As mentioned up there, this is a casual thread for talking about various minor topics. While basic ‘casual discussion thread for single slightly less minor topic’ are good, I thought that everyone, especially me, will be better off with a place where we can talk about random ebz-related topics: Things that are not important to warranty its own thread, wondering about things that don’t exactly belong anywhere, annoyed rant on frustration from Nethy life, and such.
What’s up with these items and their prices at bazaar? Sure, “one item” represents only tiny part of that item (drop, scrap, fragment, stub, sliver…), but they are still strange. For example, Londoners are shown to prize jewels, yet they fetch as much penny as dead rats and candle stubs. We can buy proscribed materials and London street signs at bazaar without fuss, yet several stuffs that should be common and are being sold openly in descriptions have to be found or converted. For that matter, we can’t visit people’s shop, we have to wait until we get a “opportunity” to do so. And some, like metal buyer and auction from Playing with broken toys story evaporates.
Why are the screams from dawn of time are so common and cheap? Where do they come from? How does surface-travel work? Even most privileged gives impression of considering it as futile dream, yet there are some amount of brisk trade and connection between surface. And how does one reach surface? Some impliess that zailors can go there through zee, my dog went there through prickfinger waste, connection pets go there and here as it were walk on the park, and apparently some even travel to here from surface. Why can’t we hire or order other people to do either minor works such as item conversation or kick out these worthless intruders that clogs my card deck? Also, how long would one Action be? Some description show it as entire day or more, but others are simple meet and talk, and they all cost same one action.
Exactly how does trade of incorporeal goods work? So far, only maniac’s prayer and memory of light give some explanation on how I lost them, and there are no explanation about why I just forgot bunch of story for simply speaking it. And what exactly does these incorporeal goods represent? How come there are so many secrets for sell? These low-level mysteries seems to be most common item, but the secrets would be useless when known to other; much less circle around Neath as money.
Everyone trades through barter; rostygold seems to be most common choice, despite being a blood-gold.
And I can’t drink most of my wine in normal way! I long for real grape wine! I drank it at tomb-colony, so why can’t I drink my broken giant right in front of me!
edited by missmartinez99 on 8/19/2012
By the way, how does message arrival from [color=#ff9900]“Something else will happen soon… don’t worry. All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”[/color][color=#ffcc00] [/color]kind of events work? It’s mechanism seems to be complicated: My all 100 stat POSI-aiming character sees it very rarely, while it was common before. Wearing stat-lowering gear seems to increase chance here, but it might be coincidence. And it doesn’t seem to be solely judged by stat because my 12~17 stat beginning character sees it rarely(frequent than my main char, but still) while all 60-something stat character sees it very commonly, sometimes all four in one hour. Does anyone have some idea on this?
Maybe this belong to bazaar. But this is rambling thread, so whatever.
edited by missmartinez99 on 8/19/2012
On Something will happen soon: It is dependant on the storylet. Low-level storylets tend to give them way more often than high-level ones, though. Also note that there are other ‘Something will happen soon’ qualities than those 4; you also have one for the screaming map + one for the Dilmun Club.
On wine: Why does First Sporing sell for less than Broken Giant? Of course, this can be explained by the Bazaar being close to Mr Wines and as such have no problem acquiring them…
Eh, I meant the event’s actual activation on my message tabs. Sorry for lack of clarity.
The watchful one and the persuasive one are easiest to get - the storylet that gives them stays forever, so they are useful. Persuasive one needs the rare success, though. Last chance of gaining Dangerous one comes from more difficult option from letting yourself to be vivisected by doctors. We can endlessly get it from vermin-killing story, but it gives trap menace cards, so bye-bye for that. The Shadowy one is worst, because the last chance of getting it ends far earlier than other. Which is why I’m grinding in spite. my all other stats are 95~100 something, but only Shadowy is 83 so I can’t pass POSI.
