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 [BGM: Hear No Evil]   His mother brought him to me. She asked me to try to help him control his violent streak. Ever since his father was executed, he had been... struggling. I tried, I swear. I tried everything I knew to try to help him, but it would only make him angrier. Recently, he even stopped coming to the sessions. I told his mother about this- I warned her that her son might have some serious issues, but I never thought it'd amount to something like this! Morris, huh? Now things are starting to come together. Falsely executed? No, no this can't be the same guy. Yo, what the gently caress are you people talking about? You all know this punk? What's going on?[BGM: A True Foal]  Brian Morris. Son of Aaron Morris. Son of the man arrested and executed for the cold-blooded murder of his employer Amadeus Bowen. Amadeus Bowen was a huge deal. He was the CEO of a major entertainment company. Not many people were of more importance in our city than the Chief of Police Oliver Bowen, but his brother Amadeus was one of them.  His murder shocked the community, made national news. A heroic and beloved public figure had been murdered in his own office. Aaron Morris was arrested the next day. The man claimed he was innocent, he swore it across his heart and hope to die. The case against him told a different story. Bowen's body was hidden in his personal safe, so discovering it took longer than expected, but once it was found the time of death was quickly determined. It wasn't an exact time, but it gave a reasonable range. The only person to have entered the victim's office during that timeframe was Morris, as numerous eye witnesses would attest. And Bowen's death wasn't something that could be done remotely, he was strangled, bludgeoned to death, then stuffed in a safe. There also weren't any secret entrances into the office, nor was it possible for someone to have been hiding in the office the whole time. If that wasn't proof enough, the weapon used to bludgeon Bowen was found disposed of in a river. It had been disposed in a river awfully close to Morris' house. Also, while much of the money that had been taken from Bowen's safe was never recovered, a stack of bills with Bowen's fingerprints was found in the glove compartment of Morris' car. Speaking of fingerprints, Morris' were recovered on the inside of the safe, a place Morris had no place in looking.  More and more evidence kept coming out and stacking up against Morris. All of this evidence, and yet my father decided to defend him in court. My father legitimately believed in Morris' innocence. He began to prepare his defense based on the fact that the footage from the security cameras in the building had been erased. Digital logs showed that someone used Bowen's master card to enter the Security Room and tamper with the technology before Morris ever met with Bowen. This defense came crumbling down when it was revealed that the night before the murder, Bowen and Morris had gone drinking at a bar. The bartender testified that at some point during the night, Bowen dropped his wallet on the floor. After the two left, Morris came back in to return the wallet to Bowen. The next morning, Bowen's secretary testified that Bowen's master card was missing from his wallet. The police determined that the bar trip was the only reasonable time that the master card could've been taken. The biggest point for my father's defense suddenly turned to a damning story for the prosecution. Still, my father fought valiantly in the court for Morris' innocence. He argued every possible point of uncertainty, hammered on about how it was all circumstantial, and pleaded the jury to understand the meaning of 'reasonable doubt'. But in the end, it wasn't enough. Morris was found guilty, and the judge gave him the death penalty due to 'a complete lack of remorse'.  My father died of illness a few years later, around the time Morris was finally executed. He said he lived a good life on the whole, a life he was proud of. But in that hospital bed, he mentioned to me that one of his few regrets was being unable to save Aaron Morris. In the end, despite the overwhelming flood of evidence to the contrary, my father still believed in his client. Like a good lawyer should. And now, his son Brian, who should've been a senior in high school, was going out of his way to take revenge? To avenge his father? That's what this was? [BGM: Lucky Foot]   gently caress this! Mouse? What's going on? Seriously? This is revenge for your dad's execution? I get never being able to accept that your father was very obviously a murderer, but why the hell would you take it out on us? Even as a criminal, your dad clearly wanted the best for you in life! Why would you throw that all away for a half-baked revenge plot where you couldn't even hide your identity for a handful of minutes? And why would you take it out on me? What, are you angry that my father wasn't able to get your dad off the hook for his very obvious murder? My dad truly believed in your dad's innocence, and did everything he could to try to help him. And now you're going to take that out on me? That's bullshit and you know it, Brian! Woah, Mouse! I know you're angry, but calm down. No, she's right to get angry. I'm loving pissed as well!  What the hell did I do in any of this? I've got no idea who this Morris punk is at all! There's no reason I should be here, it's completely ridiculous! Right, it's really unfair! I mean seriously, what did I do to deserve this? Like, okay, maybe I put out an article or two on the trial, but it wasn't anything unfair. And tons of people put out articles, it was a big event, why single out me?  Well, I know why I am here. I testified against his father at trial. I was in the building at the time of the murder. Bowen had discussed interest in purchasing one of my statues for his office. When I came to bring it to him, I was in the waiting room for a dreadfully long time. And in that waiting room I was a witness able to conclusively say that the only person who entered Bowen's office during the time frame of his death was Aaron Morris.  Oh, I was a witness in that trial too! Maybe that's why I thought I recognized you. Yeah, I was also around at the time Morris was killed. He was gonna discuss me doing some advertising for him. They thought an Olympian would be a good face to sell their stuff, I guess. Anyways, I talked about how I saw him carrying the murder weapon. My testimony probably was what stopped that creep from weaseling out of it.  I-I also testified. I was, um, I was Mr. Bowen's secretary at the time, and I also could talk about who entered his office. I was also the one who gave Morris up as a suspect to the police when they were interrogating me. I-I'm the reason he got arrested in the first place.  My construction company was doing some work on a nearby building that day. I think I mentioned something to the police about when I saw Morris drive off. It was nothing big though. Wasn't ever called to court or anything. I don't know why it should've been a big enough deal to land me here. It appears you're in the same boat as me, my friend.  This Brian punk seems to really not like people saying what they saw to the police. Is that really such a crime? I went to Bowen to discuss the possibility of investing in one of my films, and I saw Morris pass by in the building. Is that really such a crime? I was never even brought into court! A shame, too, because I was willing to give the performance of a lifetime to catch that devious crook. I've already mentioned how I'm connected to Brian. If I was a better therapist, I would've been able to lead him away from the path of revenge, not towards it. I've seen the kid around a few times. Maybe I could've talked some sense into him too. You knew Brian, Dog? 'Knew' is a strong word. Like I said, I seen him around. Then why were you brought into this?  Easy. I run the bar where Morris filched the mastercard from Bowen. That testimony of mine really shattered the defense's arguments. And I thank you for that. Ox? I am a prosecutor. And for some reason or another, for one of my first cases I ended up helping with the prosecution of Morris. It doesn't make much sense why they'd have someone who was so wet behind the ears help with such a high-profile, high-stakes case. But it does make sense why Brian would target me. I was very good at helping that prosecution. It also makes sense why he would target me. After all, I was the one who arrested his dad. Wait, Bunny, you're a cop? Guilty as charged. I was almost certain I recognized a number of you; this would explain why. Honestly, I should've caught on sooner. I guess I was too distracted by the insanity of it all. I gotta say though, while I'm honored Brian decided to choose me, his choice of targets confuses me a bit. Some of these make sense, but for a bunch of you people, there were surely better targets. Dog's totally right!  