Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/23/2015
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Delicious friends - the continuation of the Heart's Desire ambition is now live!
We'll be releasing this in two parts. Today, you can continue your quest to recover the shard of the King with a Hundred Hearts. Find the Observer of Falsehoods. Brave the improbable dangers of Old Downy, where squalor and mystery collide. Return to Polythreme with your prize!
To continue the story, look for a new storylet available throughout London. And return tomorrow, when you will be able to recruit the Marvellous' sixth player!
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
6/30/2015
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Mr. James Rayner wrote:
(Anything else they claim to be the reason for it is so much bullocky. This is a BUSINESS. Narrative abstractions come second to keeping everyone paid.) .
I think this episode took about two-person weeks of time to plan, design, write, test, rebalance, rewrite, line-edit and pass my final review. Ambitions make us practically no money. They're the fun part we can get to spend time on when we're up to date with the other stuff, and because we want to satisfy our creative commitment to our players.
If you can create content like this much faster, then either you're producing lower quality work, or you're more talented than us.
Mr James Rayner wrote:
But more and more, I wonder where the Failbetter of 4 or 5 years ago went and why I keep waiting for them to come back.
A glance at your posting history shows that this is what you thought of Failbetter back then:
Mr. James Rayner wrote:
No other Ambition has this kind of story wall! An item you cant get, save for Fate spending during one holiday out of the year, until the absolute end game or a stack of dreams you may never ever see! I'd rather give him the 5000 Brass, but that doesnt work! What absolutely terrible story / game design.
James, please be courteous if you want to keep posting here. Forum rules reminder: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic5-forum-rules-please-read.aspx
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Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/24/2015
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colinsapherson wrote:
Go on Chris, make the change. You know you want to.
Don't toy with me. I'M A MAN ON THE EDGE!
(Should be satisfying content for fans of socks, though. Traditionally under-served in gaming, socks.)
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Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/24/2015
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Sackville wrote:
You made me sail all the way to Polythreme to take one single action.
You're right. I should have made you run through the Polythreme wheel, too. Missed a trick, there.
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LordPaido
Posts: 17
6/25/2015
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I'm going to guess from the tone of this thread that I'm in the minority in my opinion of much of this update, but...am I really the only one who felt this update, or at least the second half, felt really rushed and a major let-down after the year(s?) of waiting?
Spoilers for Heart's Desire abound under the cut; ye hath been warned!
[spoiler]
Before I delve into the bad, let's dispense with the good; the first part was quite solid. An expedition, a trip into Old Downy, (....I just got the joke. Wow. Love and hatred vying for control) all that jazz. I would have considered it a bit light for a full recruitment, but for the second half of one, it seemed pretty solid. No problems here.
So then we found out who the 6th player was; ooh, ok, Virginia, lot of potential there. But....well, let me give an action by action summary.
1 Action to chat with Virginia (Ok, she won't just play, shocking, that. Guess I'll need to convince her)
1 Action to dig into her past (Ah, ok, former Prince of Hell, bet I'll need one of those items, wonder where this is headed?)
1 Action (theoretically optional, but I bet most people take it) to get the Location (Oh, well, at least I don't have to grind a few hundred more scraps)
1 Action to cash in the Location (Oh. I was hoping for a unique area, since Heart's Desire still doesn't have one of those. Sigh. More sailing)
Sailing Out (Padding, padding, padding)
1 Action to convince the devil to help (Ok, got a letter from him....wonder how this is going to work. This seems easy so far, where's the twist?)
Sailing Back (Wow, this update has a lot of padding. An expedition, sailing to Poly and back, and now this)
1 Action to....wait, she's in already?
So the entirety of recruiting a player, a late player, too, (as opposed to Bishop or Monkey, for example) took all of 6 non-padding actions? 6 paragraphs (ish, maybe 8 or 9) of new text? That's.....it? I mean, there were some item costs, but not onerous ones by any stretch. That's....really kind of boring. But we know who the 7th player is, and, well, that's not actually a shock, per se. But it's cool. Bet he'll take a lot of work!
