Okay, finally made it there, though I’m a bit confused about how it works. It seems like you get 11 Unnatural Exuberences at the beginning, then those decrease every time you take an action, so you effectively have 11 actions to amass Investigating and Fascinating. Once you get down to 1, your only option is to reset it, which starts the whole thing all over again. Is this correct?
If so, I’m rather disappointed to see that this is yet another luck-based “gambling”-type story. And I haven’t seen any major plot revelations yet, though I haven’t completed the “big” options in the permanent storylets yet.
Partially. Polythreme mechanic is another iteration of cat-and-mouse game, where you have to accumulate a certain quality (or, in this particular case, a combination of two qualities) before “time runs out” (i. e. you run out of actions). Once you get down to 1, you may reap the benefits of your progress and take advantage of a storylet if it is high enough, or reset and begin the investigation from scratch if it isn’t.
Not being on good terms with Lady Luck myself, I am not a gambler by nature. Therefore I too have been midly disappointed by yet another set of luck-based obstacles, but this particular case is bearable because you are allowed to trade resources for progress. On the whole, I noticed a peculiar change of paradigm that became apparent of late: before one becomes a Person of Some Importance, he progresses via tests of skill and only occasionally relies on luck, but past a certain threshold skill no longer matters: from that point on, progress is gained by sheer luck and one’s abundance of wordly possessions only. I am not sure if it is good.
It’s worth noting that should you take the options to pay your way, failure merely raises the progress in question, while success raises both. This can become rather expensive, and I didn’t bring enough of the right kind of goods for my liking.
There are other less reliable ways, but at least it’s possible to bypass the RNG, albeit at a price.
Thankfully, early attempts at bribery only cost you surface silk and romantic notions, which are easily obtainable right at the streets of Polythreme. If you play your cards right (and by “right” I mean “just after bribery attempts become excruciatingly expensive”), luck ceases to be a factor, Masters be praised.
Though I am long gone from the Polythreme I do have some hints for those wishing to Get the most out of there visit. Okay so the idea behind the new stat is that it counts down backwards. Starting at 11 or 12 I forget and going back to one. Now the best way to get a reward towards the end is to raise either fascinating or investigating to 12+. I suggest focusing on just one. I finished spying on the Polythreme by just grinding items and using my special plan. So the idea is that there is a option called. One can make a profit here. You use the bottom two options there to farm romantic notions and silk. Then you use pay your way option till your new stat gets to like 3 or 4. Then you use either of the trading options. There’s one that trades fascinating for investigating and vicea versa. If you do this right it will take about 25 or so actions but your guaranteed a successes. I honestly don’t get how your supposed to raise both stats high enough for some of the options. Who knows maybe your just supposed to pay fate for those options?
Oh, I can assure you that it is definitely not the case. While raising both qualities high enough does present something of a challenge, it is certainly doable with a bit of time and resource management.
A little luck at the early bribing stage will get you as high as 5 in both qualities, and from that point on all you need is a bit more luck when playing the corresponding opportunities. Since most of these opportunities raise one quality and lower the other, an additional problem presents itself once you hit 7/7 or 8/8. By the time it happens you’re usually out of time to correct mistakes if they happen, so you need to look for “The Masked Man” card… which does not decrease any of your qualities even on a failure, but does lower the dreaded Unnatural Exuberance and thus allows you to bide your time.
So far I’m finding it rather frustrating, I have been unable to get any rewards but the “Panic!” option, despite my best efforts. So many tantalizing ways to trade fascinating and Investigating and I can’t seem to get more than 9 of either in the allotted time.
I think the divide’s more “at stat cap” versus “not at stat cap.” I’m PoSI but well below cap, and there’s a lot of content I’m too low-level to complete efficiently or at all: War of Assassins, Velocipede Squad, Wilmot’s End, probably Newspaper and some of the Islands though I haven’t tried…
If you’re at the level cap, new skill-based content will either be way too easy or has to come with a raise to the cap. Delay, high cost, and luck are all Failbetter can do to make high-level content non-trivial for players at cap, and many of them have been there long enough that material cost would just come out of their reserves. (And some of the new content has come with skill requirements that players at cap simply ignore- Fidgeting Writer has an increasing Watchful requirement as you progress through it, for instance.)
I am afraid I did not have the pleasure. Having almost concluded my observations of Polythreme, I am inclined not to disclose my notes to either the Masters or the Revolutionaries, ultimately keeping the files in my possession.
To be frank, I am not even sure there are any rebels on the island. Of course, I may be proven particularly gullible or simply mistaken.
Theory: The “peculiar rebellion” Chris mentions is [color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]the rebellion of one’s clothes. [/color]As for the legions, possibly it’s another name for the [color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]Hundreds[/color]? I’m not through all the content yet, so I’m quite likely wrong about the second, though.
I believe Polythreme to be the most charming place I’ve ever seen! Good God, I want a clothes legion to wear now! And the customs are so charming, and the pub so much fun, and the people so kind! I believe I shall make my summer home here. And it can keep me company on the nights the cool zee wind whips past us.
How exceedingly silly of me not to think of the clothes-legions! Why yes, I did meet many of them, and some were kind enough to offer me wear them; running away screaming at the offer would be very, very boorish and uncouth at the extreme, so I had to come up with an elaborate excuse and did my best to change the subject of conversation afterwards. Surely you must be aware that being encased in a clothes-legion[color=#ffffff] is actually a punishment by the Masters of the Bazaar[/color]? edited by Lawrence Growe on 3/19/2012
Personally, I’ve been terrified of Polythreme ever since the first mention of it (in a sidebar). Though the prose that’s actually there is a bit more…friendly, it still gets disturbing fast if you think about it. One’s own clothes keeping one prisoner? Wails from the cobblestones? Enslaved furniture? Gah! And I think that the constant chattering would drive me insane.
I think that the most disturbing thing about Polythreme isn’t so much that everything’s sentient, it’s that no one seems to care. For all intents and purposes, life seems to be mostly the same as elsewhere. The fact that stone can feel pain doesn’t change the presence of stonemasons. People still need furniture, even if it means enslaving that furniture. And people still use candles, even as they scream and beg for mercy! And of course, you still need to eat and drink…
No. I don’t think Polythreme is a pleasant place. Certainly interesting on an intellectual level. But I would never think of taking up permanent residence. D-:
This is an interesting observation. Originally I believed that the two expressions were purely synonymous, but the longer I think about it the more I am inclined to agree with you. The very semantic seems to imply that a colony is benign by nature, but a legion is something different and woefully sinister. Hmm…