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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: The Lost Experience 3
[META] Proof that Cheating is the Key?
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AngriBuddhist
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Joined: 04 Aug 2004
Posts: 778
Location: Wa.

 		[META] Proof that Cheating is the Key?
I have been following the game but had been avoiding even reading about anything related to bruteforcing or cheating. It's just not how I like to play a game. Now, it seems as if Hoodlum and the DI either want us to cheat or are trying to make it incredibly tempting to do so. If so, are we being judged by our ingenuity or our morale fiber? As I've already said, I haven't as of yet read any "cheat" info or the Meta tags that seem to point to the DI condoning such an act. I'm going to put some time into researching it later tonight but in the meantime could some of you point me toward the appropriate links and scraps of info?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:00 pm
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dposse
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Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 954
Location: CT

 		http://lostoctagonglobalrecruiting.blogspot.com/2008/08/test-2-have-you-found-cheat.html

Code:
private function shift(param1:KeyboardEvent) : void
{
if (m_questionCounter == NO_QUESTIONS-- && STATE == QUIZ && param1.keyCode == 73)
{
m_currentQuestionsArray[m_questionCounter].shift();
m_cheat = true;
}// end if
return;
}// end function

KeyCode 73 is the Dec number for I :)

if (m_gameObj.didCheat)
{
_loc_1.push("\"didCheat\":\"1\"");
}
else
{
_loc_1.push("\"didCheat\":\"0\"");
}// end else if

And some interesting variables about "HACK"

public const HELP:String = "showhelp";
public var STATE:String = "instructions";
public const HACK:String = "showing hack";
public const START:String = "startGame";
private var _startButton:LostButton;
public const RETURNFROMHACK:String = "returning from hack";
public const SHOWLOGIN:String = "showlogin";


Somebody at DarkUFO found the code.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:18 pm
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AngriBuddhist
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Joined: 04 Aug 2004
Posts: 778
Location: Wa.

 		Thanks dposse. That shows that Hoodlum is intentionally adding a route for cheating. I'm no programmer but that seems to saying that there are 2 cheats for that test. Correct? Even so, it still doesn't address whether you should cheat just because you can.

Any other info?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:35 pm
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KLind
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Joined: 22 Apr 2007
Posts: 928
Location: Columbus, Ohio

 		I think I may make another account like some of you sleuthy kids. A cheating account. This seems like too much for just a coincidence, but I could see it turning into a trap. Or perhaps I am just paranoid...

Maybe Both! Very Happy

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:34 pm
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jono
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Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 299

 		Just my 2p
1. Maybe Dharma are looking for people who are gifted the cheat at the end of test 2 (where the correct answer blinks) reminds me of the visions Desmond has in the show, so may be the cheats are the way of simulating these abilities in game
2. We keep being told that when the tests are over we will be assigned a place within Dharma, maybe these cheats are there to allow everyone to pass so everyone can go on to the next section (if there is one) and get a job
3. We will find these cheats were added by Ruckus Guy to beat the system.


Quote:
That shows that Hoodlum is intentionally adding a route for cheating.

I think it does a button to cheat once is an accident, but doing it twice shos they must have put it there for a reason especially as the I in the title of the second test is underlined...

PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:20 am
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Nighthawk
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee


Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 4751
Location: Miami, Florida, USA, Earth

 		Not only does it show they intentionally want people to "cheat", but it keeps track if you do cheat.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 12:23 pm
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AngriBuddhist
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Joined: 04 Aug 2004
Posts: 778
Location: Wa.

 		Excellent point Nighthawk. If it were solely a "quick pass", so everyone would get a chance to move forward, the system wouldn't need to keep track of if you cheated or not.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:39 pm
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deletia
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Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 304
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Quote:
3. We will find these cheats were added by Ruckus Guy to beat the system.

I think this is it. We know he's still hacking in (or at least that someone who sounds like him is still hacking in), and what better way to sabotage Dharma's recruitment drive than to provide cheats on all their tests?

In terms of the larger question of whether or not the cheats are IG, I've got to say I think they are. My main reason for feeling this way is that this game would be god-awful boring otherwise; with the cheats as part of the game, though, things become a bit more complex.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:21 pm
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Sam G
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 		subscribing

PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:31 pm
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AngriBuddhist
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Joined: 04 Aug 2004
Posts: 778
Location: Wa.

 		In a similiar thread at Dark UFO, an interesting reply and point were made, by someone who later confesses to never having played an ARG before, in response to a comment I made-

AngriBuddhist wrote:
Jas wrote:
Moreover, it just seems so odd to me that in order to stop time, one has to resort to cheating... Does that also implying something about the nature of space-time connection on LOST?


On the show, we have only seen Ben intentionally manipulate time. You can guess that Richard has done so on different occasions but there is no proof of that yet and Desmond has been at the mercy of events beyond his control. When Ben intentionally turns the wheel there IS a penalty or price that he MUST pay. He is forcibly removed from the Island and is moved through both space and time. So, the non-forclosed "rules", as well as the existance of the wheel, both suggest that Ben's specific action is allowed within the design of the universe but that a specific reaction will occur.

Applied to this game? Thinking outside of the box may get you better, faster results, but you just might have to deal with the consequences.


