metasynthie
Posts: 645
3/28/2016
|
There are subtle girls... and forceful girls,
Hedonist girls... and melancholy girls,
but the best kind of girl... is a Quirky Girl! (mmrreeow eeeow eeoww!)
[ c.f. http://www.hulu.com/watch/348486 ]
I finally capped all my quirks!
This is much harder than it used to be and involved lots of odd contortions. I had a couple at over 12 from the old system, but lost them in unexpected ways during Exceptional Stories. So I set out to be as quirky as possible. After all, what good is a system that wants you to roleplaying difficult either-or choices about what kind of personality you have if you can't overturn that system and yell "I HAVE LOTS OF INCONGRUENT QUALITIES, OK?! CONSISTENCY IS THE LAST REFUGE OF THE UNIMAGINATIVE AND THE HOBGOBLIN OF LITTLE MINDS."
A great person doesn't have to think consistently or whip Clay Men consistently from day to day, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, and neither do you -- if you are willing to use every Making Your Name tracking gate you can, kill your Nomen on purpose, hang around Mrs. Plenty's Perfumed Pleasure Garden way too much, never make up your mind about the Velocipede Squad, lurk around the Carnival just to get your horoscope read, be very paranoid about every new Exceptional Story, and so forth.
I'm wondering if this is worth a guide at some point, although it might have to wait until after the Favours/Renown changes are all in as they're definitely changing this landscape. (As this post itself may.) In some cases, it might only be possible to cap these quirks on new characters, being quite careful about several major one-time decisions. Are there people that would want such a guide?
If I got around to writing it (probably this summer after I'm done teaching) it would of course be called...
--
Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
|
|
|
+34
link
|
Gonen
Posts: 817
3/10/2018
|
And A Quirky Guy!
Finally, after more than 2 years of trying to achieve this feat - I have finally reached the maximum 15 on all quirks!
Way way after Metasynthie achieved this goal (If you are still here, give me a shout).
I have started this journey, truly believing Paramount Presence was hiding beyond this goal. Like a true gambler, things were deeply in motion to stop once PP was revealed (or once Metasynthie had reached this goal, without any PP prize for her efforts).
And now, to sit back and slowly let this empire crumble.
I am tired of avoiding certain actions. Tired of spending a 60 echos item on fixing a decreased Quirk mistake.
I am now taking a picture, posting a post, and let it all take its course.
--
 The Ashen Anesthesiologist - Paramount Londoner
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.
The long journey to eccentricity:
On March 10th, 2018, reached 15 on all quirks, simultaneously. The Quirky Anesthesiologist
|
|
|
+13
link
|
NiteBrite
Posts: 1019
3/30/2016
|
I sometimes wonder what the difference is between a guide for players and a 'items to be nerfed list' for the devs especially on subjects like quirks where its very explicitly stated that they don't want people "massaging" all their quirks up at the same time. I kind of wonder if speaking your ways might also lead to the destruction of their future existence. As someone who has written many guides, I gotta say more and more it feels like everytime I explain how to do something that is when it is made no longer possible to do by anyone ever again. It's an interesting problem to have. I'm kind of morbidly curious what effects publishing such a guide might have on how quirks are gained, but then again it sounds like your method contains a lot of one-time-only aspects which probably are safe from nerfing.
--
I AM currently accepting calling cards.
Stats loss counter: reset, irrigo equivalent: none
[00:34] <@ortab> NiteBrite's laugh is that of a condemned soul gazing into the abyss.
Merciless Modiste avatar by Paul Arendt (based on an original image by Joe England)
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/TheBriteModiste
|
|
|
+6
link
|
metasynthie
Posts: 645
3/29/2016
|
The one-time storylets you "can't mess up" mostly have to do with very rare opportunities to get particular quirks over level 10 -- sometimes without having to lose another quirk in the process.
In the current game, most of these happen when a "Making Your Name" quality increases; if you're trying to maximize both Forceful and Subtle, for instance, this choice is quite valuable:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Play_with_the_Spies_of_the_Great_Game
...because it's one of the few branches that raises Subtle over 10, and furthermore it does so without lowering Forceful, unlike the majority of other Subtle-raising choices. Instead, it lowers Melancholy, which can slowly be regained up to 15 with enough Nadir visits and Tears. It's because this is so rare that it's easier to max Subtle+Forceful with a new character; the only other way to do it is by killing a LOT of Nomen, probably over the course of years.