Like, take the judge for instance. There were a bunch of people who said that him applying the death penalty for a single murder was unnecessary. He's been accused of succumbing to public pressure, especially considering there was an el- Oh who cares about any of that? The kid's a complete nutcase, through and through, a dastard and a dullard. Try to psychoanalyze the comings and goings of the psycho with a headcase and you'll end up as crazy as them. I must say, that's an incredibly insensitive thing to say. There's a lot of- Hey, I think there's a great discussion about how we talk about mental illness to be had there, but his bigger point was right. We've just been going on and on about why we're here, but that's not going to help us get out. We need to focus on the current problems, and we can save worrying about all that other stuff for later. Bunny's right. [BGM: Ox's Logic]  The issue we had before getting completely sidetracked was how we're all going to be able to cross the finish line at the same time. We have a lot of abilities, right? I think there should probably be some way where we could combine them to let us get to the other side fast. That seems to me to be a recipe for disaster. Any solution found would be a complex, multi-step process with much room for error or betrayal. What does anyone get out of betraying here? Why do you all keep getting hung up on that? I think Monkey might be right about the complexity part. There's a much simpler solution, and we should prioritize on that. A simpler solution? What's that?  Do you recall what Brian said about items? Specifically the Minor Trinkets? I understand what you're saying. You do? There are 12 Minor Trinkets, and their movement is equal to the number of people using them. If we are able to find all 12, we'd be able to cross the finish line as a group in 2 rounds. Great idea, Horse! Now we've got a clear game plan that'll let us all get out alive! With this, we can all be saved, right? Thank God. I was getting worried there for a second. Would it really be that simple though? What do you mean? Nothing much, I'm merely pointing out the fact that this solution is, well, rather basic. No offense intended, but a child could have worked it out. I question the point of all this work if it were to be solved so simply. What's your problem, Snake? Why do you have to be such a downer? I'm not being a 'downer', just pointing out a particular oddity. Do you have a better idea? No, no, I'm not dismissing the plan. Then what are you doing? Raising a thought. So 'jack poo poo' is the answer then. He's right though, would things be this simple? Hey, what if the Minor Trinkets are super duper hidden? Like, there's no guarantee that we'll actually be able to find them all. Things could all fall apart! Calm down, would you? Like Horse pointed out, with the Trinkets, it would only take 2 rounds to finish the race. We have plenty of time to search, and this school isn't all that large. Let's first try to find all the Minor Trinkets. In the meantime, I suggest anyone concerned think of a backup plan. Sounds like a plan! Should we start looking then?[BGM: Silence]  Actually, we should make a move. We've been talking for a while now, and Round 1 is almost over.I looked over to a nearby clock, and found that Bunny was absolutely right. Good catch, Bunny! Everyone, split up and just click the 'Run' button, okay? We'll come back here, watch the animals move, and then we'll start our search. Alright, let's do it.With a discernable game plan formed, everyone split up with a sense of purpose. It certainly felt like we had a real chance at pulling this off. But Snake was right to bring up his concerns. I was burdened with a general sense of unease. And a palpable sense of anger at Brian. How ungrateful could you be? How ridiculous... But no, I couldn't think about that now. I needed to focus on moving forwards.  I turned on my tablet, and pressed the RUN button. There, done. [BGM: Final Squeal]  My move input, I went back to the cafeteria. The others gathered. Everyone just ran, right? No one tried any tricky poo poo? Please. There would be absolutely no point in that at this stage of the game. Well, I suppose Pig might panic and hope for an early 11 space lead. What? I'd never do that! Settle down, will you? It'll all be confirmed in just a second.Just as Ox said, the speakers turned on a few moments later.  Round 1 has ended.  Now, let us see how the race has progressed. The Rat has RUN one space. The Ox has RUN one space. The Tiger has RUN one space. The Bunny has RUN one space. The Dragon has RUN one space. The Snake has RUN one space. The Horse has RUN one space. The Sheep has RUN one space. The Monkey has RUN one space. The Rooster has RUN one space. The Dog has RUN one space. The Pig has RUN one space. Now, Round 2 has begun. Do your best, and choose wisely.I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief looking at the results. Of course, I didn't think anyone would actually disobey the plan. But I couldn't help worrying. Great work, team! We did it! Yay! Hooray, yes, we all pressed a button. Good job us. It is a fairly basic achievement, but we should still appreciate it. No, we should start looking for Minor Trinkets. Round 2 has already started. Quite right. It'd be best to split up and search as much area as possible. I'll search over down the right corridor of the first floor. You will? Then let me be of assistance. You wish to search with me? Two finders are better than one, right? You aren't wrong. Sure, you can come along with me. I want to check out the training room I saw on my way here. Looks interesting. There might be a Trinket there. If that's the case, can I come along with you? I'm still nervous about threats in this school, so I want to stick with someone strong. I've no issue with it. Thank you. I'm interested in looking around the library. Mouse, would you care to join me in my search?Did I care to join him? Who to search with?
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Sep 28, 2022 20:46
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Huh, interesting how it's going. The party (seemingly) has discovered the mastermind and their motivations, have pointed out there's no reason to betray each other, and has a plan for everyone to escape alive. ...how many updates till someone goes insane are you betting on? I'd say 2 or 3.
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Sep 28, 2022 21:12
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is that an invitation to vote, or
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Sep 28, 2022 21:39
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Regallion posted:is that an invitation to vote, or it is not; i held that vote for what route we're starting with and the initial few choices will determine what route we're on so you all have, technically, already voted  (actual thread vote-on-choices will happen when we're on the routes)that said you are free to say what you would want outside of actually making a choice
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Sep 28, 2022 21:48
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With the identity and motivation being revealed so early, there is almost certainly going to be a twist on it. I presume that, if Alan Morris was actually innocent, then the conspiracy to frame him had to be very far reaching. Some or possibly even all of the people here would have been participants or paid off some way. Ox, Bunny and Sheep are likely as direct participants, being prosecutor, cop and the victim's secretary respectively. Any of the witnesses could have been paid off, but I am suspect of those who didn't appear at the trial as we only have their word that they are involved as witnesses and not in some other way. I'm sure this will start to shake out as the backstabs in game begin and people begin making use of the confess option.
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Sep 28, 2022 22:15
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It's refreshing to know so much so early, but it's not very common for this kind of game. I hope this is intentional by the game designers and that they've got more mysteries or twists to keep us hooked. Given the time constraints, it's great for morale that everyone kept pace via a Round 1 Run. That'll keep everyone in a good headspace for the next round since nobody has been (visibly) left behind. That said, it isn't very good for the long-term game to have put everyone a space behind par (2 spaces/turn). The window for a purely cooperative solution might already be gone; it already seemed pretty tight to begin with. Worse, this approach also banks on the team finding 12 trinkets (or any trinkets, really). Everyone's splitting up again, and separation fosters distrust.
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Sep 29, 2022 10:49
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One of the bigger questions right now is the "Confess" option. At least according to what the Jade Emperor thinks, everybody present has in some way or another worked towards his father's arrest and execution, and presumably they are meant to confess it. For example, Sheep gave the statement that she had not seen anybody else enter the office, but maybe she had snuck out for a while and didn't want to admit it for various reasons. The obvious outliers for now are Mouse and Monkey. Mouse's father was the one involved, not her, and Monkey seems to have only gotten involved in the situation after the execution. The story reminds me a good bit of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, given the implication that everybody is hiding some sort of guilty secret.
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Sep 29, 2022 12:47
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Cloacamazing! posted:The story reminds me a good bit of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, given the implication that everybody is hiding some sort of guilty secret. Yeah, I was definitely getting that feeling as well - there's definitely the same feel of hypocritical self-righteousness coming from the jade emperor that I got from the note in the beginning from U.N. Owen.
