF v “Spidapocalypse” won by Hunters Extreme
FoF vi “Amethera Caper” won by Hunters Extreme
FoF vii “Beyond Mental” won by Hounds and Friends
Fof viii “Tundrageddon” won by Hounds and Friends
FoF iX “CND Day” won by The Disturbed Ones
FoF X “Insecticide” won by NotA
FoF Xi “Low Impact, Weird Weaponry” won by FoFW
FoF Xii “Mutant Massacre!” won by FoFW
[/center]

[SIZE=“3”]Here’s how it works:[/SIZE]

Teams of up to 12, made up of anyone you like.. Friends, Soc-mates, Old WoF teams.. anyone..
The idea is to global as many times as possible from a set mob list, with points for the different mobs, just like the WoF, only you have 6 hours to do it in… The overall aim is to kill as many of the Nerfed Mobs as possible, and show the Robots of Akbal-Cimi that neither they nor their sick genetic manipulation can get the better of the People of Calypso!

[size=“7”]FoF Xiii Mob List:[/size]

[size=“6”]Feffoid/Maffoid… 5 points[/size]

[size=“6”]Atrox… 6 points[/size]

[size=“6”]Ambulimax… 7 points[/size]

[size=“6”]Allophyl/Estophyl… 8 points[/size]

[size=“6”]Aurli… 10 points[/size]

[size=“4”]And a “one time only” Bonus Mob:[/size]

[size=“6”]Araneatrox… 25 points[/size]
But you can only score ONCE on these…

The mob list for FoF Xiii is going to make for some important tactical decision from each team. The bulk of the main list should be no trouble. Aurli are another matter. You will need to decide whether to send a small contingent to Crystal Palace to deal with the Aliens, or to go there together, or to leave the Aurli out of your plans altogether…

The bonus mob, the Araneatrox, is a complete Bitch since the Bots messed with it’s regen. I used to hunt them myself, using the time-honoured revive-return-repeat method. That is no longer an option for someone like me.
Fortunately you will only need ONE global on these leggy monsters for your 25 bonus points.

[size=“3”]As with the WoF there are several other Bonuses available:

Any HoF is worth Double Points for that Mob

Any ATH is worth Double Points for the Entire Hunt

And the “Susan” - Any global of 113 peds is Double Points too :wink:

There’s also the Variety Bonus:

The more different mobs from the main list of 5 you global on, the bigger the bonus :

[SIZE=“5”]2 Different Mobs… Bonus 5 points
.
3 Different Mobs… Bonus 10 points
.
4 Different Mobs… Bonus 25 points
.
5 Different Mobs… Bonus 50 points
[/SIZE]

The bonus mob Araneatrox does NOT count towards your mob Variety total…
(It’s already worth 25 points, so all 6 mobs gets you 75 pts)

[/B]

The “FoF Champions” Title goes to the highest scoring team
Currently held by : Federation of Free Wanderers

The “FoF Heroes” Title is also back up for grabs
and will go to the first team to global on all 6 mobs
Currently held by : Federation of Free Wanderers

[center]
Please, I urge all of you to get a team together, or just turn up alone, and be ready to defend your planet and your friends.

We will show the Robots that nothing they do can defeat us.

This time we will concentrate on culling the mobs they have Nerfed. Once this is successful we can turn our attention to the Mechanised Menaces. But that is for another time…

Those of you who have fought in the FoF and the WoF before will know what to do. The rest of you can look at previous FoF threads, or can post questions here and I will endeavor to put your minds at ease as best I can, under the circumstances.[/size]
[b]
[size=“4”]It’s time to take a stand once again

The Robots think they have us against the ropes

It’s time to show them their efforts were in vain

It’s time for Festival of Firepower Xiii[/size]

[size=“5”]Nerf-Herders![/size]

[size=“6”]Who’s With Me?[/size]

[/FONT][/b][/center]

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Unless the world has come to an end before then - I’m there this time to shoot the sh–e out of em all (while listening to the nerf herding Buffy theme song ofc) :yay:
Which team will benefit from my insane presense will be determined at a later date, or I may decide to make my own kick ass team for a change :wink:

Your storylines and humour just get better and better hon, thanks for sparking my interest and love for EU again and again when it most needed a spark :slight_smile:

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I have just e-mailed myself so that I remember to write this down.

