Rupho Schartenhauer
Posts: 787
1/27/2012
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Dear and most delicious Failbetter team,
you must be aware that after your most recent blog post we'll all be wanting a Radical Okapi now? You can only mention something so often before everybody wants it... ;-)
And I'm sure it would get along just brilliantly with Henry, my Corresponding Ocelot. The debates these two could have!
Also I think that the blog post's title, The Okapi Conundrum, would be a marvellous band name...
edited by Rupho Schartenhauer on 3/24/2015
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Rupho Schartenhauer has killed a Master, well: most of it.
Cortez the Killer has killed a Master, definitely.
Deepdelver has become the progenitor of London's brightest star. It's... complicated.
Dr. Kvirkvelia, gone NORTH on 23/12/1894.
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
1/27/2012
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Were London still on the surface, a Radical in C19 Britain would no longer be particularly extreme - a disreputable republican, to be sure, but a supporter of the emerging liberal welfare state, and not much more opposed to the present political order than its cousin, the Chartist Giraffe.
In the Neath, the common man has little say, and the Radical Okapi must redo the work of its grandfathers.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
1/27/2012
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> band name
Actually, it's one of Robert Ludlum's less-known thrillers.
> I understand the need for pacing, but grinding a quality up to five, taking the exact same action every time, gets to feel a bit silly.
We do understand that. There's a balance to strike here. If we never repeat content, we don't get best use of it (since people forget content until they re-read it, or don't notice references or grace notes the first time). On the other hand if you see the same text fifty times in a row, after the third time the words are just static. Mixing it up with other content helps but can be mechanical or difficult to arrange reliably. Deliberately writing more generic, less specific content helps but can lessen the first-time impact of the content. Addressing this is the single biggest goal of the remixing of narrative patterns we're doing.
>I think one thing that ought to cost 0 actions is changing lodgings..
It doesn't, and probably won't. We actually discussed this a while back, but decided
(1) there's some ludic consonance from moving lodgings being a faff, because you need to bring your toothbrush, okapi, recent mail, etc;
(2) with coming updates changing your current lodgings may have a more significant effect, at which point spending an action is a resource allocation decision.
So why not make it free until (2) kicks in? Because people who missed the memo will be powerfully unhappy when we go from 0 to 1 again - losing something that you've been accustomed to annoys you more than gaining something unexpected makes you happy.
In the early days of Echo Bazaar, changing areas cost an action - we removed this when reshuffling the map, and although we'd like to add it back to make moving round London a less weightless-feeling experience, we know people will feel cheated, and the small gain in ludic consonance isn't worth the upset. When and if we add more location-dependent gameplay, we might decide there's enough long-term gameplay benefit from giving movement a cost again, but we'd rather avoid the pain in the meantime. Discontent from the player base doesn't always prevent us doing things if we see a long-term good, but it is always something we take into consideration.
But if you do think of actions or categories of actions that you think should be zero-cost, let us know. There are probably things in odd corners that we haven't considered.
edited by Alexis Kennedy on 1/27/2012
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Felicity Chase
Posts: 62
1/27/2012
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Alexis Kennedy wrote:
In the early days of Echo Bazaar, changing areas cost an action - we removed this when reshuffling the map, and although we'd like to add it back to make moving round London a less weightless-feeling experience, we know people will feel cheated, and the small gain in ludic consonance isn't worth the upset. When and if we add more location-dependent gameplay, we might decide there's enough long-term gameplay benefit from giving movement a cost again, but we'd rather avoid the pain in the meantime. Discontent from the player base doesn't always prevent us doing things if we see a long-term good, but it is always something we take into consideration.
Now this is something that I find interesting. I do remember finding travel to be surprisingly "weightless", as you've so accurately described, given that Fallen London is said to be like a labyrinth: "The streets of London were bent into a labyrinth with the Bazaar at the labyrinth's heart. Finding your way around can be troublesome. Pre-Bazaar maps can be surprisingly useful, but they're contraband. Don't be caught with one." But I'm sure I'm in a vast minority when I say I wouldn't mind if travel used actions. Maybe make it a very low-leveled storylet to find (or talk) your way from place to place, so it does cost an action but also provides a very small benefit (say, 10 Whispered Secrets or some random prize of equal value with chance of a greater reward)? This could cause a problem for new players though. Then perhaps hansoms could be added...
Otherwise I can't think of any action I'd like to be zero-cost. Like I said, I'm a minority :P
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@FelicityChase
Currently accepting: Almost all social actions. But please don't send me invitations to private dinners. And Nightmares may take a very long time to accept, unless you're willing to take some of mine in return.
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
1/28/2012
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I, for one, travel all around the city to remind myself where content sits, look for updates, plan my next move, and sometimes just to enjoy each area. Adding a cost would be a bit of a wrench.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Little The
Posts: 700
1/28/2012
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By the way, on the topic of actions that should be zero-cost, how about moving between the Labyrinth of Tigers? It's quite bothersome to have to expend an action (and another for a round trip) every time I want to head somewhere else. Also, perhaps the tutorial/reminder storylets such as asking the Bishop of Southwark about how to breed monsters?
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A gentleman of numerous descriptors that change far too often. Second chance and menace reduction invites are welcome.
My journey to Seek the Name is recorded for posterity here. I asked "Who is Salt?"
I am a member of the Temple Club. If you would like an invitation, feel free to request one!
Fallen London is a game of choices. When you make an important one, you can record your rationale here.
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Patrick Reding
Posts: 440
1/27/2012
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I think it all comes down to whether it's "radical" because it holds extreme political views, is a massive departure from generally accepted okapidom, or is mentally trapped in the 1980s.
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http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/Yana
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