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Sep 29, 2022 13:37
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 This point is where our choices start becoming directly tied to what route we end up starting down. Before this LP started, I had people vote blindly on what route to start with, but I won't reveal anything about what route got the most votes- you'll see when we get to it. Once we get onto an actual route, we'll have choices that the thread will have voted on, but more on that when we actually get to it. For now, though, we need to make a choice on who we're going to explore with, and for the route that won, we'll be going with... [BGM: Silence]  I decided that I had already talked with Ox quite a bit when I woke up, and it would be best to branch out. Actually, I'll help Snake and Rooster search. Great! Now we've got a triad of searchers to uncover the blasted Trinkets. I doubt Mouse will be a hindrance. And it's possible that these items will be hidden not in a way that invites spread out searching, but rather deliberate thought. Not entirely sure what you're saying, but it sounds like we're decided. Fine. Mouse, you go with them. Now can we quit talking about searching and just start searching?! Yeah, let's do that. The rest of us can just split up and look around. Oh, and everybody, remember to input your moves and reconvene here before the round ends. Got it.With that, we all spread out and began our search. Rooster, Snake, and I started by completely looking through a classroom. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing out of place there. It was a completely standard school classroom. We moved on to the next classroom, and again, we found no success. It was disheartening, but our search had only just begun. [BGM: Cock a Doodle Doo]  We started going further down the hallway, when Rooster commented on the art display hung on the wall. Ooh, would you look at this little gallery. It is quite nice, isn't it. This is certainly an artistic school, I have to say. I've seen a bunch of murals painted on the walls and individual art projects hanging all around the place. But this is the first full-on artist showcase, isn't it? Yeah, it is. So why are we stopping here? Mouse, the first thing you learn in the showbiz world is that people only perform their best when morale is up. If we just wander around looking for clues like Scooby-Doo zombies, we'll be half as effective as we would be as ourselves. I, for one, am feeling more motivated by taking a second to appreciate this fine and powerful art. How is this supposed to be powerful art? This is just a bunch of still-life paintings of the same car. Ah, so that's how this comes across to the naïve eye. You need to look deeper to see the true artistry behind this piece. Art is always a very metaphoric thing. For instance, look at that painting of a wheel. The wheel actually represents... a car. Rooster, it's literally a closeup of a car. Case in point. While our friend here is certainly struggling to make his point convincingly, he's actually not incorrect. I concede that at first this collection just seems to be a collection of still-life closeups of the same car. However, try asking yourself why it was drawn this particular way. The paintings seem to employ plenty of horizontal strokes in places not needed, adding a sense of motion and blur to all these shots. However, it's clear that this car is stationary, in bad shape even. Look at how the tire is slightly depressed, or how there's a crack in one of the car's front lights. Artists do not needlessly add such details. Most telling is the use of monochromatic palettes for each individual piece. The colors chosen imply a lot. A burning red, a dark purple, a melancholy blue. These are deeply negative colors. As a whole, these pieces come together to suggest a sense of inner conflict. There's a sense of motion, and yet the car isn't moving- it can't move. Emblematic of the artist's life, perhaps? It's frustrating, disheartening to have this complete mishmash of wanting to move but being unable to. All that said, I will give you that such interpretation requires ample thought. It is the fault of the artist that you did not come to such conclusions. A more skilled hand would be able to make that inner conflict more apparently visible. The fact that such themes are so subdued is doubtlessly a product of the artist's status as a novice. Huh. That's an interesting take. Still, you have to wonder why art always bothers itself to be so abstract, instead of just showing such things. I would guess you're not a fan of modern art then? It's certainly a genre easy to criticize. However, I would argue that in an age where high fidelity artistry is becoming more and more common, an emphasis on art that provokes thought is even more important. Additionally, art is most importantly about self-satisfaction. That's a bold claim. Agreed. I don't know if I fully believe it. But I think art that the artist doesn't enjoy is worthless. And often the art with subtlety in its meaning is the art most meaningful to its creator. Take the Soup Cans of Andy Warhol. A friend of his suggested as a joke that he draw cans of Campbell Soup. Warhol loved the idea, and promptly painted dozens of them. This drew many criticisms from art critics, which only seemed to feed Warhol's obsession with painting them. Later in his life, Warhol called those soup cans his favorite pieces, and even said that he wished he could've only painted those soup cans. And today they stand as an incredibly iconic piece of art history, in no small part because of Warhol's enthusiasm for them. You're certainly knowledgeable about all of this. Why, of course. I mentioned it earlier, but I am an artist. Not my main job, unfortunately, but perhaps one day. Ah, a fellow artist, are you? Glad to be working with a comrade in the war for beauty. Please, please don't compare yourself to him. Now now Mouse, Rooster is right. You're a struggling actor, right? Nix the struggling part and you've got it. Well, expressing yourself on film is absolutely a form of high art. Anything that exists for the sake of expressing the human condition is art. Of course. I'm not saying film isn't art. I'm just saying I don't think you two are comparable. I mean, forgive me if I'm wrong Rooster, but you don't seem like you're making black-and-white French films. No, I make things that people can actually watch without passing out. See? I still think you're being too dismissive about this, Mouse. Rooster, why do you act? Great question! You see, ever since I was young I wanted to be like those action stars and superheroes I'd always watch. They were people who would do anything to save the day, who were unstoppable, who truly believed in themselves. They were famous and loved and totally cool. That was really moving to me. So that's the sort of rockstar life I want to live! You want to be famous and have a lot of money and a lot of fans. Got it. That's not what he said. Rooster, you clearly have a deep desire to be appreciated and powerful. That's why you emulate the stars you've seen on the big screen. Let me ask, what sort of roles have you been performing as? Kickass heroes who win no matter what the cost. Just like me. I thought as much. However, it seems like you really desire to be that, which may actually be a hindrance. Have you considered playing a role that desires to be a heroic figure, yet lacks the strength or conviction to pull it off? What? No way. That guy seems like a loser. Why would I portray someone like that? It goes against my brand. I see. It may be too early in your career for a more dramatic role, anyways. Well, that was a waste of time. Could we get back to searching for Minor Trinkets? Yes, we should resume our search. How about we look in that darkroom over there? I believe Brian would be more likely to hide the items in exciting locations like that one. Sure thing! Wait, how do you know that's a darkroom? I don't- I'm guessing. Though I'm pretty confident. That black spinning door is a staple of darkrooms. If you say so. No reason not to search there. Let's go.We entered through the spinning door.  And just like Snake said, it ended up being a darkroom. Plenty of photos were being developed. The darkness counterbalanced with the ominous red glow was really freaking me out. Snake was right, if Brian wanted to hide something, this was the sort of place he'd do it. Let's get to looking!It didn't take long to find something. What's this? Mouse, did you find something? Yeah, on the floor. Darkrooms generally don't have safes in them, right? It is certainly not standard. Let me look at it. Snake picked the safe up and put it on a desk. It's locked with a four digit code. This safe is pretty cheap- the sort of thing you could buy easily at a store. No doubt this is related to the race. But if it's locked, how are we supposed to open it? This isn't fair at all! You can't tell us there are items in the school and just lock them away! Calm down. I doubt Brian would play an unfair game, there would be no point. More likely than not, there is a hint to the safe's password somewhere in this room. Could this be something? Rooster called us over to a wall. On the wall, four photographs were turned around and pinned up. On the backs of these photographs, four words were written in Sharpie: RUNNING OUT OF TIME? This has got to be something, right? Yes. This is a message to us. But what could it mean? There are four photographs. Perhaps the number of letters in each code word could be a hint? Hold on, let me see those photographs.I tore them off the wall and turned them around. Sure enough, there were actual pictures on the front, and they seemed to be related. Hey, these pictures have numbers written on the bottom right corner. 1, 2, 3, and 4. You think they were taken in that order? No, there's more water in the cup in Photo 3 than in Photo 2. The order... Ah, that might be it. What are you thinking? The message was talking about time, right? We may need to put these photos in the proper order. But I thought you guys just said that the numbers on the bottom right didn't give us the order! Exactly. We need to use other clues in the photos to properly sort them. At first glance, the photos all looked the same. They were all of a cup on a bedstand. In each of them, there was an hourglass directly behind the bedstand, and in each photo all the sand was at the top of it. However, the contents of the cup changed slightly in each photograph. In the photograph with the number 1, the cup was fully filled, and had ice in it. In the photograph with the number 2, water filled about a third of the cup. In the photograph with the number 3, the cup was almost completely empty, with mere dregs of water at the bottom. In the photograph with the number 4, the cup had almost no water in it, but there was ice. A shame that there's an hourglass behind the cup instead of a clock. If there was a clock, it'd be way too easy. Hmm...While this game does not have proper 'escape room' content, we will occasionally encounter a puzzle like this as we progress through the game. These do not have any bearing on what route we will end up going down (and you do not in fact have to get it right, the game will continue even if you answer wrong), but they may serve a purpose we don't know yet... so we'll be answering correctly for each of them when we encounter them.  That said, things will be set up so that you have a chance to solve the puzzle yourself (including spoilering the right answer where applicable), so don't worry, even though the thread won't be involved with these, you'll still get to solve these individually if so inclined! On that note, if you want to figure out the solution, stop here!  I've got it! You do? Yeah, the order's really simple. In Photo 3, the cup is empty. In Photo 2, the cup is filled a little bit. In Photo 1, the cup is finally fully filled, and ice is put in it. And finally in Photo 4, the cup is drunk from, only leaving the ice. How about it? The order makes complete sense, right?We're given the choice of agreeing with him or not; this puzzle isn't one where we put the answer in ourselves, but rather have to figure out whether the suggested answer is correct or not. That said, Rooster's guess is incorrect.  Nice try, but I don't think that's right. What? Why! It just doesn't make sense. In every picture, the hourglass has been flipped, right? That means it's an hour between each of these pictures. Yeah? Why does that matter? So who fills a cup of water a third of the way, waits an hour, and then fills the rest of it up? I don't know, someone who lives life on the loving edge, a complete radical madman, how about that? Mouse, I believe I have a better solution. Shoot. Rooster wasn't completely off track. It should start with Photo 3, with an empty cup. Then it goes to Photo 1, where the cup has been filled. After a time, the cup is drank from, leading to Photo 4. However, the cup is then left, and the ice remains, leading to Photo 2. This sequence of events keeps the hourglass in mind,a nd still makes perfect sense, right?Once again, we're given a choice of whether to agree or not; Snake's suggested answer is the correct answer.  Yeah, that sounds right. In that case, the safe's combination should be 3142 then. Should I try inputting that? I don't see why not.I decided to try it out, and sure enough it unlocked. Inside, I found a token. It had the words 'Snake Minor Trinket' written on one side, and a four digit number combination on the other. 6561. This is it! We found a Minor Trinket! Yay! Good job, team! And hey, it's even the Snake Minor Trinket. That's kind of ironic. Maybe you should hold onto it, Snake. No no, finders keepers. I think you should hold onto it for now.[BGM: Silence]  Anyways, more to the point, its getting close to the end of the round. I would safely call this a victory, yes? Then I propose we enter separate rooms, input our moves, then reconvene in the cafeteria. We can report this success to the others. Good idea. I'll input my move in here, and you two can go in those classrooms we searched earlier. Works for me. Very well.With that, Snake and Rooster left me alone in the darkroom. We had successfully found a Trinket. That alone was good news, but seeing how it was hidden, I felt better about our chances.  If Brian just stuck all the items inside random textbooks or similarly obscure hideaways, it would be nearly impossible to find all 12 Minor Trinkets. However, if it was a matter of solving basic puzzles like this, we could definitely find them all. I turned on my tablet and selected RUN. Then I left the darkroom and went back to the cafeteria.
