Crashing repeatedly, maybe level shift related.

Attempted 4 different TFs tonight with my MM and an sg team. On each TF, we all got mapserved within the first 3-5 minutes of the first mission (this happened about 8 times).

So we removed our tier 3 alpha slots prior to the TFs - coincidentally, we were able to run all the TFs without one mapserve occurring from beginning to end.

So after we were done, I ran a few solo tests. (below)


Here's a test I ran with my ninja/dark MM using/reseting the exact same mission:

1) Tier 2 alpha slotted only
Mission ran fine, was able to kill everything all the way to the last room. I left the boss alive and reset the mission, then..

2) Slotted my tier 3 alpha slot
Mission ran fine WITHOUT ANY PETS, was able to kill everything all the way to the last room. I left the boss alive and reset the mission, then..

3) Left my tier 3 alpha slotted
Mission ran fine WITH ONLY DARK SERVANT (shifted at +1), was able to kill everything all the way to the last room. I left the boss alive and reset the mission, then..

4) Left my tier 3 alpha slotted, called tier 1 ninjas
Mission mapserved after about 5 minutes (the 3rd mob I was fighting)


So... it seems that the tier 3 alphas don't like MM pets being summoned?

For everyone who (A) had problems where EVERYONE in the team mapserved within a mission, or (B) you mapserved during the first 5 minutes of any mission consistently: are you (or was someone in your team) a mastermind using a tier 3 alpha with any summoned pets?

Just checking all the bases to help out the devs figure this out.

Thanks!

I am currently on a LRSF which was doing fine with one level shifted character, a Radiation/Sonic Defender. So I equipped my level shift alpha -- we crashed less than five minutes later. I'm a Controller, so pets are very possibly part of the problem.

The crash happened at 02-02-2011 04:36:59 GMT-3, on the character Doctor Leo on Freedom.

I run an ITF last night with my lvl shifted blaster, summoning my spiderlings whenever they were up, and we had no problem (although we had an unsuall large number of incoming ambushes)


On the other hand, fellow deviants crashed constantly in Khan and LGTF

Using a Cardiac Rare and have been having no issues. I'm a crab with all 3 spider pets and yes they receive the level shift.

The only time I mapserved was when I was on an ITF and the MM had a Nerve Rare. Us 2 were the only ones with rares. Team mapserved a few mins in to the first mission. We restarted and removed all rares. We finished the first mission just fine. Beginning of 2nd mission I slotted my rare (secretly, because I wasn't buying this story) and the rest of the TF went smoothly.

So far, I've seen this happen to MMs. Maybe it's a specific AT or rare combination that is leading to this. I know that if I run missions by myself with my Rare I'm having no issues at all.

we had no MM/trollers/domi in the ITF run.. so the perm pets may be the problem

Hm. For the sake of trying to find a trend, I wonder if people who are having crashes could post the AT, powersets, which alpha rare they tried, and if they remember what powers that they were using when it crashed.

Without working there or having the slightest clue how they're handling the AI, I'm leaning towards "pets spawned by player powersets, who were never designed to go above level 50" being the culprit, and it might be something like when looking for what powers are available at that level it's stepping outside of array boundaries or trying to access NULL (which would cause it to jump around in code) if the table goes to 54 and anything above 50 is zeroed out. Why it doesn't crash with VEAT spiderlings and whatnot could be because those mobs exist up to level 54 outside of player powersets. Even Dark Servant can go above level 50 due to Master Illusionists.

Purely speculation based on what people have posted here - I didn't have time to do much more than get my rare slotted yesterday, then swapped to an alt for some experience... but I never experienced any crash, and was teamed with a level-shifted SM/ElA Brute who had the Mu Striker patron pet for about an hour before running on an ITF that had a level-shifted Scrapper and then going to sleep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brillig It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.

My character has only been crashing from the level shift whenever i've had some form of buff/debuff on myself.

By this i mean invis [+def], ice power used on me [-recharge], hasten, AM etc . .

Could be to do with the game not taking into account or trying to force through the difference now in your resis to certain powers.

At least they are now warning people on the CoX updater.

