A wish for the future

I know the staff is overwhelmed these days with the conversion over to FailBetter’s interface, so I have a wistful hope when they are less whelmed…[li]

The only way I can describe this is to have different paths for different people.

For instance, myself, a dedicated lady who is very interested in the infernal influences in Fallen London, will likely wind up with mostly the same toys, the same stories, the same connections and the same everything as someone else, who is dedicated to the Church, or as another who is closer to the Urchins. We will all have gone through the same sets of stories, with the same ultimate outcomes.

It would be really REALLY nice if, at some point in the future, I being closest to Hell could have some paths be easier, with additional bonuses, and extras in being closer to Hell (like admittance into the Iron Republic) that would not have the same set of offerings to those who are connected to Constables (like all the detective stories) or those who are hanging on the Dutchess’ every word. So that when I have played all that I can as an intimate of Hell, I have different things and aspects to my character that someone who is connected to Bohemians wouldn’t have, and conversely the poet would have many many more things that I wouldn’t have, and neither would a Rubbery intimate have. (One example, having to be closest to Rubbery to get the nub, and at this point it’s only necessary to have the route and the Fate to get it and to have other story lines locked out if you have it, and so on.)

Now, I understand that this world is only a few years old, if that. But once all the hullabaloo is done to get the interfaces mated, one of the projects that should be on the big &quotto be done&quot whiteboard (other than continuing the various &quotto be continued&quot storylines) would be to make unique storylines and stories and opportunities available to those depending on their choices in the past. It would reflect a more realistic pathway. I can’t see how someone who is involved in stealing souls and lifting money from people would be welcomed among the detectives. But currently that’s how it is.

Just a thought.

Thinking about this some more, there’s chances to have additional items due to the interrelations between factions. For instance, the Criminals could be allied with the Docks, and some of the storylets for the Docks could be opened for those closest to the Criminals due to the fact that they help each other out. Same for the Orient, but those stories that use the Detectives, Constables and so on would be more locked out for those closest to Criminals than for someone who is closest to the Church or the Masters. Ditto for Hell, for Society and the Boehemians and so on.

You could get a really complex interrelationship like that. A whole fan and webwork of how the different groups interact and relate to each other. Playing Pass the Cat would come with even more problems if you are a Bohemian and opposed to the Society and Dutchess, and cause more of a penalty in loss of connection, and maybe even more of a chance of failure.

I don’t know, maybe I’m making it too complex. But it would be really cool if something like this could happen. I mean, there’s what, 16 different factions? And right now the ONLY effect the faction membership has is in choice of profession.

I’m hoping that the alignment you chose to support on the Numismatrix card will later unlock a story involving that faction. If this does happen I think it’d have to wait until we can change our alignment, since it was a choice we made rather early on when we might not have the best idea of which group the character would like best. That and there are some factions teased on the options involving them that we cannot currently support, such as the Masters and Rubbery Men.

Another thing I want but don’t hold any hope out for is negative connections. At the moment you can be a jerk to a connection, but it doesn’t affect your ability to curry favour with them later when you need them for something. It’d be nice if there was a way to get a bad reputation in a group, and even neater if becoming too notorious adds a card to your deck in which they try to do something about you. Well, assuming they’re the sort to try that kind of thing.

I’ll speak up in the other direction, I like being able to curry a little bit of favor with factions that don’t normally like me. My character favors Hell, but even as he advances Hell’s interests it’s always good to have a few contacts in the Church so as to keep abreast of their actions, and similarly even though the Constables and Hell are often at odds, he considers it wise to know a few Constables so that, if need arises, he can call in favors should his riskier activities land him in hot water.

Mechanically, the current system also makes sense–the opposed faction Connection cards (i.e. The Devil and the Child, etc.) wouldn’t make any sense at all mechanically if it were not possible to curry favor from the less-favored side or if &quotnegative&quot connections were possible. One of the best ways to earn, for example, Connected:Rubbery Men at higher levels is to grind Connected:Constables and then favor the Rubbery Men on the Rubbery Men-Constables conflict card.