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Sep 29, 2022 23:29
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Do Monkey's pants look like PJs to anyone else?
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Sep 30, 2022 02:34
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I think they're meant to be either PJ pants or like. sweatpants/leggings
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Sep 30, 2022 02:52
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Was 3142 really the right answer? Isn't 1423 better? In photo 3, the cup had dregs of water at the bottom, so it could also be the final picture. I don't see why everyone ignored that and treated it as completely empty. Someone starts with a glass of water with ice (1) and drinks as much as they can, leaving just the ice (4). Over time, it melts (2), and then they drink the rest (3). This solution works with the hourglass flipping cadence, and the remaining water runs out, just like the clue running out of time?. If we're going to allow Snake's solution, that means we're willing to refill a wet cup (aka refill time?!). If that's allowed, Rooster's ordering could have been valid too. Setting aside his messy reasoning, an hour in-between pictures means that a lot of stuff could have happened in-between. The cup's fill level is meaningless if you allow for both drinks and refills, so Rooster's 3214 combo is possible too. I would've just tried 1423 and the remaining 23 combinations if that were wrong. As the artist, it's fitting that the snake trinket was found near an art and photography room. Maybe that's a hint for where the other minor trinkets will be.
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Sep 30, 2022 10:07
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This really isn't helping the "Mouse is or is working with the mastermind" vibes I'm getting. Mouse is the only one who doesn't seem directly involved in some way, and whose story gives a potential motive.
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Sep 30, 2022 14:58
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Yeah, but as noted earlier that would directly contradict her internal narration
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Sep 30, 2022 15:49
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FoolyCharged posted:Yeah, but as noted earlier that would directly contradict her internal narration I had put that, but going back to check...a lot of the narration is worded in a way to avoid that particular contradiction. Mouse tends to use a lot of couched language in her narration, and a lot of where she seems upset/angry/etc. is in dialogue. The three closest things I could find contradicting the idea that Mouse is involved in the game somehow: she is confused on seeing the classroom, she doesn't immediately recognize Ox (if she was involved she'd presumably recognize him immediately), and she comments on the description listed in the app as probably written by a psycho. And yet...none of these are beyond explanation, and that irks the part of me that wants to eliminate this theory. She expresses anger at Brian in her narration, for example, but not at what for and never states that she believes he's the mastermind there. To be clear, this isn't something I'm certain on so much as something I'm keeping an eye on, especially as we're at a point where the threat has not proven genuinely lethal yet. I do feel, either way, that the fact that Mouse seems to be the only one who has not plausibly contributed to the arrest and conviction suspicious. Maybe it's a sign she's involved in the game, maybe it just means she has a different big secret yet to be revealed, but it seems important either way.
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Sep 30, 2022 16:40
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 [BGM: Rooster Style]  Rooster and Snake had beat me there. Hey, Mouse, you're back!Rooster was just sitting at a random table, clearly waiting for the others. Snake, on the other hand, was standing over a chessboard with equal parts amusement and concern. So this is how it is, huh? No point stopping now... What are you talking about, Snake? Pay me no mind. Without another word, he simply moved a white piece and walked over to a table to sit down. I was curious what he was thinking about, but my brief time with Snake had made it clear he would share when he was willing, and no sooner. It wasn't long before the others came back. Many of them were in low spirits. I couldn't find anything. Me neither! Are we doomed? Is this it?! I thought I'd at least be able to find one. Have no fear, citizens, for Team Rooster has secured a Minor Trinket. You guys did?  Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Huh. Looks like I wasn't the only one to find one of those things. Dog, did you find a Minor Trinket too? Yup. Wasn't that hard. Just had to solve a simple problem. Nice work everyone! We're well on pace to getting out of here.Ox cleared his throat.  Yes, yes, we are certainly performing adequately. However, we can talk more about that after these results. Not that I have reason to doubt you all, but I would just feel safer seeing everyone has stuck to the plan. Of course everyone just ran. ...right?[BGM: Silence] Round 2 has ended. Now, let us see how the race has progressed.For these sections, in the interest of space, I won't show screenshots for rounds where everyone just Runs and remains evenly matched The Rat has RUN one space. The Ox has RUN one space. The Tiger has RUN one space. The Bunny has RUN one space. The Dragon has RUN one space. The Snake has RUN one space. The Horse has RUN one space. The Sheep has RUN one space. The Monkey has RUN one space. The Rooster has RUN one space. The Dog has RUN one space. The Pig has RUN one space.[BGM: Stripes]  Again, I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going fine. Things would be fine. We'd all play nice, stick to the script, and get out alive together. I'm just going to start talking now before we get swept up into casual conversation. Yes, things are good now, but that's all the more reason we should immediately continue our search. As we've recently learned, Brian isn't interested in us playing hide-and-seek as much as he is having us play his little games. Keep that in mind as you search. Obviously, try to be thorough, but keep in mind that if a room doesn't show any signs that there's something there, there probably isn't anything there. Now, how are we splitting up?The group started chatting and splitting up amongst themselves. I still wasn't feeling totally safe at this school, so I didn't want to be alone. I decided joining one of the pairs would be the best choice. This is another choice that helps determine what route we end up on, so once more, we'll be going with the choice that matches the route that won the vote. Therefore...  I decided Bunny and Dog seemed like the safest people to explore with. Awesome! The more the merrier. So you're tagging along? Neat.The two both seemed to know what they were doing. Hopefully we'd be able to efficiently work together. Let's not waste any time, then. These Minor Trinkets aren't going to find themselves! Everyone, same deal as last time. Before the end of the round, remember to input a move and meet back up here. Thanks for the reminder, Ox! We'll be sure to listen. Now come on, team, let's get to looking. The group split off, and the three of us began wandering the school. So, where do we want to look? Wherever you want. Well, I asked you first. Nice memory. Okay, uh, what about you, Mouse? You have any ideas? Not in particular. Do you? I mean, if no one else has a preference, I think it might be nice to poke around the third floor. Alright, then let's go there. Kay. Cool.Without much resistance, we made our way to the third floor. Once there, we tried looking for a good room to check. ...Except Dog didn't look like he was looking too hard. I saw Dog singing absentmindedly to himself.  You have so many relationships in this life. Only one or two will last. You go through all the pain and strife, then you turn your back and they're gone so fast. Oh, yeah. Uh, Dog? Oh, so hold on the ones who really care, in the end they'll be the only ones there. And when you get old and start losing your hair, can you tell me who will still care?The hell kind of songs did he listen to? These kind, Mouse.  Hey guys, I think there's something in here?... [BGM: Dog Days]  Bunny called over to me and Dog and pointed us to what appeared to be an open-aired forum. I walked in and, sure enough, I saw a safe sitting on the desk. Huh. Guess Brian didn't feel too much like hiding this one, huh? Something tells me finding this safe's not going to be the hard part. Yeah, you're almost certainly right. Ugh. Let's get this over with.Dog walked over to the safe and read the note tamped to the top of it.  'I can't stand liars! Please find my deceitful students.' That's all it says. Huh. I wonder what that could mean? I get the sinking feeling this is going to be some sort of puzzle. Unfortunately, I agree with you. Hey, over on the backs of these chairs, there are little sheets of paper. They've got little statements and two-digit numbers above them. I'm starting to see the picture here. The safe's a four-digit combination, so we're probably looking for two untruthful statements. How many chairs are there? ...A lot. Great. Well, no time like the present, right guys? Those are some words that you did indeed say in that order. Let's get searching!We started looking on the backs of these chairs. However, I quickly noticed something weird. Am I wrong, or do all of these seem like lies? You make a good point, Mouse. They're just trying to say things that sound false but are actually true. But how does that work? Like, look at this one.'The devil offered me a deal. He would give me two 100 dollar bills, and then he'd make a statement. If the statement is false, then I'd give him back just one of the 100 dollar bills. If the statement is true, then I'd keep them both. Obviously, I rejected this deal because it's horrible for me.' That's just not correct, right? To start off, the devil doesn't exist, so we could say that's a lie from the start. You don't believe in the devil? Heretic. I mean, obviously I believe the devil could exist, I don't mean to of- I don't care. The statement's obviously not about whether or not the devil is real, it's about whether or not that's a good deal. And it's not. Why? At worst you get to keep a 100 dollar bill? I mean, I know 'deals with the devil' are always supposed to screw you over, but I don't see how that could be the case here! You studying to be a lawyer? Boy, do you have a long way to go. Excuse me? You will either give me one of those 100 dollar bills or you will give me one million dollars. Huh? The devil'd just have to say that. If you give him one of the 100 dollar bills, the statement's true. In that case, giving the 100 