As a persuasive player, I love connections. The thought of amassing contacts and favors just appeals to me, and I often go out of my way to get them over more material rewards. That said, it seems that getting enough connections to use them can be difficult sometimes. This is most apparent in the case of the “training” opportunity cards. If I were to try and use the bohemian one for my range, I’d need 25+ connection. That’s quite a bit, especially with how much I get for actions at the moment, and while there are cards that boost my bohemian quality, it’s not by much, and I’m getting close to the point where I’d level out of it. I also hear that if I start hoarding them, the cards that force me to choose between two won’t be voluntary anymore. While in some cases it’s clear which one I can choose to dump (I could probably do with getting rid of some of my connection with hell, I think. Maybe trade them in for favors), others are a bit less clear (As a persuasive person, both the church and the bohemians are nice allies I think…)
So, sorry for rambling a bit, but is there any advice I can get on managing my connected qualities?
Although for some connections those cards are the most reliable way to increase them. Rubbery Men, The Widow, and the Tomb Colonists are the ones that spring to mind.
Those three can be raised to 20 through the use of the curiosities at the Bazaar (the Reliquary, Pulsating Amber, and Primer in Oriental Languages), but getting them past that is harder, yeah.
I also have a question about connections. Are we supposed to choose sides? I’ve been attempting to avoid it as one never knows what future possibilities may become available but it seems like I may not have a choice.
In a few storylines you have to – the end of Ladybones Road, for example. You usually don’t have to, though.
Edit: By the way…I hope this is the right place to be asking this. Where can I become Connected with the Tomb-Colonies? For some reason, the opportunity has never presented itself to me; all my other connections are at least 15, but Tomb-Colonies remains a lowly 1. If I can just get it to 3, I can start grinding at the Carnival, but even that small step seems to evade me. edited by Little The on 12/25/2011
[quote=Little The]In a few storylines you have to – the end of Ladybones Road, for example. You usually don’t have to, though.
Edit: By the way…I hope this is the right place to be asking this. Where can I become Connected with the Tomb-Colonies? For some reason, the opportunity has never presented itself to me; all my other connections are at least 15, but Tomb-Colonies remains a lowly 1. If I can just get it to 3, I can start grinding at the Carnival, but even that small step seems to evade me. edited by Little The on 12/25/2011[/quote]
On my secondary account I’ve managed to get a decent amount of Connected with them by first going to the Big Top and hanging out with some colonist there. I then I purchased a Diary of the Dead. Once you get it high enough the Go Gentle card will show up and you can sacrifice Society connections to up your Tomb Colonist connections. If there’s an easier way I haven’t seen it.
Though, to be honest, I haven’t been able to do much with my Connected. I’m guessing it’s to come later in the game perhaps.
So, now I’m having another issue with connections: How to use them. I’ve enjoyed raising my connections just for the sake of having them, but actually using those connections usually seems… underwhelming compared to the effort required to get them. At a persuasive of 71, I went ahead and used the card to expend connected: society for persuasive. It dropped my quality from 58 to 46, and only resulted in a slight increase to my persuasive.
So, what do people generally spend theirs on? Training cards worth it at all? Should I spend them on supplies? Or simply keep stockpiling them for when I need them? (I know I’ll need duchess or society connections for the court, I grinded a lot for duchess connections when it was feasible)
I rarely cash in my connections as I find the rewards, in most cases, unsatisfying. Keeping them is a good idea, because at later stages of the game you’ll sometimes need high levels of Connected to unlock certain storylets.
I just have to add that I find those opportunity cards where one is supposed to play one Connection against another utterly useless and am frustrated by their frequency. I would pay a lot of Fate for the opportunity of permanently discarding these (and some others) from my deck.
[quote=Urthdigger]So, now I’m having another issue with connections: How to use them. I’ve enjoyed raising my connections just for the sake of having them, but actually using those connections usually seems… underwhelming compared to the effort required to get them. At a persuasive of 71, I went ahead and used the card to expend connected: society for persuasive. It dropped my quality from 58 to 46, and only resulted in a slight increase to my persuasive.
So, what do people generally spend theirs on? Training cards worth it at all? Should I spend them on supplies? Or simply keep stockpiling them for when I need them? (I know I’ll need duchess or society connections for the court, I grinded a lot for duchess connections when it was feasible)[/quote]
Technically, the ability to gain something like 1/5th of a level in Persuasive at the cost of some connections does have some use. Not a whole lot, but some. Personally, I’ve been cashing in Bohemian for prisoner’s honey, since a room at the Royal Beth is so expensive.
Hello again my dears. Sorry to have not properly thanked all that helped with advice on the Rubies, but there seems to be a glitch when I post and can rarely do so. (Yes, it’s reported properly)
I am still at the Shroom races. It seemed an ideal place to up my qualities, connections and bank accounts without roaming about deranged from nightmares and getting so very wounded.
But the thought occurred that perhaps I am missing certain srorylets by “cheating” and getting my connections bumped up at the races! Any thoughts?
[quote=Wieland Burandt]
I just have to add that I find those opportunity cards where one is supposed to play one Connection against another utterly useless and am frustrated by their frequency. I would pay a lot of Fate for the opportunity of permanently discarding these (and some others) from my deck.[/quote]
Well, for most, yes, but for others, those cards are a godsend. The Great Game is one of the hardest connections to raise, I think, so whenever I see the Church/Great Game card, I do a little dance.
The cards have changed since this post was made. They used to give a minor boost to one and a major loss to another, making them just another dump card. They have since been revamped and are now pretty useful not just for boosting hard to earn Connections, but also giving a spot of items and “Someone is Coming.”
Not really. I think there are some storylets involving Society and The Orient which require a bit of Connection, but they are still playable no matter what your Connection rating is.
[quote=Nigel Overstreet]
The cards have changed since this post was made. They used to give a minor boost to one and a major loss to another, making them just another dump card. They have since been revamped and are now pretty useful not just for boosting hard to earn Connections, but also giving a spot of items and “Someone is Coming.”
Not really. I think there are some storylets involving Society and The Orient which require a bit of Connection, but they are still playable no matter what your Connection rating is.[/quote]
[quote=MadameHeather]I’ve been away from the game for almost a year - and now that I’ve come back to it I’ve found a strange change to Connections.
I can’t seem to keep my Criminal connections up anymore. Oportunity cards that used to GAIN Criminal connections now REDUCES them.
I am only seeing this with Criminal connections so far… anyone know what might be going on here?
Preplexed,
MmeH
[/quote]
First off, let me say we’ve missed you, Madam Heather. It’s good to have you back!
Recently, the Connected: Criminals options have really been fiddled around with a lot in the last week or so. There are now opportunity cards which use up Connected: Criminals, but give a pretty good payout. One of them even gives a unique payout of Ostentatious Diamonds. Unfortunately it is now darn near impossible to increase your Connected: Criminals. The “Crime and Punishment” card has reverted to the old system or a minor gain in one and a major loss in another, making it a dump card. So they made it impossible to dump. It does give some pretty good items though in exchange for a 500cp loss.
On top of that, the Flit option of selling information to a colleague now caps at 50. Right now my Connected: Criminals is at “One of Us” and, as it looks like it’s extraordinarily difficult to get it up there again, that’s where I’m going to keep it. I get the sense it’s going to be necessary later.