5 Actions to come up with a plan (Huh....it's exactly the same idea as Virginia. But the options are pretty buff-sounding, at least)
1 Action to answer the door (I wonder who that could be....not really)
1 Action to....say yes??? (Wait....wait, what?!)
Well, guess I shouldn't have complained about Virginia, huh? 7 actions, but only 3 new sections of text? For recruiting a _Master_? The last two players recruited in less then a candle's worth of non-padding actions? Heck, if I was an Exceptional Friend, I might have been able to do the whole thing including padding in one full 40 actions. Where's the depth? Where's the new unique area to run through? (Think the Orphanage, or the Chambers of the Heart, or The Convent, areas with unique cards, or a unique carousel, or something)
Does anyone else remember Tristram Bagley? Tall, mumbles a lot, wears a natty bat? Remember the work you needed to do to recruit him? I do. I remember thinking at the end of that (including across an update barrier of several months/a year for the end of it) "Wow, that was a lot of work. Fun, though. If that was #4, I wonder how hard the others are going to be?" Recruiting Tristram took a lot of effort, time, investigating, but was rewarding in the end. It was fun. Lots of fun. This update felt eerily like some of my college game dev projects; a solid start, and then a quick rush job when the deadline cropped up unexpectedly. All the fun was frontloaded.
Now, I understand that there were item gates on most of those actions, and that the ambition needs to be balanced for people playing through beginning to end, not people like us that have been spending the years of downtime between ambition updates grinding like there's no tomorrow. But especially for Heart's Desire, where the only real draw of the ambition is the lore, there needs to be more actual content. I echoed all the new content for this update, so I could read it again at my leisure. The entirety of recruiting the 6th AND 7th players of the Marvellous takes up the first page. And nothing else. And I'm sorry, but I don't think that should have been the case.
....that may have gotten a little preachy. Sorry about that. I was just really looking forward to this update since it was announced 7 or 8 months ago, and I was really hoping it would have more to do to keep me interested in the game. The writing that was there was quite good, and I appreciate the work that was put into it. I just wish I didn't have another likely multiple-year wait ahead of me for the rest of it.
[/spoiler]
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Danko
Posts: 142
6/30/2015
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So I'm at the last option where you pick one of three choices. I think I'll wait before the next update to pick one.
And I think the update was nice.
Honestly it did feel a bit rushed. We accomplish some pretty great things, but don't get much feedback from it all. For example, I was a little taken aback when releasing a certain person from certain something and he just went with 'oh okay, thanks, seeya' in one sentence. I think there were some pretty cool opportunities to learn more about the players and their story that got missed.
I could also agree that it was artificially grindy a little. At times it felt like "grind for 40 actions, then get a little text and repeat". I'm probably just used to a slightly different action/text ratio. The high item costs were alright, actually, this is what I expect from high-level ambitions.
Last of all, the choices made sadly does not appear to matter, since they all lead to same conclusions and don't change any character traits, so basically there is no way for game to recognize whether I chose X or Y, it's all the same. A little dissapointing, really!
All in all, I came out somewhat satisfied and intrigued. I think it was great, and I'm really thankful for the update and eagerly waiting for more. The last choice is a tremendous cliffhanger, because it hints at a very large chunk of content for the next update which could potentially be truly world-changing.
edited by Danko on 6/30/2015
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Danko
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Nigel Overstreet
Posts: 1220
6/30/2015
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Emain Ablach wrote:
Here, I have a feeling of... something rushed, unfinished, lacking texts and atmosphere.
Mr. James Rayner wrote:
Perhaps by 2020 we'll actually get to play the game, but I now doubt it.
salirsalisco wrote:
I still like this Ambition a lot, but I agree that these last two steps felt kind of rushed
Docteur wrote:
Any idea on when we'll finally be able to play the damn game?
This seems an impossible tightrope to walk.
I'm of the opinion that I'd rather have the work be done well rather than soon, but we also have to remember that there were about a dozen threads over the couple of months screaming for a Heart's Desire update.
Keeping in mind that Heart's Desire is, by far, the most popular Ambition, it is also the one going to be subjected to the most scrutiny.
I thought the update was fine. It may have seemed rushed for some of us because we already had all the pretty ridiculously expensive items, but for people who will be playing all of this content at once, this step will not be the cake walk it was for those of us accumulating items for years.
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The Romantic Egotist: Most Hedonistic Man in All of Fallen London
Are you or someone you know Overgoated? Please, let me know!
Cider Club
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LordPaido
Posts: 17
6/30/2015
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Nigel Overstreet wrote:
This seems an impossible tightrope to walk.
I'm of the opinion that I'd rather have the work be done well rather than soon, but we also have to remember that there were about a dozen threads over the couple of months screaming for a Heart's Desire update.