I assume you’re trading in different quantities - you’re not told how much jade is being sold, or how big the candle stub is, only that it is “a quantity worth one pence”. I do find it strange how constant the prices are - being that it’s a bazaar, and that speculation on price shifts is apparantly the Fallen London equivalent of chatting about the weather - but… that’s likely just Gameplay and Story separation. (Same for the lack of different stores, auctions etc.)
That one was actually answered - just not, well, in-game. Short answer: There’s a cave system and a Sea/Zee canal of sorts. (I’ve actually gotten the impression that there isn’t much trade going on, and that it’s mostly imports of various Surface luxuries; at any rate, I imagine the shipping costs to be quite ludicrious.)
I’m assuming people are forced to barter because they can’t afford the hideously expensive permits the Bazaar requires for everything - kind of like a semi-tolerated black market. That’d also explain the uniformity of prices on the Bazaar itself - if 19th Century Glim Amalgamated is the only company legally allowed to buy and sell Glim, they can set the prices however they d–n well want. Of course, that would raise the question of why the Masters are trying to get such an odd system to emerge…
My interpretation is, The Bazaar is not a Free Market. The prices are set by The Masters. That said, the free market does still exist, but you have to wait for an Opportunity to not get caught or spotted.
[quote=missmartinez99]Why are the screams from dawn of time are so common and cheap? Where do they come from?[/quote] Ignoring the obvious and somewhat snide answer implied in your choice of phrasing the question, this gets revealed as you progress through your story (though it has to be inferred as it’s not outright stated), so I shall not spoil it.
Naturally. Because it is the most easy to recoup through Dangerous means. Even if the person you intend to rob has not even a pence on them, they still have blood that can be made into Rostygold. What’s more, it really does no lasting harm to your mark.
Because there is no Bravery or Valor quality yet. Hedonism and Daring only go so far.
edited by Abraham Bounty on 8/19/2012
[color=rgb(51, 0, 153)]I am going to move this to the Bazaar[/color]
Today, I became a first Fallen Londoner to encounter the most disappointing Rare opportunity card ever.
I wrote it down on:
[color=00ffff]http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/The_battle_hymn_of_the_Drownies[/color]
Seriously, a 5 Action-costing Rare opportunity card should give something much better. Oh well, at least it appears that I’m the first one to find this.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/nedemmons
“The battle hymn of the Drownies”
It’s a foggy night in Wolfstack. Tendrils of cold, salty mist drift upwards from the zee like cobwebs. They say on a night like this, if you listen hard enough, you can hear the battle hymn of the Drownies…
[This is a Rare Opportunity - you lucky thing! Allowing your Menaces to get too high, or leaving Fallen London, may mean losing this card. Use it wisely!]
“Tiny sounds”
A ship’s bell clangs somewhere to the south. Beneath the jetties, the webs of sorrow spiders rustle in the breeze. And somewhere far across the Unterzee, you catch a martial rhythm, a shaking of seashell bracelets. It speaks of war beneath the waves, of an eyeless cavalry that rides through a forest of kelp on giant scuttling mounts towards some unimaginable conflict. To victory! Your sinews grow taut, and your heart thumps like a steam engine.
Collapse [remove]
02 September, 1890
edited by missmartinez99 on 9/2/2012
edited by missmartinez99 on 9/2/2012
[quote=missmartinez99]Today, I became a first Fallen Londoner to encounter the most disappointing Rare opportunity card ever.
I wrote it down on:
[color=00ffff]http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/The_battle_hymn_of_the_Drownies[/color]
Seriously, a 5 Action-costing Rare opportunity card should give something much better. Oh well, at least it appears that I’m the first one to find this.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/nedemmons
“The battle hymn of the Drownies”
It’s a foggy night in Wolfstack. Tendrils of cold, salty mist drift upwards from the zee like cobwebs. They say on a night like this, if you listen hard enough, you can hear the battle hymn of the Drownies…
[This is a Rare Opportunity - you lucky thing! Allowing your Menaces to get too high, or leaving Fallen London, may mean losing this card. Use it wisely!]
