Kaigen
Posts: 530
10/19/2017
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Sara Hysaro wrote:
It's under Write Letters in your Lodgings, for 20 Fate. Ah! Disregard that second paragraph, then, and thank you. I will keep the possibility under consideration.
Edit: While I'm thinking about it, has anyone had their chosen ally win without tampering with the tankards? I'm curious as to what the final result is in that case.
edited by Kaigen on 10/19/2017
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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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earthbourn
Posts: 149
10/19/2017
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I chose a certain option at the very end, and now I seem to be stuck. My "story" tab says "(No Storylets have been unlocked yet in this location.)" and there's nothing I can click.
I'm guessing it's a bug, since I can't travel or do anything.
edited by earthbourn on 10/19/2017
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Tenterhook - A sun-seared creature learning to be human.
The Mechanist, L. - Found what she was looking for. Gone now.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
10/19/2017
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Bugs are best reported to support, so they will definitely see them and sort you out:
support@failbettergames.com
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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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earthbourn
Posts: 149
10/19/2017
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Since it said "no storylets have been unlocked yet," I was hoping it was just a living story or something, but I'll go ahead and report it.
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Tenterhook - A sun-seared creature learning to be human.
The Mechanist, L. - Found what she was looking for. Gone now.
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Vexpont
Posts: 137
10/19/2017
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Sara Hysaro wrote:
I completed the story without either of the Fate-locked Companions and my reward was a Searing Enigma.
Same here (I favoured the Constable, and lost in the end). I will never reset the story, it's too important.
I think the bones of this storyline have been sketched out in roughly their current form for a long while. I also think it was originally intended to play out faster – like the story of the Missing Contessa, which is renowned for leaving the player full of regret, whatever they chose (I wonder if the Contessa story wasn’t a dry run for this).
FL is a fantastic dystopia running on a ticking clock. It’s not a world in which good usually triumphs, or is meant to. Most players I’ve known assume that sooner or later, the Sixth City will drop, whatever we Londoners do – some assume their characters will survive this event, and others don’t.
On to the story. Forewarned with the knowledge that the odds are stacked against the Last Constable, I still chose ‘Double or Nothing’ in the end since it’s somewhat in-character as a chronic gambler, and also, I did not trust the idea of the poisoned tankards being conveniently marked on the bottom on the orders of the Cheery Man...and I wanted to see what would happen. Here's what I got, on my Journal. And here are my gripes.
[spoiler]
Gripe 1: Annoyingly, I don’t think that ‘Double or Nothing’ removes the advantage from the Cheery Man, despite the fact that logically, it should, since both players are then blindfolded (unless the marks are engraved and he reads them by touch, but in this case, I think the unfairness should be made explicit, and part of the plot - what will he do if he picks up a poisoned chalice, and knows it?). I have yet to read of any player who manages the feat of killing off both the Cheery Man and the Constable at once, though I presume that this is possible since there are now even more poisoned tankards, and in theory they could both drink one simultaneously. Though they could even from the start, it seems, since the Cheery Man's barman speaks of 'tankards'.
Sheesh, even Russian Roulette is better organised than this. Surely, no-one wants a score draw?
Gripe 2: The Last Constable is presented as fearless...but gormless. Assuming she’s really the Cheery Man’s child – where is her raw cunning? If these two are going to go mano a mano, I want a complex battle of wits, not something that is relatively simple compared to the Byzantine process of inviting someone for dinner.
Gripe 3: Who was the Constable’s briefly-mentioned mother, Agatha? The woman whose name simply means not just ‘good’ in Greek, but ‘intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not’ (since this is hopefully in spoilers, you'll need to right-click and open in another window to follow the link)? That name is no coincidence. How come Agatha and the Cheery Man got together in the first place? I can accept they did. I just want to know how.
