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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: Acheron
UPDATE: Updates at Acheron
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dishboy
Unfettered


Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Atlanta

 		UPDATE: Updates at Acheron
www.acheron.us/faq.htm has been changed to add new stuff.

New page at www.acheron.us/play.htm


I can't tell if FAQ #6 is a reference to me and my website-finder. What exactly is meant by "find websites by scouring a server"? Does this mean a WHOIS check? Don't we scour servers all day long looking for clues? I mean, frankly, assuming we're supposed to know all the websites, I can't imagine any other way I would have been certain I found them all. And it sure didn't feel like I was breaking any rules to me. Just using my individual skills to my advantage, because I did have to write the thing myself. Oh well, guess I won't be doing any things like that anymore... Sad
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 9:10 am
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Caterpillar
Unfictologist


Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 1887
Location: cem's otherbody

 		Re: UPDATE: Updates at Acheron
dishboy wrote:
Oh well, guess I won't be doing any things like that anymore... Sad


They didn't say you can't do it, only that you'll (according to them) be shortchanged on the enjoyment of finding things the way they were intended to be found.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 9:36 am
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dishboy
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Joined: 02 Sep 2003
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Location: Atlanta

 		Right, which is why I'm starting to think they weren't talking about me at all. The phrase "find websites by scouring a server", sounds like either a WHOIS, or a web crawler program, which is designed to crawl websites and find all the links to all pages.

When I think about it, these utilities are bad because they cheapen the game experience. Brute-forcing takes away the joy of figuring out a password. WHOIS/Crawlers take away the joy of finding a new in-game site. But what I was doing was a completely different scenario. I had a very mechanical, non-joyful process - click the logon.html, copy/paste the kickout URL, copy/paste the password string, and repeat. I wasn't even reading the websites it sent me to! So it's not like my utility was robbing me of anything - it was speeding up the very boring, mechanical process, in order to help me get to the good stuff - reading all those kickout sites, looking for a puzzle/solution.

I don't know, I might just be seeing this from a different angle as the PMs. I'll probably just email admin@acheron directly and try to get some clarification...
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 9:48 am
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Varin
I Have No Life


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 2456
Location: South of where I used to be
Quote:
The phrase "find websites by scouring a server", sounds like either a WHOIS, or a web crawler program, which is designed to crawl websites and find all the links to all pages.


I think they were referring to the use of a reverse IP tool like we discussed here...

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2293&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=14
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 10:43 am
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StarkRavingMad
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Joined: 23 Mar 2003
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Varin wrote:
Quote:
The phrase "find websites by scouring a server", sounds like either a WHOIS, or a web crawler program, which is designed to crawl websites and find all the links to all pages.


I think they were referring to the use of a reverse IP tool like we discussed here...

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2293&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=14


I'm glad for the clarification. The only thing that made me think of using those techniques in the first place was the stuff in the purge.zip that came off of their cds. I wasn't sure if those programs were just for color, or were intended to tip us off that this one was different in that hacking techniques were necessary. Good to know it's going to operate normally...or at least as normally as something like CTW was.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 12:48 pm
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EricL1st
Boot


Joined: 29 Aug 2003
Posts: 43

 		Maybe they are also refering to decrypting the Vigenere code without the key? Though now that we know the key I can't think of any other way we could have figured that one out Confused
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 2:15 pm
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sauceykat
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Joined: 10 Jul 2003
Posts: 251
Location: BC>Canada

 		oopsies...I just ass-umed that since they gave us the tools, it was ok to use them...seems a bit odd, if we're not supposed to do webcrawl, whois, etc. why give us the Sam Spade program?

D-

PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 2:25 pm
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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial

 		Tool useage
sauceykat wrote:
oopsies...I just ass-umed that since they gave us the tools, it was ok to use them...seems a bit odd, if we're not supposed to do webcrawl, whois, etc. why give us the Sam Spade program?

D-


Tools by themselves are not the problem... it was the use of letting the program run by itself to find the information. Granted there is a large number of kickout pages, but perhaps it was intended as something to keep us busy collecting and collating data while we waited. Seeing the sites personally is a way to build the background atmosphere... having a program find them all while you sleep lessens the effect intended (Just a personal opinion, I have no idea if this is what the creator intended or not). Use of Whois, after finding a site, perhaps meant to assist us in determining if it is possibly in-game, to spare innocent web sites from getting umpteen thousand messages looking for information they don't have.

The ad-aware... well, some of the kickout sites have their own agendas, some of which is selling the ad space to uncruplulous companies. We can be certain we wont get it from in-game, but who can tell about the other one? Sam Spade is for those who feel the need to check every message for hidden clues. Me, I delete any spam that gets through the filters, because I still get about 80% spam in the box with the filters. I am not going to spend hours on pouring over ads when I could be spending that time following my own wild tangents. Wink

Possible other scenarios:

It could be that the programs were given out as "atmosphere" for the game...

We will have to do a bit of digging to get the information on Dr. Z's projects, we may need to crack the Physics departmentback door at some point, or discover the key that Jake left, perhaps with Reggie.

Please note that some of the sites found by reverse look up may be owned by the same company, but that does not guarantee that they are in game. Collective Gaming Experience and TINAG (Note: front door on this one mirrors the LL&L site) may not be factors in Acheron, they mat be buisness related sites the Creator has for his buisness use.

Just a few of my ideas, salt them and stick em in one of the freezers, we can eat them at the wrap party later....
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 3:29 pm
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dishboy
Unfettered


Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Atlanta

 		Re: Tool useage
Magesteff wrote:
Granted there is a large number of kickout pages, but perhaps it was intended as something to keep us busy collecting and collating data while we waited. Seeing the sites personally is a way to build the background atmosphere... having a program find them all while you sleep lessens the effect intended (Just a personal opinion, I have no idea if this is what the creator intended or not).


I see your point here, but I go back to what I was saying earlier. One, there's no way with a manual search to find out "I've found all the sites" in a reasonable number of time. But more importantly: Two, I wasn't building background atmosphere because I wasn't "seeing the sites" when I was doing it by hand. I was recording URLs in my database and then moving on. In fact, having all of the URLs grabbed for me actually *helped* me get the background info, because I was able to quickly put aside the side-question of "have I found them all?" and focus on the real question of "what do these sites mean?". That part can't be automated, and has to be done "in person". And that part is the fun part. It's getting to that part as quickly as possible that I was trying to achieve. But again, just personal opinion...
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 4:17 pm
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Varin
I Have No Life


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 2456
Location: South of where I used to be

 		Re: Tool useage
[quote="Magesteff"]Please note that some of the sites found by reverse look up may be owned by the same company, but that does not guarantee that they are in game. [quote]

Right. All the reverse IP is showing is what sites are on the same server. The others could have nothing to do with the game at all. They might not even be the PM's sites. Also, there might be in-game sites on other servers. Who's to say they only have one server?

I for one, don't want to peek behind the PMs curtain on this one. Its like reading the middle chapters of the book before you read page one. Obviously, the PMs will make the sites we need to see known to us one way or another. I don't think we will benefit any by seeing any of the sites before we are supposed to.

/me slaps myself on the wrist for even thinking about it
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 10, 2003 5:52 pm
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