Players often ask which fate-locked stories are worth buying and which ones they should avoid. So back in February we did a survey on fate-locked stories to have a good answer to that question. There were a few stories that I forgot to add back then and a lot of players had useful suggestions for the next time. And obviously, there have been seven new stories released since February. So it might be time to do this again.
[ul][li]At first glance this might look overwhelming but it’s really not that much. The first page ("Exceptional Stories") is by far the largest. You should be able to finish this in less than 5 minutes.[/li][li]Please only rate stories that you have actually played. I’ve added an "N/A"-option in case you accidentally voted on a story you didn’t play. Voting "N/A" has the same effect as not voting at all.[/li][li]Feel free to skip anything you would prefer not to answer.[/li][li]You’re required to have a Google account to do this to ensure that everyone only votes once. I hope is doesn’t turn out to be a problem.[/li][li]Voting is completely anonymous. I just get your answers to the questions.
[/li][/ul]
You will be able to see the overall results once you have voted. We will also post the results here on reddit in about a week or two, similar to last time (see the link above). I’ll put a link up here, too.
And, again, if you have any ideas how to do this better next time, please let me know.
I would like to thank phryne for originally coming up with the idea. Many thanks also to dov, idyl as well as Peridigital from reddit for doing some beta-testing and coming up with lots of useful suggestions and finding way to many mistakes that I made.
Went through and submitted my responses for the (admittedly few) ES-es I’ve done.
To clarify: What is the Jack-of-Smiles case in regards to fate-locked stories? I’ve done the non-fate-locked aspect of the case already, but I’ve seen no options to extend the case (apart from during the case itself).
This is indeed refering to the extension during the case. Once you finished the storyline, there is nothing more you can do. edited by rahv7 on 9/27/2017
[quote=rahv7]
This is indeed refering to the extension during the case. Once you finished the storyline, there is nothing more you can do. edited by rahv7 on 9/27/2017[/quote]
Ohhh, right. The one where you have a brief stint as Jack yourself?
It’s kind of a shame you can’t go back and do that one after solving the case otherwise though. Sometimes you just gotta get your unhealthy stress-relief.
Next time you do this, I suggest clarifying that the initial series of questions is only asking your opinion of each story rather than the rewards. (Maybe also noting that you’ll be asked about the rewards later on.)
Also, a few things you might want to include on the list of stories you might buy for rewards:
Long-Lost Daughter has the Daughter, of course[/li][li]Trade in Faces unlocks a new option on one of various cards[/li][li]Blemmigan Affair unlocks a new option on one of various cards, and depending on ending gives a unique hat[/li][li]The Gift gives a unique Affiliation[/li][li]You already noted that The Spinning of the Wheels unlocks a good opp card, but iirc that’s only with one ending. It also unlocks new options in the Velocipede Squad carousel if you choose to keep your access.[/li][li]Foreign Office extension also unlocks new options in that carousel[/li][li]Might be worth noting that the Finishing School has content for each seasonal event and has several options unlocked by playing other Fate stories[/li][li]Haunting at the Marsh-House can give a unique Remote Address[/li][li]Cut with Moonlight unlocks infinite Mirrorcatch Boxes[/li][li]Flint also gives 1-3 unique items, and can let you overcap Dangerous[/li][li]HOJOTOHO! unlocks a new option either on the Urchins card or in the Foreign Office carousel[/li][li]Investigating the Twelve Days of Mr Sacks can give a few rare items, most notably Cantigaster Venom. Personally I wouldn’t count this as the same type of story, but I also wouldn’t count that Jack case bit, so /shrug
The first part is not actually about stories outside of rewards. You should vote based on what you thought of whatever you got for your fate.
The second part about reward-only opinions was requested by multiple players last time. Basically, stories such as "Spinning of the wheels" or even "Soul Trade" didn’t get really good ratings and I was asked to include the rewards-question next time so it becomes clear that purchasing a story might be worth it even though it got only a so-so rating. In any case, there’s nothing wrong with whatever rating you gave based on whatever assumptions you made.
I didn’t include all the other stories because I doubt that a significant percentage of players would suggest buying a story simply for getting an additional opp-card or an item that is not particularly useful (even if it might be very stylish, such as the Blemmigan Hat). I added your comments on the Foreign Office, Flint and Spinning of the Wheels to the survey, though.
It’d be interesting to see if a significant number of players thinks that including all the other story rewards would actually make sense next time. So whoever agrees should probably upvote your post so I get a sense of the general opinion. I’ll add a similar post to the reddit thread. Thanks for all the comments! edited by rahv7 on 9/27/2017 edited by rahv7 on 9/27/2017
As far as the Spinning of the Wheels, The Ratwork Velocipede was 100% worth it as the best BDR transport in the game. The endings, however, were largely unsatisfying, at least to me. I managed to lock myself out of the carousel because I decided to follow my moral compass and attempt to compromise with the Squad. There was practically no warning given that permanent inaccess to the carousel would be the result, and combined with the lack of a reset (for no apparent reason), I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from the story. I apologize for the salt.
Yeah, that story is a really good example for a story that is not all that good but it still worth buying for the rewards. Also, I feel your pain at losing the carousel.
Having done the Survey and reading this thread makes me think I really ought to buy and spend the Fate necessary to play “Sister Jenny’s Finishing School” for it seems to have it all: great story and great rewards that keep on giving.
HOJOTOHO! is the best story. I’ll fight anyone who disagrees (but not to the death, because my hair). Conflict, drama, epic awesomeness, rhythm & pacing, jumpscare in a text game, metacommentary, great characters, great art, accessible regardless of playtime & qualities, a useful persistent reward, high content/action ratio, fun mechanics, doesn’t mess up your character in nasty irreversible ways, can be reset.
I’d admit that I bought the SotW solely due to its reward. High BDR equipment are always welcome. As for ES I feel like a one-dimensional survey isn’t quite sufficient. Some stories focus on lore and some focus on storytelling. It just feels a bit weird to value two stories with different criteria and they turned out to get the same score.
That’s certainly true. But the idea is to keep the survey reasonably simple so players can finish this in a short time without pondering what to answer. This survey is already way more complex than the one we did in February.
I’d say it’s good enough for recommending stories. If 80% of players say that a certain story is exceptionally good, it doesn’t really matter why it’s good, in my opinion. Chances are that you’ll like that one, too. And you can always check on the Fate-page if the general theme appeals to you. For details such as where to learn certain lore, get certain items, etc. you can always ask in either of the forums. But in my experience, these questions come up much less often than the general request to recommend good stories.
rahv7, thanks for organising another one of these! The last one back in February was really useful when I was still working my way through the Exceptional Stories as a neophyte. I like the addition of a reward-based rating: more and more, it seems, the Exceptional endings are adding persistent changes to London and I think this is worth noting and encouraging. (I don’t travel to Tanah-Chook all that often, but it always cheers me up immensely to see that it’s there.)
Yeah, it just really, really is, isn’t it? I’ve governed a colony of talking cats, I’ve slaughtered a spider-council, and a statue in some quiet London square bears my likeness, but nothing makes me feel quite like I’ve made London a better place than occasionally having dinner with a bunch of opera-loving guttersnipes with colanders on their heads.