| Subject: Dice Strings and Cheating |
Author:
Krys Hyrdor
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Date Posted: 20:43:55 07/20/02 Sat
Overview
I. Iz An Introduction From US
II. What IZ Bringing US Here!
III. This IZ What's Up With US
IV. US IZ Protecting You Now!!
V. IZ Iz Protecting US As Well
VI. Give US A Credit! IZ Nice!!
I. Iz An Introduction From US
This E-Mail has been designed as a user-friendly tutorial, warning and newsletter of sorts brought to you by the Independant Zone and United Syndication forums respectively. It has been designed exclusively for those forums. We are asking that you not distribute this in any way.
We're not unrealistic. We know that with as many members as this will be sent to, it is a foregone conclusion that it will be passed around. We'd rather you didn't, since a lot of work went into researching what was happening and finding solutions as well as the design of this document. Being realistic however, we ask you DO NOTALTER this manual in any way. Give credit where credit is due if you must pass this out.
If you received this manual from IZ or US, consider yourself special. We think your special! It also shows how well you chose in picking forums that are dedicated to their members. So we're proud of you too.
As always, we are here to serve you, protect the integrity of the game, find solutions to puzzling problems and keep you informed.
IZ good to be one of US. We know.
Hunter & Lana
II. What IZ Bringing US Here!
It has been brought to our attention that a new dice string has now been 'figured out' and is currently within use. This dice string is of the copy/paste variety and is unlike anything we have seen before. At this point we would like to give credit to Krys Hyrdor for telling us about it. The nature of this string has forums and 'old timers' alike in an uproar from what we can determine. It was our first reaction, upon seeing it demonstrated, that this string could literally kill dicing within Rhydin forever. Once we calmed down however, we decided that playing with the string was the only way we could figure out how to find a solution to it.
First we spoke to the renowned Kasket Darkfyre about being able to hex edit this string. After a little work and research Kasket has indeed informed us that with a special program it would be able to detect the string. Sounds good right? We thought so at first too. Then we realized Kasket couldn't possibly hex edit every log in existance. Even an army of people hex editing logs wouldn't get the job done, not to mention wasting a lot of people's play time.
We would now like to thank Amy Summers for letting us torment, torture, and experiment with her in a public room for the purposes of discovering what the string could do. We would also like to give Amy credit for one of the solutions though we thought we could disprove it. We can fake it, but Amy had the right idea.
Now to the heart of the matter, to be succinct. This copy/paste string is capable of 'mimicking' the OnlineHost. Realistically, we aren't going to tell you the string. That would just be silly. Like showing you a toy and telling you not to play with it. Rather, we are going to explain exactly what it does.
All in one room send: A person types their attack (we'll provide an example below) and then enters the 'string code'. This string code instructs AOL to break to a new text line. On that new text line (still in the same send mind you) a fake OnlineHost roll is inserted, along with what dice or score should be 'bogus' rolled. Thanks to our toying with Amy, we have learned that with AOL's generous text limit, another break can be made at this time, and a fake 'dice score total' using a program like Role Player 3.0 can also be inserted.
At this point, the person who is stringing would finally hit send. What would happen is their attack would show, the OnlineHost fake dice roll would show, and the counter score would show. Keep in mind what sounds complicated isnt. The last step can be skipped entirely if no one is running a counter.
If a counter is on, the counter 'score' would also have to be faked because a real counter wouldn't count it since the OnlineHost didn't really roll it. Way to be on the ball Amy!
This string can be used to fake dice in any situation. Spar. Mass Spar. Assassination. Just to screw with someone and make it look like they said something they didn't. To fake an entire log. The possibilities are endless as far as we can see.
Here is an example of how we used it:
Phynix Ash: ::trips her down on her azz::
OnlineHost: Phynix Ash rolled 4 93-sided dice: 93 92 90 91
LanawnShee: okay.. now I'm gonna get cranky again
Of course it was the string anf not the //roll command for AOL used in that example. Scary isn't it? Take heart. IZ and US has come up with two current solutions and will of course tell you if we find any others. Please let us know if you do as well!
III. This IZ What's Up With US
Solutions is what we are all about. Two, as we mentioned earlier, have been found so far.
The first is for all members running Powertools For AOL. AOL PT users might have noticed that the Powertools Default for all sends in a room occur at 8 pt font. In other words, when your running PT, all screen names and the OnlineHost, show up in bold blue arial font at size 8. When sending text to an AOL chatroom, AOL forces it to 10 pt font size.
What this means is that when the 'string' is used on someone running PT, if your paying attention you will notice that the OnlineHost (and if also faked, the name of whoever was running the dice score program like Rhydin) shows up in bold, blue arial size 10 font, bigger than what it should be.
We have also noticed that when reviewing the log of the room where the string is being rolled through PT's Chat Log Manager, nothing will show up that was string related. Not the face attack or the fake string roll. It's just not there, like it never happened.
