New ARG: I believe I've figured out the first step.
[b]The ARG:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/net/sim
[b]This is my node:[/b] [url]http://i.imgur.com/NfqzKnx.png[/url]
I've verified with another user that people with the same five-symbol node almost certainly have the [i]same[/i] forwarding protocol, key, initialization vector, and big block of ciphertext. However, the ciphertext is different fro people with different nodes. The text at the bottom suggests that we need to link up 8 nodes, in the right sequence, to decrypt the big blocks of ciphertext.
The linking order is defined by the [b]Forwarding Protocol.[/b]
There are two types of forwarding protocol:
The first kind is 12345 -> #####, which suggests a rearrangement of your node.
The second kind is four blanks & the symbol rotation icon. This suggests keeping four symbols in your node the same, and shifting the designated symbol clockwise by one on the rotation icon (e.g. Square becomes Circle, Circle becomes Triangle).
What we, as a community, need to do to begin decrypting the ciphertext is to find someone whose original node matches the node we get when we pass our own node [i]through our forwarding protocol[/i].
For example, my node is Diamond Triangle Square Triangle Triangle (D T S T T, for short). Passing it through my forwarding protocol gives me Diamond Triangle Circle Triangle Triangle (D T C T T). Thus, the next node in the node chain I belong to is D T C T T, and the previous node in the node chain [i]becomes[/i] D T S T T [i]after[/i] changing it via the forwarding protocol.
Thus, please post your nodes [i]and[/i] forwarding protocols here, because both are needed to determine whether two people are adjacent links in a node chain.
To start off, if your node is Diamond Triangle Circle Triangle Triangle, please post your full ARG text here (or post node + forwarding protocol, and link to a pastebin of the rest of the text) and PM me. If your node, [i]after passing it through your own forwarding protocol[/i], transforms into Diamond Triangle Square Triangle Triangle, please post here & PM me.
I do not know if there is more than one node chain out in the wild, but we need to start building a node chain in order to determine that.
Again, please post/link to your full ARG info, [b]especially[/b] if your node = D T C T T, or if your node, after forwarding-protocol conversion, becomes D T S T T.
Thank you very much.
- Tiger