Some of the other one-time opportunities happen during the Cheesemonger, or the end of the University investigations, during Ambitions, and so forth. A lot of these are important for say, getting Ruthless high enough (12) that you can use the quirk-polishers.
This is a lot of what a guide would consist of -- identifying the "springs" that can raise a quirk to 15 (or initially 10, since those are easier) without lowering another quirk, and then finding the "pumps" that raise a first quirk while lowering a second, as long as you have a "spring" for the second one (or a third one connected to the second, etc.) Of course, these details are in flux right now because of high-level Renown raising, which are new limited source of high-level quirks until hitting the stat cap.
--
Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
|
|
|
+5
link
|
Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
3/29/2016
|
I hope they will throw you a bone and include no quirk-droppers in future ES so you can play with peace of mind 
--
Estelle Knoht, a juvenile, unreliable and respectable lady.
I currently do not accept any catbox, cider, suppers, calling cards or proteges.
|
|
|
+5
link
|
Wiwo
Posts: 365
3/29/2016
|
Estelle Knoht wrote:
I hope they will throw you a bone and include no quirk-droppers in future ES so you can play with peace of mind
Or alternatively some kind of accompanying warning text along the lines of "This is a forceful, but not very subtle approach".
--
Wiwo. Almost certainly not a squid in a cunningly tailored suit. Surely.
 Care for some cider? Here's how to ask me for some. Strange pranks strongly preferred.
Care to pet a Heptagoat? Too bad. It doesn't do anything (probably).
I'm a Correspondent and would be delighted to lecture at your orphanage.
|
|
|
+5
link
|
Grenem
Posts: 2067
3/29/2016
|
My condolences.
Also my congratulations, but condolences first.
edited by Grenem on 3/29/2016
--
Married!:http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/takuza
I will accept all social actions that do not consume free evenings- and i will provide patronage to anyone who requests it, though it will be split between all requesters.
On psudeo-hiatus. Will be inactive and active and fluctuate without warning.
Grinding Favors without cards: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic22266-storylet-favors-grinding.aspx
|
|
|
+4
link
|
Wiwo
Posts: 365
3/29/2016
|
Harlocke wrote:
As a fairly new player, I have to ask, is there any tangible benefit to having quirks this high? Or is it primarily for bragging rights?
As far as I know, it's just elaborate endgame mucking about. There are a couple things like the Scarlet Saint unlock at the House of Chimes, but even those aren't really mechanically significant.
--
Wiwo. Almost certainly not a squid in a cunningly tailored suit. Surely.
Care for some cider? Here's how to ask me for some. Strange pranks strongly preferred.
Care to pet a Heptagoat? Too bad. It doesn't do anything (probably).
I'm a Correspondent and would be delighted to lecture at your orphanage.
|
|
|
+2
link
|
dov
Posts: 2580
3/30/2016
|
I don't think the devs are actively against players trying to raise all quirks. The way I understood it is that quirks are intended to compete against each other, so raising all would be very difficult and just not something the devs are trying to help.
That is, they won't purposely leave a path to raise all, but alsi they won't actively try to stop players from using such a path if they find one. At least that was my reading.
--
 Want a sip of Hesperidean Cider? Send me a request in-game. Here's an_ocelot's guide how.
(Most social actions are welcome. Please no requests to Loiter Suspiciously and no investigations of the Affluent Photographer)
|
|
|
+2
link
|
metasynthie
Posts: 645
3/30/2016
|
Since I am worried about losing any quirk, I have to be careful about losing quirks that I can only replenish once a year. At this point, that really just includes Forceful and Subtle, since I have some way of regaining all the others. As Gonen points out, the 10-12 gap is more difficult than after you get over 12.
In case anyone's wondering, here's a quick rundown of my current quirk sources of recapping quirks, which is easier for me to remember than constructing a whole guide (which would go out of date as Favours are introduced, and thus I'm going to wait a bit before doing that).
