Below is a list of common questions that Team CWoT is asked on a daily basis. If you see a question below that you want answered, just select it and the answer will appear at the bottom of the page.
In the top left corner of your browser window you have drop down menus such as File, Edit, View, etc. They may be slightly different depending on the browser you are using, but the principle is the same. Choose View, then from the drop-down menu choose View Page Source. You should do this to every web page you come to while playing this game, including error pages.
Egg pages are web pages within a level that have additional information in them. Sometimes the information is helpful and sometimes the information is essential. Not every level will have egg pages, but you should ALWAYS search for them. You find egg pages by making educated guesses within the URL.
Although it doesn't have to be Photo Shop, you WILL need photo editing programs to complete this game. Answers are NEVER given out because a player is lacking the equipment necessary to complete the game. We have gone out of our way to make sure the programs necessary are available to players for free and we have listed the minimum system requirements along with links to those programs on the system requiremens page. If you do not have the permissions necessary to download these programs or you simply don't want to put them on your computer then this game is not for you. Getting your answers from cheat sites is cheating regardless of the reasons you chose those sources.
When you convert a picture you are not accessing the picture we have manipulated. You are simply changing the file extension of a pic with nothing valuable in it. You use your browser to browse the web. Your browser displays a representation of the pics and files we store on our server. These representations do not contain the deeper information we have installed within the files. When you enter the file name and extension in the URL you are telling your browser you want to see the complete file. If a particular level suggests to you that you need a pic with a file extension other than the one showing in the source code you MUST put the pic name and the file extension you are looking for into the URL and go to the right pic by those means. Once you have done that you can right click and save the correct picture with the clues you need added to it. The same is true for sound files.
Even if you do not need to convert a pic to a new file extension and you know the exact pic name you want to look at, put the pic file name with the proper extension in the url and go to it that way before saving. You will save yourself a lot of headaches and start the level on the rigt foot by paying attention to this tip and getting into the habit of it early.
Absolutely not. Decoding is part of solving the level. If you don't know how to do something it is time to learn. Everything you need to know for this game is searchable on the internet. This includes tutorials and decoding information. Our Moderators are more than happy to check your progress for you and keep you from straying too far off the beaten path, but they will not solve the level for you or do the work for you. You will learn a lot of different things throughout the course of this game. If learning isn't your idea of a good time then this game is not for you.
Learning to use the programs required for solving the riddle is your job. We don't make our riddles dependent upon expert knowledge, so the basic skills covered in your individual programs' help feature will be sufficient. We also have a technical question and answer area within our forum and you may join and post program specific questions, but your posts must be spoiler free and you will have to wait until another interested member has the time to help you out.
We will never just give you the answer. Summary information can be found in different ways depending on the operating system you are running. It's your job to research your system and find out how to locate the information you need.
Hints are just that; hints. No one at CWoT is going to give you the answers. Our forum is is free to join and our staff is carefully picked and trained to help all our players work through the riddles on their own. In all the time we have been online we have never come across a valid reason to hand out the answers to any player. In order to expidite the help you're searching for you must always make sure you list your level number in your PM and include a link to the exact page you're working on. You will have to explain what you've already tried and show your work. Posting or PMing "Please help me," isn't going to be enough.
No. The nature of the game causes some players to have the answers or portions of the answers before they realize it. Often the level only makes complete sense to a player after the final solution is found. You are encouraged to post your questions in an open thread. Of course we want you to be careful not to blatantly post spoilers, and there are consequences for players who deliberately do so, but we recognize that most players simply don't realize what a spoiler is until after they have solved the level. Our Moderators simply go through and edit out the spoilers, then do their best to hint the player anyway.
On a regular basis the Moderators clean out the threads. This means they go through them one by one and delete any posts that repeat a question already asked and answered in the thread. They also delete posts that are not relevant to hinting toward a solution, such as celebratory posts when someone completes a level or general comments on a level. This is not because your post was inappropriate or because we are mean. The sole purpose of the deletion is to keep the threads streamlined and less confusing for players. People are more likely to read through them and use them to help themselves if they are short and to the point. We encourage comments and celebrations. We have set up a General Discussion area in the forum where players are encouraged to create their own threads and hang out. These threads are not deleted regularly. They are Moderated, of course, but it is an area where you can kick back and be yourself. If you have your posts deleted due to a violation of some sort you will be contacted privately by a Moderator and the violation will be explained to you.
CWoT is rarely actively looking for new Moderators. We are extremely well staffed and pride ourselves on fast responses to posts and PMs. Our Moderators are hand chosen by Coyote based on their level of riddle completion, their participation around the forum in the hint threads and general recreation areas, their ability to get along well with other members, and their geographical location and times of availability. We like to have the forum covered by staff from all the most common time zones and geographical areas. You're welcome to PM Coyote about becoming a Moderator, but for the most part your actions around the forum will tell her more about whether or not you're qualified and whether or not you would fit well within the current pool of staff. Being bossy, aggressive, opinionated, and rude is a sure way to avoid becoming a staff member.
Every player makes a choice whether or not to use the answers found on those kinds of sites. There isn't much we can do about them because there will always be people out there who prefer to make a name for themselves through usurping the work of others instead of working themselves. In other words, sites like that bank on spoiling sites like ours and cater to people who are too lazy or stupid to do the work on their own. Unfortunately there are a lot of people like that out there and your search engine results will sometimes bring up a spoiler site based on the key words you used. You can always choose to ignore those sites and complete the level the way it was meant to be completed. And we can always tell when someone has chosen to take the easy way out.
We support Internet Riddle games. If you have found another one and would like a link posted you may contact BLiZZ or Coyote through PM with a link to the game. Once the game has been checked out and it has been confirmed that it is a valid web address and conforms to the expected standards of Internet Riddle games, they will post a link to it in the General Discussion area of the forum. Players of other riddle games are allowed to start threads in this area to hint each other on other riddle games as well. HOWEVER: We expect players using our forum to hint for other riddle games to respect the rules of those other games to the letter. In addition, no matter how lenient those other games are about spoilers, they are not tolerated at CWoT even for other games. If a Webmaster from another riddle game contacts us about posts by our forum members that violate the rules of their game the entire thread will be deleted immediately. We cooperate with game creators. CWoT does not employ spoiler tags. You are expected to use the PM feature to share information that may be considered a spoiler for our game or any other.
Our forum allows us to set banned words and replace them with a word or phrase of our choosing. We have many SMS and chat speak phrases and slang words banned and replaced with the phrase Bubba Loves Me. We ban these types of phrases for several reasons. Our game is played by people all over the world and we do this in an effort to discourage shortcuts in hint posts that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted for other players, especially those who do not speak english fluently. Another reason for this type of ban is to make it easier for CWoT staff to really get the gist of what you are asking. You are already required to speak somewhat cryptically in public hint threads and the staff is pretty good at getting your meaning and answering your questions in helpful ways, but posts heavily laden with chat speak are hard for us to trawl through. A third reason is that your answers in the URL on each level are extremely specific and spelling is crucial. We encourage players to flex their spelling muscles at all times on CWoT. Bubba is a made up character and his message is positive so as not to offend someone who unwittingly falls into the banned word trap. It's humorous, not insulting, so if you find that Bubba Loves You a lot you need to modify the way you post on this particular board.