Weekly Questions, Beginning 29/08/2016

Fallen London
21

Buying additional lodgings does mean more cards giving out scraps, but most of the lodgings cards are decidedly useless otherwise. (All lodgings have at least one option giving scraps, and most have an option giving Making Waves. Remote Addresses have no cards.) Since there’s currently no way to sell (and only one way to dispose of) lodgings, if you are or will be concerned about trimming your deck of unprofitable cards, the general recommendation is to not buy them all. Which lodgings might be considered good and why:

  • Premises at the Bazaar: Twice as common as Standard cards. Has a difficult and profitable Persuasive challenge unlocked with 100 echoes, on success giving two echoes and four scraps. On failure costs two echoes.[/li][li]Reservation at the Royal Bethlehem Hotel: Twice as common as Standard. Has a high Watchful challenge for three scraps. Spirifers have a difficult and profitable Shadowy challenge giving Souls.[/li][li]Guest Room at the Brass Embassy: Twice as common as Standard. Has a high Watchful challenge for three scraps. Those with the five-card upgrade can purchase two companions with Fate, the cheapest of several options.[/li][li]Handsome Townhouse: Twice as common as Standard. Has an option for two scraps. Allows creation of a Salon or Orphanage as a PoSI.[/li][li]Decommissioned Steamer: Has an option for two scraps. All following lodgings have a one-scrap option. Has a Fate-locked option with neat lore and a small material reward.[/li][li]Rooftop Shack: Has a challenge using Acquaintance: a Repentant Forger, giving three echoes of wine on success (guaranteed at max Acquaintance)[/li][li]Lair in the Marshes: Has a second scrap option for one scrap and 30 CP of Connected: Society.[/li][li]Cottage by the Observatory: Nothing much of interest.[/li][li]Rooms above a Bookshop: Nothing at all of interest, including the Soul Trade-related option.[/li][li]Rooms above a Gambling Den: Has a particularly cheap and unpredictable option for Making Waves.[/li][li]Smoky Flophouse Dormitory: Has an option giving Connected: Revolutionaries and sometimes a Criminal Favour.[/li][li]Half-Abandoned Mansion: I’m including this for completeness. This lodging cannot be purchased from the Bazaar; it must be obtained through playing Knife & Candle, which is currently on hiatus. Has a Dangerous challenge for three scraps. Has a difficult and profitable Dangerous challenge for two Mourning Candles.

In conclusion, Bazaar Premises, Handsome Townhouse, and Rooftop Shack lodgings are worth getting for everyone. The Royal Beth is great for Spirifers. The Half-Abandoned Mansion is great for anyone inclined to play enough K&C, assuming it will be obtainable once more when that returns. Those willing to spend Fate may want the Brass Embassy room and Decommissioned Steamer. The rest are only useful to anyone who wants a lot of less efficient MW options and small scrap options in their deck for a very long time.

22

I’m seeing that some more seasoned players have more than one character…how does that work? I imagine you can’t have more than one character attached to an email, but I’m definitely seeing the allure of exploring Fallen London as a different person with different goals. Reasons/info/etc appreciated!

23

Methods: well, in addition to using multiple emails, i believe you can append certain text to an email address, which is then ignored but treated as a distinct email.
On Rules: While there is very few explicit rules, the following guidelines may be good to follow, though they are likely overzealous- do not use one account for another account’s profit, especially on a large scale. Do not use accounts to cheat in contests of PvP- I have had debates on multiple accounts casting the same vote in the election, for instance. i think it’s bad faith, other players think it’s reasonable. In a more explicit case, do not use accounts to gang up on someone or weaken them in knife and candle, and do not use them to feed victories to the other. On more hazy grounds, try to send social actions to other people, not your own account. Keep your account’s business to that account and no others- no poisoning from account C because A was beaten in knife-and-candle by other person X. Generally, just try to act in good faith, and you won’t be banned.
On Reasons: Well, obviously, A) to explore with a different person and see new options, but also B) to see old content, long since forgotten. (for instance, I’ve been playing for 1 year+. do i remember text on the opp card for a persuasive at 20 or less? nope! Can I revisit it like a storylet? nope! Are there plot relevant details dropped too early to do much good on their own? Yep- nothing crucial, but some old storylines have useful lore ties that reveal things in more detail, or verify a theory, or make more sense when you know the basic lore.)

