On June 24th I participated in my first ever GM Event! I’ve always avoided them because lagging out bugs me (and that’s what invariably would happen), but this one was kind of fun and intriguing. Here’s how it happened.

Khaini received a notice that announced the beginning of the GM Event. What we needed to do was search for the GM using the hint given, and say the phrase “Maple” in the right location. If we found the right location and the correct channel, we would receive a chat invite from the GM, giving us the clues for finding the second GM.

The clue for finding the first GM was this: “Find a place where angels are graced by two purple flowers.”

Orbis, obviously enough. I logged into Ethnea, and began searching. Many people thought it would be the potion shop, since the two shopkeepers there have angel wings (but they’re fairies, not angels). When I pointed out that the clue had said “two purple flowers” and not “two angels”, and that there were NO purple flowers within the potion shop, my two friends and I decided to split up and search the rest of Orbis. Matt went down the tower, and I headed to Cloud Park.

I found a couple of angel statues with purple flowers on them in the park, and continued searching. I soon found a statue with exactly two purple flowers, and so began channel surfing, saying the phrase “Maple” as soon as I had walked over to the statue. Soon I was joined by about 10 other people, all of us randomly surfing in hopes of finding the first GM. I nearly had a heart attack when I received a chat invite from “MoonPieYum.”

MoonPieYum is the first GM I’d ever seen in my 2+ years of playing Maple Global, so I was suitably awed. I (of course) took a screenshot after she’d finished giving me the hints, though I missed the last line where she said “^_^” in response to my “” when I saw her.

She told me that the first keyword was “Picnic” and that the second GM was located at “the hunting grounds,” and to be sure to bring sunscreen. I could summon the second GM with the word “Ludibrium” spoken on the correct map. I told Emvra and Matt the information I had received, and then logged back into Kiskah, who was on Victoria island.

At first I thought that the GM had meant Henesys Hunting Grounds, but then Khaini received an announcement saying that the second GM was NOT located near Henesys. I then thought of going to Amoria, but when I got there I realized the map was called “Amos’ TRAINING Grounds”, not “hunting grounds.”

It was Matt who figured out that the GM must be at the “Beach Hunting Ground” (which I never knew existed). We were the only three on Khaini who had figured it out at that point, which was pretty exciting. I surfed until I received a chat invite from “KhainiHammer.” As most people know, only GMs can use server names in their IGNs, so I knew without doubt that I had found one. I opened the window, and received the following information.

The second keyword was “Critters.” I was instructed to “go to the place where steam goes, stand in the correct spot, and speak the two keywords out loud to summon the third GM.” I took a screenshot, closed the window, and conferred with Matt and Emvra, who had also found the GM. We assumed that steam goes to the Sauna in Sleepywood, but after wasting 10 minutes there looking, we realized we must be wrong.

Emvra told me that the GMs gave another hint, and said that the third was in the “dungeon area.” A little less vague than the original clue, but it still didn’t narrow things down a whole lot.

I remembered that there are a few maps in Ant Tunnel that have steam in them, and so, in the last 5 minutes of the event, went racing through the tunnel as quickly as I could. I found a map called “Dangerous Steam” and began channel surfing, calling out “Picnic Critters” repeatedly. Many other people were there too, and more kept showing up. I’m guessing that they did the same thing my friends and I did, and shared the clues they found with their buddies.

The event was extended another 5 minutes, because NOBODY had found the third GM yet. They then gave the ‘hint’ “Channel 14…” and people became frantic. In the end, some kid with a noobish IGN…”XxXevilXxX” or something like that won the event. He was the only person to find the last GM, who was apparently located in “Deep Ant Tunnel 1”, one map over from “Dangerous Steam.”

Oh well, I got to see two GMs, and had a fun time with my friends. All in all, it was worth it.