Urthdigger
Posts: 939
3/18/2012
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Back when I started the game, I recall feeling very lost. There was very little in the ways of guidance, and my first few days were spent almost paralyzed for fear of making the wrong decision. Near as I can tell, there still isn't much in the way of advice for new players. There are a few guides here and there on things such as how to most effectively grind items, progress qualities, or cross the unterzee, but little in the way of helping a player get a grasp on the game. I'd like to change that. I'm going to try and assemble a list of advice, and post it up on the wikis, and of course this thread as well. If anyone has advice of their own, or thinks they can phrase a tip bet (Or if I'm flat out wrong), please mention so in the thread.
- Do not worry about being a completionist. Anything that's possible to be missed is never essential, and some things are even better off ignored. This is at the very top because it is most important.
GAME MECHANICS
- The color of storylets is important. White storylets are for the most part plain. Bronze ones lead you on a short story that leads to a conclusion, but they can be repeated. Gold ones are for larger storylines, and a given card or storylet may only be completable once. Blue ones are related to Ambitions, which are extremely large storylets that last from near the start of the game, all the way to the end, and they're not finished yet. You may only have one ambition, so pick the one that looks like the most fun, as they're all roughly equal in terms of cost and rewards. It's not cheap to change it later. Also of note: Some white storylets act like gold storylets (Only playable once and progress along a larger story), but an easy way to notice them is that, near as I can tell, all such storylets have a quality requirement to appear besides a main stat, menace, or item, and when completed they will advance that quality.
- The amount of CP (Change points, basically experience) you earn for your main qualities is based on the difficulty of the challenge you're trying. The "recommended" level for a challenge gives it a 50% difficulty, with every level in your quality adjusting it by 10% up or down, with a minimum of 10% chance, maximum of 100% chance. Most challenges require enough stats just to see it in the first place, so you can't do everything with enough tries at low stats. Also, the recommended level is NOT when it unlocks, it's usually a fair bit higher. Straightforward is a 100% chance, but only gives 1 CP. Low Risk is 90% to 80%, and also gives 1 CP. Modest is 70% to 60%, and gives 2 CP. Chance is 50% to 40%, and gives 2 CP at 50% and 3 CP at 40%. High-Risk is 30% to 20% and gives 4 CP on success, and 3 on a failure. Almost Impossible is a 10% chance, and gives 5 CP on a success, and 3 on a failure. Obviously, 100% success is recommended if you just want the loot (Likely the case on gold-bordered stories), but if you're looking for stats you'll likely want to try at either 70% or 40%, both give a decent speed, with the modest route being safer, and the chancy route being faster.
- The CP needed to take any quality up a level is the same as the level it's going to. So, to go from level 1 to 2 takes 2 CP, going from 2 to 3 takes 3. The total CP to get from level 0 to 3 is 1 + 2 + 3, or 6. It continues to do this up until level 50, where every level thereafter is also 50 CP. This applies not only to main qualities, but also to menaces, progress, connections, pretty much all your qualities. Your level in a quality is used to determine if you qualify for certain things, and affects the difficulty of any challenge that's checking against that quality, but all progress and costs are paid in CP, not whole levels. This means that even though something dropping you from level 3 to 0 looks like more of a hit than dropping from 6 to 5, they are in fact the same.
- Take advantage of social actions. From your lodgings, there are a number of storylets that let you earn "second chances" in the form of Confident Smiles, Hastily Scrawled Warning Notes, Hard-Earned Lessons, and Sudden Insights. These will let you re-attempt a challenge for your main stats when you fail. This is quite useful, as the vast majority of storylets give you something good when you succeed, and past a certain quality level failing challenges will accrue "menaces", bad qualities that trap you in a place specific to that menace until you manage to reduce that menace to 0. Almost all actions in a place of menace will reduce that menace quality, but most of them will actually cost you items or stats, so barring special circumstances, you should avoid them (You'll usually know if you have to go to one). Thankfully, there's social actions you can perform in your lodgings to ask a player for help in reducing menaces, though nightmares and suspicion need at least 4 in them before you can send a request out, and wounds works backwards by sending a request to help out the other player. All of these requests reduce your menace quality by 5 CP, and outside of wounds they increase the other player's menace by 1. So, be respectful, do your math, and don't send out more requests than you need to keep your menaces under control. So, for instance, if your menace is at 5, that's 15 CP, so only send out 3 requests at most.
PROGRESS
- Do not be in a hurry to advance. Most storylets have both a minimum stat level before they appear, AND a maximum level at which they are no longer available. The game is designed to take you through the storylines and locations in a logical progression, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
- Purchasing new and better lodgings. Even if it won't increase your hand size, having more sources of Scraps is quite useful.