Congratulations! You can now spot the fake easily if you are running Powertools for AOL.
Example:
This is how a real roll with PT should look>
LanawnShee: ::kicks her::
OnlineHost: LanawnShee rolled 4 90-sided dice: 90 90 90 90
This is how the fake looks>
LanawnShee: ::kicks her::
OnlineHost: LanawnShee rolled 4 90-sided dice: 90 90 90 90
\
This second solution is for everyone not running Powertools for AOL. PT users are of course just as encouraged to use it if they want as a double-check system.
As we explained earlier in this manual, a program such as Role-Player 3.0 (commonly referred to as Rhydin) by Spitzel will not recognize these fakes rolls. The person 'stringing' can fake that it does, but the program in and of itself doesn't really see or recognize it.
Those familiar with this program might be aware by mow that as RP3.0 scores the roll, a little window part of it also records the name of the person that rolled last and how much the roll was worth, storing it.
The second benefit to RP3.0 is the fact that in a random assassination for example, that person 'stringing' really has no idea whether or not you are running this program when they try using it on you.
At first we considered attaching Rhydin to this document in order to arm you. Then we again came to our senses! Attaching it would practically be begging you to pass out this manual and we didn't want that. We do want you to be armed and safe against cheaters though, so we've decided to include the link to where you can download Role-Player 3.0.
spitzel's homepage We again thank Amy for providing the link.
IV. US IZ Protecting You Now!!
First let me stress: I know you wouldn't cheat. I know every single one of you. I make it a point to know you. You know each other. This was never about cheating for me, because I trust you. A trust that you have earned. Rather, it was a warning for you to be careful since I didn't want any of US to fall victim to the hoax.
For the time being this is all I am going to suggest/do.
First: When MSing if you really think it's necessary or you don't "trust" the proctor, get someone you trust (or yourself) to run a second dice counter.
Second: All things considered 'Registered Combat Logs' will now be hex edited to make sure no one is stringing. When the craze passes we'll relax our attitude again. This is supposed to be a fun game, not a regimental and restrictive 'my way or the highway' forum.
Easy enough, wasn't it? ::winks::
PS: DL Role Player 3.0 and keep it on as much as you can from here on out. Also, if it doesn't work, download the patch and follow the directions. Once I got the patch it worked fine for me since I know a lot of you tell me you don't run it because it doesn't work.
'I open the window
Less and less and hide
More in the darkest corners'
V. IZ Iz Protecting US As Well
More so than playing with acronymns, this has to do with all of us- how we exist, how we play our game, life and death- and so, so much more. This one little thing could alter all of that, and we'd like to try to prevent it if possible. Such a tool in the wrong hands could mean more trouble than any of us want to deal with [as this is supposed to be an escape].
We've worked hard to keep our small world legal and respected. That is no easy feat in this place, but so far- we've managed. I'd like to think that this is due to our lack of cheating on dice [including strings etc]. So, in order to continue our existence and to not be abused with the latest in a long line of 'dice scams', we'll inform and arm you. This will keep all of us on our toes and aware of what's out there. Rezzes are precious and few.
As you can see above- there are the links to what is needed to detect this 'string'. There are also helpful hints and useful tacts to avoiding this being used against you. Thanks to US of course...::winks::..
Remember to let us know, Hunter and I, if you -do- stumble across this 'string' in use. That way, we can go through the proper channels to have the person using it pay some sort of price.
"And all I wanted
Was a place to hide
And a room with a view"
VI. Give US A Credit! IZ Nice!!
Well after all that talking we feel like your family now! *G*As such, we have a few requests and credits to end this manual off.
First, as we've been mentioning, we'd like this to remain between the US and IZ members as long as possible. The reason for this being very simple: People are less likely to look for solutions when they think the problem is solved for them. While our ideas will work toward solving the problem, we believe there are sure to be more solutions. We'd like to keep everyone looking for them until a 'simplest' one can be found.
Second, if you feel you need to arm your friends as well, we support that kind of loyalty. All we ask is that you send them this manual, complete and unaltered, instead of just telling them the answer. This way they understand our motivations, those who deserve credit for the tutorial and reasearch they did get it, and your fine forums of IZ and US get a little well deserved promotion.
Now that all of that is out of the way, we'll just do the personal credits and be done!
The Independant Zone, United Syndication, Lan~awn McVelt and Hunter Gavigan Darkfyre would like to thank all of the following people and resources for their help in the design and creation of this manual:
Krys Hyrdor: SN, ThundersHeart- For letting us know about the string.
Kasket Darkfyre: SN, XKasketX- For letting us know about the string and hex editor.
Amy Summers: SN, AbysmalAllure- For letting us experiment and coming up with the idea of using the Role Player 3.0 program to help detect the fake string.
Vulgar Display of Power Designs: For making the IZ/US tag as well as all other graphics included in this manual. (Graphics made from Paint Shop Pro/SuperBladePro/FM Tools.) Please note Lana's signature tag was not made by VDP.
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