What with the sunlight-filled interment and all (Cantigaster venom is one of the most lethal things in all the Neath, you don’t need to put the end result in a Mirrorcatch coffin to ensure the job is done), I have a niggling feeling that this is a tie-in to Sunless Skies, and that that this formal sunlight double-burial - no matter of whom - will have consequences. It’s a bit of a shame if this is so, because The Last Constable’s story deserved to be pulled together more fully within FL itself.[/spoiler]
This is long and I'll just finish by saying I favour stories with serious and permanent fallout, and I appreciate that they require sustained carry-though, which is hard work.
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Dangerous to my enemies; loyal to my friends. Not too handy at telling the difference.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Vexpont
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Lamia Lawless
Posts: 604
10/19/2017
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Well... I'm certainly glad neither I or my character had a personal stake in any of this.
[spoiler]She refused to meddle with the outcome, even if it would tip things in "her" favor. The very wording 'this will increase your odds' confused me at first, because it's not my character who has to play the game.
On another note, I'm glad this story gave me a chance to finally use my Cantigaster Venom.[/spoiler]
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The Harmonic Hellfarer
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Anchovies
Posts: 421
10/19/2017
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Jolanda Swan wrote:
I rigged the game in favor of the Last Constable, and got lucky. The result is she will not talk to me. So the actual chance to get a "good" (read: not depressive) ending, was 25%.
This would have been better if the poison game made any sense for the Constable, which it did not. Why should someone like her risk it all in a game of chance? Yeah, this really doesn't make sense from a story perspective.
1. The Last Constable is, well, a Constable. "The last honest Special Constable in London", even. By giving the Cheery Man a fair shot, she is very directly not doing her job. Shouldn't her supposed dedication to law and justice come first?
2. The Cheery Man is a crime boss who routinely has people killed for far less than what the Last Constable has done. He has shown no qualms about sending agents to kill her despite her status as his daughter and as a Special Constable. She's a fool to assume that he wouldn't just her cut down the moment she sets foot in the Medusa's Head.
All in all, since nothing was left behind after these actions were played out, I felt it would have been preferable to let her lie in the Elder Continent, and leave it there. This story subtracted from the experience instead of adding. The story of the Comtessa was also bound to end in tragedy... but in that case. the writing gave it meaning.
What makes the Comtessa's story work so well is that there is no "good" ending. Destroying her could be a mercy, or a cruelty. Leaving her could be her doom, or her salvation. Either way, the Comtessa is never seen again.
Here, though, there is a "good" ending. It is only possible to reach by random chance, and its presence makes the other endings feel like undesirable punishments. Two changes come to mind which could improve the end of this story.
1. Rigging the game should ensure that the Cheery Man dies and the Constable survives.
2. If the game is fair and the Last Constable dies, the player should have the option to kill the Cheery Man or to just walk away.
This produces four endings, all of which have some good about them.
1. Fair game, Constable lives. Player honors the Constable's wishes, and a criminal threat to London is removed. Still sort of the "best" ending, but only happens in 50% of fair games.
2. Rigged game, Constable lives. Player ensures that a criminal threat to London was removed, but they disregard the Constable's wishes and lose her friendship.
3. Fair game, Constable dies, player kills Cheery Man. Player respected the Constable's wishes up until her death and ensured that a criminal threat to London was removed, but they have blood on their hands and they allowed the Constable to needlessly throw her life away.
4. Fair game, Constable dies, Cheery Man lives. Player honors the Constable's wishes even after her death, keeps their own hands clean, and earns some respect from the Cheery Man, but a criminal threat to London is allowed to persist.
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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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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
10/19/2017
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Okay.
[spoiler]having to put up with the snarky witch's comment at the end after I lost was TOO MUCH, writers! Why is there no option to kill her? Because she's NOTHING special, not powerful or clever or protected by anyone. If Flesh-Stick wanted to turn her into an ugly smear on the floorboards, and I assure you he DOES, there is absolutely NOTHING that she could do to stop him. So why am I not given the option?