- Completing the "neighbor" storylines in the starting areas. (The Clay Man Coalman, Bohemian Sculptress, Loquacious Vicar, and Brazen Urchin) Finishing each of them gives you access to other storylines from your Lodgings.
- Take note of where you're going to need to go next, and be ready to unlock it when you need it. You won't get far if you never go past the four starting areas.
- Each main stat has a logical progression you proceed through. For the most part you'll get clues as to where to go next, but as a refresher they are as follows:
- Dangerous starts in Watchmaker's Hill, and lasts from about 1-60. Wolfstack Docks is next, from 60-100. Finally, the Labyrinth of Tigers lasts from 100 to about 120. Past this you'll need to be a bit more creative (Perhaps working on the Velocipede Squad?)
- Watchful starts in Ladybones Road, and lasts from 1-60. The Forgotten Quarter is next, from 60-90. Finally, the University lasts from 90 to about 110. Past this you'll need to be a bit more creative.
- Persuasive starts in Veilgarden, and lasts from 1-60. The Shuttered Palace is next, from 60-90. Finally, the Empress' Court lasts from 90 to about 110. Past this you'll need to be a bit more creative.
- Shadowy starts in Spite, and lasts from 1-60. The Flit is next, from 60-100. Finally, Mahogany Hall lasts from 100 to about 110. Past this, you'll need to be a bit more creative .
MONEY
- Try to avoid buying goods from the bazaar. Barring the london street sign, bright brass skull, rookery password, diary of the dead, and pulsating amber, all goods are commonly given out by various storylets, or by item crafting. Try to keep a small stockpile on hand in case you run into a nice storylet that requires some.
- In contrast to the above tip, don't be a compulsive hoarder. If you have quite a large stockpile of an item, there's an opportunity to earn some echoes. If the item can be used to make a higher tier item (It should say something like "This will always get you X. There may be other effects."), do so. Succeeding an easy luck check will get you a nice income in extra items, and a rare success can give you extremely valuable items (Once you get to a higher level, you should use the bulk option that says "This will always gain you many X." on lower end items. No successes, rare or otherwise, but it saves you time and still turns a small profit). If you have plenty of something and can't convert it higher, either because you lack the right connections, it's the end of the line, or it's an item like Rostygold or Moon Pearls that can't be traded up at all, simply sell some of your surplus. This whole tip is intended to earn you echoes for the tip below
- Buy gear. Various pieces of equipment allow you to temporarily boost or damage your levels. Higher level storylets earn more money (The goods you earn from a storylet tend to sell for as much pence as the level of the stat for it when the difficulty is chancy), so you'll earn back your investment over time. If it's an upgrade and it's affordable for you, get it, don't just hold out for the very best. Having a variety of gear lets you manipulate your level. There are several areas where you may have a large gap between the difficulty of your current storylet, and the difficulty of the next higher one. By adjusting your level, you can keep gaining a decent amount of experience from your storylet until you have enough of a level to put on your best gear and continue on with the next higher storylet. This allows you to keep getting an optimal amount of xp, and is another way that gear pays for itself. Some items, especially pets, have extra uses in certain storylets as well, and outside of a few rare cases where the equipment is spent (Mostly giving pets to folks), you'll only ever need one.
- Connections are your friend, they can be used for a lot of interesting things, even though you can't sell them directly (Though for the record, most are worth about 2 pence per CP, if you trade in connections for items). Try to earn them whenever possible without hurting your normal grinding, but don't be afraid of using them if a card calls for them: Spending connections on increasing your main stats can be a good way to level faster. There are also cards where you are asked to pick between one of two factions, lowering your connections with one but raising them with the other. Choose to help whichever one you have lower connections in, you earn a net profit in connections, so over time you'll wind up raising both of them higher this way.
- Fate is occasionally rewarded by storylets, but it's not really something you can grind by any means. Even if you get fate for free, spend it like you paid for it. Also, don't spend fate to unlock areas. If you can't unlock it normally, chances are you can't do anything there anyway.
PERSON OF SOME IMPORTANCE
- One of the biggest hurdles in the game is becoming a Person of Some Importance. You need 100 in each stat (So don't neglect one of them), as well as an assortment of different items.
- You'll also need to have done exceptionally well in one category: Either finished up with the Empress' Court including a romance, completed a most daring theft and worked for the cheesemonger, fought the most fearsome duelists and captured the most savage creatures at the docks AND killed someone permanently, or finished the university storyline.
- It is also a good idea to save a larger quantity of goods than you're used to: 1750 primordial shrieks to convert into maniac's prayers and correspondence plaques, 3500 lamplighter beeswax to convert into phospohorescent beetles and memories of light, and 408 stolen correspondence to turn into Intriguing Gossip and Compromising Documents.