dollar bill would be in violation of the contract. After all, if the statement's true, you have to keep both bills. But if you didn't give him one of those 100 dollar bills, you'd have to give him one of those 100 dollar bills, looping it back around to true. The only thing you can do without violating the contract is give the devil his one million dollars, or whatever other condition he specified. Huh, I guess you're right. Nice sleuthing, Dog! But hold on, that's just one thing. There's plenty of impossible statements! Like look at this.'The boys in my school are more likely to get detention for getting caught making trouble from Monday through Thursday than the girls. The boys in my school are more likely to get detention for getting caught making trouble on Friday than the girls. And yet, Monday through Friday, the girls are more likely to get detention for getting caught making trouble than the boys.' That's a blatant contradiction? How's it a contradiction? Uh, if the boys are more likely to get detention for getting caught making trouble on any given day, then how are girls more likely to get detention? It's just a matter of averages. Let's say that Monday through Thursday, the odds of getting detention when caught are 95 percent for boys and 90 percent for girls. Teachers just don't have time for the kids' poo poo. But, on Friday, they're feeling more generous, and the odds decrease to 15 percent for boys and 10 percent for girls. Now boys, they're rambunctious, and the idea that they're almost out for the week makes them act out. They get caught for trouble a lot on Fridays. Girls, on the other hand, might be more even in their troublemaking, and therefore the majority of the times they're caught ends up in the Monday through Thursday camp. If that's the case, then statistically speaking, girls are given detention upon being caught more often than the boys, just because the majority of their cases happen in the period where detention is universally more likely. Simple. It's not that simple. You're starting to make me feel bad. Not my intention. Look, it's the same for all these puzzles. You can't buy in to whatever the student's trying to say. If you look at just the facts written and not the story they're trying to tell, you're a lot less likely to make false assumptions. For that last riddle, it was never a contradiction. It just gave three facts. It's up for you to figure what those facts could actually mean. Man, you're really smart, Dog! We're so lucky you decided to join us. Just drop it already. What? If the 'friendly-face' act is this exhausting for me, then it's gotta be a pain for you. So just don't. What are you talking about? I know about Bunny from his boss. Chief of Police Bowen. What? But-[BGM: Silence]  Dog's ex-police, and he's drinking buddies with his old pal Bowen. Huh? Ex-police? What's that about? Just couldn't handle the tough work, seeing all the horrors it brought. So he turned to the bottle. Got to the point where he couldn't keep working on the force. Instead, he opened a place where he could see worse alcoholics than him and feel better about himself. Hey now, for all you know I left because I didn't want to be complicit in the shitshow the force has become. Ha. Do you really expect any of us to buy that when you're still buddy-buddy with Bowen? Guess you're right. Complicit? Long story, not worth the energy. And I don't know what you think you know about me, Dog, but I doubt you have anything to substantiate the fact that I'm faking anything. 'Course I got nothing substantial. But I know your record. And from what I recall from my time on the force, there aren't any cops like you who are authentically this people pleasing. Just my two cents. On account of the fact that no one asked, I'd ask you keep that poo poo to yourself, unless you've got anything of substance to say. … … Uh, sorry, I think I got a little intense there. I think being trapped here is getting to me. Anyway, let's start working on this safe puzzle! Time's a ticking. Yeah. Good call.And just like that, the increasingly tense atmosphere vaporized and we went back to looking for genuine lies. I saw a few more seemingly false statements, figured out they were true, standard stuff. [BGM: Lucky Foot]  But then I came across a statement that struck me as odd. 'I am blind. However, if you give me any pile of coins and tell me how many are heads up, I can make two piles which have the same number of heads up coins.' I remembered Dog's advice, and realized something. What is the statement? 
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Sep 30, 2022 20:11
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Give the guy a single coin, face-up - I'd like to see him split that into two equal number of heads! It's false. nice crack in your good cop persona, bunny
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Sep 30, 2022 20:41
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dervival posted:Give the guy a single coin, face-up - I'd like to see him split that into two equal number of heads! It's false. Could just flip it face down, then you'd have two equal stacks of zero heads. I feel like I've heard this lateral thinking puzzle before. fake edit: maybe it was this that I was thinking of? e: Yeah, that looks like it. It's got to be true.
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Sep 30, 2022 20:52
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It has to be true: Let's say we have a pile of 100 coins N of which are heads up. All you have to do is set aside N coins Now, the amount of heads in the big pile is X, while the amount of heads in the second pile is (N-X), so, for example for N=5 if 2 heads were left in big pile, the the other pile must necessarily have 3. Now, you flip all coins in the set-aside pile, which means you now have N-(N-X) heads there (since you invert the value), which simplifies to X since X=X, then for any given amount of heads up coins that isn't greater than 100 or lower than 0 you can do that and get the result. (for cases where there are 0 heads up coins or 100 heads up coins, you simply divide the pile in half)
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Sep 30, 2022 23:34
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oh right, coins can be flipped
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Oct 1, 2022 00:24
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dervival posted:oh right, coins can be flipped Your specific example is also defeated by the wording of the problem - it requires you to start with a "Pile" of coins and no matter how you want to argue, one coin cannot constitute a pile as "pile" inherently implies multiple objects.
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Oct 1, 2022 01:12
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I'd say true, because each side of the coin will feel different so being blind doesn't matter.
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Oct 1, 2022 01:44
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This is a fun room, and I appreciate the devil's coercive logic example. 'I am blind. However, if you give me any pile of coins and tell me how many are heads up, I can make two piles which have the same number of heads up coins.' The statement should be considered true. The statement is unclear about the exact number of heads up coins that'll be produced in the end. Is it the same number of heads up coins as the other of the two piles, or is it the same number of heads up coins as the original pile, individually, or is it the same number of heads up coins as the original pile, in total? There isn't a restriction that the pile of coins given is what's used to make the two piles, so new coins could be introduced as well. Outside help could be called in, as well. It's very hard for a statement like this to be false. (Though depending on who the "I" is considered to be, they might not really be blind.) NeoRonTheNeuron fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Oct 1, 2022 |
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Oct 1, 2022 06:26
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Regallion posted:it requires you to start with a "Pile" of coins and no matter how you want to argue, one coin cannot constitute a pile as "pile" inherently implies multiple objects. That's actually the assumption that I thought the game was trying to pivot on not being true, but it doesn't really matter given the state of a coin can change. i got fooled by the story
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Oct 1, 2022 13:47
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Foxfire_ posted:One thing that strikes me about this death game is that, until some more wrinkles show up, it's much more solvable than usual. If you had a couple hours and some paper, it seems like you'd probably be able to work out a solution that gets everyone to the finish at the same time, maybe even including a mechanism to collectively punish anyone who betrays so that there's no incentive to backstab. I think the biggest thing about the game is that there is only one guaranteed strategy; Abilities. This is because you cannot guarantee that everyone will find their Minor Trinket in time. But Abilities are very conditional as to whether they allow you to remain in lockstep with other people (with the exception of Mouse and possibly Monkey), meaning that the second an Ability is used by most people, it is very likely that at least one person is going to be left behind in the end. The only way to avoid this is to coordinate Minor Trinkets to compensate for inequalities caused by Abilities at the end point, but again, no guarantee all Minor Trinkets will be found. Sooner or later, someone will pull the trigger on an Ability because someone will panic when their Trinket is not being found soon enough within the 12 round period. Once this occurs, then presumably more Abilities, Confessions, and Major Trinkets will start to be used to catch up with who else used their Abilities and the alliance will fall apart. AncientSpark fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Oct 1, 2022 |
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Oct 1, 2022 18:53
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There's other details. Like, when did the mastermind say the Minor Trinkets are resuable? Because I realized their plan hinges on using them twice, but if they're 1 use only they're hosed. Also, nowhere in the rules does it mention you're not allowed to murder whoever is on the lead
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Oct 1, 2022 19:07
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:There's other details. Like, when did the mastermind say the Minor Trinkets are resuable? Because I realized their plan hinges on using them twice, but if they're 1 use only they're hosed. I believe even with one use everyone would just squeak by in the time limit as long as they used them all at once.
