"Destructible" Messages

[Shizzle]

Sometimes you're in a situation, for instance when blackmailing or when using politics of the more shady kind, that it's unsettling to know another can hold evidence for your words. I could for instance threaten someone 'privately', only for that person to copy my message and forward it to anyone who'd like to know.

Now in the real world, if I didn't want a message to be recorded, I'd send in a messenger, delivering an oral message instead.

Would it be possible to simulate something similar in Battlemaster? I believe it would deepen interaction and intrigue, for evident reasons. I haven't thought too far about this though, so perhaps I'm missing some less beneficial side-effects.

Ways to simulate this would be a message that can only be read once (and is not delivered in html, so it can't be copied - if that is even possible?) or to add an extra option to the list of Request-Letter-Roleplay-Orders. This 'stamp' would effectively mean that even though copying the message is technically possible, it would be frowned upon or even treated as cheating. It would also allow roleplays where the recipient /does/ somehow record the message (a roleplayed witness?), but with the explicit permission of the sender.

Thoughts? :)

PS: I know there's a feature freeze. I don't mind if this goes into the freezer (granted that it would ever actually get there :P )

[Tom]

This is pretty much impossible to do.

However, since faking messages is trivial in BM, I wonder why people don't think of forgery more often. Really, I can forward you any letter from anyone simply by making it up.

[De-Legro]

Sometimes you're in a situation, for instance when blackmailing or when using politics of the more shady kind, that it's unsettling to know another can hold evidence for your words. I could for instance threaten someone 'privately', only for that person to copy my message and forward it to anyone who'd like to know.

Now in the real world, if I didn't want a message to be recorded, I'd send in a messenger, delivering an oral message instead.

Would it be possible to simulate something similar in Battlemaster? I believe it would deepen interaction and intrigue, for evident reasons. I haven't thought too far about this though, so perhaps I'm missing some less beneficial side-effects.

Ways to simulate this would be a message that can only be read once (and is not delivered in html, so it can't be copied - if that is even possible?) or to add an extra option to the list of Request-Letter-Roleplay-Orders. This 'stamp' would effectively mean that even though copying the message is technically possible, it would be frowned upon or even treated as cheating. It would also allow roleplays where the recipient /does/ somehow record the message (a roleplayed witness?), but with the explicit permission of the sender.

Thoughts? :)

PS: I know there's a feature freeze. I don't mind if this goes into the freezer (granted that it would ever actually get there :P )

If it is displayed in a browser, then it can be copied. There are some javascript tricks to try prevent cut and past etc, and there are plenty of extensions, greasemonkey scripts and the like that get around them.

[Sacha]

I'm not a big fan of forgeries in BM... it just has this dirty OOC undertone stuck to it.

[Anaris]

This is pretty much impossible to do.

I can think of a way to do it:

Take the message typed, run it through text-to-speech, save the resulting audio file, and play it back in an obfuscated manner (Flash, maybe?) that makes it difficult to simply download the file.

Yes, it's horribly resource-intensive, it requires us to sell our souls, and it still leaves the possibility of recording outgoing audio (either with something like Audio Hijack or just by sending the audio out to something's audio in), but it's more or less what he wants! ;D

[De-Legro]

I can think of a way to do it:

Take the message typed, run it through text-to-speech, save the resulting audio file, and play it back in an obfuscated manner (Flash, maybe?) that makes it difficult to simply download the file.

Yes, it's horribly resource-intensive, it requires us to sell our souls, and it still leaves the possibility of recording outgoing audio (either with something like Audio Hijack or just by sending the audio out to something's audio in), but it's more or less what he wants! ;D

or any decent flash download script to download the entire flash file used to deliver the message.

[Indirik]

Or FireFox with the AdBlock+ script ...

[egamma]

Hmm, text-to-speech for BM, with an English accent--we've found what will bring all the new players, guys!

[Tom]

I can think of a way to do it:

Take the message typed, run it through text-to-speech, save the resulting audio file, and play it back in an obfuscated manner (Flash, maybe?) that makes it difficult to simply download the file.

Yes, it's horribly resource-intensive, it requires us to sell our souls, and it still leaves the possibility of recording outgoing audio (either with something like Audio Hijack or just by sending the audio out to something's audio in), but it's more or less what he wants! ;D

If it comes through my browser, I can make a copy of it. It really is that simple. There is nothing you can do about it. Forget any elaborate ideas. Really, I am serious, just forget them. You can write 2 million lines of code, you can write your own browser plugin, heck you can write your own browser for all I care - it will take me a fraction of the time and a tiny fraction of the code to make a copy, and once I've done it, I can share it with everyone else.

[Tom]

Actually, let me elaborate:

If it comes through my browser, through my speakers or even just through my DSL line, I can make a copy of it. Even if you build your own hardware and force me to play BM only on the dedicated BM tablet with full encryption and everything.

See CSS (the DVD "encryption" system, not Cascading Style Sheets), HDMI, etc.

You can put millions into it. If you make one mistake (and you will), and there is one guy who finds it, you are toast.

[Shizzle]

Hm. I've been thinking of a few things, but I always get back to the same issue :)

I suppose I could just roleplay an oral message, and deny any reference to it from being real :P

And while I like the idea of forging messages, I must also agree it leans against OOC cheating for me.

[Indirik]

The problem with forging messages is that the target of the forgery will claim that it's a forgery, and many (most?) people will believe him. Forgeries only convince people that *want* to be convinced. i.e. Those who already want to do something, and just need a public excuse. And once you forge something that is declaimed as a forgery, you get a reputation as someone who forges letters, and thus as a liar.

[Telrunya]

Because I haven't really seen people claim forgery when the letter is actually real. That is a problem that can easily be fixed ;) If we have people starting to claim that real letters are forgeries, then claiming forgeries are real letters becomes easier too.

[Shizzle]

Because I haven't really seen people claim forgery when the letter is actually real. That is a problem that can easily be fixed ;) If we have people starting to claim that real letters are forgeries, then claiming forgeries are real letters becomes easier too.

Good point :)
However, claiming real letters to be forged might prove just ask risky for one's own reputation as claiming forged letters to be real.

Then again, it should be pretty easy to gain (or buy) the support of someone supporting your claim?

[egamma]

Good point :)
However, claiming real letters to be forged might prove just ask risky for one's own reputation as claiming forged letters to be real.

Then again, it should be pretty easy to gain (or buy) the support of someone supporting your claim?

I see forgeries as being very IC, and think that if forging was done frequently, it would be fun.