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SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]
Paddy™ Offline
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#1
SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

I have no idea if this is some elaborate troll or not, but on reddit there's a thread which purports to show a website which is in some way tied into the game. Here's the thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/soma/comments/3...aboethnet/

For those who can't be bothered reading it, here's a summary of the discussion so far:
  • An in-game document shows an email sent from MJosic@skilaboeth.net.
  • When you visit skilaboeth.net, all you'll find is an email input field, like a sign-up for something, with "Want more?" printed above it. The title of the website (in your browser tab, for instance) says "SOMA skilaboeth".
  • The website's whois data shows that it was created/updated on the same day the game was released.
  • A user on reddit emailed MJosic@skilaboeth.net and received a reply, asking if the user was "Chris", the person to whom the in-game email was addressed. Another user did the same, and received a slightly different reply. I tried it myself, but haven't received a reply yet, so it doesn't appear to be an auto-responder.
  • On the skilaboeth website, if you type some random string at the end of the URL (like this) rather than getting a 404 Not Found error, you get a webpage with just "Chris?" in the middle of it.
  • The source code of the webpage contains the word "soma" in a few places.
  • There's a background image on the website containing numerous symbols, which are kinda hard to read in black. A user created a cleaned-up copy with a white background here. The picture apparently contains binary, so the current focus is on finding out what it means. reddit's "best guess" as to what the binary code actually is can be seen below:
    Spoiler below!
    Binary

    10101000 10010101 11011001 01011010 10101011 00001011 01101010 11101010 10010101 00101010 10001010 10101010 00010101 01101010 10001001 01101010 01001010 10101010 11101010 10100100 10010111 01010101 01010001 01010101 01111010 10100001 01011000 10010101 01010100 10001001 00101101 01001010 00101010 11010001 00101010 11101010 10111010 10101010 00010010 10101011 11010101 01000101 01010100 00101010 11101101 01010101 01111101 01000000 11001011 10101010 10111000 11010100 00111010 00101000 01001100 01010101 01010101 00010101 01111010 10100010 10000100 01000100 11110101 01101001 01111000 10111100 01010001 01110101 01001001 10100101 01000010 01001010 10101011 10101011 11010101 01000100

    Translation

    ¨•ÙZ« jê•*Šªj‰jJªê¤—UQUz¡X•T‰J*Ñ*꺪«ÕET*íU}@˪¸Ô:(LUUz¢„Dõix¼QuI¥BJ««ÕD

I'm 50/50 on whether or not this is the work of an opportunistic troll, or if it's something the devs really set up for us to find. If it's real, I'm not quite sure what the ultimate purpose is. Perhaps the binary code is related to the cryptic messages from the director of Depth the other day?

(This post was last modified: 09-27-2015, 01:06 AM by Paddy™.)
09-27-2015, 12:53 AM
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Kingdom Offline
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#2
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

Have you tried running the code through the same substitution cipher as "she made a paradise"?
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2015, 02:03 AM by Kingdom.)
09-27-2015, 01:56 AM
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Paddy™ Offline
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#3
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

(09-27-2015, 01:56 AM)Kingdom Wrote: Have you tried running the code through the same substitution cipher as "she made a paradise"?

A substitution cipher wouldn't help much here, because of the special characters. If it's going to work we need to clean it up first, and I've already tried removing everything except the standard letters, then I left in the accented letters, then I left in the things which look like letters (such as the superscript a and the cent symbol) none of which helped. It's possible that whoever figured out the binary code on reddit made a mistake or two (and it's also possible that the whole thing is a crock of shit, which puts me off putting too much effort into it).

If only someone from FG or Imagos could assure me that I'm not wasting my time... Angel

09-27-2015, 02:56 AM
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Kein Offline
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#4
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

HEX seems to be 544AECAD5585B575

"Avoid Capture"
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09-27-2015, 04:12 AM
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hollowleviathan Offline
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#5
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

This is either:
1. Troll
2. Fan-site by someone who played prior to released
3. Officially owned

While both 2 and 3 are fine, 1 would be a bad situation since it's harvesting self-selecting valid emails for what could be nefarious purposes. Just be aware that there is some risk with giving it your email.
09-27-2015, 04:16 AM
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Noisecode Offline
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#6
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

Quote:If only someone from FG or Imagos could assure me that I'm not wasting my time... Angel

I doubt they would be so forthcoming with their assurances, as Skinnytie has taunted us with riddles and code thus far rather than outright reveal anything. But it would be nice if they did reassure us.
How did you happen up on this reddit site Paddy? Did someone send you its location or did you find it on your own?