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Oct 3, 2022 16:48
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 Like the previous safe, its not necessary we get this right to progress, but we're still going to be inputting the right answer for any safes we encounter; the break between updates should've given you enough time to solve the answer for yourself, if you so desired. As for the correct answer, it is, in fact, a true statement! [BGM: Lucky Foot]  If you took a pile of coins equal to the number heads up and flipped all of them, you'd always have two piles with an equal amount of heads-up coins. This wasn't a lie. Good thing I didn't falsely claim this was one of the wrong statements. A bit later, Bunny cried out that he had found the two lies. He tried inputting the numbers found above his statements into the safe, and sure enough, it unlocked. What's inside? It appears to be a bell? There's an inscripted number on it. You forgot this piece of paper. 'The Second Caw. Use this item and it will act identical to the last item activated.' A Major Trinket! It's an echoing effect. Basically, it can copy any other item being used. That means this is as good as if we found a Minor Trinket! Yeah! Great work. Not bad.We had spent quite a bit of time trying to solve this puzzle, but in exchange, we found a Major Trinket! If we kept at this rate, we'd be out of here in no time. Anyways, the time's starting to get low. How about we input our actions in separate rooms and return to the cafeteria? I don't not want to do that. You know you can just say sure, right? Where's the fun in that? You have fun answering simple questions in slightly roundabout ways? Marginally so. Neat! Now let's do that thing I just said.And, with a still-tense atmosphere, we left the forum and entered separate classrooms. Without much thought, I pressed the 'RUN' button. No reason to do anything else, right? After that, I swiftly headed back to the cafeteria.  Pretty much everyone else had already gathered when I arrived. Mouse! There you are. Hey, you won't believe this good news: two more Minor Trinkets have been found. In no small part thanks to yours truly, you're welcome. We actually found a Major Trinket, but it will work like a Minor Trinket! Yes, yes, that's all very well and good, now could you all be quiet? They're about to show the race results.  Why does it matter? Isn't it obvious what they'll show? Better to keep a close eye on them regardless.Before that discussion could continue, the speakers cut on. Round 3 has ended. Now, let us see how the race has progressed.[BGM: Silence] The Rat has RUN one space. The Ox has RUN one space. The Tiger has RUN one space. The Bunny has RUN one space. The Dragon has RUN one space. The Snake has RUN one space. The Horse has RUN one space. The Sheep has RUN one space. The Monkey has RUN one space. The Rooster has RUN one space. The Dog has RUN one space. The Pig has RUN one space. [BGM: Mousetrap]  Before Round 4 begins, I have an announcement to make. What? There is an additional rule I have yet to inform you all of. A quirk of the race, if you will, that you all may be interested in. No doubt those of you who checked the information tab will have noticed you each have a 'personality' assigned. From the Rat to the Pig, each of your personalities are unique to you. Most of you probably dismissed that, and for most of you that was the right choice. However, for two of you, this personality is an incredibly important variable. First up, I'll talk about the VICTORIOUS personality. The victorious personality wants to finish the race in first place, just like everyone else. However, this personality type isn't content in a big ol' shared victory. For this personality to be satisfied, no more than three animals can tie for first. If this condition isn't satisfied, the animal with this personality will be treated as if they have lost. They will be punished accordingly. Wait, but that means- Are you kidding? That's crazy! No... The other personality to take note of is the DEFEATED personality. Unlike the other personalities, this personality doesn't actually wish to win the race. The animal with this personality wants to be in last place when the race finishes. If that happens, all animals except those possessing the DEFEATED personality and those possessing the VICTORIOUS personality will be executed. However, this caveat is not applicable if first place is a tie between 9 or more animals. What a farce. Does this guy think he's loving with us? I apologize for not making these rules clear from the start. I fear you might think this would've been good information to have from the start. And you know? You are absolutely right. Therefore, to make up for keeping this from you until now this round will be extended by 15 minutes. Use that time to regroup. And as always, choose wisely. Heh heh heh.[BGM: Stampede of Truth]  This couldn't be happening, right? There was no way! That BASTARD! There was no way that that was unintentional! He let us foster a false sense of peace. And then, when we were sure about our safety, he introduced this bullshit rule which forced our hands! Now, no matter what, at least 2 people would have to die. This couldn't be right! I thought... I thought he said that if we did everything right, everyone could escape! It was our fault for believing that psycho for one minute. Is he serious? Probably. Then people are going to have to die, aren't they? Everybody, everybody, calm down! We can't descend into madness just like this! First off, the people with the victorious and defeated personality types should just admit it now. It'd be best for everyone. You moron! You seriously think they'd out themselves like that? They're not that stupid. It's not stupid, it's noble. Think about it- either 11 people could die, or 2 could. Which sounds better to you? If you confess now, we'll make sure you are honored after your death. That's seriously your offer? Doesn't sound worth it to me. Criticizing the offer? What, are you one of them? Nah, no way. Trust me, if I had one of those personalities I'd admit it. Why would I hide something like that? Because you want to survive. Yeah see, I'm not hearing a good reason. EVERYONE, QUIET! [BGM: Silence]  If your personality is victorious or defeated, please speak up right now. Obviously, no one is going to blame you. We just want to come to an agreement. However, if you don't speak up now, we'll have no choice but to treat you as an enemy. So please, think carefully about how you want to proceed.With those words, a plague of silence came over the room. No one even dared cough. It was as if you could breathe in the tension. I was hoping that maybe things could be resolved easily. However, it didn't seem as if we would be so lucky. [BGM: A Bite That Persists]  Eventually, Monkey chimed in. Everyone... actually remembers their personalities, right? It wouldn't be too odd for someone to forget such a seemingly useless detail. It's possible that the defeated and victorious personalities don't even know it themselves. Actually... I'm not super sure about what mine is. I mean, I think I remember correctly, but I'm not certain certain, you know? Maybe I should go and check. Like hell you don't remember! It didn't happen that long ago. But Dragon, what's the harm with letting people go check? Better safe than sorry, right? I think letting anyone retreat at this stage would be unwise. The flaws are twofold. First, it allows time for those with secrets to hide to compose themselves. At the moment, they're likely still flustered, and more likely to slip up. Additionally, letting them walk away and think by themselves will give them time for justification. The subconscious mind is awfully effective at convincing the conscious mind of what it wants using sweet-sounding arguments. There's a saying that the best way to make a man murder someone is to give them a good reason and then give them time with nothing to do but think by themselves. That sounds like a bit of a reach, Snake.[BGM: Ox's Logic]  No, Snake's right. No one needs to check their tablet because no one needs to know their personality. It doesn't matter if you've been affected by this motive or not, your actions needn't change. I'm sorry if this sounds callous or dismissive, but the simple fact of the matter is that we must prioritize saving the most lives possible. If we must let Brian murder two of us to secure the safety of the rest of us, then that's a trade we must make. This isn't self-preservation speaking. I swear I'd make that promise whether I was affected by that announcement or not. So then, what's the plan, chief? The plan hasn't changed at all. We're going to find all the Minor Trinkets, and then we'll all reach the finish line at the same time.  