- It also helps to have the following; a key to a handsome townhouse; An immaculate frock coat, exceptional hat, dancemaster's dabs, and masterwork dancing slippers (The gloves and coat may be exchanged for their equal feminine counterparts, provided both are for the same gender); all 6 of the lower level lodgings (Or one of the highest tier... but it's highly unlikely you'll have one of them even for a while after PoSI); all four acquaintances OR sufficent connections with society, the church, and the masters of the bazaar, OR sufficient connections with criminals, revolutionaries, and the great game, OR sufficient connections with rubbery men, tomb colonists, and urchins. Technically you only need one of the items seperated by semicolons, but the more you have, the faster that step will go by.
edited by Urthdigger on 5/13/2012
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Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
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Riley37
Posts: 125
12/19/2013
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Fallen London Introduction
WARNING: ROUGH DRAFT ONLY. INCOMPLETE. UNCONFIRMED.
This is a story-oriented beginner's guide for Fallen London, an MMO by Failbetter Games. It is fan-written, and has no authority from Failbetter Games, and respects Failbetter Games as the owner of Fallen London, making no claim on any property of Failbetter Games.
So, you may have heard that there are some good stories in Fallen London, and you are here to discover them. You the player, that is. You the character are also here for a reason... which has not yet been established. At the very beginning of the story, you the character are almost a blank slate, in terms of background story and personality. You start in prison, as a prisoner, with a few items appropriate to that role in that location. You may have a gender. Your first challenge is to escape. You are likely to escape within the first 100 actions you play; you will have only a few choices. There may be faster or slower paths, but all roads lead towards the capital city of the Empire, so to speak.
At this point you may be looking over your Fallen London browser page or tab, and wondering, more or less, "what do I do." See the candle on the upper left? That is a display of how many actions you can take. When you take an action, the candle becomes shorter; over time, every ten minutes, it becomes longer, up to a maximum. The idea is that you play out a few actions, perhaps all the way until your "candle" runs out, and then come back to the game later. You could play for, say, a few minutes every hour, if that suits you. If you haven't played in the last several hours, then next time you log in, your candle will have refilled to its maximum. The basic game is free, and there are various ways to pay to play more. Every action advances some aspect of the story - or, in some cases, results in failure and possibly a penalty. The penalties are, by and large, recoverable. You might, if you had enough failures at certain kinds of tasks, get arrested and re-imprisoned. If so - then you play out another escape, and you get more options this time around. You might even gain some lasting advantages in the process. Even if your character dies, in Fallen London, there is a way to recover from death. If you prefer to avoid death, then any time you try some task, and fail, and in the process get wounded, you can heal that wound before you attempt any more actions which have a risk of wounding you. Healing the wound might take several actions, depending on method, and might have side effects. The point is - it's okay. There are games which harshly penalize the slightest mistake; this is not one of them.
There are two major options: cards, which are higher on your screen, or "storylets", which are lower on your screen. Cards have a mechanic based on literal card games; you have zero, one or two cards in your hand, and from time to time you can "draw from the deck" to put one more card in your "hand". Drawing from the deck into your hand does not take an action. Playing a card is an action. If you prefer one of the "storylet" options, then those are another way to use your Actions. In general, I follow the advice of Mae West: I try anything which I have not previously tried. You may find a storylet useful and/or entertaining it, and repeat it. If you do so a lot, this is called "grinding". You might decide that you like a certain card, and play it whenever you draw it. But give everything at least one try. Unless the game itself tells you that it's a particularly difficult or risky storyline (which you are unlikely to find in the early game anyways). The particularly difficult stories are all marked with a warning.
Most of the cards will sooner or later come back to your hand. Most of the storylets will remain playable when you go to the location which contains that storylet. Some of them fade out of view when your traits rise; you outgrow those challenges. But there are ways to temporarily lower your traits to revisit those storylets, if you so choose. There ARE a few one-time-only choices. Perhaps the main such choice is the Ambition which brought you to Fallen London. Even that is not absolutely a one-time choice. You can pay to reset it, and one of the Ambition stories has an option to renounce that Ambition and start over. Any one of them is a well-written story, so you can't go wrong; it's just a question of style, preference, and persona. I prefer something of a grim, driven persona, so I chose the Nemesis abition, and then from within the range of possible motivations of Nemesis, revenge for the death of my daughter. To each their own!
