Problems with Action Costs

For some reason, it seems like no matter how many times I try to set an Action Cost on storylets, they keep getting switched back to zero. Has anybody else been having this problem?

Please clarify: are you trying to set the branch action cost on a sometimes or a pinned card? It seemed to be working fine on pinned cards yesterday. It may not be working for opportunity cards at this point.

I got some of my playtesters to check it out in case it was something with the cache on my end, and it appears to be the branch action cost on Sometimes cards only. Pinned cards are working like a charm.

I don’t think you’re supposed to be able to change the action cost for Sometimes cards. The principle is that they cost an action to draw but not to play. The manual isn’t completely explicit, but I’m not surprised that you don’t seem to be able to change it.

However, I am waiting with bated breath to see how all this is affected by the announced plan to move Fallen London properly over to StoryNexus. I’m guessing they don’t intend to completely redesign and re-balance Fallen London, so perhaps there will be new SN features to allow FL-style behaviour with regard to Sometimes cards. I confess: I am speculating loudly in the hope it will elicit a clue.

Cheers
Richard

Sometimes cards don’t cost an action to play - you pay the action to draw three of them. Otherwise you could accidentally charge someone twice for the same card.

In answer to Richard’s speculation, we’d like to move FL to an SN model, and with direct access to the database for bulk updates that may just be possible. But we may also be looking again at the card cost issue.

I’m also running into this problem. I’m hoping to be able to control which cards will cost an action to play. The way my design plan is, pinned cards are used for standard, always available options that should not cost an action card to play. The opportunity cards are supposed to be the randomized challenges you must face, and therefore should use an Action.

Right now, it works fine on Always cards but not Sometimes cards. The option is there on the Sometimes Cards, but it always reverts back to 0. Pretty sure this is what the OP was talking about.

Hanon, it sounds like you touched on the real reason - preventing situations where the players are charged more actions then they should have been charged, but I don’t quite get what you mean by that?
edited by ZacharyWolf on 1/21/2013

Zachary: It costs a player an action to draw up to three sometimes cards. I don’t believe you can charge them a subsequent action to then play one of those.