unforum

[Bellebet]

[OT] Lead and a dead end

[catherwood]

My earliest find was 9/9/2000 when a performer named Howie Day began inserting odd websites into his song lyrics. Someone has listed them all here:
http://www.hdaee.f2s.com/v2/buzzing.html

[fireball]

There are no hits for www.ilovebees.org on the Way Back Machine. Odd.

www.archive.org

[vpisteve]

Also, it might be of note that ilovebees.com is the only website hosted on its box.

[Wishi-san]

Did you find that by reverse dns?

And if so isn't that frowned upon?

[vpisteve]

IMO, reverse DNS is just another valid tool at our disposal, just as is whois registration, looking at the source code or yes, even decompiling flash. Some folks may disagree, which is fine. I just still haven't been able to find a darn rulebook anywhere.

As for the reverse DNS, I used a publicly accessible, free site. What this tells me is that these PMs do indeed have their act together, and know what they're doing. Knowing of the existence of reverse DNS tools etc. and safeguarding against their use is a good sign.

[jamesi]

I noticed the same thing last night, and even went as far as to try to connect the bees IP to the hosts for bungie.com and ms.com... no luck.

I feel the same way, Steve... these folks have covered their tracks well, which means that they know a little bit about what they are doing.

[Wishi-san]

[sauceykat]

I think it's all in how the PM's respond...they can make it clear based on their actions what is and isn't acceptable.

But remember, NOB RUT EFO RCI NG!

D-

[vpisteve]

[imbri]

in re: reverse DNS

I tend to look at it, at least how it's been done in the past, as if you're flipping ahead a couple chapters in a book and then skimming a couple pages from each one. You don't quite understand how it got there or why, but you now have a little bit more of the picture. It can enhance things if you're the type that likes to analyze the way the author takes you from point A to point B, but if you want to take the story as the author intended it then you are spoiling yourself a bit. Neither approach is right or wrong, they're just different.

Now that reverse DNS is easy to obtain if you know where to go, I can also see PMs using this to their advantage, just as most have used the tried and true method of hiding "<!--- secret information --->" in an html document. It would depend on the game, the amount of community cooperation and the internet/tech savviness of the players, but it could be a great way to leak some sites. I feel the same way about decompiling Flash... it could be a great place to hide a puzzle for those more technically inclined. However, both approaches could leave a number of the players left out of a puzzle.

I think that in the future, we'll probably see more PMs experimenting with such things and it will likely cause some confusion on the boards as to what's "right" and "wrong". I think we need to keep that in mind and we should probably tread carefully and with respect to our fellow players. If you find some great information or the actual solution to a puzzle meant to be presented on the surface or later in the story line, cover it with the spoiler tag and don't refer to it openly in spec and chat, at least not without some warning. If it's later determined that the information was meant to be distributed in that way, the spoiler tags don't hurt anything and if it's determined that it helped you/us skip a step or two, then the spoiler tags save those that don't want to be spoiled. I think that's just a simple matter of community respect rather than a "rule of ARG".

I believe that most PMs understand that they're attracting a varied group of people that are tied together by their sense of wonder and curiosity. They expect and understand that sense of curiosity to drive their players further down the rabbit hole and that many will use whatever tools and knowledge that they have at their disposal to go as far as they can. In some (most?) instances they'll go about things in ways that the PMs weren't expecting. It is the wise PMs that do all that they know how to do to prepare for that and then watch in awe as the players, inevitably, take a different route... one that they didn't anticipate. They then spend an evening working as hard and as fast as they can to stay a couple more steps ahead and, if necessary, do a bit of damage control. There's no anger at the players for being curious and using the tools/knowledge that they have, there's just a bit of frustration and a lot of awe.

I think it's great that we worry so much about the PMs and I'm not suggesting that we call for war against them and take it as a challenge to go about things in ways that they didn't or don't expect. I just think that, as players, we need to explore and enjoy the game in whatever way we can and/or want to. If you have the knowledge of reverse DNS and the desire to use it, then do. We're play by exploring and if we don't explore what are we left doing?

that all said... grrr on the need to find every stock photo used! enjoy the story not just the hunt for the pictures

-b

[Wishi-san]

Shouldn't've visited istockphoto.com so much then

[BrianEnigma]

[Giskard]

[vpisteve]

cough cough

/me points to his own avatar.

istockphoto that, baby.