First things first: the outfit-change gadget on the main page is an excellent time-and-click-saving addition. (Aside: I agree there should be more free outfits; enough for at least the four basic stats, one balanced-stat outfit, and a couple of sciences/BDR getups. Paid outfit slots should probably take the total to at least a dozen, and I can easily think of uses for fifteen off-hand.)
Otherwise… Ouch. I understand what FBG were trying to do here, and I can see the possibilities presented by the idea of outfit locks under specific circumstances and with plenty of warning for the player.
But the current implementation is painfully bad; sometimes literally, given my wrist problems. I seem to have done a huge amount of extra clicking over the last couple of days because I had to back out of single-card storylets in order to change outfit because I’d forgotten some detail. Then I was unable to play at all for a huge chunk of Sunday (if there was some unrelated server problem, fair enough, but I saw/see no signs of that).
When I got back in, I started on “Unto Dust”, which warned me that I’d be unable to leave the storylet while discussing the arrangements for the funeral - fair enough. Except that I was actually unable to leave the storylet (or change outfit) for the discussion, dinner on two separate nights, the funeral itself, and an explicitly-several-days-long period afterwards. Partly that’s a problem with the story (I shouldn’t have been locked in like that), but the new outfit locks made it even more absurd. Mechanically this didn’t present a problem for me (as a POSI with all stats over 200); thematically it was actually rather a lot more ridiculous than changing outfits multiple times during a party.
Then I thought about my habit of leaving Exceptional Stories to do when my mood is right. I’m so, SO, glad that I did “Paisley” a couple of weeks ago - great fun, and the continual gear-swapping to be wearing exactly the right amount of Paisley for the situation was very entertaining. Trying to do it now would be an utter nightmare, and I’d almost certainly have just given up forever (again, RSI) - even if the locking system worked properly rather than (as is actually the case) randomly getting stuck and not letting me change outfits for hours at a time when I’m wandering Fallen London doing everyday stuff.
So please, FBG, roll this back for now and rethink. If you want it for new content, then re-introduce it carefully and ONLY for new content that’s designed with it in mind. Then, if you’re sure it’s the right thing, go through existing storylets one at a time and make careful deliberate decisions to flag them as either outfit-locked or not.
I love Fallen London; I’ve had so much fun here (and spent more money on it than on any other game ever, because I wanted to support it). This change is (again: literally, physically) painfully bad.