Not sure if this is going to be mini-ARG, ingame direction or outgame, but something's just started over at The Secret World's website, with a set of numbers and an audio file... https://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?84457-122635 (can't upload the .mp3 file here, but it is over there...)
A wild stab in the dark from me on the cleaned up version, and I hear "Banshees, Writing, Soldier" - although I have trouble hearing the same thing in the original. Other than that, it would seem LAME 3.99.3 was used to create the file - don't know if it can reverse the process applied, somehow?
Going for further research, people have come up with various versions of the word 'speak' in several languages. And something about Rabbits. Which.... isn't good, really, but yeah. One thing worth noting as well - the original message from the Conductor has changed since originally posted... Might be 'OOC' - cleaning up the message. Or is it something else? Currently reads: Hello? Yes? Is anyone out there? You might know me as the Stationmaster. I manage the platforms. Make sure Agartha's thoroughfares are clear and tip top. But now, there are items and actions that need direct conveyance. In this, I will be a conductor. But enough jabber and preamble. My time is short. This message came through today. Garbled. Can't make much sense of it. There was a number attached: 122635. Put on your best pondering hats. Give us a help. Yes? Original was: Hello? Is anyone out there? I am the Conductor. Many are the pilgrims lost in Agartha. I have helped some of you navigate the pathways, and I am afraid my time may be short. I have received this message, but its meaning eludes me. Attached to it was a number: 122635. Its meaning is unclear as well. Can you help? Are you there?
I mean, when I read the initial post, I felt like it didn't sound like the Conductor at all. I imagine that's the reason for the change but who knows.
That was my assumption, too... it seemed uncharacteristically (for TSW) out of character. The revised version is a better fit, although the "But now... conductor" bit still feels like it was shoehorned in - like someone was having to try a little too hard to make sure he was still claiming to be a/the "conductor". Could be significant, or could just be a rushed writer. LAME is an open-source MP3 encoder. It's generally used as a plugin or DLL by audio editing software to handle the actual compression/encoding of the audio stream into an MP3, but it isn't something used in the creation or modification stage. So unfortunately backtracking the process through that would be akin to using a BMP to JPG converter to reconstruct the layers used in creating an image in Photoshop. -Bats (of course, I haven't been paying attention since yesterday, and the entire puzzle could've been solved by now)
Don't worry Bats - even Logical Mintcake is confused by this one. Problem is, so many people are equating the numbers with music ('cos of a recent musical puzzle) so it keeps throwing off, plus people are ploughing back ideas that have been discussed previously. I'm still trying to piece things together, but my brain is trying hard to punch its way out of my head - can't see the path in this one!
122635 -> ABBFCE would make sense musically... although, from a musical angle the numbers could also represent semitones from a starting value - not that I can see any more meaning in C#DDF#D#F/DbDDGbEbF (each note relative to C), or C#DEA#C#F#/DbDEBbDbEb (each number added to the prior note, starting from C), or have enough faith in the concept to bother checking it across the rest of the scale. Of course there's also #ABBFCE, which is this rather bland sort of blueish off-white... but a new paintjob probably won't make the message any clearer. Also, assuming the number is tied to understanding the sound file (which also has six segments - or at least six instances of skipping), the digits could be the factor by which each segment has to be modified to make it intelligible - which would actually be pretty clever... but doesn't seem very likely, as it would do nothing to address the fact that each of the six segments skips six times. Cleaning up the audio (noise removal & chopping out the skipping & gaps), I got... well... not much more. Sagacious... Radius... Schwa... Only (Ombie?)... Seed...? Makes sense, right? And reversing it... This... is a... Fetish? British? Flemish?... Sta... Schastch...? When I first flipped it, I thought I'd made a breakthrough - it was starting to say "this is a [something] station"... but that last word/syllable didn't work. Trying to combine the first, second, second, sixth, third, fifth of the skippy bits was even less helpful. So... I got nuthin'. -Bats
...and another message has turned up. Will take a look \ listen later. That string of numbers seem to be part of another set of numbers, so it might be that we can work out 'what we missed' (if we did - it might just be that it was incomplete anyway, but let's see...) https://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?84514-The-hour-is-late
More things today - turning up regularaly at around 15:00GMT. https://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?84539-Another-tick-on-the-old-chronometer All of them have been about time - and Funcom have been releasing TSW keys to people through twitter as well - although this is alongside the puzzles, it doesn't seem to be the result of them. Am torn between it actually being a promo rather than a game, but there are still some freaky words emerging when you listen to various clips!
It is highly suggested we get an agent to scour the sound file and its noise for any possible hidden messages within the static, whooshing, or otherwise ominous white background. I myself have no skills, although I attempted to use MP3Stego. Message Three is the current message I would suggest searching. Please, if you have skills in hidden audio messages, The Secret World needs you. The Stationmaster needs you. (To note for the above, yes, they were cleaning up the post when they edited the message. The Stationmaster is the NPC in question, even if they said otherwise. There is some slight possibility it's all a ruse and has importance to solving this, but I'm leaning toward the Stationmaster being silly.)
