Problem: Options disappear - why?

Sunless Sea
1

Evenin’ gentle women and madammy men,

Been playing for hours on end, and one thing keeps mystifying me:

Sometimes options to do things disappear inexplicably. I just learned the secrets of the post at Nuncio (level 10) and had the following options:

  1. I checked at the Inky Blotter and had the options to either &quotjudge&quot or &quothonour&quot the postmen.
  2. I went to work at shift at the Dead Letter Office and had the option to tell the rat what I saw.
  3. I went to the beach and looked at the tide carry in more pointless post.

I went to the beach and picked that option.
Then I wanted to go tell the rat, and then I wanted to honour the postmen for their admirable work. I couldn’t do these two things. Only one thing. Is this a bug? Is it a feature of the game that you only get to do things ONCE? Like how Recent News can only be &quotused&quot once. Is it the same deal at Nuncio that I just described?
I get that it makes sense to restrict how much the player can do at any one time so as to not exhaust the game too quickly, but it annoys me to no end that it is never CLEAR what happens when I make a choice - HOW does it impact the other choices I have? What will I NOT be able to do as a result of what I choose.

Is there a system or rule I’m missing here? And if so - how did you come to know it?

2

There are some events that depend on the Something Awaits You quality (there is a little icon next to those options which you can check). SAY resets approximately every minute or so when you are not docked and is indicated by a little lamp on your log book. I guess it is a mechanism that slows down play but it also influences which random event you get when you reach port.

3

Many actions are available or unavailable depending on the various values of related qualities (tracked in your Journal). I suspect your Learned in Postal Secrets or Cultivating Friendships quality went up a level or two, locking out an action that required you to be below a certain level of that quality.

4

@lady ciel
I know about “Something Awaits You”. This is not that.

@Fretling
I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen. Each of the choices I listed had the same requirements (I think it was a 7 in “Postal Secrets”). The requirement was exactly 7, not “no less than 7 but no more than 9” or however that is phrased.

5

What exactly did you do at the beach? One of the three options there is SAY-locked, and the other two have no effect on the relevant qualities.

Although… I suppose it’s possible that one of the options has a hidden &quotis not carrying any post&quot requirement.

Nuncio has at least three different qualities, Cultivating Friendships, Learned in Postal Secrets, and Worker in Dead Letters. I’m almost certain judging/approving and informing the overseer are tied to separate qualities (though they might also both depend on the third).

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Alright. Made it to Learned in Postal Secrets 7. The original Watch the tide come in option on the beach has changed to a different one, now requiring Learned in Postal Secrets 7. It appears you can only pick one of the four options to end your stay in Nuncio.
edited by Olorin on 2/11/2015
edited by Olorin on 2/11/2015