osberend
Posts: 36
5/13/2017
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What is the rationale for forbidding automation? Getting late-game content requires a lot of grinding (whether for echoes or for qualities), so the rationale can hardly be "you're supposed to experience the story, not to just grind the mechanics" or anything like that. And unlike many fundamentally real-time games, there's no competitive advantage gained by perfect timing, or anything like that.
Right now, I have an explicit algorithm that I'm executing (as a human player) to grind Port Carnelian for echoes, as often as the action clock allows. If I wrote a script to automate it, it would be performing the exact same series of actions, at the exact same overall frequency, just without my having to spend a few minutes every several hours clicking things. Why would that be bad? Is Failbetter Games literally imposing a tax in boredom and minor wrist strain on echo acquisition?
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Anchovies
Posts: 421
5/13/2017
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Well, running a script would require leaving your computer on and active at all times, which is of questionable environmental ethics. Also, one of the advantages of becoming Exceptional is the larger candle and opportunity deck. Normal players can check in every three hours to empty their candle, or every hour to empty their deck. Exceptional Friends can save up six and a half hours' actions or an hour and a half's cards. An automated script circumvents that, so you're kinda using an external tool to replicate the effect of something Failbetter wants you to purchase.
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Perhaps our role on this planet is not to worship God — but to create Him.
—Sir Arthur C Clarke
Lionel Anchovies. Character on indefinite hiatus.
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Waterpls
Posts: 325
5/13/2017
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So why not permit scripting for subscribed players?
edited by Waterpls on 5/13/2017
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Long grinds: Heptagoat 100/180; Cider Done; Correspondence 21/21; Paramount 4/4.
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Harlocke
Posts: 506
5/14/2017
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Waterpls wrote:
So why not permit scripting for subscribed players?
edited by Waterpls on 5/13/2017
It might be a slippery slope kind of thing. They don't want people to get an unfair advantage through automation. And if you allow it as a convenience for grinding, it's hard to draw a line between that and actually abusive exploits.
What I really want, instead of automation, is a grind that consumes 5 actions per click with 1.6+ epa. I'm very tired of clicking through the box grind, and would love to use that time for something else. A shortcut would be very much appreciated, even if it still requires checking in to manually spend the actions. In the morning when I grind for echoes, it would be a dream to click just a few times instead of 40.
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I welcome social actions, and can visit your salon as an author.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Harlocke
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xKiv
Posts: 846
5/14/2017
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Actually, I think one of the more important reasons is that any modifications to the game can change how it behaves in subtle and not readily apparent ways, so then players would report "bugs" that don't exist in the vanilla experience and waste FBG's time trying to reproduce, find causes, etc ... (apparently this DID happen too much? I don't know, I only remember times when it was already forbidden). They don't want to have to, effectively, support all possible bolt-ons.
And then it's much much simpler to just forbid everything (with a possible whitelist of reviewed extensions) than to lay out a list of rules that *would* be rules-lawyered around.
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https://www.fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/xKiv - a witchful, percussive, dangermous and shadowry scholar of coexplodence, hopsidirean, and walker of fallen kitties.
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Amalgamate
Posts: 435
5/14/2017
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It's pretty standard in lots of games to forbid automation. It gives some players an advantage over others, potentially consumes a lot of server-side resources (since computers can click and request more than humans can), it breaks the balance of the game that the devs expect, it can cause a bunch of unusual bugs and issues that normal players won't experience, it rewards "walk away from the game for long periods of time and come back with oodles of resources", and it subverts some things that players are expected to pay for (not just 40-action candles - there's plenty of places in this game where the balance is "pay fate to get things that otherwise would take lots of actions").
It's not some weird FBG quirk, it's a standard restriction for basically any game that connects to its company's servers.
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http://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/amalgamate
Social invitations of all kinds welcome, especially games of chess and deadly sparring!
Also happy to help with nightmares, send sips of Cider, and plant battle.
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Kaijyuu
Posts: 1047
5/14/2017
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My opinion on the matter is that if you feel like automating things then the game isn't fun for you anymore and you should probably play something else. Exceptions for those who find automating things fun but there are other outlets for those people.
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Be of good cheer. Our contacts have assured us that your sins are forgiven.
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Jamilah S. Wolf
Posts: 122
5/15/2017
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My candle refill time went from 10 minutes for an action to 20 minutes per action. Help?
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Jamilah, a most fascinating Lady of the Neath who finds herself mingling with Society and aligning with Criminals. This Licentiate Extraordinaire would love to align with the Masters, given the chance. A Shattering Force.
Huarwar Ceiswyr, a Welshman and detective lured to the Neath to Seek. The toll it has taken does not hide itself, nor does he bother to. On hiatus.
Open to all actions, delicious friends. Messages required prior to harmful ones. PM for hints Enigmatic.
She wishes for nothing more than to be close to the Masters, for who else can unlock the Mysteries of the Neath?
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suinicide
Posts: 2409
5/15/2017
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I heard completely exiting out and opening fallen london again works.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/sunnytime
A gentleman seeking the liberation of knowledge, with a penchant for violence.
RIP suinicide, stuck in a well. Still has it under control.
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Jamilah S. Wolf
Posts: 122
5/15/2017
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I think it's fixed now. I'll check again later. Thanks~
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Jamilah, a most fascinating Lady of the Neath who finds herself mingling with Society and aligning with Criminals. This Licentiate Extraordinaire would love to align with the Masters, given the chance. A Shattering Force.
Huarwar Ceiswyr, a Welshman and detective lured to the Neath to Seek. The toll it has taken does not hide itself, nor does he bother to. On hiatus.
Open to all actions, delicious friends. Messages required prior to harmful ones. PM for hints Enigmatic.
She wishes for nothing more than to be close to the Masters, for who else can unlock the Mysteries of the Neath?
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