[quote=Sara Hysaro]It’s under Write Letters in your Lodgings, for 20 Fate.[/quote]Ah! Disregard that second paragraph, then, and thank you. I will keep the possibility under consideration.
Edit: While I’m thinking about it, has anyone had their chosen ally win without tampering with the tankards? I’m curious as to what the final result is in that case.
edited by Kaigen on 10/19/2017
I chose a certain option at the very end, and now I seem to be stuck. My "story" tab says "(No Storylets have been unlocked yet in this location.)" and there’s nothing I can click.
I’m guessing it’s a bug, since I can’t travel or do anything.
edited by earthbourn on 10/19/2017
Bugs are best reported to support, so they will definitely see them and sort you out:
Since it said “no storylets have been unlocked yet,” I was hoping it was just a living story or something, but I’ll go ahead and report it.
Same here (I favoured the Constable, and lost in the end). I will never reset the story, it’s too important.
I think the bones of this storyline have been sketched out in roughly their current form for a long while. I also think it was originally intended to play out faster – like the story of the Missing Contessa, which is renowned for leaving the player full of regret, whatever they chose (I wonder if the Contessa story wasn’t a dry run for this).
FL is a fantastic dystopia running on a ticking clock. It’s not a world in which good usually triumphs, or is meant to. Most players I’ve known assume that sooner or later, the Sixth City will drop, whatever we Londoners do – some assume their characters will survive this event, and others don’t.
On to the story. Forewarned with the knowledge that the odds are stacked against the Last Constable, I still chose ‘Double or Nothing’ in the end since it’s somewhat in-character as a chronic gambler, and also, I did not trust the idea of the poisoned tankards being conveniently marked on the bottom on the orders of the Cheery Man…and I wanted to see what would happen. Here’s what I got, on my Journal. And here are my gripes.
[spoiler]
Gripe 1: Annoyingly, I don’t think that ‘Double or Nothing’ removes the advantage from the Cheery Man, despite the fact that logically, it should, since both players are then blindfolded (unless the marks are engraved and he reads them by touch, but in this case, I think the unfairness should be made explicit, and part of the plot - what will he do if he picks up a poisoned chalice, and knows it?). I have yet to read of any player who manages the feat of killing off both the Cheery Man and the Constable at once, though I presume that this is possible since there are now even more poisoned tankards, and in theory they could both drink one simultaneously. Though they could even from the start, it seems, since the Cheery Man’s barman speaks of ‘tankards’.
Sheesh, even Russian Roulette is better organised than this. Surely, no-one wants a score draw?
Gripe 2: The Last Constable is presented as fearless…but gormless. Assuming she’s really the Cheery Man’s child – where is her raw cunning? If these two are going to go mano a mano, I want a complex battle of wits, not something that is relatively simple compared to the Byzantine process of inviting someone for dinner.
Gripe 3: Who was the Constable’s briefly-mentioned mother, Agatha? The woman whose name simply means not just ‘good’ in Greek, but ‘intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not’ (since this is hopefully in spoilers, you’ll need to right-click and open in another window to follow the link)? That name is no coincidence. How come Agatha and the Cheery Man got together in the first place? I can accept they did. I just want to know how.
What with the sunlight-filled interment and all (Cantigaster venom is one of the most lethal things in all the Neath, you don’t need to put the end result in a Mirrorcatch coffin to ensure the job is done), I have a niggling feeling that this is a tie-in to Sunless Skies, and that that this formal sunlight double-burial - no matter of whom - will have consequences. It’s a bit of a shame if this is so, because The Last Constable’s story deserved to be pulled together more fully within FL itself.[/spoiler]
This is long and I’ll just finish by saying I favour stories with serious and permanent fallout, and I appreciate that they require sustained carry-though, which is hard work.
Well… I’m certainly glad neither I or my character had a personal stake in any of this.
[spoiler]She refused to meddle with the outcome, even if it would tip things in "her" favor. The very wording ‘this will increase your odds’ confused me at first, because it’s not my character who has to play the game.
On another note, I’m glad this story gave me a chance to finally use my Cantigaster Venom.[/spoiler]
[quote=Jolanda Swan]I rigged the game in favor of the Last Constable, and got lucky. The result is she will not talk to me. So the actual chance to get a "good" (read: not depressive) ending, was 25%.
This would have been better if the poison game made any sense for the Constable, which it did not. Why should someone like her risk it all in a game of chance?[/quote]Yeah, this really doesn’t make sense from a story perspective.
The Last Constable is, well, a Constable. "The last honest Special Constable in London", even. By giving the Cheery Man a fair shot, she is very directly not doing her job. Shouldn’t her supposed dedication to law and justice come first?
The Cheery Man is a crime boss who routinely has people killed for far less than what the Last Constable has done. He has shown no qualms about sending agents to kill her despite her status as his daughter and as a Special Constable. She’s a fool to assume that he wouldn’t just her cut down the moment she sets foot in the Medusa’s Head.
[quote]All in all, since nothing was left behind after these actions were played out, I felt it would have been preferable to let her lie in the Elder Continent, and leave it there. This story subtracted from the experience instead of adding. The story of the Comtessa was also bound to end in tragedy… but in that case. the writing gave it meaning.
[/quote]What makes the Comtessa’s story work so well is that there is no "good" ending. Destroying her could be a mercy, or a cruelty. Leaving her could be her doom, or her salvation. Either way, the Comtessa is never seen again.
Here, though, there is a "good" ending. It is only possible to reach by random chance, and its presence makes the other endings feel like undesirable punishments. Two changes come to mind which could improve the end of this story.
Rigging the game should ensure that the Cheery Man dies and the Constable survives.
If the game is fair and the Last Constable dies, the player should have the option to kill the Cheery Man or to just walk away.
