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12:12 AM
@nohillside have you found it? I'm stuck there.
 
I'm still stuck at ##
 
12:31 AM
Hmm there are multiple accepted answers for the final page?
 
dunno
 
1:18 AM
@RedzMakesErrors same question
nevermind, got it
 
1:37 AM
Any progress on Running hat? Or Emperor?
@Panda you got ideas?
 
@JamesRisner Nope :(
 
1:54 AM
They’re likely to be oddly specific, especially Running, that people usually don’t do on a daily basis. Otherwise, many people would’ve gotten the hat.
Something like Verified. TBH not many people would’ve gotten Verified if the trigger wasn’t known.
 
@Catija Is Emperor's New Hat a reskinned prior year hat?
 
Who has Emperor apart from Catija and Kadir? It must be more common since it’s ranked after Yes a Robot.
 
im so sad, i decoded the first bit, yet im literally stuck again.
and it seems people are at the last quiz already. WHY am i so bad lol
am i a human? probably not.
 
These:
12/19 02:30 https://gis.stackexchange.com/users/29431/kadir-%c5%9eahbaz
12/15 13:14 https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/284336/catija
12/17 07:13 https://stackoverflow.com/users/9213345/henke
12/19 02:30 https://stackoverflow.com/users/3448527/dippas
12/17 22:40 https://stackoverflow.com/users/850848/martin-prikryl
12/20 19:07 https://stackoverflow.com/users/12848411/fazlul
12/20 18:13 https://stackoverflow.com/users/6942134/sergiykolesnikov
12/20 19:15 http://stackoverflow.com/users/7758804/trenton-mckinney
Date is "oldest I've personally observed"
 
2:10 AM
@JamesRisner Thanks!
 
Any hint for page 2?
 
could i get any hints for the first puzzle to find the letters or is that too much of cheating? slates hints didn't really help lol
 
@Stevo Are you at the point where you can read the text?
 
2:41 AM
@Stevo To get to english, look at ways here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_cipher
 
3:21 AM
@JamesRisner Was it ever mentioned whether activities for Emperor show up in one’s profile?
 
3:37 AM
@Panda I thought so. But tried to find it.
ok, it was running only.
 
FWIW Emperor was awarded 1h into Winter Bash, so it should be easier to pin-point and not something done regularly.
 
Who got it 1 hr in?
want to test?
 
I get all timings from the meta hat post. Emperor was added 1h into WB. I’d assume it was awarded to Catija.
 
time stamp?
 
WB started Dec 14 at 21:00. Emperor awarded before Dec 14 at 22:19.
 
3:49 AM
@Panda want to test?
 
Test what?
 
Emperor
I have a testable therory
 
As in how do you want to test it?
 
come to my chat room, it's many steps and don't want to spam.
 
4:21 AM
@Catija Is the emperor hat noticeable on somebody else's profile activity?
 
4:40 AM
Congratulations, you have freed the unicorn!
Unfortunately, the hat could not be awarded, because the user already owns the hat.
 
@Panda Oh i got the english bit allright, now im stuck finding the letters
@JamesRisner yem i got the english way before, stuck for 1 day on the finding letters. Don't understand that hints slate gave
 
@Stevo If you got the numbers/indexes, you're on the right track. Also, those numbers don't represent something inside the sentences, but rather itself turning into a letter.
 
@U12-Forward numbers for each lines cipher?
 
Yes
 
right, so lemme see converting those numbers in the cipher to actual letters using A1Z26
~~i got a lot of H's~~ now lets see how slates hints help me
flip the numbering scheme? hmm
AHA!
 
5:11 AM
right, so onto the next stage. Oh come on, what to do now lol.
 
6:03 AM
@Stevo the format is different, the pound sign should be replace with a 3 character weight abbreviation. And the ## are numbers
 
so number number 3 character weight so 5 characters?
 
Yes
 
right, so the pound sign is not actually 1 character lol. Now lets try decode this.
 
6:26 AM
@Stevo Did you get it?
 