Once you escape, you are on the streets of Fallen London, and you then proceed to establish some resources, abilities and connections, and also to establish your own background story. You have four "core" abiliites: Watchful, Dangerous, Shadowy and Persuasive. Many actions you take will succeed or fail depending on your ability to observe something, defeat something, evade something, or persuade something (where "something" may be "someone" those categories can get blurrred in Fallen London). Whether you succeed or fail, ANY time you try a task which relies on one of those traits, you will get a bit better at that trait. (For full details on this process, there is a more numbers-oriented guide.) Over time, your four core traits - Watchful, Dangerous, Shadowy and Persuasive - will rise from single digits to eventually exceed 100. And the game will, accordingly, recognize you as "an observant gentleman", or "a lethal lady", or "an elusive individual of mysterious and indistict gender", or whatever is appropriate to your gender and core trait abilities. You may gain items which increase your abilities. These may be tangible, equippable items such as a hat or weapon (pets are "equippable", you may own several but you only have one at a time actively helping you). They may be less tangible such as a Destiny; for example, my character has a Destiny which gives +5 to Watchful.
Also when you escape and reach Fallen London, you gain the ability to change your Location. You will, from now on (except in a few advanced situations) have the option of going to your Lodgings, and choosing any of the storylets available there, such as resting, writing a letter, or asking non-player characters about some further locations and stories. You will from now on (same exceptions) have the option of visiting Ladybones Road, where there are storylets which largely succeed or fail depending on your Watchful; Watchmaker's Hill for Dangerous; Spite for Shadowy; and Veilgarden for Persuasive. You can also visit Mrs. Plenty's Carnival. And, if you paid for extra content, you can visit Chimes. There are other areas which you have not yet unlocked. No hurry - you have a LOT to explore for now! In Ladybones, Watchmaker, Spite and Veilgarden, you will generally be offered challenges suited to your current abilities. As those abilities increase, more difficult and more rewarding storylets gradually become available.
At some point, you will encounter a mentor figure. You may choose an inclination which matches one of those "core" abilities. Which of those traits is most important to you? And at this point you may have your first choice between your conception of your character's nature, and playing "optimal" in the sense of getting every possible bonus point. Of the four options, one of them gives a unique advantage. Ya know what? Go with your conception. In the long run, you will have bonuses much larger than +2 here or there. If you decide that you are a Watchful person - more intrinsically to your nature than your Dangerousness, Shadowiness or Persuasiveness - then you will acquire shoes which make you +2 Watchful, and as of this writing, those are the only shoes with a Watchful bonus.
There are many other traits which can rise or fall. Some of them mark your progress along a storyline. Of those, some are permanent - for example, once you reach level 2 of the storyline "Pursuing the Heiress", you will never drop back to level 1 of that story. Others are cyclical. For example, in some stories, you may acquire the train "Investigating" at level 1. As you take more actions relevant to your investigation, your Investigation trait will rise to 2, 3 and beyond. You may eventually resolve whatever it is that you are Investigating, and then your Investigating trait will reset to zero. An end... or a new beginning? That varies by story.
There are traits which mark your personality. For example, some choices will result in gaining the trait Ruthless at level 1. If you make the same choice again, or similar choices in other venues, your Ruthless trait may rise to 2 or higher. Other choices might give, then increase, the trait of Magnanimous. Some choices both increase Ruthless and decrease Magnanimous, or vice versa. But it is possible to have some of both on your profile. Same with Subtle and Direct. My own character has gained and lost Ruthless many times, and tends to have a few points of Magnanimous. There is a player who has set out to increase the Hedonistic trait as far as he can, and calls his character "the most Hedonistic man in Fallen London".
These traits DO affect your emerging story. Sometimes a card or a storylet has an option which is only avaiable to characters who have previously established a trait. For example, in the late game you might be sailing a ship, and find a stow-away. You can throw this person overboard, into the Zee - if, and only if, you already are Ruthless.
WARNING: ROUGH DRAFT ONLY. INCOMPLETE. UNCONFIRMED.
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malthaussen
Posts: 1060
10/9/2015
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Speaking from the perspective of a green player, I'd say the best advice is don't panic and enjoy the ride. Heck, I went insane my second day, but I'm perfectly all right now. Aren't I? Who said I wasn't? They're talking about me, aren't they?
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"Of two choices, I always take the third."
Will do all socials except Loitering or Private Evenings (all my Free Evenings are accounted for), and Affluent Photographer Betrayals only, please. I am not currently accepting calling cards.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/malthaussen
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Patrick Reding
Posts: 440
5/12/2012
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RalphTheWonderLlama wrote:
So, this a bit embarrassing lol. I am a male, and my avatar is male, and I started seduction of the struggling artist. I thought maybe since I was male, instead of actually seducing him it would let me trick and rob him/murder him something like that. But it apparently DOES want me to finish seducing him, and I'm really... not into that... Has going this far locked me out of any straight male/female storeylets I might receive?
