I hope that other aspects of the festival change to accommodate this huge ramp up in difficulty, because right now it’s a big pile of "ugh" that has me a lot less enjoying the start of the festival.
edited by Televangelist on 10/24/2017
I was on hiatus last Hallowmass, so when I first saw the option this year I didn’t bat an eye, but you’re right - 5 Notability sounds so much more enjoyable. 2-3 confessions per day would have been feasible, whereas now 1 confession per day might be stretching it. Given that the festival runs for 14-15 days, and assuming about 10 free confessions total, that would mean getting everything is simply impossible without fate.
Heck, I just realised that my own - strictly prioritised - plan involves 28 confessions, and thus might not be achievable. So I’ll have to either spend fate, or give up on some items which will very likely never be available again (or be fate-locked). As a highly end-game player with exceptional friendship and 28BDR (lacking only seeking, the rubber companion, and one more tattoo), this is disappointing.
5 was doable, even though it is my world’s least favorite grind. 8 sucks. I’ve only ever gotten to 11 period, and that’s with effort!
It’s roughly 2.5x as harsh a grind as last year, assuming your BDR didn’t change. I gained 3 BDR and it’s still roughly twice as many required making waves CP.
Yeah, I’m up to 31 BDR this year and I feel defeated and deflated. This just isn’t fun.
I feel especially sorry for anyone newer this year. They’re just kinda doomed if they want to make a shot at it.
I think the fundamental problem is that notability grinding is incredibly tedious (repetitive, time consuming, little interesting text and frequentlt stressful), not particularly accessible to newer posi and is being used more and more as a hurdle to signal ‘this task is difficult’ regardless of whether it feels narratively apposite (Hallowmas opens with all sorts of nefarious types grabbing confessions by the sackful, so why must you be prominent in high society to obtain more?). What notability grinding isn’t is meaningfully challenging (ie difficult in a way that requires skill or insight in such a way as to make overcoming the obstacle satisfying). The result is frustration and burn out, especially as more and more of the year gets taken up with walking the same path over and over again.
It’s worth comparing to the Election here - lots of different routes to get the festival currency, many of which you might never normally play (I’d never used polite invitation before the furst election, now I go all the time). Imagine running a heist on the house of a confession thief, or an expedition to uncover a buried cache.
Plus I still think it’s a shame that the old festival (a ceremony based on trust between players rather than competition, where the ‘good’ option was actually rewarded for once - how many mmos can boast something so unusual?) with a fundamentally venal experience wherein the only way to participate is to profit from stealing people’s most guarded secrets (and no repercussions for betraying the season). It’s weird to go from being a ‘Sovereign of Hallowmas’ to swapping secrets like pokémon cards.
It sort of feels like the Church favours conversion. Super high BDRs in the current case still have a hard time, but will manage quite a bit. Newer players might as well not bother much at all and at least be able to shrug it off, and enjoy something else.
For people mid-way the grind is a stressful and glum experience, and one where they will get a lot less than what they were expecting and preparing for.
I’m playing less than a year, 26 BDR. Gonna get that lance and maybe one companion if i am lucky. Yeah, its hard times even for hardcore players.
Maybe 5 Notability was too low to impose real scarcity and, with the free confessions, everyone was a little bit too successful at running the gauntlet last year? Last Hallowmas the only reason I didn’t get every companion was because some of them simply didn’t interest me. This year it seems I’m going to have to prioritize.
That’s a fair point, but generally festivals seem geared to allow dedicated grinders to get everything possible well within the available timeframe. As one example, the first time I went to the Zee festival, I was done within a week and then went back to London. Or during the elections, I usually max out my profession in just a couple of days, and the rest of the time is spent on Notability.
Perhaps they did intend to force prioritisation and curb completionism, but if so, I believe that it’s a first.
>>>Maybe 5 Notability was too low to impose real scarcity
It depends on average BDR. Of course i have no data, but i guess its less than 20 BDR for average/median POSI.
Every festival is meant to be unique, is it not?
To be honest, I agree. The problem is that it REALLY penalizes everyone who isn’t an endgame player: Notability 8 is totally out of reach for the average new POSI (who would have maybe 3-5 BDR tops).
[quote=Drake Dynamo][quote=Anne Auclair]
Every festival is meant to be unique, is it not?[/quote]
Unique in content, perhaps…[/quote]
And mechanics.
I was about to say this one was uniquely irritating, but I was a bit miffed at notability being burned last year, too.
We’re interrupting your grind for the new Court stuff wiiiiith another grind! a time-limited one.
6 or even 7 might be reasonable, but 8 is too far. I sincerely hope Failbetter updates this. I already spend way to much time grinding in this game, I don’t want even the holiday events to turn into such slogs. And I am saying that as an end game player; what about all the newer players?
Also, this isn’t Fate Locked per say, but it’s almost impossible to do this without having the Ubergoat (technically requires Fate), a Ratwork Velocipede, a home comfort from Mr Sacks, or the Spiked Rosary, or maybe all of those for comfort. Without Fate, you’re almost undoubtedly capped at BDR 22 or 23 if you’re a Midnighter. That’s not practical do grind.
[quote=Drake Dynamo][quote=Anne Auclair][quote=Drake Dynamo][quote=Anne Auclair]
Every festival is meant to be unique, is it not?[/quote]
Unique in content, perhaps…[/quote]
And mechanics.[/quote]
Ah I’ve forgotten how much I missed you taking my words out of context. I also said this: "I think it’s fair to say most players wouldn’t put that at the top of their list of priorities when it comes to new features." (Emphasis added)
My point is, even if this is unique (and I’m not debating you on whether it is or not), it’s not unique in a good way. It does not have a positive outcome for players looking to collect everything.[/quote]
I didn’t take your words out of context.
All the festivals have a certain mechanical uniqueness. The Festival of the Zee has fishing and the visit to the cove. Sackmas has visits from Mr Sacks and Lacre. The Election has election career, election resources, and a team competition. The Feast of the Exceptional Rose has the exchange of Rose Gifts and Masquing. It’s also worth pointing out that in the Feast of the Exceptional Rose in particular it is impossible to collect everything without paying fate. So it’s not actually true that all other festivals allow you to collect every item or companion that is on offer and that this change to Hallowmas is therefore something exceptional.
Anyway, I’m only theorizing that their original plan was to have a certain amount of scarcity in confessions, to make trading and prioritization important in free play, but the plan didn’t quite work out as they accidentally made confessions too easy to attain. Hence the higher notability grind and the introduction of an alternative way to spend confessions. Naturally, it’s all designed with the intent of increasing demand while decreasing supply and nudging collectors towards purchasing more confessions with fate. Which is fair enough, as it’s a free-to-play system and those who don’t want to pay fate can still get several new items or companions (just as those who don’t want to spend fate in the Election can still get one new item or companion fate-free when they choose a candidate).
So if you want to play free, you need to prioritize and really play the confession market. If you want everything, you’ll need to pay fate.
.
edited by Anne Auclair on 10/25/2017
Hooray…
I month ago I at long last finished the paramount presence MW grind. It was so much fun! that I quit fallen london entirely until yesterday.
Hallowmas motivated me to log in again and give it another try.
Oh, another tedious making waves grind.
I forgot.
And this time extra cumbrous.
[b][i]Splendid!
[/i][/b](Sorry, I really needed to vent.)
edited by Ysrthgrathe on 10/25/2017