Monday, December 22, 2008

Social Stealth

While doing a little research on the net I can across this very interesting information and wanted to share and I hope we can get some Q & A going on about the subject. Social Stealth - Bullseyes Definition - Being able to go unnoticed or undetected as you move about from point A to point B in a crowded or at least heavily populated area while achieving your task. Well, that is what I define Social Stealth as being. OK, what the hell does that have to do with anything?? A hell of a lot !! When TSHF you will still need to be able to move from place to place to attain supplies or to reach loved ones or many other reasons that may arise from an ongoing event like such. You and I need to be able to travel in stealth mode as to not bring any unwanted attention to ourselves or our mission which could end in a failed attempt and could result either directly or indirectly in death or at least an ass whipping. I personally don't want either. Your appearance and your attitude are probably the biggest factors in this situation. Dressed head to toe in camouflage or military black with your fists clenched to your AK47 kicking anyone and every ones ass along the way will surely result in your becoming a target.
Scout the area in which you will be traveling if at all possible to see what is the 'norm'. Mask yourself as close to what you have seen as possible to achieve 'Social Stealth' and go about your business as quietly as possible. Speak to no one, make eye contact with no one, push or shove no one, ........become no one!
I will have more tips and tricks in the next post on achieving Social Stealth as it applies to Survivalists and Preppers alike in real life situations. I hope there will be readers that share some tips or tricks that they have found useful or think them to be so.
Social Stealth is a very important factor in the video game Assassin's Creed. And of course there's a Wiki to explain it to us all. Man, those wiki guys seem to know everything. LOL I'm not a gamer at all but this one has sure got my attention, if ya know what I mean. And you do.
Social stealth
From Wiki
A major theme in this game is social stealth. Other games have worked with the idea of stealth play while out in the open, notably the disguises in the Hitman series, but few if any have included the crowd dynamics found in Assassin's Creed.
The social stealth system keeps track of how much attention is being paid to you and your actions. Citizens and guards will react to the way you treat and interact with them. While walking around town, you can either shove people out of the way and to the ground or you can lightly push past them. The first will attract a lot of attention but get you through the crowd more quickly, and the person you knocked to the ground may get up and push you back. Lightly pushing past people will attract little attention but will take more time. Socially questionable actions will also increase the attention that people pay you. If you quickly climb the front of a building then you will attract a lot of attention, as will jumping from a rooftop and landing in a crowd. Slowly climbing a ladder or dropping quietly into the street will attract much less attention.
Avoiding attention is key in this game, since your investigation missions and assassinations require you to be anonymous. Remaining anonymous will also refill your synchronization bar. If you attract too much attention, the omnipresent guards will recognize you as an assassin and try to kill you, ruining your anonymity. The guards are implacable, if easily dispatched, foes who will follow you over rooftops and chase you through streets, often while gathering reinforcements.
With the social stealth system you won't find any shadows to hide in if you are being chased by soldiers. Instead you have to escape their sight and then hide or blend in with crowd, like joining a group of scholars. The scholars have the added benefit of being a mobile source of social camouflage. Other places to hide after losing the guards are bales of hay, rooftop gardens, and even benches (while sitting between two people).

14 comments:

riverwalker said...

Bullseye linked to your post.
I like stealth!

RW

scoutinlife said...

Great link!

HermitJim said...

The two best teachers for operating in stealth mode that I can think of is Boot Camp (trying NOT to be recognised by the drill seargent) and staying healthy while living in a big city.

One way to stay hard to see in the city...always stay near the middle of a crowd instead of the front or the back. Also, never give the appearance of being in a hurry, even if you are. It irritates people and that draws attention!

Enjoyed the post!

Bullseye said...

Riverwalker, thanks for the link buddy. I think this is an often overlooked area of defense.

Scout, Glad you like it and please come back often.

Jim, you make a very good point. After Christmas I plan to take some of the comments and post them for all to see and gather ideas from. I hope we get more tips and tricks from readers. Thank you for yours.

Thanks for the comments and the link.

riverwalker said...

To: Bullseye

Anytime friend!

RW

Catman said...

Hey Bullseye,

Plain jane, non-descript vehicle. No flashy wheels, loud pipes, decals, bumper stickers or graphics.

Think about the vehicles you saw today.

Now realize how many you can't remember.

The ones you remember are the ones you do not want to emulate.

The same goes for manner of dress, hair styles, etc. for an individual.

You'd be amazed at how badly I stand out in a Bass Pro Shop, but disappear at a pow wow or at a rock concert.

Bullseye said...

Catman, those are great, keep 'em coming. BTW Catman, I be watching you. lol

Ken said...

...all i can say is...Good Post...in and of itself could be a taining manual...

Ken said...

Ooops.....Meant 'training'

Bullseye said...

Ken, thank, I hope there will be more to come.

Anonymous said...

My experience: invisiblility for "alternate routes" in the Big City is all but guaranteed with a hardhat and nerd clothing. Neither needs explaining and the hardhat does double duty.

Preparedwarrior said...

I am not so sure staying in the middle of a crowd is always a good idea. If you don't really belong in that group, the group can easily turn on you. If you are in stealth mode, you are not part of a particular crowd.

I used to know a guy who was always being overlooked in any group setting. He was a manager but he always succeeded in being overlooked when tasks were being handed out. It was like he was totally invisible. It wasn't like he blended in or that he was so bland that he was in camouflage.

He said he just was able to turn off his mind so that people didn't sense him and would bypass him for someone else. Said he thought it was sort of like in the movie Star Wars where Obi Wan does his thing with the guards. He was present, but nobody sensed him. Yeah, I know sort "twilight zoneish" but I witnessed it on several occasions.
The guy said he had been doing the stealth thing since he was a kid avoiding being called on in class.
Gotta go practice being senseless.

Bullseye said...

Ol' Remus, now that sounds like a plan. Don't pay much attention to either one of those.

Prepardwarrior, that sounds pretty cool. Sounds like your guy had a good thing going on there.

I will be posting the comments in the nest post and we will discuss them in a little more detail. Hopefuly we will get even more input. Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it. Please come back often.

Trini Airguns said...

Relevant, but overlooked subject there, Bullseye. I'm late to the party, but here's my tuppence.

The single most memorable and important sentence I ever heard on the subject, was from a movie. Al Pacino's character advises Keanu Reeves character, in "The Devil's Advocate":

"Never let them see you coming, always be the little guy."

I'm new to your blog, will continue reading it. Mine is Caribbean based, on airguns and family preparedness. http://airgunstt.blogspot.com

- Trini AirGuns