Don't worry about it. London does not hold the occasional experiementation outside your normal preferences against you. Even full bisexuality barely raises an eyebrow here. You will not be barred from future relationships, straight or otherwise, by becoming and Admirer of Art.
Just don't be surprised when he keeps calling on you asking for money. He's annoying like that.
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http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/Yana
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Kadir
Posts: 27
3/18/2012
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This is good advice.
More on gear:
- The low level gear is 100% worth buying without a doubt. As the gear gets more expensive, it becomes progressively less good. Buying Glad Rags costs 50 pence and gives +1 persuasive, which is basically a no-duh purchase. The next item up, a Respectable Grey Gown, costs 28 echoes and 80 pence for +2 persuasive - 57.6 times as much money for twice the benefit. It is probably still worth it, but the ratios get even worse as you go up higher. Be smart, and don't sell everything you own.
- Having said that, certain gear is required at one point or another to progress the story, so you might as well get it when you can. From memory, the gear you WILL need is as follows:
(WARNING - MILD SPOILERS)
Ridiculous Hat
Neathglass Goggles
Iron Hat
Magician's Gloves
Also, all pets unlock at least a little extra content.
- Menace altering gear is very useful, even though it might not seem like it at first. Equiping menace reduction gear when stuck menace areas can bring you back to reality much earlier, where you can then deal with your problems more efficiently. Even menace increasing gear can be helpful. If, for instance, you needed to go to prison (it can happen), you would usually have to rack up 36 change points of supiscion and then grind them all back down once you'd finished your errands. With clever use of gear, however, you only need to rack up 15 points and grind down 14, which is over four times as fast.
- Finally, a bit of advice that is not related to game mechanics, yet is probably most important of all: Pay attention. Very little (possibly none) of the writing in this game goes nowhere. As an example, every now and then you may find yourself d--mnably hungry for no apparent reason. Trust me, though, there is a reason, and if you pay attention you might get it without internet help.
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Woogawoman
Posts: 80
3/18/2012
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I think the one piece of advice I'd add is: Don't be in too much of a hurry to advance.
If you're reading the board, or following folks on Twitter or the Fezbook, you may hear about stuff that you can't get to yet, and find it frustrating. But there's interesting stuff happening at all levels.
Most storylets/cards have both a minimum stat level before they appear AND a maximum level at which they are no longer available -- equipment can sometimes tip you over that upper line and you could miss something. The game is designed to draw you through the various storylines and locations in a logical progression -- enjoy the ride. 
edited by Woogawoman on 3/18/2012
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Eleanor Smythe's Profile
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dismallyOriented
Posts: 215
7/21/2014
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The cheapest way to get five card lodgings is to wait around until Hallowmas and Sacksmas. During the holiday events, you have the chance to buy upgraded lodgings at much lower prices.
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Kylestien
Posts: 749
10/9/2014
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On a scale of 1 to OH GOD WHY how bad we talking? Is it at least humorous? Because if it's funny and not too bad I may well do it anyway.
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I will accept all actions, though I hold the right to refuse for my own reasons. However, if you explain WHY you send me a harmful action like Loitering or Dantes,And I feel the reason good, I will consider it more. http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Kylestien
Persuasive patron. You want a lesson, send me a message asking for one.
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Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
2/19/2016
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Hannah Flynn wrote:
What do you all think? And if there were, say, 7 tips for playing Fallen London, what do you think they should be?
1. *PRIORITY FOR NEW PLAYERS* Delete your account and start over if you have any of the following qualities or lodgings:
Cottage by the Observatory, Room Above A Bookshop, Smoky Flophouse, Seduction: Artist 
2. Do not post on the forum regarding your inability to draw cards you need, the answer is always RNG.
3. The game begins to slow down considerably for all four stats around 70 / 100 as you lose access to the weekly boost and lessons and hit the plateau where most actions the games want you to do have a low success rate and reliable one give little progress or profit. Failure isn't all bad, but by the time you fail a one-shot repeatable grind story for the fifth time you should try something else.
For Persuasive, I recommend to stay at A Name Signed with a Flourish 3 and repeatedly complete the Intrigue: The Curate and His Sister storyline as it grants a huge boost of Persuasive on par with weekly lessons.
For Shadowy, you tend to hit a plateau as you head to the Flit and are prompted to do high-profile burglary. Instead of building Casing via Preparing for a Big Score, which is extremely punishing on failures, consider building Casing via Stealing Paintings for Topsy King and using these progress on the Big Score you actually need to do. Do not actually cash in your Casing for the Topsy King; the story is pretty much a dud.