24

~snip~
In conclusion, Bazaar Premises, Handsome Townhouse, and Rooftop Shack lodgings are worth getting for everyone. The Royal Beth is great for Spirifers. The Half-Abandoned Mansion is great for anyone inclined to play enough K&C, assuming it will be obtainable once more when that returns. Those willing to spend Fate may want the Brass Embassy room and Decommissioned Steamer. The rest are only useful to anyone who wants a lot of less efficient MW options and small scrap options in their deck for a very long time.[/quote]
I would debate that. while your list is mostly correct, two lodgings have the potential to be useful in the future, but are cheap enough to wait until then.
~Lair in Marshes: [currently good, but this is likely to change] 30 cp of society is currently worth about 1.5 echoes, if cashed in on the vs. tomb-colonies conflict card. [500 cp for 25.6 echoes and a low range bundle of oddities, as well as one point SOiC, so a little less than 5 pence per CP] Combined with the scrap, [worth between .32 and .48 echoes, depending on how many are cashed in] this probably puts it at something like 1.9 epa. Post change, there are two ways it could go- A, the good way, or B, the bad way. If it goes the good way, it’ll give one scrap and a society favor- and all favors so far have been worth 2+ echoes each, so yay! On the other hand, the devs might remove the society favor instead, in which case it’ll go to 1 scrap for one action- terrible. It’s a gamble, so it’s up to you if you want to buy it, or just wait.

Either way, it is currently good. This is a card based sequence, though, so it might not be optimally sustainable.

~Smoky Flophouse Dormitory: [currently bad, but this is likely to change] The most likely final product for this one is that, instead of 50% criminal favor and certain cp revolutionaries, is one favor for either faction, or a 50% chance for each. again, so far all favors are worth 2+ echoes in at least one use, so if this is the case… well, it’s a good epa card- if you have a nuisance to jack of smiles, have not driven him off in the storyline that offers that, and they add a revolutionary favor rather than leave it as a card that does nothing 50% of the time. Other obvious possibilities are:

A) always gives a criminal favor. (good. not perfect, but criminal favors are 2+ echoes, even if they’re ludicrously common.)
B) 50% chance of criminal favor, no chance of revolutionary favor, pittance in some other currency. (not good. criminal favors aren’t worth 4 echoes, and probably aren’t even worth three, usually.)
C) Gives 50% chance of criminal favor and nothing else. (bad. However, from a game development standpoint this is probably also undesirable, since you can get a result where the only visible reward is a shadowy increase. So bad, but unlikely.)

25

I like my Tales of Terror. I like the burning madness of the Fidgeting Writer (I nurse hopes of funding the Bribes for a Yacht this way).

What I do not like is grinding away Casing in the Flit, even though it’s efficient. Anyone have any other pet ways of garnering Tales?

26

Thanks for that astonishing amount of info. Currently residing at Royal Beth and recently bought myself a nice Townhouse. Strange thing but i haven’t seen my Decomissioned Steamer card since i moved to Royal Beth couple of months ago. Perhaps there was some under-the-radar update recently? FBG love doing it.
@Teaspoon Not longer than 2 weeks ago i’ve got myself a Yacht. Lovely little thing. Grinding for it wasn’t a pleasant thing but are the many left in Neath? I tried Fidgeting Writer story but i couldn’t rely on luck. Check this thread where fellas helped me out with info on grinding for Yacht http://community.failbettergames.com/topic22922-any-proud-yachtsmen-here.aspx
edited by sosisqua on 9/2/2016

27

Well, I’m mostly doing the grind for the Searing Enigmas actually, as it’s much easier than the University grind for anyone with as bad Watchful as mine. By the time I have enough Enigmas for Seeking, I’ll probably have enough Bribes to at least attempt a Yacht. While I’l probably get Destin’s via Torment, I’d like to leave my options open and that means plenty of BDR.

(I wonder if it’s worth going back to Polythreme. I hated the place, but I do like the idea of that Unfinished Hat. And if I had that and a Yacht, I’d have all the non-Fate BDR possible to get, barring an Overgoat.)

28

sosisqua: The Decommissioned Steamer card is most definitely still around; I drew it today in fact. (And I have every lodging, so no issues there.)

