Has anyone been brazen enough to try and surrender their starveling kitty-cat to the tigers?
[quote=Barse]
It’s not really worth it - the result is in my journal.[/quote]
What a shame. If I happen upon another, maybe then. Until then, thank you for your assistance.
Also, I concur with all previous and future appreciation of the new artwork!
I have nothing to say at this time except even from the limited amount I’ve been able to play through it’s already so exciting! The use of the Fate-limited items as Tribute seems a little underwhelming since they’re so rare, but the stuff like using the Empress’s Court and favors and other items is great!
…Also with all this new content coming out that relies on you being exiled from Court I’m a little curious to hear from those who chose not to get exiled for game or RP reasons. It’s become pretty clear for these end game stories it’s a choice that Failbetter expects you to have made as part of the story advancing, so what do people who made the deliberate choice not to think?
An excellent question! May I give some answer?
First, I do plan on becoming exiled from Court eventually, but not by choice. Such a thing is highly out of character for my main character, but traveling to Port Carnelian and serving as governor are even more highly in character Thus, I made the decision to do it eventually, once I’ve come up with a good enough RP excuse, as it were. (This is as opposed to, say, the Wars of Illusion, which - though appropriate enough for said character, are not enough to balance out the out-of-character choice of becoming a Master Thief.) The Dilmun Club, which is yea more in character provides even more of a push to do what Prof. Kan would otherwise certainly avoid.
Some could be said here on the general London assumption that every PC either is or will become a cynical jerk. To me, however, the more important point is that releasing extensions to current content is a complicated business. Ideally, that content builds on what came before in such a way that people who will want to do Thing X are naturally those who would have done Thing W right before it. The Making Your Name stories function like this. If I set up my character so that pickpocketing and area diving is attractive, naturally I will want to progress to master thievery; if even picking up a silken hankie is against my character, then I certainly will not be breaking into the Brass Embassy for kicks. However, this can also lead to compartmentalization and repetition, neither of which make for compelling narrative.
The other option is to let the streams bleed a little bit, have things that require both A and B to do, or that require different things in different ways This is the sort of situation you find yourself with in the Dilmun Club, which might naturally favor Watchfulness, but which is here involved with a Persuasive storyline, and particularly a late-game decision that not everyone might want to make. It’s frustrating, when you find yourself deciding between bending character and being cut off from attractive content. If such a decision is forced frivolously, especially in a game as focused on player choices as this one, you have bad design. However, if the decision follows naturally from the content itself, then you probably have a good thing going, however awkward. In this instance, the plot for the Dilmun Club (as best I can gather without having played it) is deeply connected to the affairs of Port Carnelian and either could not have been done, or could not have been done as well, without a governorship and its related privileges under the belt.
What FBG is up against here (which also came up regarding Hallowmas content) is the pressure of completionism. It’s a continual issue in a game like this. You want to offer players different paths and options, but there is also a pressure in players to get all the things. What designers intend as an optional path looks to players as a necessity, at times to the point of complaints that the player is being led by the nose down what was intended to be a side alley. Is there a perfect solution? Not always. So, while I may perhaps grumble a bit in the privacy of my own skull, I also respect and (to the degree I can without having played it) understand the decision.
An Ode to the Elder Continent? Something new? Something hidden? Or something that isn’t implemented yet?
[quote=Hotshot Blackburn]
…Also with all this new content coming out that relies on you being exiled from Court I’m a little curious to hear from those who chose not to get exiled for game or RP reasons. It’s become pretty clear for these end game stories it’s a choice that Failbetter expects you to have made as part of the story advancing, so what do people who made the deliberate choice not to think?[/quote]
I had been hanging on to the Court for some of the convenient grinds, so I’m a little disappointed that I can’t start on the new Dilmun content right away, especially since this is the update I’ve been most excited for. It’s not a huge deal, though–now that the return to court has been implemented, I had no scruples with getting the boot, and I’ve already made governorship preparations at the Foreign Office. I’ll rush out to Port Carnelian as soon as Hallowmas is over. I’ll be a week or so behind the curve, but that’s not too far.
edited by earthbourn on 10/30/2017
That’s something you can make in the Empress’ Court after being restored, if I recall correctly.
Does anyone have any idea what it means by other boons? I’m wondering if I should try and get more tribute or if it’s just flavor text.
Ah. If that’s the case then I hadn’t noticed it.
Ah. If that’s the case then I hadn’t noticed it.[/quote]
Just checked the wiki - it’s a poem. :)
I guess I can multitask with Ballets now. Do the Tiger Ballet for a fine piece and tribute. I can keep grinding my Poet Laureate while still main some progress towards the tiger companions.
[quote=Kylestien]Does anyone have any idea what it means by other boons? I’m wondering if I should try and get more tribute or if it’s just flavor text.[/quote]The boons consist of:20 Tribute for a walk with one of the Tiger Ministers, which gives you 62.5 Echoes, either as one item (Enigma, Night-Whisper or Primaeval Hint) or 5 Favours in High Places.
240 Tribute for getting to pick up another Tiger Minister as a companion (they give +10 to a single stat). There are four ministers total, and you get your first Minister for free just for visiting, so it’s 720 Tribute to pick up the other 3.
[quote=Vavakx Nonexus][quote=Kylestien]Does anyone have any idea what it means by other boons? I’m wondering if I should try and get more tribute or if it’s just flavor text.[/quote]The boons consist of:20 Tribute for a walk with one of the Tiger Ministers, which gives you 62.5 Echoes, either as one item (Enigma, Night-Whisper or Primaeval Hint) or 5 Favours in High Places.
240 Tribute for getting to pick up another Tiger Minister as a companion (they give +10 to a single stat). There are four ministers total, and you get your first Minister for free just for visiting, so it’s 720 Tribute to pick up the other 3.[/quote]
Whoa! That is impressive. Thanks for the info!
Another question for those in the know regarding boons, because I am nowhere near - is this a one-time thing, as in you should be grinding boons to as high a level as you desire before you ‘advance the storyline’ and are locked out of options (like the Third Coil, which I am still salty about :V), or is this more like…another end-game grind/thing to do even after you’ve advanced the storyline (like the Fourth Coil, where there is No End to how many Hounds of Heaven you can hand over)?
20 Actions to collect 20 Favours Criminals, 4 to exchange them on Tribute, 1 to exchange Tribute to item. 62.5 / 25 = 2.5 EpA sounds very good.
Or Favors: Society - available from Mayor of London, the Society faction card, the Racing Slug of Fine Pedigree, and the cards for the Young Stags, Clay Sedan Chair, Shepherd’s Timepiece, Obdurate Stallion, and Regard of the Generous Princess. They’re also available through Polite Invitations; one from the Rubbery Entrepreneur after dinner, and one as you leave if you don’t cash in Talk of the Town. I’d been using my plentiful supply of society favors for wine at the shuttered palace, but it may be time to start a night-whisper collection…
Did anyone else get knocked out of the story after drawing the card? I ended up back in the Forgotten Quarter.
Sackmass is coming. This makes last-minute preparations significantly more available.
I didn’t see anyone else answer, so I guess I’ll have to take the plunge here.
I lost all my tribute (I only had 5) and got +1 CP Nightmares and Wounds. Did not lose the cat though. So not as bad as I would have expected.
Is Obdurate Stallion card still matter of luck? Not sure if its profitable.