We play as one of the most bad*ss characters in the neath and we have to just sit there impotently while this twit rubs it in? I call BS! this is the biggest freaking middle finger this game has EVER given me, and its up against some REALLY stiff competition. You're not going to give me any say over whether my favorite character lives or dies, at least let me avenge him. There's literally nothing in-game stopping me from doing so.
I also love how my character wasn't even invited to the funeral for some reason. Gotta love that extra bit of salt in the wound for the crime of failing a random luck check. Thanks. [/spoiler]
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Lady Karnstein
Posts: 278
10/19/2017
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I actually liked the Comtessa story. It was dark, but I think the horror was done very well, and it had the intended result. Sure I was a bit frustrated, but that is natural in that sort of story, and it did not bother me because it was well played.
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Lady Caroline Karnstein, The Moral Hedonist (Description)
Infamous writer, artist, and courtesan. Unrepentant Invert. Hesperidean.
Paramount Presence, Correspondent, Nocturnal. Poet Laureate of the Neath, Ambassador to Arbor
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Reused NPC
Posts: 259
10/19/2017
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Soooo, this Double or Nothing thing. It looks freaking great, for one, I love the icon. [spoiler]But does it actually change the odds? One of them's going to die anyways, right? Does it add a chance for both of them? Take away a chance for neither of them? Basically, I want the Constable to live, should I double down?[/spoiler]
Edit: I did what I could. And despite my tampering (so sue me), the Last Constable's gone. May she rest in peace.
Another edit: What would having one of the fate-locked companions done, anyhow?
edited by ReusedNPC on 10/19/2017
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ReusedNPC, a d__ned lunatic.
Edmund Viric, a rather dreamy sort.
"I won't stay long, I shan't stay long! Tell me a secret."
--the Baldomerian
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MidnightVoyager
Posts: 858
10/19/2017
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^^^For some reason, quotes don't work for me: [spoiler]You lose them and get a weapon instead.[/spoiler]
I feel like this is a "be careful what you ask for" for everyone who wanted stories with dangling threads to be closed off. I was already annoyed at the random nature of the ending and the amount of effort that needs to be expended just to end up in a coin flip, but I suppose I could have lived with that. (with more irritation than a sense of loss, so I wouldn't call it a good tragedy) A random loss of an item I paid for? Nope, I'm never finishing this. Except I'm locked from some criminal-related things without swapping over... and I wanted to swap so I could get the Cheery Man next year, but I can't do that without possibly killing the Constable.
Either having them as fate-locked companions for the Feast in the first place or the mechanics of this story are poorly thought out. "Warning everyone I know not to finish the story" isn't the kind of tragedy I think Failbetter was aiming for.
There's a big difference between "lose a thing you paid money for" and "final, lasting story consequences" as far as narrative satisfaction goes. One interferes with the narration.
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Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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Lady Karnstein
Posts: 278
10/19/2017
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MidnightVoyager wrote:
I feel like this is a "be careful what you ask for" for everyone who wanted stories with dangling threads to be closed off. I was already annoyed at the random nature of the ending and the amount of effort that needs to be expended just to end up in a coin flip, but I suppose I could have lived with that. (with more irritation than a sense of loss, so I wouldn't call it a good tragedy) A random loss of an item I paid for? Nope, I'm never finishing this. Except I'm locked from some criminal-related things without swapping over... and I wanted to swap so I could get the Cheery Man next year, but I can't do that without possibly killing the Constable.
Either having them as fate-locked companions for the Feast in the first place or the mechanics of this story are poorly thought out. "Warning everyone I know not to finish the story" isn't the kind of tragedy I think Failbetter was aiming for.
There's a big difference between "lose a thing you paid money for" and "final, lasting story consequences" as far as narrative satisfaction goes. One interferes with the narration.
Pretty much, yeah. I've had to warn people too. That's where I am...just not finishing it. (though I had not planned to swap personally)
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Lady Caroline Karnstein, The Moral Hedonist (Description)
Infamous writer, artist, and courtesan. Unrepentant Invert. Hesperidean.