No lol, idk what to do with the stones...
 
number number 3-letter weight abbreviation.
 
ye, but i don't see the connection yet, probably something really easy but im just not seeing it
 
Just brute force the numbers
 
?
oh
 
6:34 AM
@RedzMakesErrors I think I run through all the combinations using the two terms MSTE has for this activity...
 
 
1 hour later…
7:34 AM
We only have Running and Emperor left to discover the trigger.
 
8:20 AM
@Catija This hint was key to the very difficult chat system question (which awarded me my hat :)
@Slate thanks for the fun Unicorn game! Are there any more games in the works this year?
 
XaC
what are the rules for the quizz again? It seems you can't get the start page any-more once you've started the questions
 
8:35 AM
I had the same problem so I copy/pasted them to another window:
Quiz Rules:
All answers are either integers or at most two words (no punctuation, spaces optional), case insensitive
All answers are discoverable through Stack Overflow/Stack Exchange sites/blogs
If you get a question wrong, you will have a one minute timeout before you can attempt another answer
If you get three questions wrong, Sparkles will strike out on her own
Your progress will reset after two hours of inactivity
Please do not share answers to questions with others before January 4, 2023 at 21:00 UTC.
 
@DanBonachea strike out on her own? meaning you lose the game?
 
@Stevo Sometimes losing brings its own reward..
 
XaC
8:52 AM
@DanBonachea "Your progress will reset after two hours of inactivity" I should not have gone to sleep...
 
@XaC I found it very helpful to keep detailed notes on my progress..
 
9:12 AM
@Catija We need hints for Running and Emperor 😭
 
@XaC There are three in-game ways to get back to that page.
 
9:59 AM
Hi everyone! Where is the quiz everyone is talking about?
 
27
Q: Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!

Adam LearAfter two eventful years, Sparkles the Unicorn is determined to spend this year's holidays relaxing at home. I bet she'd love to see her friends. Why don't you /visit-sparkles and see how she's doing? (Please keep the details of your visit to yourself until January 4, 2023 at 21:00 UTC.)

 
10:27 AM
@Panda So , where do I enter the answer?
 
@user156679 You'll need to solve the riddles before you can get to the quiz page.
 
@Panda Sorry for disturbing you. Where are the riddles?
 
@Panda thanks.
 
welcome!
 
10:51 AM
Noooooooo
I am suspended from reviewing until next May
What?
I didn't even review for the last couple of days.
It was originally 2 the 27th of December
to
 
@U12-Forward Have you failed a bunch of audits recently?
 
@DavidPostill 2 late answers yesterday
any way to fix this?
 
Ran out of time today, will work on the unicorn tmr
 
> You contest a review ban by posting your question about the issue, together with a link to the disputed review, on the meta of the site where you've received your review ban.
 
I will try
 
11:21 AM
@U12-Forward fear of failing audits is the primary reason I rarely do reviews.
 
@U12-Forward 2 late answers, 2 suggested edits, 1 FQ (IIRC), and an uncountable amount of incorrect reviews caught in your robo-reviewing.
3
The fact you got away with five audits before getting an automated suspension is beyond me
3
 
@ZoestandswithUkraine I never robo review, I always review myself.
 
Hi everyone, any idea about the name of the SE chat system? Can't find it
@U12-Forward robo-reviewing means not performing the reviews sincerely, not using a bot ;)
 
11:37 AM
@U12-Forward And yet, a large number of your reviews were a few seconds apart. Your average is around 4 seconds per review
including loading times
(sorry about the ping, mozway, reply misfire)
 
@ZoestandswithUkraine no worries
 
@mozway Depends on what you mean. if you mean standard, there isn't one. they rolled their own system. If you just mean the site, there isn't much of a special name. chat.SE is the recurring name in most contexts. There isn't a dedicated name or anything beyond just "chat at <domain>"
 
@ZoestandswithUkraine I got this question in the WB quizz, I have to say I have no clue ;)
 
Ah, didn't know there was a quiz
Carry on :p
 
@mozway Have you tried room?
 
11:41 AM
"official name of the chat system"
I tried Chat and Rooms
 
Catija was talking about it yesterday, let me see if I can find it.
 