This produces four endings, all of which have some good about them.
Okay.
[spoiler]having to put up with the snarky witch’s comment at the end after I lost was TOO MUCH, writers! Why is there no option to kill her? Because she’s NOTHING special, not powerful or clever or protected by anyone. If Flesh-Stick wanted to turn her into an ugly smear on the floorboards, and I assure you he DOES, there is absolutely NOTHING that she could do to stop him. So why am I not given the option?
We play as one of the most bad*ss characters in the neath and we have to just sit there impotently while this twit rubs it in? I call BS! this is the biggest freaking middle finger this game has EVER given me, and its up against some REALLY stiff competition. You’re not going to give me any say over whether my favorite character lives or dies, at least let me avenge him. There’s literally nothing in-game stopping me from doing so.
I also love how my character wasn’t even invited to the funeral for some reason. Gotta love that extra bit of salt in the wound for the crime of failing a random luck check. Thanks. [/spoiler]
I actually liked the Comtessa story. It was dark, but I think the horror was done very well, and it had the intended result. Sure I was a bit frustrated, but that is natural in that sort of story, and it did not bother me because it was well played.
Soooo, this Double or Nothing thing. It looks freaking great, for one, I love the icon. But does it actually change the odds? One of them’s going to die anyways, right? Does it add a chance for both of them? Take away a chance for neither of them? Basically, I want the Constable to live, should I double down?
Edit: I did what I could. And despite my tampering (so sue me), the Last Constable’s gone. May she rest in peace.
Another edit: What would having one of the fate-locked companions done, anyhow?
edited by ReusedNPC on 10/19/2017
^^^For some reason, quotes don’t work for me: You lose them and get a weapon instead.
I feel like this is a “be careful what you ask for” for everyone who wanted stories with dangling threads to be closed off. I was already annoyed at the random nature of the ending and the amount of effort that needs to be expended just to end up in a coin flip, but I suppose I could have lived with that. (with more irritation than a sense of loss, so I wouldn’t call it a good tragedy) A random loss of an item I paid for? Nope, I’m never finishing this. Except I’m locked from some criminal-related things without swapping over… and I wanted to swap so I could get the Cheery Man next year, but I can’t do that without possibly killing the Constable.
Either having them as fate-locked companions for the Feast in the first place or the mechanics of this story are poorly thought out. “Warning everyone I know not to finish the story” isn’t the kind of tragedy I think Failbetter was aiming for.
There’s a big difference between “lose a thing you paid money for” and “final, lasting story consequences” as far as narrative satisfaction goes. One interferes with the narration.
[quote=MidnightVoyager]
I feel like this is a "be careful what you ask for" for everyone who wanted stories with dangling threads to be closed off. I was already annoyed at the random nature of the ending and the amount of effort that needs to be expended just to end up in a coin flip, but I suppose I could have lived with that. (with more irritation than a sense of loss, so I wouldn’t call it a good tragedy) A random loss of an item I paid for? Nope, I’m never finishing this. Except I’m locked from some criminal-related things without swapping over… and I wanted to swap so I could get the Cheery Man next year, but I can’t do that without possibly killing the Constable.
Either having them as fate-locked companions for the Feast in the first place or the mechanics of this story are poorly thought out. "Warning everyone I know not to finish the story" isn’t the kind of tragedy I think Failbetter was aiming for.
There’s a big difference between "lose a thing you paid money for" and "final, lasting story consequences" as far as narrative satisfaction goes. One interferes with the narration.[/quote]
Pretty much, yeah. I’ve had to warn people too. That’s where I am…just not finishing it. (though I had not planned to swap personally)
[quote=Reused NPC]<snip>
Edit: I did what I could. And despite my tampering (so sue me), the Last Constable’s gone. May she rest in peace.
Another edit: What would having one of the fate-locked companions done, anyhow?
edited by ReusedNPC on 10/19/2017[/quote]
I had the Stiff-Backed Young Lady and when she died, I lost her. :-(
I’m still trying to find out how it was that I didn’t even get to watch the “contest”. That was the one thing I wanted to do, but apparently I made a wrong choice and was left with the one storylet to click–refusing to take part.
I think that happens when you don’t complete all tasks. If you complete them and return to Medusa’s, you’ll have only one storylet (IIRC), and it’ll be the one to start the game. Did you get everything beforehand? (Venom, inviting the other one involved and renting the room?)
[quote=earthbourn]I chose a certain option at the very end, and now I seem to be stuck. My "story" tab says "(No Storylets have been unlocked yet in this location.)" and there’s nothing I can click.
I’m guessing it’s a bug, since I can’t travel or do anything.
edited by earthbourn on 10/19/2017[/quote]
The same thing happened to me. I have filed a bug report, but now I’m just waiting, outside the universe, unable to do anything.
If you’re working on the preparations, or if you’ve finished them and the “Inform the Last Constable” storylet is following you around London, you can still go to Ladybones Road and tell the Last Constable that you want no part in her plan. The story concludes with a polite goodbye. I’m happier with this ending than with anything which could’ve come out of a final meeting at the Medusa’s Head. I’ll have none of that Princess Bride nonsense, thank you very much!
I don’t have either of the FotER companions, but at least as far as the story’s concerned both the Cheery Man and the Last Constable are alive and well.
Oh hey, I finally got the darn card! And it lets me swap over for 10 fate here. That’s ideal. Now I can swap over without finishing it and just leave it forever unfinished. Excellent.
11 hours later, they still weren’t sure what to do.
Never before had the many hardened criminals and pugnacious drunks been so affected as by the Cheery Man’s passing. The entire Medusa’s Head couldn’t even.
The ending is a luck check? Damn. May leave this unfinished.