unforum

[Scribe]

An intriguing situation, of course To keep things amicable (which, I think, is the best way of solving things - that is, as a group), but in order to keep the plot going, I'd recommend being *careful* about what information you post where. My own checklist currently is:

1. I'm trying to post personal info as little as possible, unless I'm sure it's in-game, or for some reason I can't chase it up. Part of this is just because I'm not sure where the TIAG/TINAG line is at times, and if I were OOG and uninvolved, I wouldn't particularly want my personal details splashed all over the internet. If necessary, I'll post pointers to people (e.g. their company profile) rather than private contact details.

2. If you're with-holding information for "character privacy" reasons, it's still plausible to inform everyone else that you're at least following something. An explanation of why you can't divulge info is better than "holding back" all info, as it were.

3. I'm assuming this forum is "safe".

4. I'm not sure if wikis and other places (e.g. blogposts) for info are safe or not. So far, judging from Eric's mails, I'm guessing they're not. I'd continue therefore to use IRC and these threads openly (although judgement call on who's in the IRC channel at the time...) Everything else - use your discretion as above, I say.

Before anyone jumps in, definitely not having a go at anyone - just attempting to help out on the line between not being able to talk to in-game characters, and not being able to talk to each other. Above all, it's looking like an intriguing game at least (And slow enough for me to follow whilst still getting some work done <g>)

[DelVillan.]

Mason, keep in mind that just sending mail to a character doesn't guarantee that you'll receive helpful information, or a reply at all. :) I've accepted that Eric doesn't mail me in reply, probably because I started much later than Mason/Scribe.

Regardless, I do try to assist in what ways I can. But, I can't do even the small things without information, and the only source of information we have is Eric's mail, unfortunately.

Simply put, it's my opinion that any information should be open, in whatever way people agree on. An ARG should be a drama-free team effort, and information sent through email is just as valuable as solving a puzzle. If the solution to puzzles weren't posted, everyone else would be at a loss. It's the same situation here, except we won't even be able to find the puzzle.

Still, it is entirely your decision, Mason, on where the line is drawn.

[Scribe]

6op1wiki now password protected

[bellymonster]

Ok, so I've just had an email from AA3, simply entitled 'Disseminate.' Text below:

[Scribe]

Bah. I'm away for 2 weeks now, but mason said I could post this IM chat he had with AA3:

[Scribe]

Sorry for the double post... Just noting that the author of the RTF is "Palmer" and the comment is "You are not expected to find it." Kloo?

[godson2k7]

so anyone look into that file yet? Opening it in wordpad gives:

[Mason]

So... it's a code.

Here's what I gathered in the last 2mins of looking at it.

X = O
C = P
U = T

Based on the first 4 characters being "6op 1"

And on that basis, the word that is probably the easiest to get (because of no repeat letters and double P):
LCCENOZLY
_ pp _ _ _ _ _ _

[DelVillan.]

Mason, I don't think this one is a normal cryptogram. It looks to be, because of some repeated letter combinations, but we don't know that. I spent quite a while on it last night, and it turns out that the _pp_______ word is just about nonexistent. "L" would have to equal "A" or "I" due to the single letter word earlier, so it'd either be "app________a_" or "ipp________i_." Which just doesn't exist.

Also, I'm not sure U=T. If it's because of the "UX" word, it's not definite, because that could also be "go," "so," "no," etc.

Many ciphers use other words or algorithms as bases when they're made. I think that "raven francis rabbit" and the cube root of pi have something to do with that. Else, why would we be given words we're already familiar with?

Also, there are a -lot- of long words here. Either this guy is using nearly straight science-jargon, this is a cipher and not a cryptogram, the cryptogram has dummy letters, or we're not even really dealing with words in our language.

ETA: If this is the file Eric has been waiting on, I'm sure he'll be able to give us some insight. Not to say that I want to wait around or that we should, but we might have to go that route. Because Eric and I aren't in contact, can anyone else email him and see what he knows about the cipher?

[godson2k7]

So far I've come up with ENO possibly being a set of dummy letters. If I strike that from the cypher I get:

[tipsila]

I found what it says.

[DelVillan.]

Great job, tipsila. That was a pretty naughty trick there.

[godson2k7]

yeah i ended up getting the same thing

*ETA holy crap! I didn't notice that the dummies where numbers backwards! That would have made it much easier on my part lol.

[catherwood]

[tipsila]

Thanks. And look at the numbers...

118 76 243 118 42

We haven't seen the 243 or 24 3 or 2 43 yet have we? 118 76 42, yes.

Edit: oops, posted at about the same time!

Edit 2: Thanks, Catherwood - coming from you, that means a lot!