In all fairness, there was a reason for that. Ambition updates were announced back in October, and the first two came out reasonably quickly (with Hallowmas in the middle as a very understandable reason for the delay between the two). I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only person who expected Heart's Desire to come out fairly quickly afterwards, and was disappointed when it took several months. If you're going to make an announcement, why not wait until all/most of the content is finished? (I say most because hey, there's something to be said for getting people's attention and raising their anticipation for a bit; good business and all)
Nigel Overstreet wrote:
Keeping in mind that Heart's Desire is, by far, the most popular Ambition, it is also the one going to be subjected to the most scrutiny.
Really? Is that actually true? (I'm not calling you out or anything, I just don't remember seeing data on this anywhere. I'm sure I've forgotten some FB post somewhere, I just don't remember where)
Nigel Overstreet wrote:
I thought the update was fine. It may have seemed rushed for some of us because we already had all the pretty ridiculously expensive items, but for people who will be playing all of this content at once, this step will not be the cake walk it was for those of us accumulating items for years.
It's not just the ease of the content, though. Although that is a factor, I fully agree that item gates are just going to be less of a problem for long-timers like us. My problem was more that the second half of the content felt rushed in other terms. I've already posted an action-by-action summary of the last two recruitment elsewhere in this thread, but the short version is that all the new content in the last two recruitments, echoed, took up a single page of the journal. There just wasn't a lot there. If the whole update had lived up to Old Downy, I would have had no problems with it. (In fact, I think Old Downy took as long, action wise, as either full recruitment after it. It certainly took me longer then both put together, since I was very good at failing second-chanced 85% success rates)
The second half of this update, to me, felt like....like FBG got tired of the "recruit seven players" concept and rushed a quick ending to recruitment, replacing it with [spoiler] getting the cards and the location for the game [/spoiler] instead. Which could be interesting, but it isn't the ambition I've been playing? As I said earlier, recruiting the Topsy King was my favorite part of this Ambition; winding, long, with a lot going on. Since then, the ambition hasn't lived up to that promise. And this update did nothing but reinforce that impression.
edited by LordPaido on 6/30/2015
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Emain Ablach
Posts: 348
6/30/2015
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Seeing Danko's post, which I find very honest and fair, and Mr.James Rayner's, which is a little (ahem!) bit more critical and hard and agressive (seriously, you can criticize without being so negative), I feel like I have to add something about how I received the expansion : thank you. I felt it rushed, it could have been way better knowing your skills and your creativity, but it was interesting nonetheless and I'm always happy whenever there is new content from Failbetter Games. ^^
What you say, Danko, made me realise something which was itching me : "I think there were some pretty cool opportunities to learn more about the new players and their story that got missed." <- this. Exactly. There were opportunities to learn new things about the Neath, the P.o.H. (we don't even learn how it looks ! :'(), the 7th player. That's what was bothering me. Thanks for taking it off my mind ! ='D
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Went NORTH. Got salted. Never came back. We won't remember him.
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Emain%20Ablach
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Deanscig
Posts: 72
7/1/2015
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I'm enjoying this new content but it's not how I thought it would be. I'm not saying it's bad (I think it's good) but it wasn't great. It didn't really pull me in like with the topsy king.
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https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Deanscig
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A B Nile
Posts: 414
6/25/2015
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Chris Gardiner wrote:
A B Nile wrote:
I suppose my question is really "does option 2 eat the THING"? Because if so, then it sounds like there is no reason at all to take option 2 without first taking option 1.
So, currently, outside of Heart's Desire there's only one way to get a THING. But that won't always be the case. We try to design content to be a future-proof as we can - in the future there may be players who got a THING in a less costly way, or as a result of getting lucky, etc, etc.
There's also some more philosophical considerations surrounding choice and how it's framed, but I don't think here's the place to dig into that. But the response players who have already earned a THING have when they see this choice ("NO &%$£ING WAY YOU WILL PRY THIS ONE FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS!") is kind of part of the point. I'll bet they click the other option REALLY HARD.
Thanks again Chris. It's two ways incidentally (Nadir and Scraps).
I think you're probably right re choice, but it's interesting. I mean, I own all of the top tier Scrap items - funnily enough the one I am missing is the THING. If I thought there was something super-unique to be gained by giving one of them up (whether item, lore or quality) then I would seriously consider it.
My point is that someone who was expecting something like that would have been really, really disappointed if they had (bravely) clicked option 2 and found out they were actually worse off than people who didn't have the THING already. Like I said, the cost of option 1 makes it a total, total, no-brainer, regardless of whether or not you already have a THING. And because it's such a no-brainer one could argue that someone who didn't know the outcomes in advance might therefore have had a reasonable expectation that clicking option 2 first would get them something extra.