@ZoestandswithUkraine ironically yesterday I got a question on the name of insincerely performing the reviewing tasks but "Robo Reviewing" failed ;)
Thanks @Panda :)
 
20 hours ago, by Catija
I have an answer on MSE that is about chat and it mentions the official name.
 
20 hours ago, by Catija
It's just a single word.
 
11:44 AM
huh, didn't know there was a name
 
16 hours ago, by Catija
https://meta.stackexchange.com/search?q=user%3A284336+is%3Aa+%5Bchat%5D
^updated link
 
Found it! (I would never have guessed)
Thanks!
 
:)
 
 
3 hours later…
3:06 PM
Morning!
 
3:22 PM
Hello everyone
 
3:37 PM
@JamesRisner Good evening! :)
 
4:02 PM
@KadirŞahbaz I had a question for you, when you got Emperor you were flagging and retracting. Do you recall how many retracts? Also did you have a lot of followed or saved posts?
 
@U12-Forward No
@JamesRisner No
 
@Catija Does Emperor have anything to do with following or saving?
 
No
12 people have Emperor and only 2 people have Running.
 
@Catija thank you
huh, I only have 8 of emperor's
missing 4
 
@JamesRisner No. I just saw you talking about how many people, so I figured that I'd answer.
 
4:10 PM
thank you
oops I accidentally edited my question
 
It's ok
 
Can you give us a hint, say like specifically what about Code Golf would block you from gaining Emperor there?
 
I had no posts on Code Golf prior to WB starting.
 
thanks, that's interesting.
Does Running have anything to do with follows?
 
no
Both running and Emperor relate to the same site element and doing the same thing to that element, though Emperor is a bit more complicated while Running is simple, but a slog.
 
4:20 PM
Who am I missing from Emperor list:
meta.stackexchange.com/users/284336/catija
stackoverflow.com/users/9213345/henke
stackoverflow.com/users/850848/martin-prikryl
gis.stackexchange.com/users/29431/kadir-%c5%9eahbaz
stackoverflow.com/users/3448527/dippas
stackoverflow.com/users/6942134/sergiykolesnikov
stackoverflow.com/users/12848411/fazlul
stackoverflow.com/users/7758804/trenton-mckinney
 
@JamesRisner from Dec 15th to Dec 17th, it is 13 self-removed flags.
 
@KadirŞahbaz thank you
@Catija Is it self removed flags?
 
no
@JamesRisner Dunno. My page just shows numbers, not names.
 
I can use numbers, I can translate to names.
well, maybe not.
just realized I wouldn't know I had the right one on site ;-)
 
4:31 PM
@JamesRisner ~20 saves, ~10 followings during WB.
 
@KadirŞahbaz This hint: https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/62635097#62635097
Can you think of something you may have done that isn't retracting flags, reviews, saves, or follows that requires posts on the site from before the start of WB?
@Catija to confirm "doesn't show on activity" would rule out editing old posts, correct?
 
Editing old posts gives you a "revised" entry on Activity.
 
@nohillside yes, and previous has been said it's not visible on the profile. So that should eliminate edits from being the trigger of Running/Emperor
 
@JamesRisner I don't know. That night, I did a lot of actions. What did I do to the "that element"? Maybe multiple editing one post, or editing multiple post in one thread.
 
@KadirŞahbaz thanks, It's hard. Especially considering these things are related to things done before the start. So doubly hard to know what was done to trigger.
@KadirŞahbaz Didn't retag anything?
actually that falls into "shows on profile"
so can't be retagging.
 
4:41 PM
... then upvoting, retagging, following, saving...
... flagging the comments as no longer needed, etc.
 
