Free Token

[Red Blaster]

Re: Free Token

for those of you who don't want to go find the final thread, here's the last part of the puzzle. should be able to figure it out from here

that was my first TWG

[llyair]

Re: Free Token

Ilyair how did you do that omg

Haha not entirely sure... I couldn't figure out some parts, but it was enough to find the right pages for clues 6/7/8 haha

(Also btw this was my work - it's a text wall, omg sorry ><)

My approach was just to start from clue 1 and go in order.

1) Looked like a binary string, so initially converted from base 2 to 10 and spent time dwelling on 847818. Later realized there were 20 digits (multiple of 4, nice since 2^4=16) and tried hex, getting CEFCA. I never got the 'Release to Lesson' reference.

2) This one was nearly instantaneous for me - I saw that the pattern was 273.15, which is a number associated with absolute zero. Since clue 4 had SM, which I thought might mean StepMania, and also since FFR has an Absolute Zero token, I was distracted with looking up SM/FFR things a bit. I never got the function of C->K haha.

3) No ideas at first, but Googled random things and the search for 'ff cefca' returned a lot of Final Fantasy (according to the FF wiki, the Japanese spell 'Kefka' as 'Cefca'). Luckily there was also an attack called Absolute Zero. I wasn't positive how to interpret the syntax '2(1)', or what 'MC' meant, so I spent a lot of time skimming articles and Googling for more connections between FF, MC, and anything associated with clues 1 and 2. Eventually I tried 'FF6 MC', which put me on the trail of 'Terra': http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/93037...3273710?page=1.

4) The brackets jumped out at me, and my first thought was 'list' or 'array'. But the (3) seemed like it was referencing the answer to clue 3 - Terra. I remembered seeing the user [TeRa] around, and thought I remembered reading a thread about snoverpk where someone also mentioned Tera. Googled 'ffr tera sm rage' and confirmed the 'SMRager' part: http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...d.php?t=110784.

5) Thought this meant a nested profile at first, and all the other clues had answers found external to the FFR site. So tried looking for 'Tera' on the ffr wiki, the Tera game site, etc. Was stuck, came back to FFR, and eventually saw the 'About Me' part of FFR profiles hidden in plain sight. Went to [TeRa]'s profile and then sad's profile.

6) Saw YoshL's comment to sign up for TWG XCVII, posted the morning of 4/1. At this point I figured I was on the right track and didn't go back to iterate on any uncertainties with my answers to clues 1-3. It was also clear, then, that clues were meant to be solved somewhat in order, starting from 1 (as opposed to other approaches, like all clues composing distinct parts of the final answer). I also had a brief thought that familiarity with SM might've allowed someone to skip clues 1-3 altogether, although objectively speaking, skipping clues could be risky. Final Fantasy knokwledge might've been nice, too, but I felt the clues were fair because they were very big aspects of the game and easily searchable on Google.

6) Went to TWG XCVII game thread, then found the separate signup thread: http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...d.php?t=130793.
Almost bumped it, thinking there could be some forum script to activate - oops. But checked the OP and saw that there was a note about TWG CXXII signups.

7) Went to TWG CXXII signups: http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...d.php?t=138724.
Went to OP and found the usernames with missing letters. Tried Ctrl+A and woot ^^

This was a ton of fun, omg I really liked how tricky it was, and how there were multiple possibilities to explore for every clue. Just trying to figure out how to use the multiple clues for a single puzzle was a puzzle in itself ^^ The subtle hints like the [] brackets and using (z) as substitution were really cool. And now that I actually get it, the C to K function and 2(1) syntax idea is really cool too! Puzzles are hard to make imo haha, so thanks for taking the time to make this one!

...Also soooo... that was a lot of fun... but it took nontrivial effort to solve so plsplspls tell me the token wasn't an April Fool's joke <3

[llyair]

Re: Free Token

@Rushy: I'm kind of curious - how did you interpret it and reach numbers/boats?

[woker-X]

Re: Free Token

There is some info about a boat (or boat oil) named SMRager