Anyway, I want to say that I think the new Heart's Desire content has been really cool so far. Am looking forward to seeing what awaits at the end of this next zee voyage.
--
My profile: A B Nile
My alt: Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate
(seeking Acquaintances and accepting all social actions)
Item conversion table - finally complete with all rare successes!
Bloody, bold and resolute
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Nigel Overstreet
Posts: 1220
6/24/2015
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I figured out how to convince the 7th player to join the game.
the Blind Astronomer says that the game wouldn't be played again for another 5 years.
He told me that in 1889.
So, in order to get everyone to play I must...wait 6 months!
Wait. He said it would be at least five years. And time work differently in the Neath.
Drat. I thought I had it.
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The Romantic Egotist: Most Hedonistic Man in All of Fallen London
Are you or someone you know Overgoated? Please, let me know!
Cider Club
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Lady Taimi Felix
Posts: 202
6/28/2015
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Blaine Davidson wrote:
Looking around it doesn't seem to be much info on what happens if you select the other two choices. Would anyone be kind enough to share what happens in either scenario?
Yes. I picked the third option, because a reckoning will not- Oh, well you know all that by now, yes? This was the result:
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lady~Taimi~Felix?fromEchoId=6012179
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Lady Taimi Felix: Devoted Wife. Invisible Eminence. Patron of the Shadowy Arts. Monster Hunter. Lady of Adventure. Exceptionally Lethal. Loves a Good Chat over Coffee.
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Emain Ablach
Posts: 348
6/30/2015
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Mr. James Rayner wrote:
Well, that was a vaguely entertaining diversion for about a day or so. Not a satisfying diversion mind you, not by any remote stretch of the imagination, but entertaining enough I suppose.
Ok, I finished this part of the Ambition and... I feel the same, more or less. It was... ok. Just ok. I don't know if my memories of the early stages of the Ambition are somewhat changed by the years, but it felt way more funny, mysterious and interesting. Here, I have a feeling of... something rushed, unfinished, lacking texts and atmosphere. Great ideas, but not done with all the talent of Failbetter Games.
Maybe I'm just imagining things, or I've become more greedy and difficult to satisfy ?
I would have like something longer, deeper, especially the part with the sixth player. I mainly felt like I sailed a lot (and I hate to sail x_x).
I don't like being this guy who is unsatisfied and says it, so I'm sorry, but it's how I feel. :/ Could have been way better, but the ideas are very good.
--
Went NORTH. Got salted. Never came back. We won't remember him.
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Emain%20Ablach
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colinsapherson
Posts: 191
6/24/2015
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Go on Chris, make the change. You know you want to.
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Colin%20Sapherson%2c%20Lord%20President%20of%20the%20Council
Available for Knife & Candle Moon League matches, Tournaments of lilies and other social actions (including boxed cats and photographers).
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Strangewheys~Wandering
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/RUSKIN~WARE
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Sackville
Posts: 295
6/24/2015
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Chris Gardiner wrote:
Ambitions are mean.
You made me sail all the way to Polythreme to take one single action.
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Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/24/2015
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Residual Toast wrote:
If you leave the Old Downy prematurely, is the entrance cost the same?
It is.
Ambitions are mean.
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Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/24/2015
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colinsapherson wrote:
Well then, if you won’t force me, I’ll just have to do it myself. In Polythreme now, and I won’t visit the King until I get Fascinating 13 (or possibly 12 – your choice).
12?! What does this look like? Veilgarden? You're a POSI now! 13 is the number. Well. Not the number. But a number.
Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
How foolish would I be to enter Old Downy with Watchful and Shadowy ~100? Entirely foolish?
Quite foolish and, imminently, very very poor.
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Danko
Posts: 142
6/25/2015
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Old Downy is a path full of hurt. Ouch, ow, ow. Evil, evil writer!
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Danko
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Blaine Davidson
Posts: 388
6/30/2015
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Deanscig wrote:
Am I the only one who thinks the lengths you go to to get the last two players to join is hilarious? I mean you can release something utterly horrible to get the sixth player and what you can plan to do to get the last player to join can also completely screw over absolutely everyone. I think it's hilarious that you are doing these horrible things to make people play a card game you're not even guaranteed to win!
It's even more hilarious when you take into account what someone could possibly desire so badly in order to go through all these means. How would they even represent the numerous victory options when everyone comes together to play the game?
I mean, my character only chose this Ambition not because she desires something, but because she was mildly interested. I don't even know what her heart desires. Maybe a Heptagoat?
Actually, if I get a Heptagoat at the end of all this I'll be quite content.