Paramount Presence, Correspondent, Nocturnal. Poet Laureate of the Neath, Ambassador to Arbor
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Catherine Raymond
Posts: 2518
10/19/2017
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Reused NPC wrote:
<snip>
Edit: I did what I could. And despite my tampering (so sue me), the Last Constable's gone. May she rest in peace.
Another edit: What would having one of the fate-locked companions done, anyhow?
edited by ReusedNPC on 10/19/2017
[spoiler]I had the Stiff-Backed Young Lady and when she died, I lost her. :-( [/spoiler]
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Cathy Raymond
http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/cathyr19355
Catherine Raymond aka Mrs. Rykar Malkus http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond (Gone NORTH)
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Catherine Raymond
Posts: 2518
10/19/2017
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I'm still trying to find out how it was that I didn't even get to watch the "contest". That was the one thing I wanted to do, but apparently I made a wrong choice and was left with the one storylet to click--refusing to take part.
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Cathy Raymond
http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/cathyr19355
Catherine Raymond aka Mrs. Rykar Malkus http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond (Gone NORTH)
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Slyblue
Posts: 224
10/19/2017
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Catherine Raymond wrote:
I'm still trying to find out how it was that I didn't even get to watch the "contest". That was the one thing I wanted to do, but apparently I made a wrong choice and was left with the one storylet to click--refusing to take part.
I think that happens when you don't complete all tasks. If you complete them and return to Medusa's, you'll have only one storylet (IIRC), and it'll be the one to start the game. Did you get everything beforehand? (Venom, inviting the other one involved and renting the room?)
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The Smiling Devil • The Curt Licentiate • The Keen-Eyed Captain
"For hearts of truest mettle, absence doth join and Time doth settle."
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Aberrant Eremite
Posts: 362
10/19/2017
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earthbourn wrote:
I chose a certain option at the very end, and now I seem to be stuck. My "story" tab says "(No Storylets have been unlocked yet in this location.)" and there's nothing I can click.
I'm guessing it's a bug, since I can't travel or do anything.
edited by earthbourn on 10/19/2017
The same thing happened to me. I have filed a bug report, but now I'm just waiting, outside the universe, unable to do anything.
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Hieronymus Drake: Gentleman scholar, big-game hunter, scar-faced aristocrat. Remarkably sane, all things considered.
Tanith Wyrmwood: Longshanks cat-burglar; Bohemian author; now, perhaps, something more. Bubbly, expressive, and affectionate. It’s not only still waters that run deep.
Telemachia Lee: Gentle lady by birth, brawling Docker by choice. Good company in the drunk tank.
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Anchovies
Posts: 421
10/19/2017
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If you're working on the preparations, or if you've finished them and the "Inform the Last Constable" storylet is following you around London, you can still go to Ladybones Road and tell the Last Constable that you want no part in her plan. The story concludes with a polite goodbye. I'm happier with this ending than with anything which could've come out of a final meeting at the Medusa's Head. I'll have none of that Princess Bride nonsense, thank you very much!
I don't have either of the FotER companions, but at least as far as the story's concerned both the Cheery Man and the Last Constable are alive and well.
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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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MidnightVoyager
Posts: 858
10/19/2017
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Oh hey, I finally got the darn card! And it lets me swap over for 10 fate here. That's ideal. Now I can swap over without finishing it and just leave it forever unfinished. Excellent.
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Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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Pnakotic
Posts: 266
10/19/2017
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11 hours later, they still weren't sure what to do.
https://flic.kr/p/ZbmTL9
Never before had the many hardened criminals and pugnacious drunks been so affected as by the Cheery Man's passing. The entire Medusa's Head couldn't even.
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J. Ward Dunn, Glassman
Book of All Hours 9:99: Journey's end in lover's meeting. Progress is ascendancy.
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Kaijyuu
Posts: 1047
10/19/2017
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The ending is a luck check? Damn. May leave this unfinished.
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Be of good cheer. Our contacts have assured us that your sins are forgiven.
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