Author
Message
SeaGall
Kilroy
Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 1
Vjails? Is this guy the subject or part of an ARG? Hi
I am new on this forum, but a couple of weeks ago I read something about ARGs and I think this viktor guy is targeted by someone who is making an alternate reality game. I have little to no experience in these kinds of things. but on this blog, vjails.blogspot.com he describes things that seem like ARG things to me.
I also posted on other forums, like immersion unlimited, maybe some experienced ARG players might find out more than I can
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:29 am
Esteed
Entrenched
Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 1147 Location: Delaware
Trying out a few things on Max's site reveal some oddities. I looked at "enter cautiously and quiet" and decided to try those as extensions for the address. The title of the resulting page is "Page not found" but it's not the usual type. Black on black text on the pages reveal this:
Quote:
This page does not exist.
Not all of the answers
lie were they seem.
I left the big gap in there in case it's important. This page results from trying "cautiously", "quiet", and "contact" as extensions. I'm going to try others as well.
_________________"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."" -Rorschach
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:38 am
Stormalong
Decorated
Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Ontario, Canada
_________________Jimmy has fancy plans, and pants to match.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:40 am
Esteed
Entrenched
Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 1147 Location: Delaware
Definitely looks like a type of Caesar, but the SNEAK decryption tool isn't giving me anything. Possibly vigenere?
_________________"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."" -Rorschach
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:47 am
Stormalong
Decorated
Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Ontario, Canada
Given the first puzzle was so simple I though a cipher might be a little too advanced, and sure enough, cryptogram.
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO YOU WHILST I AM IN THIS CAGE ON THE FOURTH OF JUNE I WILL COME THROUGH AS SHOWN ON MY LOST PAGE
PS The cryptogram tool at oneacross.com is awesome.
PPS SNEAK is one of my favorite tools too!
_________________Jimmy has fancy plans, and pants to match.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:04 pm
Esteed
Entrenched
Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 1147 Location: Delaware
That leads to this: http://www.maxprescott.com/lost/
Below the picture is more black on black text:
_________________"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."" -Rorschach
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:07 pm
Stormalong
Decorated
Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Ontario, Canada
Interesting picture! I think they screwed up the javascript, the code implies that it should be showing the number of days until June 4 (8 days by my count) but its showing 7914 (for me).
The question now is: do we wait for June 4 for the game to get started, or is there something we need to get done before June 4?
_________________Jimmy has fancy plans, and pants to match.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:12 pm
tipsila
Unfettered
Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 545 Location: In the back of your mind
It shows T- 7905 for me.
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:16 pm
Esteed
Entrenched
Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 1147 Location: Delaware
It's dependent on the date/time you have set on your computer clock. I futzed with mine a little and the countdown changed. Placing it at 12:00:00 AM on June 4th, interestingly, gives a T- -1 count.
_________________"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."" -Rorschach
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:20 pm
RedHatty
Unfictologist
Joined: 08 May 2006 Posts: 1428 Location: x¡Jyœ–‹˜VJvk
Looks to be a countdown by the minute.
_________________Friend of Peeps
Currently playing Callum Felderi
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:26 pm
grumpyboy
Unfettered
Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 660
the image is Charles XII of Sweden.
see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XII_of_Sweden
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 1:18 pm
Rekidk
Entrenched
Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 992 Location: Indiana, USA
Hm...
I did a little investigating into Viktor Ailsworth (Vjails). Although he appears to have just been targeted by the Max Prescott, I think that it's probably fair to say he's part of the game.
Evidence:
1. His Myspace account only has 8 friends--and right now, I'm only seeing 6 when I look, none of which appear to have any real-life connection to Viktor. There are no posts of his on their accounts, and he is not in any of their 'top friend' positions.
2. His first MySpace post:
Quote:
First Blog Post
Current mood: okay
Well, Here it is, my first blog post on Myspace
I'm pretty new at this whole Myspace thing, but i've got to waste my time on something right?
-VJAils
This seems very ARGish. A lot like LG15: "Well, I really don't have a plan for this videoblog..."
3. He seems to be confused about his age.
Blogger wrote:
Viktor Ailsworth
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Astrological Sign: Cancer
Zodiac Year: Ox
Location: Montclair : New Jersey : United States
MySpace wrote:
Vjails
Male
22 years old
MONTCLAIR, New Jersey
United States
Now, quite often, people lie about their age when signing up on MySpace--however, lying about a single year (or likely a few months)? Seems more like an 'oops' moment behind the scenes than a legitimate mistake made by a human being (about himself). It's important to note that both of these services track the user's age automatically based on their entered date of birth.
4. Google searches showed little .
Nothing came up for his real name; for his screenname, the only thing I found was this:
This is Dutch for:
Free Translations wrote:
oh and this is natural an amusing shady
vjails blog
The thread on the RPG forum appears to be a thread for posting random images, videos, websites, etc. that the members found surfing the net. (Basically, it's OOG and this person was just giving out the address he found.)
The only thing mildly suspicious about that particular post is that it was posted the same day he registered his blog--May 8. This comes across to me as shilling (eg. JLT* is the puppetmaster), but I can't say for sure.
5. His first MySpace post was on May 3, 2007. Interestingly, this is only eight days after the registration of MaxPrescott.com .
Whois wrote:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: MAXPRESCOTT.COM
Created on: 25-Apr-07
Expires on: 25-Apr-08
6. He needed our help to solve this. On his MySpace:
Viktor's Interests wrote:
Mathematics, Internet, Puzzles
If he was really interested in the internet and puzzles, why didn't he figure out that there was a hidden address down the left side of the text at MaxPrescott.com ? That's a fairly easy puzzle. I would think that if he was a real person interested in puzzles, he would've figured that out in no time.
---
Long story short? I think Viktor's our first character. Email him at VJAilsSPLAT gmail.com.
_________________
iTube - iTweet - iNetwork
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 4:37 pm
tipsila
Unfettered
Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 545 Location: In the back of your mind
Viktor's blog has an update .
Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 8:06 pm
grumpyboy
Unfettered
Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 660
the countdown to June 4 is over. update on the lost page
the image is now linked to a mp3 file that gives some background and a new riddle to solve...
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:12 am
Stormalong
Decorated
Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Ontario, Canada
Well, that was interesting. Here is the riddle transcribed for your convenience.
Quote:
If there was one fool in the court of King Charles the XII, what number would he receive from any other king?
Possibly the most interesting bit of the message is that it implies that multiple real world locations may be involved in the future, which indicates a much bigger game than has been shown so far. Of course it could just mean overly ambitious PM's.
_________________Jimmy has fancy plans, and pants to match.
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:21 am
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