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Blaine Davidson, a reserved and sensible woman with a fondness of collecting rarities.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
6/30/2015
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I wonder how annoyed the other players would be if my heart's desire is simply to win my heart's desire. All that effort just because I wanted to win a high stakes card game, not for any prizes but solely for the game itself.
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Sara%20Hysaro
Please do not send SMEN, cat boxes, or Affluent Reporter requests. All other social actions are welcome.
Are you a Scarlet Saint? Send a message my way to be added to the list.
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Sackville
Posts: 295
6/25/2015
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LordPaido wrote:
am I really the only one who felt this update, or at least the second half, felt really rushed and a major let-down after the year(s?) of waiting?
I was a little taken aback when I had all the materials to blow up the [REDACTED] or acquire a [VERY, VERY REDACTED] casually strewn around my house, yeah. Those five actions constitute months of character time, though (echo timestamps notwithstanding).
On the one hand, the expeditions and zailing trips were already pretty grindy and I don't want the ambition to be grindier without a good reason. On the other hand, all that padding made the single actions you need to take in some places stand out even more
I think part of the problem is that many of the other ambitions have unique places to grind in, but this latter part of A:HD has its content at the end of stuff we've all already done. Going through a whole expedition or zailing trip and then taking one action feels worse than spending those actions somewhere new, even if the grind:reward ratio is the same.
I don't think anyone would be complaining, for example, if you needed to stow away on board one of Dr. Orthos's ships to get to Corpsecage (your own ship would be too conspicuous), with a new sequence (should that be capitalized?) to play through instead of the standard Broad Unterzee.
Given the grinds we got, though, I would've liked longer conversations at the end. Even if the choices still end up in the same place and it's just a few more short paragraphs and some 0 actions, Lilac style, I think that it would go a long way towards making it feel less padded.
This is, of course, a bit entitled. I'm basically saying, hey, why not whip up like a minimum of ten to twelve paragraphs of high quality content and then casually drop them into conversation trees that feel meaningful but always make sure you end up in the right place. Even if nothing changes, I really enjoyed the new content. I just wish each new piece wasn't behind another loathful zailing trip.
(Problems exacerbated by the fact that I really, really, don't like zailing. YMMV)
edited by Sackville on 6/25/2015
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Lady Taimi Felix
Posts: 202
6/27/2015
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Blaine Davidson wrote:
[ ...[F]or RP reasons my character would never dream of using the other two options to sway them.
Well, if it's at all helpful, your character isn't actually doing any of the three options, merely gaining leverage over the Seventh Player by the implication that you could.
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Lady Taimi Felix: Devoted Wife. Invisible Eminence. Patron of the Shadowy Arts. Monster Hunter. Lady of Adventure. Exceptionally Lethal. Loves a Good Chat over Coffee.
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Ami Miljkovich
Posts: 98
6/28/2015
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Now knowing who the seventh player is, I find my original statements in this topic particularly ironic. They seem to be a pretty good sport about the whole thing, though, so no harm done. I don't think Soran will ever take this Exceptional Hat off again (well, except when they need to, for, like... Stats). Also, I'm still super stoked over the fact that
[spoiler]Mr. Pages was in my house! My perfect, precious nerdy space bat-senpai actually came to visit me, I'm so happy! <3[/spoiler]
--
The Secret-Hungry Bat ~ "I have my bats and my works, and endless secrets and pleasures at my disposal; what need have I of a soul?"
The Dangerously-Charming Fox ~ "Let's go stab each other and then get drunk together! That's what friends do around here, right?"
The Ever-Scheming Magpie ~ "All I'm after is a fresh start... And maybe a little profit on the side..."
The Blood-Thirsty Moth ~ "This floor isn't red enough. I need to fix that. Come closer."
Meet the families.
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Sackville
Posts: 295
6/28/2015
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Yes.
[spoiler]Mr. Pages is also my most favorite, most adorattractable master and his appresence made me giddily similar and/or vice versa.[/spoiler]
edited by Sackville on 6/28/2015
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MissCrumpet
Posts: 113
7/11/2015
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Danko wrote:
I think there were some pretty cool opportunities to learn more about the players and their story that got missed.
This sums up my thoughts perfectly. I was eager to find out more about Virginia and the politics of Hell, but there wasn't much story or background at all. I think if we'd traveled to a new island, even if it was a tiny boring place with a carousel, it would have seemed more interesting. Instead, it felt frustrating to be at zee AGAIN.
