Meta’s Verse: Spring Fling
By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter
Love is in the air. It is the fourth anniversary of the wedding between the beloved heroes Manticore and Sister Psyche and the sixth Spring Fling event hosted by everyone’s favorite DJ, Zero from Pocket D. As with any other City of Heroes event, every so often something new is added to the event to make it bigger and more exciting, with the exception of the wedding ceremony which was done only in 2008 and I sadly missed while I was on assignment to the west coast. This year has seen, what I think is easily the best thing to come out of City of Heroes for a very long time, the Valentine tip missions. Of course what would an event be without new badges too? Well we’ve got that this year too. There is a little of something for everyone no matter what your interest is.
“You have to know the past to understand the present” –Carl Sagan
I was actually going to say something along those lines, but then I realized that it had already been said and I would only be repeating the words of Carl Sagan. It’s a simple saying that can apply to just about anything, including the Spring Fling event. It began in 2006 with the very first cooperative missions in the game which to this day are obtained by talking to Ganymede or Scratch depending on your alignment. While today heroes and villains seem to team up quite often it was once a very big deal to have to work with the enemy. It was then that the toga, laurel and Hellenic Sandals were added to the game. Though how you got them was much different than it is today. The toga was a gift just for logging in while the laurel and sandals were rewarded after getting a friend to subscribe to City of Villains using a special trial code. Today all of those costume pieces are obtained by completing the Snaptooth portion of the Valentine’s event. Snaptooth is a particularly nasty Red Cap who is trying to destroy a dimensional portal and during the winter event quite regularly kidnaps Baby New Year.
2008 brought the wedding which was played out live on the test server for all to witness. With it came a mission to retrieve (or steal) wedding gifts. A mission that is still available today though nothing else relating to the wedding is. That was also the year the first in game item pack was released. And of course, it was wedding themed. It proved to be so popular it was directly responsible for the next issue being released so quickly. Something that has always been a part of the Valentine’s event that I had never even heard about until I was researching this article are three amazing temporary powers. They can only be purchased in Pocket D during this time of year. Each one can be used on someone of the same alignment for a small buff or they can be used on the opposite alignment for what are honestly HUGE buffs. Have a look at the chart below to see the differences for yourself!
Why would people not use these things!? I plan on loading up on them personally!
I tried finding a good quote about the present day but nothing really seemed to fit in right. So, its 2012, new things have been added to the Spring Fling for the first time in a few years. The first part is a bad plan, a very bad plan. The second part though is AMAZING. When you first log in you’re contacted by Jessica Megan Duncan (Ms. Liberty) for what can really only be called a bad plan. She asks for your help in resurrecting the long dead lover of Lord Recluse named Red Widow. Why? She hopes it will distract him from his goal of taking over the world. A similar mission can be obtained for villains from Arbiter Hawk who looks remarkably like Arbiter Sands. Only time will really tell how bad of a plan this was.
Now I finally get to tell you about the best part of the event. Ok, at least I think it is the best. Valentine’s Tip! DJ Zero decided this year it would be a good idea to play messenger and take valentines to various heroes, villains and Praetorians. Only he’s in over his head so he wants you to help! And while there are nearly 40 different possible valentines you can deliver I’m only going to highlight my favorite three.
3. From Sally to Lusca. Written on a plank from a ship is an invitation to capsize fishing boats and eat until they can’t move. I can’t help but think of a very not PG joke this may be referring to that has to do with sea men. Of course delivering it to Lusca is impossible so you just take it to DJ Zero instead.
2. From Citadel to Luminary. The entire message is written in binary but basically Citadel is proposing that he and Luminary make a little robo family together. I guess standing across from each other in Talos all these years they’ve developed a fondness for each other. I, and so many others really hope they continue this storyline.
1. From Numina to Positron. This is a love that has been blossoming for some time now. And sure, it’s between a ghost and a man who was trapped in a suit. But it is clearly true love. And the letter you deliver is what makes them finally come out and tell everyone how they feel about each other. My inner fan girl is squeeing so hard right now it’s hard to contain myself (SQUEE!!!)
Of course you don’t have to deliver the messages to these people. Most of these delivery quests have two options. Giving them to the intended person or delivering them to the completely wrong person. Delivery to the correct person seven times gets you the badge titled Match Maker. Misdelivery seven times gets you the badge Missed Connection. Getting Missed Connection was difficult for me because I just kept wanting to see what sort of love was going on in our little world. Randomly while delivering valentines you can get arrows. They both can be used on allies or enemies. If you use the Arrow of Romance on an ally they receive a temporary regeneration increase and if they are used on foes they get placated. Using the Arrow of Jealousy will give allies a small boost to damage or will confuse foes.
The event is on until February 27th so if you haven’t experienced it, get in there this weekend!
Spring Fling went from being one of my least favorite events in City of Heroes to possibly my favorite. Even over having the chalet during winter. So thank you devs if you’re reading! Which brings me to my last bit of news. Double XP Weekend!!!! I don’t know about you but I’ve been waiting for this for a while. And it will start on March 16th lasting through that weekend. So request that time off now!