I just read through the whole Reddit. Creepy. Very creepy.

I'm going to do a little detective work here.....maybe try my email posing as Chris and see if that does anything...
If this is a Trolling attempt, it is awfully elaborate. I think it may be such.....but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.

I'm troubled by the fact that the Reddit poster who posted this information doesn't remember how he found it. , or rather claims he doesnt remember. Seems an odd thing, yes ? How do you forget something creepy and odd like that. I could be wrong, but, surely his lack of recollection on how he found something so odd as this site is suspect.

[Image: signature015.jpg]
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2015, 06:27 AM by Noisecode.)
09-27-2015, 05:58 AM
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Kein Offline
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#7
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

The fact that domain was registered at the same day when SOMA was released kinda gives it away.

However, just because it is a set up by some very obsessed fan does not mean it couldn't be good. Who knows what he will come up with.

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09-27-2015, 06:52 AM
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kojack Offline
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#8
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

(09-27-2015, 05:58 AM)Noisecode Wrote: I'm troubled by the fact that the Reddit poster who posted this information doesn't remember how he found it. , or rather claims he doesnt remember. Seems an odd thing, yes ? How do you forget something creepy and odd like that. I could be wrong, but, surely his lack of recollection on how he found something so odd as this site is suspect.

He says on the reddit where he found it (printed email in a locker).
If you don't want to replay that bit of the game, the texture is at entities\station\special\02_01_comet_article\02_01_cometarticle.dds
It clearly has skilaboeth.net at the top.


Number one rule of game dev, never use a website url that you don't own. Anybody could jump in first and make an offensive or shock site to troll your players.
(Ok, maybe not number one, but pretty high on the list)
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2015, 07:18 AM by kojack.)
09-27-2015, 07:17 AM
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Noisecode Offline
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#9
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

(09-27-2015, 07:17 AM)kojack Wrote:
(09-27-2015, 05:58 AM)Noisecode Wrote: I'm troubled by the fact that the Reddit poster who posted this information doesn't remember how he found it. , or rather claims he doesnt remember. Seems an odd thing, yes ? How do you forget something creepy and odd like that. I could be wrong, but, surely his lack of recollection on how he found something so odd as this site is suspect.

He says on the reddit where he found it (printed email in a locker).
If you don't want to replay that bit of the game, the texture is at entities\station\special\02_01_comet_article\02_01_cometarticle.dds
It clearly has skilaboeth.net at the top.


Number one rule of game dev, never use a website url that you don't own. Anybody could jump in first and make an offensive or shock site to troll your players.
(Ok, maybe not number one, but pretty high on the list)


Ahhhhhhhhhh I misunderstood that bit when I read the Reddit. I'm at work and trying to do this stealthily and had to read it fast....I thought the author of the Reddit post said he didn't remember where he found the mysterious website.

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09-27-2015, 07:26 AM
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kojack Offline
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#10
RE: SOMA Skilaboeth [Minor Spoilers]

(09-27-2015, 07:26 AM)Noisecode Wrote:
(09-27-2015, 07:17 AM)kojack Wrote:
(09-27-2015, 05:58 AM)Noisecode Wrote: I'm troubled by the fact that the Reddit poster who posted this information doesn't remember how he found it. , or rather claims he doesnt remember. Seems an odd thing, yes ? How do you forget something creepy and odd like that. I could be wrong, but, surely his lack of recollection on how he found something so odd as this site is suspect.

He says on the reddit where he found it (printed email in a locker).
If you don't want to replay that bit of the game, the texture is at entities\station\special\02_01_comet_article\02_01_cometarticle.dds
It clearly has skilaboeth.net at the top.


Number one rule of game dev, never use a website url that you don't own. Anybody could jump in first and make an offensive or shock site to troll your players.
(Ok, maybe not number one, but pretty high on the list)


Ahhhhhhhhhh I misunderstood that bit when I read the Reddit. I'm at work and trying to do this stealthily and had to read it fast....I thought the author of the Reddit post said he didn't remember where he found the mysterious website.

That's right, he didn't remember, but edited the post to say where it was when he found it again.
09-27-2015, 07:45 AM
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