The worst thing was revisiting Polythreme again and remembering how terrible that carousel is with my abysmal luck! I'm taunted by Investigating... 11 every time. 
Overall, not bad, just not as cool as the Exceptional Story for July (also far more expensive - I was tempted to just give up my ambition and cash in on a particular location...).
--
Julia C, a creatively named lady. I am always looking to expand my circle of acquaintances and enjoy pleasant social interactions.
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IHNIWTR
Posts: 346
7/1/2015
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honestly the fact that the choices we made re: getting the sixth and seventh player to participate do not seem to matter or be taken into account in any way is what bothers me most. They offer some very interesting avenues to explore future storylines that may not even have anything to do with the ambition, and I wish that the character's decision could have been registered in an obvious manner.
edited by IHNIWTR on 7/1/2015
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https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Daniel%20Vaise
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Malgorath
Posts: 124
7/5/2015
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I feel like this content was a letdown for me. My thoughts are similar to many of the other dissenting opinions. The early and mid content involved learning about these colorful characters and future opponents in the Marvelous. And while the content in this update was good, there just wasn't enough for how much we supposedly achieved. It was upsetting as I was hoping to learn more about
[spoiler] why Virginia cares so much about the Correspondence and more about her past, her standing in Hell, and the history of Hell. But you barely get any real idea above what we already knew, that there was a revolution in the past that resulted in the exile of the infernal aristocracy. You don't really get any new info out of it. And the Mr Pages content was very lackluster. What could a Master desire? What glimpse into their world can we get from this? Apparently the only thing they could possibly desire is to stop you from doing something rash.[/spoiler]
It's just unfortunate that the early content had you doing your best to learn about your opponents and doing various lengthy tasks to get them into the game but this most recent update (minus the Old Downy part which was great) was just spending expensive items, zailing, having short uneventful conversations with the two new players and the sixth player's connection, zailing, pretending to do something interesting but the choice and work not really mattering, and zailing. Did I mention zailing? There was a lot of it and not much else.
I'm sorry about the rant, and the first bit of zailing to finish up the Manager's story was completely justified, but the whole rest of the story was so uneventful and you learned nothing and it just felt relatively empty compared to the previous quality of this ambition's content and it was egregiously padded with an insane amount of zailing.
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Phil - TRAVELLER RETURNING
Malgorath - A new member of the Neath.
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salirsalisco
Posts: 38
6/30/2015
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I still like this Ambition a lot, but I agree that these last two steps felt kind of rushed; especially if I compare them to how interesting and troublesome it was to deal with the monkey, the Manager, or the Topsy King. There have been a couple of seemingly big choices to make, but I did not feel like they would have really affected the world of Fallen London at all. I may well be mistaken.
edited by salirsalisco on 6/30/2015
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My profile.
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Emain Ablach
Posts: 348
6/30/2015
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Blaine Davidson wrote:
It took me months to get through the first parts of the Amibition. And I finished this in less than a week. I'm trying to drag this out a bit further by choosing the last option for the 7th player.
I understand, and I'm pretty sure what you said is a part of why I feel unsatisfied, but to answer to your question about the sixth player... yes, your example of what could have been done is exactly what I had in mind.
Paying high tiers items is just a matter of grinding. It hurts my wallet, force me to grind a lot if I don't have the items, but that's all there is to it. That's not interesting. The more I think about it, the more I feel like this expansion of Heart's Desire lacks text and atmosphere. Clicking a lot and using a lot of actions doesn't feel the same if you're doing it with bits of an interesting and unknown story than if you do it with storylets you already played 1000-2000 times. I played it with the feeling that I was clicking 50 times for getting somewhere, to only find one little paragraph of new text. x_x
In the end, it's not a matter of time spent, new locations (even if I must admit I was hoping for a special location like the Orphanage ^.^' but that's my own problem for wanting that and I totally respect the choice of the writers not to do so) or items. Just texts, choices to make, research to do. I'm repeating myself now, guess it means I should stop here. :'p
edited by Emain Ablach on 6/30/2015
--
Went NORTH. Got salted. Never came back. We won't remember him.
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Emain%20Ablach
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Kaigen
Posts: 530
6/30/2015
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It might be time to see about getting some Lethean tea leaves. I've had a feeling for a while that my character was moving towards the wrong goals, but I'd have to be a damned fool not to recognize the downward slope I'm sliding on at this point.
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Just a simple doctor with a chess habit. Publisher of The Flit Dispatch.
"One must remember that the impossible is, alas, always possible."