Hold on, isn't it a super duper bad idea not to change anything now that we know about the personality types? Now there's a really good reason for someone to betray us! And how exactly do you propose they'd go about doing something like that? We've heard everyone's abilities, and there's no quicker way of moving than all of us using the Minor Trinkets. If the victorious type tries to get ahead of the others before we begin using them, we'll immediately know their intentions. From there, the group can work against a common enemy and stop them. Once we get all of the Minor Trinkets, we can make it to the finish line in a matter of two rounds. Even if the defeated type doesn't activate their trinket, more than 9 will receive a joint victory, so their immunity will be forfeit. I suspect that is why the '9-person caveat' was added in the first place. Brian must have deemed it too easy for the defeated type to win had that rule not been in place. So ultimately, if we just proceed with this strategy, the ten of us with normal personalities will be fine. Great! So there's really no need to fear at all! Thank god. You all are being awfully naïve. What? Do you seriously think that those burdened with this rule would simply roll over and die? If they were willing to do that, they would've spoken up when we asked them to. Those with the will to survive will find some way to do so. To think they wouldn't is to underestimate the desire to live.Horse's words hung heavy. Of course he was right. If they hadn't outed themselves already, then the people facing harsher rules wouldn't be content with things operating smoothly. The air would now be plagued with a brutal sense of distrust. How could we, when traitors lurked in our midst? But we had no choice other than proceeding with the plan, even if we knew something was likely to go wrong. So, what, are we just going to look for Trinkets like nothing's wrong? I suppose.[BGM: Eyes of the Dragon]  Oh, so you're just cool with us wandering around by ourselves in a creepy school when there are people who want us dead. I see. That's cool. Good leadership there. Do you have a problem with me? The girl's scared, and who can blame her? You're the lovely commander not thinking about the safety of your grunts. Okay, well, do you have a suggestion? We'll move around in groups of three. Tiger, Horse, Bunny, and myself will each be in one group, so all of them have someone who looks halfway decent at fighting. Sound good so far? Why did you not include me on the list of fighters? I'd give my opponent the people's elbow! Get 'em screaming for their mommies, but their mommies won't be there, because I'd have hosed them already so hard that the mommies wouldn't be able to walk! While I would kill to test that theory by beating the poo poo out of you, we don't got that kinda time so I'm just gonna move on by. Any real objections? No? Great. In that case, each of us should choose someone they're most suspicious of to keep an eye on. As for me, I choose Ox. Seriously? We just brought up how the traitors would try poo poo, and then you proposed we let everyone walk off on their own. That's a traitor move if I've ever seen one. I will look over Sheep. You suspect me? Not what I said. Uh, gee, I don't think I suspect any of you! I guess if I had to pick, I'll keep an eye on Dog. What, you think I'm lying to you all right now? You might be. I guess you're right. I want to keep an eye on Snake! That guy creeps me out. I don't trust his shifty eyes. How rude. Alright Dragon, you've split us up into four pairs, what now? For the four people not in a group yet, uh... just pick someone. I don't really give a poo poo. What an elegant solution. Who gives a poo poo about 'elegance' at a time like this? I got along swimmingly with Tiger earlier, and Snake seems like a nice fellow. Those two shall make fitting partners. Well, great to have you on board! It would be wisest to pick the group without a traitor in it, yes? With that in mind, I believe the safest choice would be with Horse and Sheep. Aw, thank you. Do not worry, it is not a compliment.I realized that if I kept on doing nothing I'd be left in a group without a say. There were only two left, so I had to pick now! Who to go with?
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Oct 3, 2022 19:04
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So that's how they planned to sow discord, effectively making 2 persons lose if everyone else wins. Yeah, can't see a way for everyone to get out alive without stopping the game now.
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Oct 3, 2022 19:16
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I'm kind of surprised no one has pointed out that the assumed Brian is jerking them around, actively lying to them about everyone surviving, hiding the rules, and in general being completely incapable of being trusted to let the winners live. The best case solution is now clearly to ignore the game and focus on neutralizing brian/his ability to kill them
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Oct 3, 2022 19:34
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I checked his initial announcement and at no point whatsoever does he say that everyone can remain alive by finishing the race. What he says is "No, I guarantee that if all of you behave appropriately, every single one of you can leave here alive." What does "Appropriately" mean? Haha, who the gently caress knows. He also mentions that " A race fitting for the beasts you are." so i'm guessing that the correct solution is either everyone correctly confessing or somehow overcoming the trial without actually doing the racing.
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Oct 3, 2022 21:15
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Coming off of the puzzle that tells you to pay attention to the specific statements and not be fooled by assumptions, I can't help but note that the Jade Emperor did not, in fact, state that anyone had these two personality types--just that the personalities were "important" to two of them.
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Oct 3, 2022 21:35
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Mix. posted:
Well, that's certainly an odd thing to say. The Victorious and Defeated personalities are certainly an interesting twist. From the myth alone, Rat/Mouse would have seemed most likely to have the Victorious personality (since in some versions of the myth Rat sabotaged Cat, resulting in Cat not getting a place in the Zodiac, and furthermore Rat ended up coming in first by hitching a ride on Ox--possibly with Ox's cooperation, possibly not, depending on which version you read), but we already know that in-game Mouse's personality is "Clever." (Unless there's something extra-screwy going on, of course.) It's interesting that the Victorious person can have up to two other victors alongside them--possibly whoever the Victorious person is has reasons to want to keep two other specific people alive. (Or to want all but two other people dead.) Mechanics-wise, Rooster seems to have the ideal animal ability for a Defeated personality (since it moves another player forward), but the skill would also be great for interfering with the Defeated player (since it could move the Defeated player forward, potentially getting them out of last place). Tiger's ability would work well for a Defeated personality, too (since the closest river might be behind her), as would Sheep's (since it lets her go a turn without moving). Though of course there's no reason the game organizer(s) couldn't give someone an animal ability that straight-up sucked for their personality type. (In which case that person failing to use their ability when it otherwise seemed like a good idea might be/appear to be evidence.) To continue the wild guesswork... since the Emperor did say that appropriate behavior would allow everyone to get out alive, maybe it's possible for a player to somehow change their personality through their actions within the game (e.g., through making moves contrary to their assigned personality or making the right confession).
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Oct 3, 2022 23:53
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We also don't know Snake's ability or the other 11 major trinkets. One could grant immunity to losing for a turn for example.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:40
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Other than manifesting a 2 or 3 round victory through minor trinket discovery and usage, I'm not sure what proper actions people could've taken to guarantee survival. Now that the rules have been updated (or were Victorious/Defeated always going to be treated this way?), there will probably be future rules changes. Ox is right that the callous solution to ensure 10 survivors will work well enough, and Dragon's 3-person teams should generally enforce cooperation. With 4 minor trinkets and 1 major trinket (that can act like a minor), the group is doing alright. They technically only need to find 10 before they execute their minor trinket plan since Mouse and Pig's abilities let them keep pace.