4. Ignore all menaces save for Suspicion, which has a irreversible, long-term damaging effect on your character. Death (from wounds), Exile (from scandal) and Madness (from nightmares) are generally harmless and you are recommended to experience them several times.
5. Don't spend Fate on Action Refreshes / Card Refreshes unless you really want it for some reason - generally speaking the game expects you to wait instead of actually spending Fate for it.
6. There are a few free Fate point scattered throughout early game. That's all you will receive and you won't receive more Fate beyond that, and they will never be enough for you to buy a full-length story. So don't plan to "I will play for a year and then buy that Fate-locked storyline!"
7. Don't buy the Rubbery Murders, unless you are very rich and bought all the other stories. If you are paying for the premium stories, focus on the gold-bordered one on the Fate tab (except Rubbery Murders). Consider consulting with other players before you buy anything.
edited by Estelle Knoht on 2/19/2016
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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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Beatrice_Joan
Posts: 20
7/26/2015
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I'd like to add my tuppenceworth and try and bump this as a new player (rather than the experienced giving their invaluable advice, which has been fantastic) I arrived in FL blind and would consider giving more thought to early choices, essentially follow your characters wishes - you need to think about those earlier than I thought rather than blindly clicking to advance the game. Also advise (as so many have said before) to enjoy exploring and getting to know the world. It's very well written and put together and this will stand you in good stead for further choices. Feel free to send me invites...I'm an early game player and keen to hear from new acquaintances!
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Beatrice_Joan
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Hannah Flynn
Administrator
Posts: 491
2/19/2016
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Friends, this thread is from 2012 and is very venerable. A lot of the advice in here still stands, but specific information is hard to find, and much of it will be out of date now.
I'm going to suggest that we unpin it and let it slide away into oblivion, and instead have a Small Questions thread that is replaced frequently. Something like this is doing well on the r/fallenlondon subreddit.
I'm also thinking about a masterpost of advice for new people, given that Fallen London will be on iPhone soon (release date announcement on its way!). But I'd like to limit that to general advice, and it would be a closed thread, with signposts to other resources and places to ask questions.
What do you all think? And if there were, say, 7 tips for playing Fallen London, what do you think they should be?
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Wields the news canon, aboard the hype train.
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Greenstar54
Posts: 27
7/20/2014
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A useful tip I have found in playing: save red bordered opportunity cards (like dreams) until you have zero actions left. If you play them while you have actions it will use one of those actions, but if you wait until you have zero it will usually still play the card without using up an action.
Hope this helps!
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"My life is like a free online game, people always seem to be playing with it." -literarydevices.net
"Sleep like nothing is watching. Gaze at the stars like it will never hurt." -Steven Kaas
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Greenstar54
Accepting social invitations excluding the Affluent Photographer.
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vitamancy
Posts: 43
5/10/2015
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I descended to Fallen London during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose, so was unaware at the time that it was a special event. I've also read about Sacksmas. Are there other annual celebrations in the 'Neath I should be anticipating?
Vitamancy
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Sestina Valdis
Posts: 210
1/4/2016
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Deatheye wrote:
thank you verry much sorry il just og edit all of those into one question ive written them just as I was about to get to sleep
but I do have 1 more important question
is it possible in any way to lose your character? or damage him so much that he becomes unplayable?
Not unless you delete him/her deliberately.  (Sunless Sea is another ballpark altogether.)
--
Sestina Valdis, the Saccharine Satirist.
Appearance and Misc. Accoutrements
A Past Scattered Across Discarded Stockings
Fei Xue, the Artful Assassin.
Self
Edward de Riere, the Barebones Baron.
Avatar by Daniel Ilinca.
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A B Nile
Posts: 414
10/9/2014
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Kylestien wrote:
On a scale of 1 to OH GOD WHY how bad we talking? Is it at least humorous? Because if it's funny and not too bad I may well do it anyway.
I applaud this attitude!
edited by A B Nile on 10/9/2014
--
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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Flyte
Administrator
Posts: 671
2/19/2014
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Valerien wrote:
Does stat gain from the training professions now cap at base 70 instead of modified 70? Indeed it does, as of yesterday.
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RandomWalker
Posts: 948
2/19/2014
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Good news, even if it is a bit late for me. I've lost count how many times I lost stat gain due to forgetting to take off gear before claiming my reward. Thanks for introducing the change.
