[color=#339900]Hi all! We’ve made some changes to the Flash Lay content in response to the excellent feedback you all gave us here. The key changes are:[/color]
[color=#339900]Length: You now only need 75 Progress to complete a Flash Lay, rather than 100. We’ve adjusted the rewards accordingly.[/color][/li][li][color=#339900]Ending: If your Progress reaches 100, the end of the Flash Lay will trigger automatically. You can still end the Flash lay earlier by playing the Make your Move: A Confessional Evening card. If you don’t have it, though, and are having bad luck drawing cards, you won’t have to wait too long before the Flash Lay ends automatically.[/color][/li][li][color=#339900]Instructions: A storylet in the Flash Lay now provides basic guidance on Progress, Up Your Sleeve, Obstacles and Openings, and Menaces.[/color][/li][li][color=#339900]Other minor changes: For example, when you start a new Flash lay, you should no longer inherit any cards left over from your last one. [/color]
[color=#339900]We may make further changes, but we wanted to let these core ones bed in first, and then assess. Enjoy![/color]
Already sent an email to feedback, but if you’re not supposed to be inheriting cards from previous Lays, that’s not the case for me, as I just started the one for the Exceptional Story and had "The Value of Character" in hand from the beginning.
Edit: Got a response from Feedback, and it’s fixed. edited by Kaigen on 2/26/2016
I tested the Flash Lay incorporated into this month’s exceptional story.
At one point, I appeared to obtain an Obstacle Card (it popped up on my screen) but it disappeared when i moved my mouse and I was left with the normal 3-card view. I’m not sure if this was a bug or working as intended.
A small unrelated observation- is it an intended mechanic that players can get a chain of obstacle cards in succession? At one point I was shown/drew fresh obstacle cards immediately after clearing the previous obstacle card, I think 3 or 4 in total. Fortunately, my menaces were sufficiently low to deal with it, but I’d imagine this could be problematic for someone on the brink.
I’ve done two Lays at the Avid Auditor so far. Finished one in 20 actions, the other in 18, so it looks like it’ll be more feasible to get through one on a single standard candle. The payout at the end has been reduced to 37.5, but you’ll still come out better than AotB if you finish in 22 actions or fewer (though ideally you’d want to finish even earlier to make up for second chances expended).
So far I think flash lays are very fun to play, but with a payout of 37,5 echoes they’re not the greatest source of cash even compared to the basic boring grinds like the box or assassins.
Most of the time to complete one you’ll have to spend ~25 actions, while getting quite a few menaces and likely losing some second chances. I’d be happy to do nothing but flash lays if they provided some better cash or cost less AP to complete! Menaces and high skill challenges actually feel quite refreshing for a stat capped character.
I can’t be sure about etymology of said phrase (and genuinely to lazy to search for any sources or come up with witty speculations), but basically it’s a con in which you in mere days gain utter trust of your target and shamelessly exploit to your profit, hence, ahem, the comparisonto trying to get laid as fast as possilbe. For reasons unknown, individuals partaking in this unsightly business usually pick their targets in Veilgarden (probably because if you add wine and honey, trust becomes a simple matter of quantity).
The old thread is linked not only here but in the Flash Lay storylet itself, so until that is changed, someone is bound to direct their comments there. I imagine FBG might not want to change it because it has useful comments about the Flash Lay in general, rather than just the recent changes.
If you have more than a single empty place in your hand, it is conceivable that you might draw two or three different obstacle cards at the same time, which means that clearing one will take you straight to the next.
There’s something else that concerns me, though. Mr Gardiner has run out of orange ink! Cannot someone help the poor man? edited by The Duke of Waltham on 3/1/2016
Firstly, let me say that I like the changes. I think they make the Flash Lays better.
However, I’ve realised what it is that’s been bugging me about them ever since they came along and why I enjoy them less than the Heists, even though I recognise they’re better crafted.
It’s that there’s no beginning. You are told when you choose your Mark who they are and who you’ll pretend to be, but then it launches straight into situations where you already know them, possibly quite well. It feels like there is a stage missing! How do we first meet and become acquainted with them?
I realise rectifying this would require extra writing, but if it could be done I believe it would make for a more satisfying experience overall. edited by colinsapherson on 3/1/2016
Having just tried my first Flash Lay as part of the Election, I felt compelled to pause it at 58 Progress to go do some suspicion reductions. When I left, it removed all progress. Mortified at it not warning this would happen. It only said there would be a Suspicion gain. I thought it would be like Expeditions.