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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » Old News & Rumors
[TRAILHEAD] Chain Factor (Numb3rs S04E07: Primacy)
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imbri
Entrenched


Joined: 21 Sep 2002
Posts: 1182
Location: wonderland

 		[TRAILHEAD] Chain Factor (Numb3rs S04E07: Primacy)
if it's not a trailhead, it's at least a game
So, if you saw the numb3rs episode with the "ARG" (or competitive puzzle based geocaching event associated with an MMORPG where you had to beat other players and steal clues from them in order to win), then you might remember that the killer went by the name Spectre in the game and he wanted to win the million dollars to create his own game. Well, I believe I just got an email from him and, I must admit, I'm rather worried that a murderous game designer dude has my email address. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing what he sent, but now you all know if I go missing, it was totally him.

spectreSPLATchainfactor.com wrote:

Hello,

We'd like to call your attention to our new game - Chain Factor (www.chainfactor.com). We are currently preparing for a beta launch and are looking for playtesters. Chain Factor is a new kind of game, and contains a collaborative social aspect that we think you might find interesting.

Regards,

The Chain Factor Team
www.chainfactor.com


Ok, so I wasn't all that convinced it wasn't some sort of extremely crazy coincidence that the email came in right after my meta post on the show where I was whining that it wasn't an ARG. But then a bit of googling pointed me to the fact that someone on digg found the site through cbs.com. One coincidence I can handle, two not so much.


Edit: Clarified title. -SpaceBass

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:40 pm
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notgordian
Unfictologist


Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Posts: 1383
Location: Philly

 		At first glance I thought this was just a griefer. However, two of the quotes on the FAQ makes me wonder.

Quote:
Chain Factor is a free web game designed as a labor of love by people who are tired of slaving in the salt mines of big-budget, mainstream game development. The Chain Factor team is committed to creating a high quality game experience outside the corrupting influence of retail software and advertising.


Quote:
Chain Factor is an experiment in collaborative problem solving. If you want to unlock the powers you will need to find the 36 keys. The keys are public secrets, hidden in plain sight among the visual trash of today's marketing-mad culture. Each power has 3 locks that need to be opened. Unlock a power and it becomes available for everyone.


Sounds similar to Spectre's speech at the end of the episode. The big test, I think, would be to see if the numbers that flashed up during the episode are codes on the website. Of course, the code submission form asks for a keyword AND a code...

However, I can't mesh this website with either the reality of the tv show
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
how can Spectre release a website if he's in jail for the rest of his life
or with the description of this paradigm shifting game he wanted to develop.

EDIT: after a longer look, I'm leaning towards a gamejack/false trailhead from somebody with a rather extensive ego, despite the CBS banner ad for the game.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 7:50 pm
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mexicocity
Guest


 		how do I check?
I don't have tivo... how do I check out what the codes are? Which codes? I didn't notice numbers flashing up in the episode

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:45 pm
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notgordian
Unfictologist


Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Posts: 1383
Location: Philly

 		During the fight with Amita, she stole some "codes" from one of the player - the scene that led to the dam.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:53 pm
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Doug52392
Decorated

Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 268

 		So this ARG has to do with Numbers? Thats my favorate show! Anyway I am odvously in. I saw the episode Friday, if you didn't you can see it at http://www.cbs.com/innertube if you live in the US. This does look like an ARG, found this from Digg: http://digg.com/playable_web_games/Amazing_new_numerical_puzzle_game_chainfactor_com
Put up a day after the Numbers episode aired. the Digg artical mentions getting a score above 127k, our first task?

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:08 pm
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imbri
Entrenched


Joined: 21 Sep 2002
Posts: 1182
Location: wonderland

 		I'm not sure if it's numb3rs specific or not. On the chainfactor forums, there have been ads and codes associated with sportsline and startrek.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:32 pm
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Doug52392
Decorated

Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 268

 		Is it possible that they might give us codes via TV or something like that, like through commercials? If they are using info we got from TV, maby more info will come via TV? I'm watching the Numbers episode again anyway (CBS Innertube is the only on demand TV website thats Linux compatable, but full screen does not work!).

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:40 pm
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		the Terms of Use mentions jurisdiction in the state of New York, and the Privacy Policy links to CBS Interactive. Both are dated March 28, 2007 although the best I can tell is that the website was registered this past August. It's hosted on Rackspace, so I cannot track it further.