@KadirŞahbaz thanks
I'll ponder more. thanks Kadir & Catija
 
 
2 hours later…
6:18 PM
@nohillside to be fair, there are TWO possible anagrams that make sense. I spent to much time on the first one, only to then realize that it was actually telling me to use the other one....
assorted hissing sounds
So, now I am playing with Stones instead. But... I have to say I prefer Iolo's Stones instead....
 
just curious, but does anyone know who/why there an hat on the community bot?: stackoverflow.com/users/-1/community
I found that surprising, but then again, I never tried to get hats like I did this year
 
@NordineLotfi The community bot has many hats
 
6:47 PM
welp, guess it has more hats than me
 
@Machavity Can I ask you a thing? By step two... you are talking about "stones"? Because I was trying to find weights, not decoding stuff....
 
 
1 hour later…
7:52 PM
@Slate... are you here?
If you want a good laugh, invite me to a private room... I think you want to know how I managed to misinterpret the second step for at least an hour before realizing the simple solution...
 
8:27 PM
@JamesRisner l just got emperor 😇
2
 
@nohillside how?
 
Robot is considered a separate hat right?
I am tempted to fail on purpose to get the hat, yet on the other side... not having the robot hat means you got all the questions right on the first try...
 
Flagging comments beneath old answers as no longer needed. Now I‘‘m a mod on AD so if I flag comments automatically delete. So I don‘t know whether flagging is enough or whether a mod afterwards needs to act on them.
 
What to do, what to do...
 
@SPArcheon yes. And unless you are a genius you will get an answer wrong anyway the first time.
 
8:32 PM
@nohillside thanks for calling me a genius then.
the only one that was VERY annoying was the one that someone commented on. Because I don't think THAT name has ever been advertised to us poor mortal users...
the others.... usual "go to sede, count on meta etc"
 
8:46 PM
Congrats. I needed several tries till I got a run without the reviewer question (for which I still don‘t know the answer).
 
9:26 PM
@nohillside can’t be that unless you did 100 at once?
I regularly do 30-50 a day of old NLN comments on old posts
@Catija is emperor related to flagging?
 
@JamesRisner It was less then 100. and the only thing I did was flag as no longer needed.
I flagged all the comments though, so all comments beneath some answers of mine got deleted.
 
 
1 hour later…
10:41 PM
Also, Running is related to self-deletion (not flagging) of comments.
 
11:11 PM
@nohillside i've tested up to 12, you think it's deleting more than 12?
 
Possibly self-deletion of comments on your own posts that’s x years old.
@JamesRisner Are you testing anything relating to your own posts?
 
@SPArcheon Would you like to get "Yes, a Robot" hat, yes? Then prove to SE you are a robot.
 
@SPArcheon Or one could simply have posted something that’s tagged and didn’t do the riddle at all :)
 
@Panda yes, but only test (just realized) deleting posts created AFTER start. Want to switch my channel and test ones BEFORE?
 
@JamesRisner Deleting posts?
 
11:21 PM
@SPArcheon You should go back to the quiz page and give the wrong answer to the questions.
 
@Panda comments, sorry. Not tried deleting posts - I'm very confident that's not it
 
Oddly enough, Yes A Robot proves one got to the quiz page, not Defender.
@JamesRisner Yep, last week I tried deleting my own comments on various other’s posts (around 5-10) but that clearly didn’t work FWIW
 
hmm, i decoded the message lol
next step is to decode it
 
@nothillside Do you have a theory on quantity of comments on old comments NLN needed for Emperor?
Do they need to be on the same post?
 
I have a theory that for the "Yes, a Robot" hat you need to find sparkles
Suspicious, I wonder why there are "paragraph breaks"
 
11:34 PM
Yes a robot is you failed the quiz. At least I did when I failed. Defender is when you answer everything correctly.
 
ah, so there's a quiz?
i haven't found the 'location' yet so idk
 
@Steffan not relevant.
 
got emperor
 
@DavidPostill know exactly how?
 
flagging no longer needed on old comments - some on my answers some on other answers.
 
11:45 PM
@DavidPostill qty?
because I've flagged several hundred since start on other's posts - all helpful
so maybe more about on your posts?
 
@DavidPostill 2nd mod to get Emperor today, concidence? ;)
 
dunno 20-30 maybe?
 
I deleted 10 comments across 3 of my old posts (~5 years ago). Let’s see if that does it.
 

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