Daring: use the Red-Feathered Pin quirk polisher (and lose Melancholy)
Melancholy: either Old Bones card in the Nadir (requires you to have completed the Daughter fate story) or grind out some Tears and sniff them
Heartless: borrow Moon-Pearls from the Sardonic Music-Hall singer, or since that's very slow, use the Bright Brass Skull quirk polisher (and lose Magnanimous). Spirifers have a very easy source from selling souls in Ladybones road.
Magnanimous: Restoring souls card for being a Shepherd of Souls (fate-locked)... or alternatively, use the Entry in Slowcake's Exceptionals quirk polisher (and lose Heartless) or a Giggling Mandrake (losing Heartless, and trying not to lose your mind immediately)
Ruthless: use the other Red-Feathered Pin quirk polisher (and lose Magnanimous)
Hedonist: use either the Ornate Typewriter quirk polisher or a Counterfeit Head of John the Baptist (and try to avoid getting shipped off to the tomb-colonies immediately) -- both losing Austere
Austere: loop repeatedly through the first half of the Iron Republic
Steadfast: one of the stories in the Velocipede Squad fate-locked story increases this up to 15 very cheaply, but you can never finish the story; the alternative would be using the Antique Constable Badge quirk polisher (and losing Hedonist)
Forceful: kill a Noman violently
Subtle: let a Noman die avoidantly
So there are two that are holiday-bound, and the quirk polishers are extremely useful for another five, although that number goes down if you have convenient access to Fate-locked stuff. The quirk polishers are especially nice in that if you drop down to 14 by losing a few points, using a quirk polisher will give you 15 CP -- creating a buffer of CP that you can afford to lose between 15 and 16. I don't consider those to matter since it not possible to ever reach 16 unless you have quantities left over from before the quirk changes last year (or were exploiting a recent bug with Daring).
Getting up to 12 so you can access these methods is the most tricky thing, and probably what a guide is really needed for. As for a guide making itself obsolete by drawing attention to an "undesirable" way of playing that developers feel compelled to rebalance or remove? I tend to think of that as part and parcel of finding weird strategies or ways of playing -- certainly true if there was some significant, unanticipated economic advantage that could degenerate into "the single way to play," right? It's the developers' job to spot those things and rebalance the game, although it's trickier with grinding issues. In this case, I'm not so worried because:
- there are practically no material benefits to high quirks (you get some more story options occasionally for quirks at 8+, and a quicker route to menace areas for some quirks at 12+)
- capping contradictory quirks definitely runs counter to design intention ("make an either-or choice about what kind of person you are, etching into your qualities the choices you've made...") but I think there's a reasonable argument that contorting yourself to keep contradictory facets of personality in tension with each other is ALSO an expressive, and arduous, roleplaying choice
- I can't imagine this kind of thing is a high priority since it's mostly for endgame players looking for additional arduous goals
If playing for quirks became very popular among new players, there might be cause for concern -- that would mean people avoiding the usual "do what you feel" nature of quirk choices in order to hoard and carefully pipe their quirks around, murdering other characters or breaking off relationships for the sake of quirk numbers rather than story, etc. I don't think that would be a good trend, and it might be an argument for making a guide on the forums instead of the wiki; it's not "the best way to enjoy Fallen London" especially as a beginner, despite the fact that your choices along the way can lock you out of Subtle & Forceful gain, make Hedonist hard to get, etc. But I doubt many new players would want to QUIRK OUT and follow advice to reject both the Missionary and the Firebrand in order to get some rare non-Subtle-draining Forceful points; it's too weird of a goal.
--
Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
|
|
|
+2
link
|
Parelle
Posts: 1084
3/30/2016
|
Correct me if I'm wrong, but a quirk polisher should also avoid being sent to the tomb colonies and probably the Zee festival as well, right?
