They knew they would have to deal painful shocks before the show started. Then the actor shown (though yells and complains) an increasing displeasure. Then, at some point, he starts saying "It's not funny, I want to stop now!", then starts crying, then begs for the other person to stop, then stops answering altogether, which was supposed to be understood as "he's unconscious/dead".
The engine with which the subjects inflicted the pain also had big words written on it, like "200 - High", "380 - Danger !", "420 - XX".
As for your analogy with the army, it doesn't really work I fear. You know what to expect when you join an elite unit in the army. This was supposed to be a casual game to win a few thousands € :-P
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