Okay, so i have a interesting idea for a forum game to do with Fallen London, but before I make a thread about it i need a few questions answered about the Give a Gift Card, specifically the one with the 1000 Echoes option.
1: i am given to understand it is random what you get. Is this true?
2: What can be obtained from it? Can it theoretically be anything, or is it set to a few useless items?
3: The most important part: Can you get bad stuff from it as well as good?
Also, anything else I need to know?
For those who are interested, the idea is below:
Basically, I (or preferably another giving me credit since I probably won’t update it often) make a thread that is updated with people’s profiles who want to join.
People with Echoes who want to join in then send these people random 1000 echo gifts when they get the card.
It’s effectively A Game Of Chance which is also the name of the game: you get a 1000 echo gift from a person, and hopefully it’s something awesome and not awful.
The reason it’s not any gift is twofold: one: it would be too easy to just troll everyone sending live rodents, and the resources for the others are not viable for a game.
The idea needs a little work and I’d appreciate feedback. edited by Kylestien on 10/8/2014
Although I like the idea, there’s already a package passing chance game in FL–Pass the Cat. Also, I’m pretty sure the packages you get from Give a Gift are skewed to be beneficial.
Pass the Cat has one drawback that ‘A Game of Chance’ would not have: The card for Pass the Cat has an Unusual frequency, whereas the Give a Gift! card has a Standard frequency. So Pass the Cat comes up every few days if you draw a lot of cards, while Give a gift! comes up about once per day. (Then there are some Standard frequency cards that come up three times per day, so some Standard frequencies are more ‘standard’ than others.)
And luckily it’s 1000 pence, which is 10 Echoes, not 1000 Echoes. As a PoSI one already gets such gifts from a card (An unsigned message) if one passes a Notability check (12% chance of success per level of Notability). And one can get any of the available contents of a Bundle of Oddities, up to the grand prize: a Blemmigan Secretary.
About 0.1% chance of that happening. Other than that it’s maybe 60% chance of getting something that’s worth ~10 Echoes, and 20% probability of getting something that’s barely worth the two Actions it takes to receive and open the package, and 20% risk of getting something that is certainly not worth two Actions.
So you get two players spending 1+2=3 Actions and if they’re lucky the second one gets the 10 Echoes that the first one s(p)ent. So it’s like a regular postal service I guess? I indulge in the occasional package-sending, but the whole deal feels quite wasteful. It’s especially bad that I as the sender can’t even guarantee that it’ll actually be worth the recipient’s time. Spending two Actions to get a low number Bundle of Oddities? Some ‘gift’. ::
[quote=dismallyOriented]… especially to people seeking their souls.[/quote]Why? The full Bundle of Oddities range goes from 1 to 1008. The chance of hitting 100 is about 0.1%, as opposed to the 0.83% from a range 1-120 Bundle of Oddities.
So, are people interested in the game idea then, and do they think it would work? Should I or someone more likely to update go ahead with it? If it’s only ten Echoes I think most can afford it too. edited by Kylestien on 10/9/2014
Yes, but it shouldn’t it help to have multiple sources of bundles? Plus it’s just nice to get packages. Although you’re right that the Fisher Kings storylet (of that’s what you’re referring to) has higher chances.
I have to ask however: is anyone on regularly enough to keep updating such a list? In the next two weeks I’m going to be very busy and may not get the chance, and I would love to see this game become a thing.
Yes, but it shouldn’t it help to have multiple sources of bundles? Plus it’s just nice to get packages. Although you’re right that the Fisher Kings storylet (of that’s what you’re referring to) has higher chances.[/quote]
Opening the box costs an action, which means that you’re using that box instead of opening a less general bundle or obtaining the means to do so.
Just a couple of pointers: you asked whether sending people items like Goldfishes and Tinctures is possible - sadly it’s not. Nor is it possible to send small amounts of Fate. The minimum (and, in fact, only) amount of Fate that can be gifted to another player is 100.
Also, the in-game message will tell the recipient of a gift whether they are receiving a Surprise Package (which won’t ever contain anything harmful, but might not always have something valuable) or jewels, or second chances, or rats. The only element of surprise is when rats are sent - the receiver does not know if they are alive or dead and on a string until the box is opened. So a message declaring what’s in the package would be necessary for rats, but not for anything else.
You could of course offer a Wound heal if you rat someone up through a normal social action rather than sending a Tincture. Incidentally, Wounds are the only Menace you can acquire from the Give a Gift! card packages, and only from the box of live rodents option.
Hope this helps![li] edited by A B Nile on 10/9/2014
[quote=A B Nile]The only element of surprise is when rats are sent - the receiver does not know if they are alive or dead and on a string until the box is opened. So a message declaring what’s in the package would be necessary for rats, but not for anything else.[/quote]I don’t know about those live rodents, but the dead ones are auto-accepted, at no Action cost to the recipient. So it wouldn’t be necessary to send any explanatory message for those. And I’m going to guess that the live rodents are auto-accepted as well, and that’s why we’re not permitted to send them to people who have too many Wounds.
The rules in the thread have been changed the reflect this information. If there is anything else I should know, make sure to let me know.
I also feel like I need to say something about the Gift of 100 Fate, though I’m not sure what that should be. What would be you advice on The Gift Of 100 Fate thing in regards to this game? Should there be a ruling against it to protect people’s money or prevent fate farming or something? Should it be encouraged as a notion of generosity? I’m hesitant to even mention it in ANY capacity due to it’s nature of RL money, but I feel it is something that would need to be addressed in the game rules, so I’m asking you guys for advice. edited by Kylestien on 10/9/2014
Honestly, my take is that nobody is going to gift 100 Fate (costing $20 / £12.20) to someone else for no reason so I wouldn’t even worry about mentioning it.
Incidentally, lots of players exchange Surprise Packages bilaterally just for fun, which in many ways works better than sending one to someone random and hoping that someone else chooses to send you one back. If you posted in the Enlist Other Players part of the forum (link below) asking for people interested in swapping Surprise Packages with you I’m sure you’d have plenty of takers. I regularly swap them with people on my Acquaintance list in furtherance of my search for a Blemmigan Secretary!