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
12/13/2013
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To add a surprise GBP 0.02 from me:
We're terribly aware how intimidating FL can be to novices, or even determined journeymen. Some of this is fundamental, some is UI issues which may be fixed, some of is inconsistencies that arose over four years, some of this is fixable with better in-game guidance. When we reworked the top bar, we considered linking to the wiki beginner's guide from the Help submenu - but anything that contains a table with percentages is only friendly and approachable to a very specific sub-demographic of player. :-) Most of the beginner's guides are, indeed, gigantic walls of intimidating text, although often very well-written and well-researched.
We could write our own, but we're too close to the material and it's surprisingly time-consuming. If we ever see a suitably friendly CC-licensed help guide out there, we will very likely link to it (with permission and a Rubbery Conspirator by way of thanks).
Elene wrote:
I think that the main issue Inky has is that the current beginner guides are titanic walls of text that go a bit too deep into explaining the mechanical underbelly of the game. Its great for people like me who love to research and plan out a deliberate approach to things, but not so great for people who get bored or intimidated by such. Frankly though, I think the help page and the tutorials in the modern version of the beginning stages are pretty good for getting started. As for the pace they should go at, I think its fine to just kind of go ham with whatever seems interesting at the time. Its actually pretty hard to advance too quickly or slowly. If you just take a seeing the sights approach to things its actually pretty hard to miss most things in the beginning. I would simply say not to totally ignore the area that corresponds to the stat your job raises. One of my alts sat on a month of job pay outs, and completely missed a chunk of content from that area.
edited by Alexis on 12/13/2013
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Pyrodinium
Posts: 639
12/13/2013
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Alexis Kennedy wrote:
To add a surprise GBP 0.02 from me:
We're terribly aware how intimidating FL can be to novices, or even determined journeymen. Some of this is fundamental, some is UI issues which may be fixed, some of is inconsistencies that arose over four years, some of this is fixable with better in-game guidance. When we reworked the top bar, we considered linking to the wiki beginner's guide from the Help submenu - but anything that contains a table with percentages is only friendly and approachable to a very specific sub-demographic of player. :-) Most of the beginner's guides are, indeed, gigantic walls of intimidating text, although often very well-written and well-researched.
We could write our own, but we're too close to the material and it's surprisingly time-consuming. If we ever see a suitably friendly CC-licensed help guide out there, we will very likely link to it (with permission and a Rubbery Conspirator by way of thanks).
If it's okay with the Wiki's rules, perhaps we could make a storylet-styled newbie guide there. The text would be chopped into various storylets so that addresses the wall of text issue. A mysterious benefactor may be used as the storylets' narrator so it would mesh well with FL's atmosphere. It also gives us an excuse to create (hopefully good) fanfics.
--
My profiles: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Pyrodinium
(A Monster hunter on the hunt of his twin brother's killer. Overprotective dad of his twin's daughter)
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Rudolph~of~Taured
(an indeterminate person of potentially rubbery lineage)
* All social actions except photographers and loitering welcome!
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Urthdigger
Posts: 939
12/16/2013
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Riley37 wrote:
Okay, well, seems to me that perhaps there's a guide that could be written which emphasizes FL as a set of stories, which one can unfold by exploring, more than as a set of mechanics to be optimized. My hat's off to Urthdigger as an explainer of optimization; and that's perhaps apples and oranges to the approach which describes FL in narrative terms.
Okay, I will take a stab at this in the next week.
Well, the reason I've written the guide as I have, with an emphasis on optimizations, is because that's typically what people look for when they seek advice. The stuff that causes people to freeze up, in my experience, are questions like "Will I lose out on something permanently by doing this? Am I taking an extremely sub-optimal route? How exactly does this mechanic work?" I'm not really sure what sort of questions a guide that focuses on describing FL in narrative terms would answer.
--
Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
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Lady Sapho Byron
Posts: 770
7/13/2014
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My dear jooraq, I have been playing for several months and it seems there are two kinds of players. There are roleplayers, such as myself, who chose options in the story lines based on our personas. When communicating with RPers it is polite (I think) to tell a little story with an invitation to action (e.g., "My dear jooraq, I have just seen a Devil for the first time--what shivers it gave me! I find myself having the most awful nightmares about it. Perhaps if I were to unburden myself to you it would help"). Some of us welcome even more complexity and personality in requests. Other players seem less concerned with roleplaying than in puzzle solving or finding their way through the options. I suspect less conversation is necessary with them, but even so, a little personal note with a request will often be appreciated.
You will receive a message indicating you have been assisted (or your request has been declined) along with comments about what has changed about you (Nightmares have been lowered, Persuasive is rising, etc.).
There is a thread somewhere here about finding Patrons. The benefits are that they can send you a master class action. If you accept your Persuasive, etc. (depending on the Patron) will rise.
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http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Lady%20Sapho%20L%20Byron
Fighting the Menace of Corsetry Since 1892.