-Jacques Derrida
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Ian Hart
Posts: 437
7/10/2015
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I would guess it's very likely that all the Ambitions will end in roughly the same place, likely sharing content.
Of course, my pet theory is that the final chapter of all the ambitions will be released at the same time, to avoid spoilers of that content. If that isn't true, I doubt the rest follows.
Certainly those final moments aren't automatically pro or anti masters as a whole. Many masters oppose each other, and some even oppose the Bazaar. There's no reason you couldn't play one hand against the other and come out as the Bazaar's new best friend.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Antifinity
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MadmanAtW
Posts: 231
6/28/2015
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I love everything about everything Mr Pages ever says. His dialogue is the best. I am deeply, deeply curious what happens if you tell him No. (Also, I love that he says he is giving you [spoiler]a book of his poetry and it's a Tale of Terror[/spoiler].
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Madman~Across~the~Water
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Xoricco
Accepting any social actions except the Affluent Photographer. Would appreciate warning of dupings/betrayals/rats.
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Rudiger
Posts: 49
6/26/2015
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[spoiler]I see a lot of people opted to bargain with a particular thing...I opted to free said thing...here's hoping it starts something epic down the line...[/spoiler]
edited by Rudiger on 6/26/2015
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
6/26/2015
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Jeremy Avalon wrote:
I assume Lethean Tea-Leaves would get around that, but the EPA on repeating *the entire Ambition up to this point* is probably very low.
The entire Ambition up to that point, including actions to get required items, appears to be around 700 actions (conservatively) so it's a EPA of roughly 2.23 -- not so great for 50 Fate.
Maybe worthwhile if you want a way to keep the item in question and didn't want to use up your Nadir location on it, since otherwise the most action-efficient way to get it from a Relicker takes 740 actions and means waiting to draw "Call in Favours in the Flit" 160 times.
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Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
6/30/2015
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Sara Hysaro wrote:
I wonder how annoyed the other players would be if my heart's desire is simply to win my heart's desire. All that effort just because I wanted to win a high stakes card game, not for any prizes but solely for the game itself.
Well, it certainly would be a convenient narrative sleight-of-hand if it turns out that pursuing the playing of Heart's Desire so ardently has, in fact, converted the true Heart's Desire all of your characters with that ambition into "I just want to play Heart's Desire." It is in the nature of games to encompass and alter motivations, after all, and our hearts are shaped by our actions as much as the reverse. And of course, it's quite possible that you, or your character, aren't truly aware of their truest desires.
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Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
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Lady Taimi Felix
Posts: 202
6/28/2015
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The third option was open if you already had the necessary qualities, in this case, [spoiler]Seeking Mr Eaten's Name 7.[/spoiler] I had 8.
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Lady Taimi Felix: Devoted Wife. Invisible Eminence. Patron of the Shadowy Arts. Monster Hunter. Lady of Adventure. Exceptionally Lethal. Loves a Good Chat over Coffee.
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Blaine Davidson
Posts: 388
6/29/2015
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Lady Taimi Felix wrote:
Yes. I picked the third option, because a reckoning will not- Oh, well you know all that by now, yes? This was the result:
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lady~Taimi~Felix?fromEchoId=6012179
Thank you for that. I hope that the storyline will return soon so I may also take this route.
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Blaine Davidson, a reserved and sensible woman with a fondness of collecting rarities.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
6/25/2015
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For a brief moment I was incredibly worried, but thankfully I was able to make it to the end of this update without losing something I've worked hard to gain. I very much enjoyed this update to Heart's Desire! Worth the wait for sure.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Sara%20Hysaro
Please do not send SMEN, cat boxes, or Affluent Reporter requests. All other social actions are welcome.
Are you a Scarlet Saint? Send a message my way to be added to the list.
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Sackville
Posts: 295
6/25/2015
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Chris Gardiner wrote:
Sackville wrote:
You made me sail all the way to Polythreme to take one single action.
You're right. I should have made you run through the Polythreme wheel, too. Missed a trick, there.
You could've even added a loop through the Corpsecage carousel, too.
I think like 80% of the new actions with this update are zailing. Granted, the other 20% are top quality but... so much zailing.
edited by Sackville on 6/25/2015
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Rackenhammer
Posts: 354
6/25/2015
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Koenig wrote:
Is it safe to discuss the different options of the new content here?
Ambitions aren't fate-locked, so it's fair game.
So what did you all end up doing in regards to the piece of the Hundred's Heart? Given that my character is Closest to the Urchins, my choice was relatively obvious, in negotiating to borrow the shard and keeping my promise. Was neat to see the connection between the Sock and the Thunder; I had never pieced it together before.