I hope I don’t get stuck with blimmin’ useless TDO again though :smiley:

5

ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

FoFXII was a tragic (but momentary) blip on our otherwise impressive FoF credentials LOL

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Awesome!!!

7

Who are you calling “scruffy looking”???

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He he that took me a few secs…

Top marks for catching references, and running with em :wink:

:thumbup:

9

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs3CvQT63QQ

:thumbup:

and here’s a message for the Robots of Akbal-Cimi

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_59lxt4ndwg

:handgun:

10

I will do my best to be there for the boring, but very necessary judging. On 3 JAN 09 I might be driving from Ohio to my home in Maine (returning from Christmas holiday). Hopefully I can make it, but if not best of luck to all teams!

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I know you’ll do your best, RJ… you always do :wink:

You’re under no obligation whatsoever to be there if it’s difficult, you have already done and do do (do-do?) soo much for the WoF and the FoF…

If you are able to Judge you would be Most Welcome, but I wouldn’t want you to feel stressed about it…

Folks, there’s Always a need for Judges for these events. The optimum number of Judges is idealy 1 more than the number of teams. Rayne Jade, bless her heart, Judged the thing from start to finish last time, with some assistance from Lee (thanX Lee ;)) and she’s not even a Gloryhound (although I hope she knows she has a standing invitation to become one at whatever point she comes to her senses…)

If anyone would like to be involved in the Festival of Firepower but doesn’t feel up to competing, there are Plenty of slots available as a Judge. The role basically involves staying at the start/finish line watching out for FoF related globals, keeping track of them (including bonuses) and Liaising with competing teams in the event of problems or questions. Preference will be given to players with good references and reputation, of course…

There’s weeks to go yet, so there really is no problem. Worse case scenario is that I’ll Judge the thing meself, but I’d prefer to get to play with my beloved Hounds if possible (not that they Need me, you understand ;)).

PM me, or post here, if you’re interested in a responsible role :thumbup:

12

OMG That’s one solid jaw-dropping eye-rolling head-spinning story.

Teach those rusty bots by kicking the green fur from the nerfed mobs.
(Well, some are green anyway :wink: )

Rap out.

13

She also had to cope with bozos like me turning up late halfway through the evening trying to find my team. Bet she thought I was some noob about to nick the wood. :slight_smile:

I have to say (as others already have), Chopper that your storylines are most impressive. Well thought out and eminently plausible. You should work for MA. [That is intended to be complimentary, I’m not sure how it reads].

1 Like
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Subscribing to remember, interested like hell, looks like will be there :slight_smile:

15

sounds like a good time … im sure Supremacy Reign will show up

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Everybody of note will be there. I will be there as well :wink:

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Time for TDO to take back what is rightfully their’s! A title which was stolen—that’s right! I said “STOLEN” [COLOR=“Silver”][SIZE=“1”](not Stollen, that’s a German strudel-kind of dessert, I think)[/SIZE] as a result of someone breaking into MA HQ and turning off our loot switch–[SIZE=“1”]a jealous Hound or FoFW member, perhaps![/SIZE] :laugh:

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You’re not far wrong, German fruit cake, espacially at Christmas…

They look like this:

http://spluch.blogspot.com/2007/12/giant-christmas-cake.html

But are usually slightly smaller…

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Not at all… It is well known that in addition to judging, being a traffic cop is also required. No one minds doing it. After all, I was in contact with all the teams so it was a simple thing to do. There were others as well and I helped them along too. Someone even came along asking which team was in last place and wanted to join them. Comes with the territory :thumbup:

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That’s a very cool thing to do…

Nice attitude, great approach to an event.

Good work, whoever that was :thumbup: