On the treatment of Copperplate’s Agenda
BadWolf2014
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The treatment of tessera Copperplate’s Agenda is sure to raise many debates, but I’d like to voice my severe objection against one particular action here:
The fact that PAC published the method of how RES found the “wrong” tessera, before changing their mind later to keep the puzzle as original, allowing the ENL to follow suit with this free hint, together with a 5.5 hour window.
Especially that this information comes from RES agents who provided it privately to you upon your request.
Let me be clear first: I understand that PAC’s initial post was motivated by accusations of RES receiving insider information. And in a desire to clear themselves (and possibly the involved agents), they probably didn’t consider carefully how much of what they learnt about RES’s method should be withheld, since they thought there was gonna be a new puzzle anyway.
I also understand that the later changed decision was made in an effort to be more on par with previous decisions under similar circumstances, which, the previous disclosure of RES’s method notwithstanding, would be a fair and appropriate call.
Neither action on their own is to be too harshly judged. What I am enraged about is the fact that combined, it became a case of PAC releasing a hint - more than that, clear directions in plain language - to the faction that is falling behind in the hunt, on a tessera that is already found by the other faction, together with a 5.5 hour extra time in which the leading faction could do nothing at all.
What’s more, that it was PAC that privately requested this information from RES agents, who trusted PAC with a full and honest disclosure.
Yes, you screwed up big time here, PAC.
It was said countless times that the Tethered Hands have eyes and ears everywhere, which in large parts relies on agents from both factions trusting them not to disclose OPSEC information to the other faction, that this information will only be used to aid Niantic’s decision making.
We didn’t know they have a big mouth too.
Let me explain the impact and implications of this.
As I said, the disclosure notwithstanding, the treatment itself created a scenario consistent with previous similar cases. What PAC didn’t realise is that fairness and consistency of this solution is lost the moment they disclosed RES’s method publicly. Sure, it is far from a detailed report, but it’s all about the “puzzle solving mindset”, isn’t it? Let us take a minute and recall what PAC said in this post:
https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11319/on-puzzle-solution-and-tracker-status#latest
“...we have also received concerns on how publicly sharing solution at this time might undermine the decoding process for future puzzles. As the decoding process reflects the decoding mindset. As a Truthseeker, I believe in the sharing of intel. to uncover anything the NIA, or Nemesis has been hiding. But when there's still Faction to Faction competition involved, I can see the importance of preserving OPSEC information ... You are just highly recommended to pause openly sharing until the Event has concluded ...”
What is the use of discouraging agents from posting puzzle solving process when the gamemasters themselves are posting them, albeit concisely, before even the current tessera is found by both factions? If PAC deems puzzle solving process or mindsets to be able to aid puzzle solving efforts of future tessera, it should not be released publicly by the PAC, and sure as hell not before the tessera hunt is over.
I think there is no dispute in whether telling the other faction to go “make lucky guesses and trial-and-error in areas that contains a camera obscura would result in the tessera” is a severely, spoiler-y hint I might say, to the portal hunt.
But giving out a hint is not even the most serious issue. The issue is that RES agents disclosed their methods fully and honestly to PAC, which was later being used against them. This is a violation of the basic and fundamental trust between agents and Niantic representatives, and undermines the trust within a faction that could lead to “reverting each Factions' decoding community back to more exclusive subgroups within subgroups”,
Should we be keeping our guards up when talking to Niantic representatives in the future? Should we be keeping opsec information away from Niantic eyes now, in fear that it might be leaked to the other faction or even made public? We would love for the answers to be “no”, and it very nearly costed us a point. Niantic needs to do better to earn back that trust.
(I’m not even going to mention the amount of time RES lost on the hunt of the first portal due to the prematurely activated passcode, because some might say it’s a mistake on our part, that we should’ve make sure the media filename matches the thread. Well, firstly tessera media filename are rarely the same with its full name due to various reasons, and was never explicitly said to be a rule. Secondly, with the amount of bugs in this Tessellation event, one could legitimately suspect the mistake Niantic made was in the filename, instead of us accidentally found a prematurely activated tessera. How lucky would that make us? But then again, I wouldn’t complain too much on that. My concerns are with disclosing opsec information, a piece that has critical impact in the current game at that. )
In the end, this is not about points or medals, but about PAC and Niantic’s credibility. It is hard work to keep every party involved satisfied, and while I could think of various ways to offset the impact of that hint (i.e. by making a new tessera while giving RES some other compensation), the lack of any gesture or even recognition of its impact from Niantic’s part leaves me but to feel our effort, chalked up as a “lucky guess”, belittled and overlooked. It felt like arrogance. I hope it’s not.