I'm intrigued!

Doug52392 wrote:
CBS Innertube is the only on demand TV website thats Linux compatable, but full screen does not work!.

OK, I know you said Linux, but I've been dealing with Innertube issues on Windows and figured I could interject here:

cbs/innertube has a variety of issues. Under Firefox, the player is using the Flash plugin which does full screen but renders it poorly and playback is jerky on a slower processor. Using Internet Explorer, we get the option to switch from Flash to the Windows Media Player which does full screen much better. Whichever you use, do NOT try to rewind or skip ahead, as it screws up the stream and just repeatedly returns you to the first quarter of the show!

Have you tried http://www.veoh.com/users/cbs yet? This episode of Numb3rs is hosted there, and the player is much more user friendly. The show is not chunked up like it is on innertube, and you can move the time slider to any point in the show, forward or rewind, without it losing data.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:50 pm
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Doug52392
Decorated

Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 268

 		I found out how to get powers. Just pulled this from an XML file on the website, although I have no idea what "costs" mean:
http://www.chainfactor.com/power_costs.xml

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:23 pm
Last edited by Doug52392 on Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:26 pm; edited 2 times in total
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notgordian
Unfictologist


Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Posts: 1383
Location: Philly

 		Wow, good catch on the privacy policy link, catherwood!

And thank goodness--for a minute, I thought someone was actually that sanctimonious about casual game development. I mean.... O__o

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:24 pm
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Doug52392
Decorated

Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 268

 		In the last part of the Numbers episode, the guy who was behind everything talked about inserting stuff virally in everyday media - a colaberative problem solving system and on the FAQ it says thats where we find keys. I think we are going to see clues on TV, raido, Internet, etc. chainfactor.com has an FTP and SSH server running, both requiring a logon name and password, in addition to an SMTP server.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:52 pm
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Varin
I Have No Life


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

 		After playing a few times, I got this error message...

Quote:
ERROR 002

LEVEL 2 / CODE NNN

* SCORING?
* s, i don't understand why we are collecting scores at this
* point. do we collect high scores only or every score?
* -F

* I want all the scores added to Table A, not just high scores
* don't worry about it, I'll tell you why later.
* /s

* will do
* -F

* By the way, try this... text "chain" to 38383.
* /s

* works. very hot. LOL
* -F


When you send the text you get what looks like spam, but I'm sure isn't. Wink

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Check these HOT* stocks! FOFN, NDGPF, COFI, TTWO, EBKLF, DADVF, RTHTF and FSPX. Info? Go 2 chainfactor.com. or txt Help to 38383 *Not real investment advice.

_________________
"I still miss him to this day and probably always will." - Todd Keeler, Chasing the Wish

"meta meta meta, I made you out of play..." ~ j5

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:09 am
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Doug52392
Decorated

Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Posts: 268

 		I recognize one of the ticker symbols: TTWO. Take Two Interactive, developers of Grand Theft Auto... There was someone on some forum (I think it was a television website) who probably did not know this was an ARG, played the game and got a phone number or street address in an error message.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:50 am
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thebruce
Dances With Wikis


Joined: 16 Aug 2004
Posts: 6899
Location: Kitchener, Ontario

 		FOFN - Four Oaks Fincorp Inc.
NDGPF - Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd
COFI - Credit One Financial Inc
TTWO - Take Two Interactive
EBKLF - Eighteenth Bank Ltd.
DADVF - Elephant Seven AG
RTHTF - R Three Technologies Inc
FSPX - Five Star Products Inc
_________________
@4DFiction/@Wikibruce/Contact
ARGFest 2013 - Seattle! ARGFest.com

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:08 pm
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Varin
I Have No Life


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 2456
Location: South of where I used to be
thebruce wrote:
FOFN - Four Oaks Fincorp Inc.
NDGPF - Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd
COFI - Credit One Financial Inc
TTWO - Take Two Interactive
EBKLF - Eighteenth Bank Ltd.
DADVF - Elephant Seven AG
RTHTF - R Three Technologies Inc
FSPX - Five Star Products Inc


Woo!

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Click on Enter a Code. Enter the numbers from each stock - 491218735 as the nine digit code and "HOT" as the keyword.

_________________
"I still miss him to this day and probably always will." - Todd Keeler, Chasing the Wish

"meta meta meta, I made you out of play..." ~ j5

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:51 pm
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