My team was the first one on Freedom to figure out that RSF was the SF of the week and by proxy STF. We all got our level shift before it was announced. 4 members of that original team tried to repeat the task and wound up in mapserver hell. We crashed 3x on the first mission, reformed the team, went back in, and crashed again. An hour later, I formed another team and ran it again with no problems. I know that the devs have figured out that it has something to do with the level shift. I'm wondering if the reason it affected us so badly was because there were so many of us on the team that already had it? Until the problem is fixed, maybe we should limit the number of members on our teams with the level shift?

On plus side, i got the badge for helping others doing it

Cant wait to take on full powered Recluse with a team of 51s! Think we should be able to take him down without taking out all the towers?

*joins forum*

Well, for what it's worth. Here's some results from my own little testing after slotting my new alpha boost and getting the mapserver disconnect slapped in my face countless times.

As already reported, slotting down and it worked fine, going back up to the new alpha and map disconnects were back again.

So I begun to test all my powers, this being on a Plant / Earth Dominator.
And it didn't take long to notice that everytime I casted Carrion Creepers, mapserver greeted me seconds afterwards.

Logging back in, cleared two spawns without creepers. Third, tossed CC again and boom, disconnected.
Tried again, same result.
Third time I slotted back down and casted CC. This time no disconnect and kept running the map with CC constantly out. Few minutes after that I decided to slotted back into my alpha (creepers still out mind you), and right away I got disconnected.

So yeah, it's in my experience definatly some powers that are the culprint behind it. Since as long as I don't use my Creepers, I can run missions without any issue. But as soon as the power is used, I'm off the server.

[thread jack start]

Welcome to the forums!

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Great find, BurningChick

Well I'll just add my sad little story to all of this: On Virtue I was with a group that not only experienced the "mapserved at the end of a LRSF just after getting the rewards but before we exited so we lost them" problem but the "multiple mapserves during a LRSF with a mixed group of people some with Level Shifts and some without" problem as well. As others have mentioned worked for them when everyone on that LRSF unslotted their rare alphas we no longer had any problems.

Clearly there's something going on. These problems may not be happening to everyone but they're happening to enough people to suggest something needs to be done, even if it's pets, real world weather causing the servers to be unstable or whatever.

I tend to agree with BurningChick on this. I think the game is having to keep track of a whole new set of data depending on which players and/or pets are Level Shifted or not. It's having to deal with a wider range of combat levels amongst a team and the extra processing is showing itself on the loaded live servers. Hopefully the Devs can address this ASAP.

So, under the forum assumption that the issue is to do with pets in some capacity, I started some testing in this vein. The mission used was "Defeat the Rikti Leader before he attacks" from Borea in RWZ.

When the mapserver occurred, it would do so on engaging the first spawn. Difficulty was set to +0/x1 (as I was testing varying amounts of pets).

Henchmen were summoned/upgraded on initial entry to the mission. The slotted Rare was [Nerve Partial Radial Revamp].

Fully Upgraded
Battle Drones + Protector Bots + Assault Bot = Mapserver
Battle Drones + Protector Bots = Mapserver
Battle Drones = No Mapserver
Assault Bot = Mapserver

Unupgraded
Battle Drones + Protector Bots + Assault Bot = No Mapserver
Battle Drones + Protector Bots = No Mapserver
Battle Drones = No Mapserver
Assault Bot = No Mapserver


So, for Masterminds the initial problem appears to stem from the interaction of a level shift with the henchmen upgrade powers on Protector Bots and Assault Bots. The unupgraded test runs could be reliably crashed by applying upgrades to the bots and then engaging in a fight with them. Except for Battle Drones.

So, testing down this line of thought, I was able to fully upgrade the Battle Drones then partially upgrade Protector Bots and the mapserver was stable. It only crashed once I applied the L32 upgrade (after a couple of fights) and then shortly after they summoned Seeker Drones (a power granted by the L32 Upgrade). So, I then tried...

Fully Upgraded Battle Drones + L6 Upgraded Protector Bots + L6 Upgraded Assault Bot = No Mapserver

I was able to force the mapserver as soon as I applied the L32 upgrade, and again the mapserver occurred shortly after the L32 Bot powers were used.

I would therefore conclude, initially, that the cause of the mapserver issue is summoned entities by a summoned entity that is level shifted - both Assault Bots (in Missile Patches) and Protector Bots (Seeker Drones) cause a summoned entity with the L32 Upgrade, whereas the Battle Drones do not.

Does this tally with anyone elses experience?