Backbone Control

Backbone control is a contest where players can hack to maintain control of the "backbone" sites that control Midgard's network. (Early in the game's history, from about 2011-2016, there was a similar contest called Subversion Testing.)

A player can hold control of one or more of 4 sites: Southside, Waterfront, Sewers and University (Quad).

Walkthrough

Access

• Complete The Golden Chip Quest to get to the The Golden Chip.
• Sell items to get 250 golden tickets to buy front row access (only need to do this once - carries across resets). This allows you to buy relay code.
• Ask Roi about "How's the new project?" for more information and to see the current leaderboards.

Getting control

• Use juryrigged antenna to get Juryrigged Antenna effect and use relay code to get Relay Search effects — use more of both as needed to keep active throughout.
• Wipe out University Net sites with Relay Search active to focus in on a signal.
  • You need to attack ALL routines on the site to wipe it out, including any defenders that activate as alert goes up.
    • Incognito helps keep alert down.
    • Destroying a Posting Interface will also destroy the Post Archive.
    • Other routines have special quieter ways to be removed, eg. passing the quiz of a Data Bouncer.
• Repeatedly wipe out 2-4 sites to make progress. Various messages indicate progress "You … find the slightest traces of the signal" / "You continue on the trail of the signal" / "You dig deep into the site's remains".
  • There's some unknown mechanic to make more progress to get "dig deep" instead of "continue on" the trail. Extra View as you wipe out the last routine might help?
  • Once you have done this enough, the Relay Search effect is replaced by one of Southside Relay / Waterfront Relay / Sewer Relay / University Relay.
• Adventure in the appropriate zone (Southside Park, Waterfront, Dockside Sewers or The Quad) with Relay effect active to find various Midgard Relay Net sites.
  • Hack into these sites to find the Relay Connection and then View it repeatedly.
  • Watch out for Relay Redirectors which will remove your Relay effect and you'll have to start over from the start. If you don't have a way to defend or destroy the redirector, disconnect from the site and try again.
  • Once you've viewed the Relay Connection enough to triangulate a position, the next site you find will be one of the four main backbone relay sites. These are fixed sites:
    • Southside Relay site
    • University Relay site
    • Sewer Relay site
    • Waterfront Relay site
  • Hack into the Backbone Connection and use 4(?) Command on it to take control of the area.

With control of the backbone site, you accumulate points for the Golden Chip Backbone Control leaderboard, which looks something like this:

Backbone Control (example)

Name	Gang	Control	Relays
xerf	Ichnae	64	Sewers
xKiv	Ichnae	43	Southside, Quad
Erenoth	Hounds of Hameln	14	-
Al	Hounds of Hameln	2	Waterfront

Points

A single player can "hold control" of a backbone site by hacking into one of the above four relay sites and Commanding the Backbone Connection. This gives +1 leaderboard point with the message:

You sneak a command through to tap the connection for the Golden Chip. They should be quite pleased once the data starts flowing in.

That player is now in control of that backbone and it is listed next to their name on the leaderboard. If another player Commands the Backbone Connection, the control is transferred to the new player. If another player Attacks the Backbone Connection, no one gets control of that backbone.

If you have a backbone, whenever another player finds a random University Net site, you get +1 leaderboard point.

Additionally, Commanding a Connection Buffer gives +1 leaderboard point. This does not require backbone control.

Checking over the buffered connections, it seems a lot of them are being redirected… there's some strange code by <player>. It's definitely siphoning off some information. You can't modify it from here, but you can siphon off a little to call your own.

If no one has taken control this season:

No one has asserted control during this timespan.

Rewards

At the end of the season, checking the leaderboard will distribute rewards.

For the top(?) scorer:

Thanks from the Golden Chip
Congratulations! We have some code for you and a few things waiting for you at the OmniMall.

You found: X backend code

And, when checking your gifts at OmniMall:

From OmniMall Customer Service:

It appears the following package was left as a gift for you, but temporarily misplaced due to computer error. We apologize for any inconvenience.

You found: X cans of BANG! Cola

And:

From OmniMall Customer Service:

It appears the following package was also left as a gift for you, but temporarily misplaced due to another computer error. We apologize for any additional inconvenience.

You found: comm dish core

Otherwise: (Is it possible to get more than 1 without being highly ranked?)

Thanks from the Golden Chip
Thanks for your help. We have some code you might be interested in that we've managed to harvest thanks to your assistance.

You found: backend code

Your Signal

Various programs crafted out of the backend code give bonuses based on "Your Signal", which seems to be equal to the number of backbones you currently control?

Program	Bonuses
cacophony producer	Increases Etheric Power, decreases Etheric Defense
integrated choreography	Increases Evasion Power, Reflexes
integrated hunt	Increases Stealth Power, Perception
integrated verification	Increases Etheric Power, Will
integrated targeting	Increases Ranged Power, Perception
integrated vision	Increases Perception
integrated vigilance	Increases Stealth Defense, Perception