Again, I understand how honest mistakes are made and how hard arbitrating disputes can be. I appreciate anyone taking your time to read this, and possibly be a little more considerate in the future.
Yours sincerely,
a lucky guesser.
Comments
the problem that I cant sleep well all because of the PAC
Paying close attention to this, and I will collect this in my discussion: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/comment/107259#Comment_107259
Q6. How should one interpret your private requests for puzzle solving information? Do you think you are the person be worthy of our trust?
@Truthseeker
Can someone do a unbiased tldr about this?
Agents have factions, people have personal takes, and everyone’s perspective is limited. These all come with biases. A TLDR is summary with inevitable omission of facts. Therefore, anyone claiming to be unbiased should be taken with a grain of salt.
That said, I suggest you look at PAC’s post on this thread:
Which should be pretty clear on what happened.
Resistance
Congrats on winning the Copperplate's Agenda Tessera.
Why, thank you!
[deleted]
@BadWolf2014 and concerned Agents
There are 2 things I would like to express first. One, it was never my intention to diminish you and your teammates’ effort in the Tesserae hunt when addressing the case as a lucky guess. I apologize for making you feel that way. Two, I apologize for not having enough alertness in spotting the outcomes in the 2 announcement changes; and also how that led to your distrust of future communications between either me or any other mediating entities in-between.
I know how intentions don’t really matter when the distress and strategic effects have already taken place, so I am not here to convince you we made the right game-mastering decision. The following is to give a little more context for the community and to remind myself of what needs to be handled with more attention in the future.
The first and foremost task at that moment was to clear any possibility of accusation towards the Agents that redeemed Tessera Copperplate’s Agenda. So, it felt necessary to provide a detailed enough description of the action to help everyone understand what lead to the unexpected discovery. It was about creating the safety net, in case any targeting language between the Factions blows up. Of course, in hindsight, the keyword could’ve been worded otherwise, e.g. An element in the image…etc.
It also did not pose as an issue at that time, because the first decision was to restart the match with a totally different Portal and clue image. The case of Who Killed Ezekiel Calvin? was later brought into the conversation as a reference. After cross examining the scenarios (Thread posted time, edit time with the Clue…etc), it proves they were very similar cases with the difference being WKEC was posted to the corresponding thread. Same as Global Tesserae, screenshot submissions need to be in the designated thread to be valid. This lead to the next change in the announcement of continuing with the original Portal, so the pioneers for this Tessera can still be eligible as Discoverers when the scheduled time comes.
The final gamemastering decision reached a consensus from an internal discussion that included voices from both Factions. I’ve erred on not spotting the risk of breaking OPSEC at the moment. I am truly sorry for causing you to feel that you’ve misplaced your trust. In case it wasn’t clear, I want to emphasize, the mediating parties were only doing their best in clearing what had happened. I should’ve been the person to gate the last outgoing announcement.
This is to still encourage you and any others to communicate with the Vanguards in the future. If in doubt, also convey your doubts to them. This will bring more awareness to me and the NIA of what intel needs to be treated more sensitively. From what I know, there are very limited hands available to steer this game, yet the process is on the contrary, very manual, and not applicable with a single click of a switch. Though still bumpy, it could not have sailed til now without the support of the Vanguards and suggestions from both Factions.
Lastly, the Tethered Hand(now CopperWendADA)’s target clues are often designed based on memory associations. So, any discoveries based on one’s memory could be as valuable as other methods of solving the clue. The wording in the announcement was meant to clear up the confusion asap, but nonetheless, “lucky guess” were not the best choice of words. Apologies for that.
This reaction thread is an important note on OPSEC, trust, and more thorough assessment of outgoing announcements for me and the NIA. We will take more cautions for Events that go beyond The Tessellation. I hope you and your team will still contribute to the last mile of this trek and stay connected with your community. Thank you for your candid feedback.
Thank you, too, for a candid response. It is out of trust too that I posted this thread, believing in Niantic that if mistakes were made, they are out of no ill intent. Knowing that Niantic has recognised the mistakes made, and taken the notice to improve in the future is enough motivation for me to continue place that trust and confidence in your team.
I myself have game mastered similar events, and can definitely relate to the complications in making gamemastering decisions. This, however, only calls for more thoroughness and consideration in decision making. Regardless, I thank you for your response and your work in Tessellation. Let’s work together for a satisfying conclusion of the event in the days to come.