Here’s this week’s quick questions thread!
Asking again, as it wasn’t answered last weeks:
After sending a letter, is there any built-in way of knowing when it gets used by the recepient?
I worry some of my letters remain unopened, forever accumulating in their recipients’ ratdamn mailslots.
I joined the game quite a long time ago, but I still too late to experience the intricacies of Knife-and-Candle. I’m curious about it. Is there any source where I can read what it was and how was it played etc?
Warning for spoilers about the railway
I have a question about the railway board. I have five members - the jovial contrarian, Virgina, the gracious widow, the dean and Furnace. I have kept the board small while building up luxuries, defences and baggage, but I have nearly maxed them out so I’m thinking of adding a couple more members. I am fond of all my current members for various reasons - I am sure other players will understand for most of them, but if you are wondering about the dean, I have a scientific charter so feel I should hang on to her. I make my toast to the gracious widow, so I am certainly not going to get rid of her.
I am inclined to add two more. First, the tentacled entrepreneur, because I think I will grow fond of him too on greater acquaintance and he will come in useful in Helicon House and Ealing Gardens more generally. I’d like to put up a statue of him. Second, the Bishop of Southwark, because I’m hoping there would be some diverting fireworks between him and Virginia, and I’d like to put up a statue of him at the Locks.
Does anyone have any thoughts on board composition, and my best options at this point. Should I just go with my preferences, or are there other considerations?
I have reached Balmoral, if that makes a difference. I’m developing my railway quite slowly, and building a new station roughly once a month, though I might speed up now I’ve completed my ambition. Any advice gratefully received - even if it’s just to tell me your favourite board members and why.
edited by Yara on 4/21/2021
edited by Yara on 4/21/2021
Having a board that is bigger than absolutely necessary is almost always a detriment. The best board consists of your 4 favorite characters. If you wanna make use of one board member in particular, you can hire them on temporarily and then boot them (for statues and such). From a purely mechanical perspective, the best of the best of boards consists of 4 characters who don’t care much about financial interests or rubbery interests, plus the tentacled entrepreneur. There is a semi-exploit where you fire the entrepreneur at the start of every meeting, then vote two dividends to shareholders, then bring the entrepreneur back on. The entrepreneur will clear the debt.
Of course, if you don’t care about optimal play, the best board is the board that makes you happiest. If you do want a big board for whatever reason, Furnace Arcona or Cornelius are good for their ability to instantly complete a vote (at a cost)
[quote=Fing A. Prince]Asking again, as it wasn’t answered last weeks:
After sending a letter, is there any built-in way of knowing when it gets used by the recepient?
I worry some of my letters remain unopened, forever accumulating in their recipients’ ratdamn mailslots.[/quote]
The only way I am aware of is indirect – for letters in Gant, for example, the box is full after receipt of four and has to be emptied before more can be received. There is a limit on other letter types received, but it may be a different number.
There is always the option of adding a note to check whether the correspondence is welcome – though of course, I appreciate that some people don’t bother to respond. It is also worth noting that only reading the mail produces the reward.
NB – feel free to send me Gant (or any other) missives; I’ll be happy to send anything you care to receive in return.
[quote=Ragnar Degenhand]
for letters in Gant, for example, the box is full after receipt of four and has to be emptied before more can be received.
NB – feel free to send me Gant (or any other) missives; [/quote]
No clue how to write anything in gant. Somebody keeps eating all my gant ink, faster than i can dip a bloody quill in it.
[quote=Fing A. Prince]Asking again, as it wasn’t answered last weeks:
After sending a letter, is there any built-in way of knowing when it gets used by the recepient?
I worry some of my letters remain unopened, forever accumulating in their recipients’ ratdamn mailslots.[/quote]
I still have to find a way to check my friends’ mailboxes without compiling a letter first, which is rather annoying when everyone seems to be mailed up. Admittedly, having some kind of preemptive check would smooth things significantly. The attribute missives and the investigating/inspiring ones can’t be sent to people that already have 5, so if you can send a letter their way it means they have read at least some of the previous ones.
I’d also welcome more data on the matter.
If this is an actual question – you need an acquaintance who is a Licenciate for the option to be active. We’re a rare breed…
-If one acquires a Lab before being kicked out of the University, can they access the Lab without being reinstated? On the surface the value checks point toward a "yes", but I’d like to be sure before I give Summerset the middle finger.
