The crash is because there are hundreds (thousands) of fire objects on the same space. So the time it takes to insert a new one is sufficient that it grinds to a halt. That's the cause of the hang (it is still processing, just not getting anywhere). The problem is that I'm not sure why it is getting to that state. The cone code is such that only one force of each cone should be on any space. So it almost seems like hundreds (thousands) of cones are being cast. Unfortunately, by the time I see it, the original source of the problem is gone - I see the cones propogate, but not what originally created them. I suppose it could be a malicous player casting hundreds of runes on some space which some player sets off. but otherwise, if anyone has a clue, let me know.