[quote=PSGarak]My guess is that there will be a greater narrative impetus with the content that’s slated for End of May. What’s been teased so far about that, it seems both expansive, and more squarely "the next step" for your character. Especially with what we’ve inferred about stat cap increased.
I think the content that’s been released wasn’t entirely meant to stand on its own, but rather be some pieces in a larger puzzle. But, some Ambitions tied into it, and FBG decided (correctly) that it wouldn’t be great for a subset of players to get exclusive access for three-ish months, so some content was released to all players. And that meant cutting along some seams that are mechanically self-contained but not narratively self-contained.
The Bone Market feels the most stapled-on to me, and I’m pretty sure they only released that to the extent that it’s required for progression in the Lab.
Parabola… I’m kind of OK with pieces of that just kind of being there. It’s Parabola. Hopefully the whole thing will make sense either for bones or for Hell… or the Tree. The Tree scares me. But I think it’s thematic for there to just be unexplained loose ends off to the side there.[/quote]
That explanation makes a lot of sense. Most of my disinterest in the new content is specifically for the Bone Market and all the lab’s item grinds, but I hadn’t been thinking of these as the requirements for another story. As a BaL player, the lab and Parabola made sense to me since they were involved in my ambition—it was the sudden introduction of so much currently-meaningless research that threw me off, where players without prior lab access saw those from the start.
Parabola is great though. Spontaneously deciding to make viric clothing is exactly the sort of content it needs.
Players have been clamoring for more University content, more Parabola, more grand endgame goals (that are not pointless grinds) and more secrets and mysteries since forever. The lab has all of these: you are back at the University, you finally establish the Parabolan base-camp, you have a ton of things to work towards, you open up more mysteries, and you get to meet many, many colorful characters (and put old friends to good use). Additionally, you finally help the Albino Rat be happy, and you might even get rid of the artist. Plus there are hints of many, many things to come. I admit having the 6-7 thousand echoes (plus Tarot and Correspondence) helped ease the grind, but… even without that, this update addressed a number of requests at once.
Do I have complaints? Sure - not having actual social actions at the lab is going to alienate lots of end-level players as they immerse themselves for weeks, and the lack of a fifth outfit hurts. But I am impressed at how they worked so many storylines and loose ends - I hope we finally have a Toymaker’s option too, so maybe the final loose end will be tidied up.
Oh and for the Hell update… they are getting James Chew, right? So we can have more Deacon and more roses. I am sure any writer can do a wonderful job but Chew’s touch with Hell stood out. #Deacon&Roses
If one doesn’t have the Bone Market route, and beginning scientific research doesn’t have the option to ask the Dean for a bone to study, how does one get a bone?
Perform paleontological task for Dean. Or its bugged somehow? edited by Waterpls on 4/20/2020[/quote]
It doesn’t appear in the possible investigations. The only ones available are the paleontological survey, the statistical observations, the probability distributor, and the glass gazettes.
The first research to examine a bone requires not having any students yet, and every conclusion should give Route: The Bone Market. Did you begin that research but abandon it?
Speaking of bones, and because there doesn’t really seem to be a better place to mention it, bones are now sorted into their own category (Osteology) on the possessions tab, no longer in Curiosity.