-Is the best way to acquire the crapton of beetles and memories of light for the Lab Equipment upgrade just buying wax in bulk? I can pretty reliably hit 104 salacious copy on the newspaper, if money grinds are relevant to the question.
edited by Huey on 4/23/2021
[quote=Huey]-If one acquires a Lab before being kicked out of the University, can they access the Lab without being reinstated? On the surface the value checks point toward a "yes", but I’d like to be sure before I give Summerset the middle finger.
-Is the best way to acquire the crapton of beetles and memories of light for the Lab Equipment upgrade just buying wax in bulk? I can pretty reliably hit 104 salacious copy on the newspaper, if money grinds are relevant to the question.
edited by Huey on 4/23/2021[/quote]
There is always the Chandler at the Dept of Menace Eradication if your Dangerous is high enough.
NotaWalrus, thanks very much. It’s particularly useful to know I can put up a statue to someone then kick them off the board without losing it and wasting the scrip I spent.
[quote=Huey]-If one acquires a Lab before being kicked out of the University, can they access the Lab without being reinstated? On the surface the value checks point toward a "yes", but I’d like to be sure before I give Summerset the middle finger.
-Is the best way to acquire the crapton of beetles and memories of light for the Lab Equipment upgrade just buying wax in bulk? I can pretty reliably hit 104 salacious copy on the newspaper, if money grinds are relevant to the question.
edited by Huey on 4/23/2021[/quote]
To the first question, yes. It’s a bit of an oversight but personal lab access is independent from your welcomeness at the university.
[quote=NotaWalrus][quote=Yara]Snip[/quote] Having a board that is bigger than absolutely necessary is almost always a detriment. […] Of course, if you don’t care about optimal play, the best board is the board that makes you happiest. If you do want a big board for whatever reason, Furnace Arcona or Cornelius are good for their ability to instantly complete a vote (at a cost)[/quote] Absolutely right! In the beginning I tried optimizing my board depending on the action to be taken, used the Tentacled Entrepreneur to clear debts, etc. then realized what I find really fun and also hilarious is having ALL the characters on board and reading their responses - failures as well as successes - so now my board is huge and unwieldy and amuses me greatly. Not recommended if you’re in a hurry to get things done or calculating optimal play! Although as you say, if it gets too frustrating there is also the Furnace / Cornelius option.
[quote=Huey]-If one acquires a Lab before being kicked out of the University, can they access the Lab without being reinstated? On the surface the value checks point toward a "yes", but I’d like to be sure before I give Summerset the middle finger.
-Is the best way to acquire the crapton of beetles and memories of light for the Lab Equipment upgrade just buying wax in bulk? I can pretty reliably hit 104 salacious copy on the newspaper, if money grinds are relevant to the question.
edited by Huey on 4/23/2021[/quote]
The memories of light can be gained from side conversions. It’s 5 steps of side conversions from incendiary gossip, which you may get from newspapers. Alternatively, you can draw cards at the docks and sell stained red dresses to the ragman and upconvert to compromising documents + 1 side conversion. For the beetles, I think you’d be best of buying wax from the bazaar and upconverting
Thank you for the replies!
Debatable? Depending on the interpretation of the acquisition, the character might have property rights on the lab building. Given that you can still do shadowy dealings with university staff, some of which imply you can access the grounds at the very least… and the Powers That Be might lack either the reach (Summerset) or the interest (Masters) to enforce a complete and forceful ban like the Empress does (which only bars you from the Court proper, not from the entire building) and limit themselves to a formal expulsion.
What’s the best way to farm Bessemer Steel Ingots currently?
I don’t know about best, but for me the easiest way was to "Intervene in a Dockers Brawl" over in the Blind Helmsman. I wish I remember it existed much sooner, as it was a nightmare grinding in the university.
I haven’t done any calculations, because I’m not that sort of player, but I find smuggling surface blooms in the upper river, combined with brawling with Dockers to be pretty convenient. Brawling at the docks is also levelling me towards the new Dangerous cap. I used to steal them through the mirror and/or get them by selling skeletons, but I got tired of those two methods.
Does anyone have the full echo for this?