And I don't know what you all are talking about with Old Downey, didn't give me any problems at all (which is also nicely in-character).
--
"DO NOT TRUST HAPPY ENDINGS. DO NOT FEAR SAD ENDINGS... NEITHER ARE ENDINGS."
~
Mathieu Psmith: The Bard of Lost Children, loving husband, and a fixture of the artistic set. Can never resist making a show of things...
Irene Psmith: Adopted Daughter of Mathieu. Specializes in Information, Acquisitions, and the Acquisition of Information.
Vaughan Montblanc: Once a frontiersman of Western Canada, he now practices medicine in London. His discretion may be absolutely trusted.
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Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/25/2015
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A B Nile wrote:
I suppose my question is really "does option 2 eat the THING"? Because if so, then it sounds like there is no reason at all to take option 2 without first taking option 1.
So, currently, outside of Heart's Desire there's only one way to get a THING. But that won't always be the case. We try to design content to be a future-proof as we can - in the future there may be players who got a THING in a less costly way, or as a result of getting lucky, etc, etc.
There's also some more philosophical considerations surrounding choice and how it's framed, but I don't think here's the place to dig into that. But the response players who have already earned a THING have when they see this choice ("NO &%$£ING WAY YOU WILL PRY THIS ONE FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS!") is kind of part of the point. I'll bet they click the other option REALLY HARD.
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colinsapherson
Posts: 191
6/24/2015
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Chris Gardiner wrote:
colinsapherson wrote:
Well then, if you won’t force me, I’ll just have to do it myself. In Polythreme now, and I won’t visit the King until I get Fascinating 13 (or possibly 12 – your choice).
12?! What does this look like? Veilgarden? You're a POSI now! 13 is the number. Well. Not the number. But a number.
I understand. I get Fascinating up to a number, then I go see the King.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Colin%20Sapherson%2c%20Lord%20President%20of%20the%20Council
Available for Knife & Candle Moon League matches, Tournaments of lilies and other social actions (including boxed cats and photographers).
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Strangewheys~Wandering
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/RUSKIN~WARE
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Ami Miljkovich
Posts: 98
6/23/2015
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Yessssss.  Finally, something for Soran to do besides grinding for books so that Mr. Pages-senpai will notice them. It was starting to get kind of sad, honestly. A vacation in the Forgotten Quarter should be a good change of pace.
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The Secret-Hungry Bat ~ "I have my bats and my works, and endless secrets and pleasures at my disposal; what need have I of a soul?"
The Dangerously-Charming Fox ~ "Let's go stab each other and then get drunk together! That's what friends do around here, right?"
The Ever-Scheming Magpie ~ "All I'm after is a fresh start... And maybe a little profit on the side..."
The Blood-Thirsty Moth ~ "This floor isn't red enough. I need to fix that. Come closer."
Meet the families.
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Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
6/24/2015
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Can't say I like running back and forth between Polythreme and London, though. At least I got a Night-Whisper out of the zee trip!
That Shadowy challenge really is something, huh. I couldn't reach straightforward with 250 Shadowy!
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Estelle Knoht, a juvenile, unreliable and respectable lady.
I currently do not accept any catbox, cider, suppers, calling cards or proteges.
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Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
6/24/2015
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*flip table*
FREE EVENING OH GOD
(I have four)
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Estelle Knoht, a juvenile, unreliable and respectable lady.
I currently do not accept any catbox, cider, suppers, calling cards or proteges.
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Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
6/24/2015
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And the second part of our Heart's Desire continuation is now live! Continue the story in Fallen London, where you will:
- Recruit the sixth player: are you prepared to make a terrible choice?
- Answer mysteries: who keeps the history of Hell? What is the Perfection of Bells? Where do you bury a Prince?
- Discover the identity of the Marvellous' seventh - and final - player!
Play on, delicious friends - every decision brings you one step closer to achieving your heart's desire!
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colinsapherson
Posts: 191
6/24/2015
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Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
How foolish would I be to enter Old Downy with Watchful and Shadowy ~100? Entirely foolish?
Surely the real question is how foolish you would be not to go in? Imagine the glory if you manage to pull it off under the noses of all those skilled urchins! And if you fail, you can carry on imagining.
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Colin%20Sapherson%2c%20Lord%20President%20of%20the%20Council
Available for Knife & Candle Moon League matches, Tournaments of lilies and other social actions (including boxed cats and photographers).
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Strangewheys~Wandering
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/RUSKIN~WARE
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