~snip~
In conclusion, Bazaar Premises, Handsome Townhouse, and Rooftop Shack lodgings are worth getting for everyone. The Royal Beth is great for Spirifers. The Half-Abandoned Mansion is great for anyone inclined to play enough K&C, assuming it will be obtainable once more when that returns. Those willing to spend Fate may want the Brass Embassy room and Decommissioned Steamer. The rest are only useful to anyone who wants a lot of less efficient MW options and small scrap options in their deck for a very long time.[/quote]
I would debate that. while your list is mostly correct, two lodgings have the potential to be useful in the future, but are cheap enough to wait until then.
-snip-[/quote]

So in other words, my list was perfectly fine outside of possible future changes and a potential grind that would probably take years before it could be cashed in fully? :P

Also, nitpick: Criminal favours are worth 4.4 echoes through A merry sort of crime.
edited by Optimatum on 9/2/2016

29

Hey, what’s this talk about possible future changes? How and what do you know?

30

Failbetter is always changing things. The opening storylets are, I’m told, far different than their original incarnation for example.

One thing for certain is eventually all Connections will shift to the Favors/Renown system. They’re implementing it slowly but surely. This as a result will change up many things relying on Connected qualities

31

Best ways to get searing enigmas? Echoes are of no relevance, but i don’t have enough to burn them like water either at this point.

32

Certain chapel in the University - as far as I know, the only semi-reliable way to obtain those. As a non-reliable - Nadir cards.

33

and best way to get the truths for the truthbreaker? What’s your theory for that?

34

That would be upconverting ToT either from Hunter’s Keep (not sure about EPA on this one, but saw an estimate of 1.5 recently) or from heists in the Flit (which is also the goto method for Fidgeting Writer). Personally, I’d go with the latter as you can also get a fair amount of cards that give cryptic clues, as well as the &quotdream of dark waters&quot card if you’re seeking.
edited by Talkes on 9/2/2016

35

[quote=Talkes]That would be upconverting ToT either from Hunter’s Keep (not sure about EPA on this one, but saw an estimate of 1.5 recently) or from heists in the Flit (which is also the go-to method for Fidgeting Writer). Personally, I’d go with the latter as you can also get a fair amount of cards that give cryptic clues, as well as the &quotdream of dark waters&quot card if you’re seeking.
edited by Talkes on 9/2/2016[/quote]
I’m done with seeking, and am going to follow the path of plenty instead. But, like the first to walk that path, I will aid those more foolish, or perhaps more wise. like lilliac and like plenty. a reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely.

36

Though slower, I’m pretty sure it’s more efficient overall to feed Tales of Terror!! into the Fidgeting Writer and cash out at whichever step for Enigmas than it is to upconvert them and dump Incanabula into the Truthbreaker Turbine.

37

echo efficiency is irrelevant. while i can’t burn echoes like paper, [burned through too much already] I don’t need to make money- I am not a fate player and through bad judgement have no fate for an ubergoat, and have no interest in a hespirian cider- well, not enough interest, anyways. I don’t need income, I just can’t afford large-scale outgo.

38

By efficient I mean that iirc it’s faster to grind Fidgeting Writer to Enigmas from scratch than to grind up Incanabula for Enigmas from scratch. If you already have a substantial number of Incanabula and other Mysteries items, just converting those is faster.

39

57.2 actions per enigma, according to the simulator, if you have the needed prerequisites. If you don’t, it sounds like it’d be slower.
Comparison time for me:
grinding 25 incunabula. @ 1.25 epa = 250 actions, plus upcrafting- which has its own profits, but is 5 + 13 actions more. assuming average results are the middle number- unlikely but possible- you get 4 every 268 actions, or one every 67 actions… making it slower if you can get to black glass without running out of item types.
multitasking:
expeditions: [lazy] 1 enigma per 160+ actions average. Also 2 night whispers per 160+ actions average and 1 bottle airag
Slow grind for clues: 0.8 echoes in cryptic clues per action, but also +5 cp for each faction. 390 grinding actions, and 31.25 actions upcrafting clues, 6.5 upcrafting to tales/infamy, 13 to implications, and finally 5 actions upcrafting to incunabula. twice as long, at about 445.47 actions for 4 enigmas. side benefit of boosting connected colleges by 39 levels from 50 onwards, or more [1950 cp] from below 50.

40

I am about to start my first scientific voyage. Is there an optimal amount of notes I should aim for? I see that 50 of each is minimum