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Oct 4, 2022 04:33
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 We're at one of the final choices that determine what route we're put on. For the route that was voted on, the team we're going to be going with is...[BGM: Dog Days]  I'll go with Bunny and Dog. Hey, great to work with you some more! Whoopee. I guess that leaves me with Ox and Dragon? Oh no. I should've picked something sooner. Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean? To speed things up since time is now of the essence, I say we should only reconvene at the cafeteria once every two rounds. Sound good? Sure thing, no one gave a poo poo about that in the first place. I don't- Ox, drop it. It's not worth arguing. Fine. So is this fine with everybody? This situation works, right?All good?  This is the final choice that dictates what route we end up on- whether we're content w/ the setup or if we have any concerns. In this particular case, though... Yeah, let's get to searching! We can totally do this. Now that's the spirit! Let's kick Brian's rear end for thinking we can be hosed with! Yeah, yeah, whatever, just get to searching. We don't have time for this poo poo.And just like that, our four groups of three split up. So, where do we want to look? Any ideas? No preference here. None here either. Well, it worked out when we checked the third floor last time, so why don't we try that again? I'm down to look around the third floor. Same here. Alright, I guess we're decided then.We were decided then. The three of us walked up to the third floor. Then we walked around the area for a while to try and find a place that looked like it might house any items. We came across what appeared to be a commons for students to relax. This was the type of place Brian liked to hide items. And sure enough, it didn't take too long until Bunny chimed in.  Hey, I found something!He was standing next to a vending machine. Dog and I ran over to him. What is it? There, look down in the drop-down area of this vending machine. The hell is all that about? Cards, dice, darts... is that a whip? Seems like a fun time. There's definitely an item down there as well. So let's reach in and grab everything! Something tells me that if it was that easy, this guy would've already done it. Dog's right. Unfortunately, the drop-down area is blocked off.As an example, he tried to push his hand through the flap, only for the flap to remain firmly in place. What? What's going on? Look down there, there's a blocker. Again, Bunny pointed into the vending machine. I noticed an extended metal rod pressed against the back of the machine and the flap. So that's keeping it open. Yeah. What a pain, am I right? So what do we do? I don't know. Maybe we could try shaking the machine? I think we'd need someone like Horse or Tiger for that. Wouldn't we be able to dislodge the blocker if we hit it from above? I mean, if we could hit the blocker, we'd have done it already. I can see a way. Huh? Oh, I get it. We need to order something from the vending machine above the blocker. Bingo. Those cookies are right above it. If we order one, I bet it'll dislodge the blocker. Good thinking, Dog! So, does anyone have $1.50?Bunny fished around in his pockets. Sorry, I've got nothing. I make it a practice to not keep cash on me. Attracts the wrong types. I've got nothing. So are we just sunk? Brian wouldn't set this up only for us to be unable to beat it. If we don't have change, then there has to be cash around here. Let's search these commons! Look under the couch cushions, under sheets of paper, everywhere! I bet if we work hard and believe in ourselves, we can find $1.50! Yeah! Wooh. Energized, we started looking around for any dollar bills or quarters. It didn't take long for us to find our first lead. I found a quarter under this couch! Oh! I found one under this pencil sharpener. Keep looking!Before long, we had gathered 6 quarters. Great work team! Now we can stick it to that stupid blocker. You think this is actually going to work? It was your idea. It'll work.I put in the money and ordered a cookie. The cookie fell down...  And knocked the blocker away! Score!All three of us went down and fished around the drop-down area. Bunny picked up some of the game items. Dog got his hands on the cookie. And I pulled out the whip and a tag attached to it. Woah, what are you doing with that Mouse? Examining it.The whip was out of place. If I had to guess, this was the item. [BGM: Silence]  Sure enough, on one side of the tag the number '3195' was printed. This was an item. I turned it over and began to read the rules aloud. "Taming Whip - Use this whip at any time on another untamed player. By doing so, you are challenging them in order to tame them. Once a challenger has begun, a round's timer is stopped. A list of games will appear on the challenged player's tablet. They have the right to choose any game on the list for the challenge. The players will then play the game, with the Jade Emperor observing the play. Any player caught cheating will instantly be executed. Any participant that in any way interferes with the game will be instantly executed. If the challenger wins the game, they will have successfully tamed their target. In this case, the tamed player's tablet will no longer be active, and a new option will be added to the tamer's tablet which allows them to access the functionality of the tamed player's tablet. With this, the tamer can now control the tamed player's actions. And if the tamer dies, any people they've tamed will die too. On the other hand, if the challenged player wins, the tamer fails to properly tame their target, and ends up dead. In other words, a failed taming attempt will result in execution for the tamer." Wow. That seems really powerful. It seems like it be really useful, doesn't it? If we use it properly as a group, we could- Dog interrupted Bunny by yanking the whip out of my hands. Hey!Dog looked over the whip's tag, then entered a nearby empty room. What are you doing?!In response to my question, an announcement played on my tablet. Attention! Dog is currently attempting to tame Horse. During this challenge, the Round's timer has been paused. Know that any participant that in any way interferes with the challenge will be instantly executed.As the announcement ended, Dog exited the room. Dog? What are you doing?[BGM: Final Squeal]  What does it look like I'm doing? It looks like you're making big moves against the group without approval. Yeah, well, that doesn't sound wrong I guess. But I'd say that I'm getting this game under control.I had a bad feeling about this. Something told me that by finding that whip, I had opened Pandora's Box. So what's going to happen now? Well, we're going to have to wait for people to get here. Whatever game Horse wants won't start until he gets here. And how long's that going to take? Shouldn't be too long. I think everyone saw us heading up to the third floor. And anyways, it's not that big a school. Let's just wait for them.Dog was right that it didn't take long for people to come. However, Horse wasn't the first to arrive.  What the gently caress is going on here? Dog, what was that announcement about? It certainly didn't sound like anything good. Wh-what was wrong with just looking for Minor Trinkets? That sounded like a good plan, it was fun, practical, didn't involve weird tablet announcements. What a welcoming reception. I'd fill you in, but it's a pain to repeat myself three times. Just wait for the others to get here, then I'll talk. You'll talk now. Doubt it. Although by saying that, I guess I proved you right. Quit playing games! But that's exactly what I'm going to do when Horse gets here. It's like you're asking to get beat up. I wouldn't recommend that. Or did you not hear the announcement? The gently caress? Dog is referring to the clause about 'not interfering with the game'. It's possible that physically assaulting Dog could impact his ability on the game, and thus you'd be breaking that rule. Tch. You think just because I'll be executed I won't kick the poo poo out of you? Not really, but I hope so.Dragon just stared Dog down. Before that could continue, however, Horse, Monkey, and Sheep walked in. Predictably, Horse looked very much not happy. Dog. Horse. The hell is this about? Just trying out a new toy I found. Here, read up.Instead of trying to explain it all, he just handed the whip over to the group. The new people gathered around and read the rules.  W-Wait, Dog, if you lose, you'll die? Yup. Then why would you do something like this? I want to tame Horse. Heh. And why is that? Why not? Figure it might be useful to control your tablet, check your personality, the like. And it gives us extra time to look around, so what's the harm? I'm supposed to just trust that by putting my life in your hands you'll use it for good? Nope. That's why you can choose a game you're good at if you like. Hmph.[BGM: Ox's Logic]  Horse, are you actually going to try and win this game? Dog will die if you do! He knew that when he challenged me. True. It's on him if he dies. Yup. Not really a big deal one way or the other. How is it not a huge deal?! Pig, Pig. You gotta learn how to go with the flow. Ever considered Buddhist meditation? It really helps. Oh no you don't, don't try to sell me on some hippie poo poo. I've already written three separate articles talking about how much psuedo-philosophy and hypocrisy surrounds that scene. Such anger. Ever considered Buddhist meditation? It really helps. You know Dog, such extreme apathy is not a healthy mindset. I've been doing fine up until now. I doubt that. But I also doubt you really are that apathetic. Oh? Maybe you generally are. I don't know. But in my experience, apathetic people don't do things like this that they don't need to, even on a whim. Sounds like you've had some real boring apathetic clients. Anyways, enough beating around the bush. Horse, what're we playing? A list of games appeared on my tablet when the announcement played. I already looked over it. They were mostly childish. But of the options... I guess I'll play Cribbage.
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Oct 4, 2022 19:21
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Cribbage: the most thrilling of card games, perfectly suited for the pulse-pounding environment of a death game! (Okay, so I've never actually played cribbage. I just know it has cards and a board with little pegs. But I certainly wasn't expecting it to be one of the options for the taming game.) Horse's ability lets him run three squares forward, which seems like it could synergize fairly well with Dog's ability to leap over the nearest animal ahead of him--as long as nobody else gets between Dog and Horse, Dog can use Horse to leapfrog forward. Of course, Dragon could prevent Dog from moving... but that would both interfere with her own ability to keep moving forward and endanger Horse. It would make a sort of ironic sense if Dog, with his seemingly-apathetic attitude, were the animal with the Victorious personality. Though it might also be that Dog wants to use Horse as a hostage, of sorts (since if he tames Horse, Horse will die if Dog does), or use the ability to control Horse in order to threaten the others into cooperating with his plans--as in, "Follow this plan, or I'll have Horse start dashing towards the finish line." It sure didn't take long for things to go off the rails after the Victorious/Defeated revelation, huh?
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Oct 4, 2022 19:52
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You know, I'm kind of surprised Dog didn't try to take over Pig, as Loser's Desperation would help Dog reach the finish line really quickly if that was his -true- objective (if he has the Victorious personality, anyway). I guess we'll just have to wait and see why Dog REALLY chose Horse because it just seems a little strange. EDIT: I am not 100% sure on Dog's ability, so take this with a grain of salt. Sketchie fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Oct 5, 2022 |
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Oct 5, 2022 01:31
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Given that dog has given repeated indications of being a depressed alcoholic with a cavalier attitude towards dying, I honestly wouldn't put it past a suicide attempt either.
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Oct 5, 2022 01:49
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You know, I never quite noticed that Dog had stubble before, the zoomed-in portraits Mix is using highlighted that for me. It fits, I just never noticed. I've actually played Cribbage a fair bit with my dad and sister. I'm definitely not as good as them, they play way more often against each other than they have me, but I have managed to beat them a few times.
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Oct 5, 2022 01:58
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