“Tiny sounds”
A ship’s bell clangs somewhere to the south. Beneath the jetties, the webs of sorrow spiders rustle in the breeze. And somewhere far across the Unterzee, you catch a martial rhythm, a shaking of seashell bracelets. It speaks of war beneath the waves, of an eyeless cavalry that rides through a forest of kelp on giant scuttling mounts towards some unimaginable conflict. To victory! Your sinews grow taut, and your heart thumps like a steam engine.
Collapse [remove]
02 September, 1890
edited by missmartinez99 on 9/2/2012
edited by missmartinez99 on 9/2/2012[/quote]
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I had this card a while back.
[quote=missmartinez99]What’s up with these items and their prices at bazaar? Sure, “one item” represents only tiny part of that item (drop, scrap, fragment, stub, sliver…), but they are still strange. For example, Londoners are shown to prize jewels, yet they fetch as much penny as dead rats and candle stubs. We can buy proscribed materials and London street signs at bazaar without fuss, yet several stuffs that should be common and are being sold openly in descriptions have to be found or converted. For that matter, we can’t visit people’s shop, we have to wait until we get a “opportunity” to do so. And some, like metal buyer and auction from Playing with broken toys story evaporates.
Why are the screams from dawn of time are so common and cheap? Where do they come from? How does surface-travel work? Even most privileged gives impression of considering it as futile dream, yet there are some amount of brisk trade and connection between surface. And how does one reach surface? Some impliess that zailors can go there through zee, my dog went there through prickfinger waste, connection pets go there and here as it were walk on the park, and apparently some even travel to here from surface. Why can’t we hire or order other people to do either minor works such as item conversation or kick out these worthless intruders that clogs my card deck? Also, how long would one Action be? Some description show it as entire day or more, but others are simple meet and talk, and they all cost same one action.
Exactly how does trade of incorporeal goods work? So far, only maniac’s prayer and memory of light give some explanation on how I lost them, and there are no explanation about why I just forgot bunch of story for simply speaking it. And what exactly does these incorporeal goods represent? How come there are so many secrets for sell? These low-level mysteries seems to be most common item, but the secrets would be useless when known to other; much less circle around Neath as money.
Everyone trades through barter; rostygold seems to be most common choice, despite being a blood-gold.
And I can’t drink most of my wine in normal way! I long for real grape wine! I drank it at tomb-colony, so why can’t I drink my broken giant right in front of me!
edited by missmartinez99 on 8/19/2012[/quote]
Concerning the pricing in the bazaar, I recommend viewing it as an analog to the Gold Standard. The value of an echo could be view as a fixed amount of various commodities and issued by the Masters at those exchange rates. Similar systems have been used in the real world, though typically fewer things are used in the basket when fixing the exchange rate. Also, the relative prices of goods needn’t remain constant; it’s possible that the Masters adjust the amount of, for instance, jade required for one Echo then confiscate or distribute the proportional amount of jade to all holders of jade to maintain the echo net worth of those holders. This is, perhaps, unreasonable, but it is nonetheless a plausible currency manipulation with recent historical examples; also, I would ask why one would expect the Masters to appear reasonable in their control of the Bazaar?
Concerning your comment about jewels, the Bazaar doesn’t sell them; it only buys them. Therefore, their pricing represents the Masters’ demand for them, not Londoners’ demand for them. Concerning the ease of going to shops or holding a discussion with someone, remember that paths through Fallen London are more convoluted than a Labyrinth, so varying time may be attributed to finding one’s way to a given location. Further, consider that there are more limitations on what one can do in a day than time. Some actions may represent seconds or minutes but require great physical and/or mental exertion.
Having demonstrated that such questions can be answered, I would suggest keeping in mind that this is both a game and a fictional story. Lighten up. Suspend your disbelief. Have a little fun and focus on the good parts rather than trying to see flaws everywhere.