Rosalind wrote:
Well, having now completing both tests and receiving Hans' most recent email, I do think we are 'meant' to cheat.

However I believe that Dharma don't know about the weak spots in their site (I do mean Dharma not Hoodlum) -ie that they don't realise the extent of the sabotage or that they have someone on the inside working against them (IMO).
I think that therefore, whether you cheat or may not be reflected in the test results or final assignments (or whatever the point of the Dharma recruiting is, i forget now!).

I think there are the indications that highlight a difference between Dharma knowing we cheated and Hoodlum knowing we cheated.


AngriBuddhist wrote:
Your arguement is sound from an ingame/out-of-game perspective. However it doesn't take Dharma itself into account. This is the group that built a number of hatches for what are apparently real scientific tests and another hatch whose occupants were to monitor the others. They did their job, probably felt that they were doing an important task, filled out reports, and shipped them off to their superiors. Little did they know that those reports were being sent directly to a landfill. Their entire hatch, orientation, and job were all a charade which served some other purpose.

Dharma already has a history of creating scientific tests, or even jobs, for it's members to perform that are complex misdirections.


Sure, all of this, like the majority of an ongoing ARG, is speculation. However it does open up some interesting thoughts about the "cheating". Is it Dharma that is providing the option to "cheat" as another undisclosed layer of the testing process or is it the breach of security and subsequent sabotage that has opened up the route of "cheating" with Hoodlum tracking it for some later purpose (i.e. Dan Bronson's internal agents)?

If the former is true, the fact that you "cheated" is taken into account when your test scores are calculated. If the later is true, then only the effect of your "cheating" actually effects your score and not the fact that you cheated. Either way, what will become of it is that the vast majority of the casual, uninformed users will be lumped into the Non-Cheater catagory while the vast majority of the hardcore Lost community members and ARGers will maintain a dual existence but play as the Cheaters.

So, the question that Rosalind's comment brings up is this-

Is the option to "cheat" part of Dharma's deciding factors for if you will be appropriate for one position or another or is it a way for the Saboteur(s) to recruit from the DI Recruits?

PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:30 pm
Last edited by AngriBuddhist on Sun Aug 31, 2008 3:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Sam G
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Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 140

 		Over at the Fuselage, Gregg Nations is always stopping by the ARG thread and seeing what's been happening. He had a hand in FIND815, so we suspect he probably is interested in this game also.

PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:50 pm
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deletia
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Joined: 31 Jul 2007
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Quote:
Is the option to "cheat" part of Dharma's deciding factors for if you will be appropriate for one position or another or is it a way for the Saboteur(s) to recruit from the DI Recruits?


That would be Dharma-like, I agree, but it doesn't explain the continued presence of RuckusGuy in the code.

So- this occurs to me.... The 10th question on the Broad Spectrum exam, for instance: the underlined 'i' and RuckusGuy's "bitter tomorrow" comment give the recruits instructions on how to cheat.

No RuckusGuy, no cheat.

So, if the cheats are intentionally placed by Dharma, I'd say that RuckusGuy has to be (at this point, at least) a creation of Dharma, too.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:08 am
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Sassy
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Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 510

 		Questions, questions...
This is my take......we know SOMEBODY is on the inside. An in game character that wants to disrupt Dharma. Could be Ruckus Guy, could be Duane, could be someone that was called onstage at Comicon?

(Jennifer Pritchard, Liam Brucker, Allison Gibbons, Matthew Loberg...and the infamous Dan Bronson.)

Do we have any SOLID proof as to this "inside" person's identity? How about clues?

One thing that stands out to me just looking at the names is that "Brucker" is really close to "Ruckus". He's an interesting one....there is a Liam Brucker who, while attending George Washington High School in Denver, won second place at the 1997 Colorado Computational Science Fair, which is underwritten by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. His team project was "Information Technology". In 1998, his team placed third. This would make him roughly 29-32 years in age.

Then there is Matthew Loberg. While his "booth test" photo appeared on the big screen at Comicon, Matthew did NOT take the stage with the other members. Why? Yesterday a Matthew Loberg opened a "Digg" account (sort of like Facebook), but has yet to add info.

Food for thought. Wink
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:55 pm
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AngriBuddhist
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Joined: 04 Aug 2004
Posts: 778
Location: Wa.
deletia wrote:
So, if the cheats are intentionally placed by Dharma, I'd say that RuckusGuy has to be (at this point, at least) a creation of Dharma, too.

So, even though Dharma does have some very strange testing techniques, if it were them placing the cheats in the guise of RuckusGuy, it would eliminate what is apparently our only outside contact and instigator of a deeper story.

Since I think that would be a horrible mistake, I'm going to, not rule it out but, lean towards RuckusGuy (the provider of the cheats) being legitimately separate and opposed to the DI. Which means that, although it's obvious that Hoodlum is tracking whether or not we cheat, Dharma is unaware and therefore not taking it into account when judging our scores or character.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 3:38 pm
Last edited by AngriBuddhist on Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:51 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Sassy
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Joined: 09 Mar 2003
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AngriBuddhist wrote:
Which means that, although it's obvious that Hoodlum is tracking whether or not we cheat, Dharma is unaware and therefore not taking it into account when judging our scores or character.


I agree 100%. Excellent.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:57 pm
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