If (for instance) I’ve already got a 3-card lodging, is there a story advantage to buying a new one? That is, if I have "a cozy little maisonette", does buying "a presumptuous veneered flat" unlock stories sparked by that card, or does it just offer different ways of grinding Ostentation?[li]
(n.b. all references in this post are fictional. Take with a full flask of water. Accept all substitutes.)
They’re useful for scraps and owning four card lodgings will give you more K&C openings, for what that’s worth.
The only ones you really need at this point are a four card lodging and the Tower of Eyes, but of course there is merit in owning property, even in Fallen London.
…Especially in Fallen London. Not like there’s going to be much in the line of new real estate any time soon.
Besides what others say, if you’re doing something that has you collecting non-discardable menace cards, then it’s nice to have longer before you have to go somewhere deck-clearing.
I just like collecting the keys :p I have all of them except the K&C-related one at this point. :D Also, they’re all a source of certifiable scraps, and personally I think every little bit helps :) (Though others would probably disagree, since the small lodgings only give one or two, so it’s not terribly efficient use of an action)
Inefficient, perhaps, but there aren’t that many ways to get scraps, and most of the efficient ones involve sending invitations - which is both time-consuming and, if you don’t intend for those invitations to be accepted, rather wasteful.
Also, being a real estate maven is awesome. And you can’t argue with a lodging on the Bazaar premises.
ALL OF THEM. No, seriously, you can’t trim your deck as the relevant card pops out anyway, so as long as you have the funds, why not buy them I say.
Personally, I love the idea of a suite at the Royal Beth. I do wonder at the practicalities - if I fall upon hard times, is there any chance I’ll lose my reservation? Mind you, if I fall hard enough, I might go mad, and so win it right back again. Can I redecorate to my own tastes, or would the Manager have something to say about that? (Would I understand him if he did?) Is my St John’s Lily growing through someone’s ceiling? (Actually, it would probably be safer for everyone involved if I assume that the Lily’s actually sprouted in one of my more remote properties - the Lair in the Marshes, say.) Is there a dumbwaiter, or do the staff bring my dinner to my room on a trolley - and if so, what are the chances that "trolley" will mean "something bearing the qualities of a troll"?
Well, my character couldn’t be the Courteous Chandler if he hadn’t a shop at the Bazaar with annexed Lodgings, so they’re quite an important element IC. It may be worth adding that in this case “chandler” stands for “shipchandler” and not “candlemaker”. I just liked the allitteration ^^
So yeah, apart from the in-game advantages, choosing Lodgings may help shape your character and hers/his/its choices.
Oh, I also have a reservation at the Royal Beth, though I’m not staying there now. And I suspect that once you’ve given them 40,000 whispered secrets (or whatever it was, I honestly no longer remember, though what a pain it was to get all those secrets!) your spot is there for good.
It’s honey for the Royal Beth. I know this because I remember spending quite some time grinding for honey, back before the New Economy and the alternate methods of acquiring top-tier lodgings, when the Titans still ruled the heavens and the earth, and dinosaurs occupied most major public offices.
It’s honey and Antique Mysteries now. 50 of the later, 50,000 of the former. We believe it’s 50,000 in any case. We haven’t checked lately. Regardless, it was a ridiculous number.
40,000 Honey. It’s 1600 echoes to outright buy any of the 4-card lodgings. That’s 40,000 honey (or souls) at 4 pennies per, or 80,000 secrets at 2 pennies per.