Wasn’t sure where to post this, but Found: Misspelling at the shroom-hopping track
Eery isn’t wrong, it’s just not the preferred spelling. Both are correct.
Hey wow, I did not know that! Thank you, Mr Overstreet :)
I’m pretty sure that every Fallen Londoners have same opinion on this matter, and I’ll eat my Unfinished Hat if I’m wrong.
Anyway, the point is that :
- [color=#ff6600]We really, really need to see the exact CP value and change.[/color] Current bar system is… well, I don’t think I need to explain this, so let’s just say that this is serious inconvenience. For more detailed info, please check the link [color=#ff0000]⇩[/color].[/li][/ul][ul][li]http://feedback.echobazaar.failbettergames.com/forums/25389-suggestions/suggestions/4074418-directly-show-change-point-cp-along-with-progres
[quote=Tommy Wi]I’m pretty sure that every Fallen Londoners have same opinion on this matter, and I’ll eat my Unfinished Hat if I’m wrong.
Anyway, the point is that: We really, really need to see the exact CP value and change.[/quote]
I don’t care so much about the min/maxing. Qualitative changes are fine for the way I like to play. That being said, I’m of the opinion that it should be available for people who want to play that way, provided that information isn’t obscuring the narrative enjoyment at which Fallen London excels. The balancing decisions have been made to accommodate this level of player already, and empirical testing will usually reveal the results after iteration, but the extra steps are more likely to frustrate players than reward players who like to do the extra work to unravel the inner workings.
So, I believe it’s good game design to give this information to players who want it, but I could personally enjoy the game without it.
In my case, I found that being unable to directly read CP tend to hold me back from juicy stories of Neath and helping others (wiki), so I think that this is important. But It is also true that egregious display might ruin the mood of game… then again, we did got used to orange banner, and I don’t think such "tiny" change would stand out that much.
Anyway, this damnable hat is damnably uncooperative and have very unpleasant taste. Taste as personality thing, not flavor. There’s no way that I can subdue it for now.
[quote=Theus][quote=Tommy Wi]I’m pretty sure that every Fallen Londoners have same opinion on this matter, and I’ll eat my Unfinished Hat if I’m wrong.
Anyway, the point is that: We really, really need to see the exact CP value and change.[/quote]
I don’t care so much about the min/maxing. Qualitative changes are fine for the way I like to play. That being said, I’m of the opinion that it should be available for people who want to play that way, provided that information isn’t obscuring the narrative enjoyment at which Fallen London excels. The balancing decisions have been made to accommodate this level of player already, and empirical testing will usually reveal the results after iteration, but the extra steps are more likely to frustrate players than reward players who like to do the extra work to unravel the inner workings.
So, I believe it’s good game design to give this information to players who want it, but I could personally enjoy the game without it.[/quote]
[li]
Rare successes are dependant on the card. One might be 50% (as likely as ordinary success), while one might be 0.1%
I once wrote a Tale of the Future! A world of gleaming brass and sparking globes. A tale of London’s triumphant return to the surface!
…it didn’t do well. Didn’t do well at all: the Court scoffed at the idea that the heroes of the future will be engineers, technologists and other middle-class types.
So I used the ideas from that novel to build a Zubmarine and left this embarassing affair behind never to be talked about again.[li]
edited by Lawrence Growe on 6/28/2013
Yet another addition - Why isn’t there option to [color=#ffffff]do several same actions at one go[/color]?
For example, adding multiple Action option on grind like "Affair of the Box" storylet would be nice. Not only it would be more convenient, it will be a blessing to our wrist.[color=#ff3300]*[/color]
- My suggestion is adding something like this: [color=#ffffff]Mix of [/color][color=#99ffff][ current "use second chance" box as a base ] [/color]+ [color=#ffff66][ Single-sized[/color][color=#ffff99] number input box like old bazaar interface ][/color]. How about that?
[color=#ff3300]*[/color] I there might be some tool for it, but not everyone know or willing to use such methods.
[li]