--
Parelle, Lady Joseph Marlen. The Singular Librarian. A Midnighter, a Player of the Marvelous.
pages from a dusty bookshop: a badly updated FL changelog | Useful Guidance and Explanations
|
|
|
+1
link
|
metasynthie
Posts: 645
3/30/2016
|
The Tomb-Colonies, yes -- if you've got both Hedonist and Austere above 10, you'll lose half of your Hedonist when you return from the Tomb-Colonies, so yes; you'd lose so much Hedonist that you'd be unable to regain it via polishers or a Counterfeit Head, and would have to wait until the next Exceptional Feast or spend Fate to get it back up. (Unless you still have access to the court or university carousels, where other Hedonist-regaining options can be found.) The "quicker" way to do this would be to temporarily lower Austere below 10 so that you can lose half of that quirk upon leaving the Tomb-Colonies, since Austere is easier to regain by visiting the Iron Republic.
If you go fishing during the Zee-festival, you can choose which quirks to lose, so presumably you'd spend some quirks that you know how to regain relatively easily, like Melancholy or Steadfast, or Heartless / Magnanimous if you've done A Soul Trade.
Getting a Noman will drop ALL your quirks a little, but also gives you the opportunity to raise some of the difficult-to-gain quirks (for a net gain) if you allow it to die. (More precious, IMHO, than the Elemental Secret for keeping it alive until Noman Knows 15.)
edited by metasynthie on 3/30/2016
--
Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Gonen
Posts: 817
3/30/2016
|
dov wrote:
That is, they won't purposely leave a path to raise all, but alsi they won't actively try to stop players from using such a path if they find one. At least that was my reading.
That is also what I read when hard cap was introduced in the forum.
As for the problem with nerfing down guides - I say we build the Forum of the Nadir where the powers cannot see and hear us.
--
The Ashen Anesthesiologist - Paramount Londoner
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.
The long journey to eccentricity:
On March 10th, 2018, reached 15 on all quirks, simultaneously. The Quirky Anesthesiologist
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
3/30/2016
|
Eh, let's not create a "we vs they" situation.
Stuffs like the Fabulous Diamonds grind would have been nerfed even if people weren't talking about it.
--
Estelle Knoht, a juvenile, unreliable and respectable lady.
I currently do not accept any catbox, cider, suppers, calling cards or proteges.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Harlocke
Posts: 506
3/30/2016
|
And, once you've raised a quirk that high, you have to be cautious with it? Are there any useful actions you have to avoid because they'd mess up your straight 15s?
--
I welcome social actions, and can visit your salon as an author.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Harlocke
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
3/30/2016
|
Harlocke wrote:
And, once you've raised a quirk that high, you have to be cautious with it? Are there any useful actions you have to avoid because they'd mess up your straight 15s?
Some Exceptional Stories are sprinkled with a few random binary choice that ends in "Quirk A hasn't increased, because it is higher than 1" and "Quirk B is decreasing..."
Note that both "because you saved a cat you get steadfast and lose heartless" and "The Last Dogs Society is going to vote. Will you mess with the ballot box? Either way it doesn't matter but you must drop one of the quirk." exists, and in a healthy quantity.
On the bright side, it did get me to worry less about maintaining quirks, but some people could hate it.
--
Estelle Knoht, a juvenile, unreliable and respectable lady.
I currently do not accept any catbox, cider, suppers, calling cards or proteges.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
dov
Posts: 2580
3/28/2016
|
Congratulations!
That's quite an impressive feat!
--
Want a sip of Hesperidean Cider? Send me a request in-game. Here's an_ocelot's guide how.
(Most social actions are welcome. Please no requests to Loiter Suspiciously and no investigations of the Affluent Photographer)
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Wiwo
Posts: 365
3/29/2016
|
Agreed! I'd be very interested to learn how you accomplished it.
--
Wiwo. Almost certainly not a squid in a cunningly tailored suit. Surely.
Care for some cider? Here's how to ask me for some. Strange pranks strongly preferred.
Care to pet a Heptagoat? Too bad. It doesn't do anything (probably).
I'm a Correspondent and would be delighted to lecture at your orphanage.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Harlocke
Posts: 506
3/29/2016
|
As a fairly new player, I have to ask, is there any tangible benefit to having quirks this high? Or is it primarily for bragging rights?
--
I welcome social actions, and can visit your salon as an author.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Harlocke
|
|
|
+1
link
|