EDIT: Grammar.
[li]
edited by Flipz on 6/8/2013

Negative connections wouldn’t stop you from doing that at all. It’d just be a carry over of CP loss into a negative value.

[quote=Flipz]I’ll speak up in the other direction, I like being able to curry a little bit of favor with factions that don’t normally like me. My character favors Hell, but even as he advances Hell’s interests it’s always good to have a few contacts in the Church so as to keep abreast of their actions, and similarly even though the Constables and Hell are often at odds, he considers it wise to know a few Constables so that, if need arises, he can call in favors should his riskier activities land him in hot water.

Mechanically, the current system also makes sense–the opposed faction Connection cards (i.e. The Devil and the Child, etc.) wouldn’t make any sense at all mechanically if it were not possible to curry favor from the less-favored side or if &quotnegative&quot connections were possible. One of the best ways to earn, for example, Connected:Rubbery Men at higher levels is to grind Connected:Constables and then favor the Rubbery Men on the Rubbery Men-Constables conflict card.[/quote][li]

Then maybe a situation where getting favor with other factions is harder due to the connection to one. So currying favor with the Church could be only 2CP if you are connected to Hell instead of like 4 or 5 CP with someone who is associated with Urchins.

Something like a chart were being connected to this faction causes negative reactions in that one, and positive reactions in another and so on. It is handy to have contacts on the other side, but it would seem to me that there would be animosity between some. And still with the various storylets and opportunity cards that are specific to the various associations.

I don’t think we should make it harder to get connections because they’re used for conversions. That would just be frustrating, especially to those who like to maintain good connections with everybody.
edited by Sara Hysaro on 6/8/2013

Plus, frankly, the oppositions set up between the factions are a bit bizarre. Church/Hell and Constables/Criminals, sure, but… Revolutionaries/Rubbery Men but not Revolutionaries/Constables or Revolutionaries/Society? Docks/Urchins but not Docks/Criminals? The Bohemians and the Game only get one rival each - both the Church? And, well, are the Orient even a faction at this point or not? They get conflict cards, but no training card or pet, and not much character development beyond hints of another Neathy nation yet to be revealed. Honestly, I think the system needs an overhaul before any further mechanics can be hung from it.

True, the divisions and conflicts are a bit bizare. So, another wish for the future… clean it up and make it a bit more logical.

As for making it harder, I suggest just a penalty for being allied with one faction, as it would be in real life, although I can also see if you get the connection higher than the connection to what you are loyal to, maybe that would go away, and the same for the conversion. I mean, a connection to Hell of 125 and Society of 80, then using them to call in favors and get money, you use it up, and then it matters that you have a connection to the Church of 60, and you make less money when cashing in Hell below 60. IMO, this would reflect the realities of association. Like how drinking 20 bottles of laudanum only starts helping 1CP for the nightmares after a while.

Might I point out that the vast majority of those changes (laudanum in particular) don’t come into play until after becoming a Person of Some Importance? I can imagine something like you suggest being VERY frustrating before that point–though I have to admit, I DO like the idea of it affecting rewards and cash-outs more than actual Connected levels (which affect the availability of storylets). (In fact, I can see it working according to a similar scale as the rats for Ratcatchers in the Department of Menace Eradication, only scaling with Connected rather than Dangerous.) HOWEVER: I really think it’s smarter to present it to the player (via wording, etc.) as a “bonus” to the rewards for the favored faction(s), rather than a penalty to all the others–just a matter of selling the feature in a positive light. ;-)

Well, this is all bat-in-the-sky dream anyhow. I have no ability to affect this, just suggesting something that I <i>hope</i> Alexis sees and actually thinks about for future rollouts, in that it should help the story telling and make it a bit more realistic, and give different endpoints for players instead of basically the same things for everyone.

I speak with Flipz on this one. I enjoy being to play all of the available content in Fallen London and would be unhappy if some of it became unavailable to me. Especially as an end-game character, I savor new content like a divine cuisine, being left with marginally more than grinding. I see the intrigue of your idea, Joy, bit I agree that for content like this to be implemented there’d have to be a way to change your alignment fairly easily and a minimum of negative effects to other aspects of the game