Seems like a good use of Confident Smiles, which are a little easier to come by than other second chances! If it’s ~30 actions for 50 echoes, that’s slightly better than Affair of the Box, but probably quite a bit more random (as it should be so as not to just “replace” that straightforward grind.) When all the possibilities are recorded, someone enterprising can do the math similar to the great guide I saw somewhere for the Crowds of Spite and the lucky/unlucky # of actions can be determined. Hurrah for sub-games with non-obvious EPA!
I haven’t played this yet but something that really bothered me about the obstacle mechanic in Flint is that you can’t see the unlock requirements - what exactly triggers this or that obstacle. I really hope some sort of interface improvement is made to display that information in the future
genesis, you’re told when you acquire an obstacle, and the obstacle cards now say “when you draw this it immediately fires, that’s why you’re seeing this.” So I think that’s an improvement.
I like this! It was rather fun and reminded me a lot of Flint’s expedition.
It’s hard but enjoyable. 100 progress is a bit too long though and I’m still at ~30 progress.
Are you planning on doing a Watchful and Dangerous version too? That would be great :)
UPDATE:
Finally finished the venture. The mini-game was nice and engaging. However, it was too long. If I’m not mistaken, I burned ~35-40 actions for it.
edited by Pyrodinium on 12/17/2015
[quote=Chris Gardiner][color=#ff9900]You could call it a confidence trick, but then people would know what it was, wouldn’t they?[/color]
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[color=#ff9900]Delicious friends! We’ve just released some new, free content: a flexible card-based mini-game called "A Flash Lay". Flash Lays are confidence tricks: choose a mark, muster your schemes, and avoid suspicion.[/color]
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[color=#ff9900]We’re trialling this content at the moment, and plan to adjust it in response to feedback. Have a play and let us know what you think! [/color]
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[color=#ff9900]There are two Flash Lays available now: one for characters with Shadowy and Persuasive of about 50, and another for characters with stats of 125 or more.[/color]
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[color=#ff9900]Characters who have advanced a little way along the Persuasive and Shadowy tracks will find the starting storylet in Veilgarden.
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edited by Chris Gardiner on 12/16/2015[/quote]
Sounds like fun, Chris! Thanks.
I liked it all in all, but it took too much actions to complete. If I hadn’t got 15 actions to spare at the beginning, I think, I would have been really annoyed by its length
I started my first “Flash Lay” with nearly 40 actions and finished with 4 or 5 I think.
I agree with Ocelot: I liked this type of story, but 100 Progress felt very long for the amount of story you get, though the reward was very nice.
I did the second Flash Lay in 31 actions; that’s not bad for a 50-Echo reward. It certainly feels less grindy than the Affair of the Box, although that may just be lack of familiarity. I agree that having the new outfits feature makes this much more enjoyable; I’m not sure it would feel worth the trouble to switch back and forth between my Persuasive, Shadowy, and Watchful gear if I had to change every item by hand. (Are there no cards that involve Dangerous checks? Or did I just happen not to draw one?)
First thoughts:
This is like really long Heists (or Pickpocket Promenade), but with multiple qualities and items which affect progress.
Pros:
- Interesting new content.[/li][li]Nice diversion from other grinds - includes lots of variations.[/li][li]Decent profitability (took me 30 actions to get the 50 echoes, and I had no idea what I was doing - mostly trying to sample as many cards as possible).
Cons:
- Each cycle is too long. I’m interested in experiencing this again to try out all the variety, but if each run is ~30 actions this will be tedious unless I’m starting with full candles (40 actions).[/li][li]Confusing - not clear what my actual goal is! Only after encountering a certain card did I first learn that I should aim for 100 Progress.[/li][li]Confusing - so many variations (obstacles, new qualities, new temporary items, etc.).
EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the cool new (and free!) content! Hope to see it refined even more to make it more accessible.
edited by dov on 12/17/2015
Great stuff. But I’m currently over ten actions past 100 progress with no finish card in sight. Should probably set random draw to stop soon after 100 progress unless there are hidden rewards past 100 progress.
It seems like the intended way to progress quickly is to build up Up Your Sleeve quality, and then turn the autofire Obstacle cards into big Progress gains or useful Opportunities. Its interesting, but there could be more clairity: the A Polite Invitation gives good instructions, I think. Or maybe the party is just very simple to understand.
Maybe more feedback after I play through it a few times.
And here I thought I was just a bumbling ignoramus when in fact it was actually new content! I liked it. Like others I have stats in the middle and I took the easier course. It took me a bit to http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Hepzibah~Gordon~figure it out–doesn’t everything. But I did. And enjoyed it. Was shocked by the cards that just flat out activate. I think that’s a great innovation. I look forward to trying it again, perhaps a tad more deliberately.
[quote=Kylestien]My feedback on this is as follows:
Fun and I’d like to see more, however:
I’d like the needed requirement to be a LITTLE bit lower for the rewards. I think 90 would be sufficent. ALTERNATIVLY ad I think this better, do what Cat and Mouse do and have three rewards: One weaker reward for 50, one for 100, and one better one then current for 150.
Also, a Watchful and Dangerious one later on, for those players.
Somehow add this to Mr Eaten content in a card game of spiral and misery.[/quote]
I think 90 is still too high. I’d recommend somewhere between 50 and 75.
I like this very much. It’s nice and long, with plenty of variety. The mechanic whereby obstructive cards are played immediately is genius. Well done!
I hate that about Heists too.
First thought:
I must’ve logged in Below by accident.
Second thought:
Oh wait, Chris Gardiner posted the news.
Third thought:
The obstacles could use some work. As of now it is not really worth the effort to turn them into beneficial openings since it take so much work yet it is very possible you just can’t draw the Opening until you finished it.
Four thought:
Up the Sleeves could use a better description than "Asset for Flash Lay".
Getting rid of the Awkward Friend obstacle also gave me 25x progress, and only required 5x Up Your Sleeve.
If you figure you can get 2x Up Your Sleeve for an action then that makes 25x progress for 3.5 actions, which is not only competitive with 7x progress/action but also makes your deck better. Seems worthwhile to me.
Any way, my initial impression is that 100x progress is very long. I have great stats and used second chances so I never failed, and it still took around ~20 actions. Personally, I think any repeatable content that can’t be played through in one sitting feels a little bad.
If my guesstimate of ~20-25 actions is correct, that’s very good ppa but it doesn’t account for the menaces, quirks, or second chances used. It was definitely fun, but I’ll need to take better notes to see how it actually compares to heists, AotB, or spirifage.
It’s always nice to see some more challenges that aren’t 100% at or near the stat cap, but it does mean that you need to account for worst-case “lose your progress and go to jail” failure if you’re considering it as an end-game goat/cider grind. No matter how safe something is, if you do it for 160,000 echoes you’ll probably get a run of very bad luck eventually.
Oooh, wasn’t expecting to get a couple Queer Souls out of the Spirifer mark. Very nice.