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Saharan
Posts: 247
12/22/2012
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There isn't much of an outpour of actual advice in this thread, it seems.
1) Objectively speaking, for the more-gamer-than-reader, the Shoes and Watchful benefactor are the best. Every other piece of gear from the other benefactors is replaceable, and the opportunity card that occasionally shows up will net you Sudden Insights, which are Watchful second chances. These are, arguablly, the best second chances, since they both prevent Nightmares at higher levels (Nightmares being the most hassling of menaces), and are extremely useful when trying to come back to life, since playing Chess with Death is a Watchful challenge that can only ever reach Modest as its lowest difficulty.
2) If you're unsure and debating as to which Ambition to take, choosing the Light Fingers ambition might be a good idea. Deep down along the storyline, you'll be given a free pack of Lethian Tea Leaves, which allow you to reset your ambition. By then you'll probably have a more solid and knowledgeable opinion of the Neath, and can choose whether to continue with Light Fingers, or switch to a different ambition entirely.
3) Something nobody ever seems to mention; there is a storyline that is only unlockable by linking your account with Facebook, called Uncovering the Secrets of the Face Tailor. Let it be known that if you toss the [EDIT:SPOILERS] into the river at the near-beginning, that's the end of the storylet. For good.
edited by Saharan on 12/22/2012
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My Saint - My Twitter - My Seeker
"To light one candle to God and another to the Devils is the principle of wisdom."
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
4/29/2014
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That sounds like something you could request. The patronage training sessions keep track of your base stat as opposed to the modified one, and I'm pretty sure Fallen London could keep that storylet visible as long as at least one of your base stats fall under 100. Until then you can request a patron here if you can't access that storylet.
--
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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Jeremy Avalon
Posts: 345
2/19/2016
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1. Join the community. The forums are the best place to start.
2. Ask questions freely in whichever community venue out at which you choose to chill.
3. Consider spending money on the game; even at low levels, the Blemmigan Affair, the Trade in Souls, and Exceptional Friendship are all wonderful uses of your dosh which will remain beneficial far into the game. And you get warm fuzzies from keeping an independent game studio in business.
4. Use your journal. You won't get to experience a lot of those early-game stories again, and the echoes will make for a wonderful trot down memory lane.
5. Don't mind your menaces. All of them are worth succumbing to at least once. Except Unaccountably Peckish.
6. When the game tells you that something is a Bad Idea in large, bolded, italicized, friendly letters, you should believe it.
7. Read widely and carefully.
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How we must glow; yes, I bet we look like snow.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
2/19/2016
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7 Tips
1) Explore
2) Don't rush things, becoming POSI is expensive and I think it is better to take your time and get more resources before taking that step.
3) Don't worry about failing and getting menaces. It doesn't take too long to get out of menace areas and there are interesting things to read and find.
4) Buy gear when you can afford it as it can be very useful to adjust your stats.
5) Pets/companions can be fun and some have useful cards
6) Make contact with other players, social actions add to the game and you need them for some of the seasonal content
7) Have fun
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Sestina Valdis
Posts: 210
12/30/2015
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Adolferch wrote:
Thanks, I began to play today and this has been very useful. I'm spanish so I hope I'm not being too wrong with the language.
Ps: ¿How do I begin to enter in the game's community?
Your English is great, don't worry! =)
--
Sestina Valdis, the Saccharine Satirist.
Appearance and Misc. Accoutrements
A Past Scattered Across Discarded Stockings
Fei Xue, the Artful Assassin.
Self
Edward de Riere, the Barebones Baron.
Avatar by Daniel Ilinca.
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suinicide
Posts: 2409
12/30/2015
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The Young Turks Club is a thread on here for new players. It's about asking for advice, and helping each other out with social actions.
Here's a link: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic20877-proposal-for-new-players-the-young-turks-club.aspx
edited by suinicide on 12/30/2015
--
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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Adolferch
Posts: 5
12/29/2015
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Thanks, I began to play today and this has been very useful. I'm spanish so I hope I'm not being too wrong with the language.
Ps: ¿How do I begin to enter in the game's community?
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Adolferch
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malthaussen
Posts: 1060
1/18/2016
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@Theo Bell: it removes the City Vices cards from your deck altogether, so they don't need to be discarded. Is it a big deal? It is when you only care about a handful of cards to begin with: anything that increases the chance of turning up a useful card is good, then.
-- Mal
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"Of two choices, I always take the third."
Will do all socials except Loitering or Private Evenings (all my Free Evenings are accounted for), and Affluent Photographer Betrayals only, please. I am not currently accepting calling cards.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/malthaussen
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Charlotte_de_Witte
Posts: 360
1/18/2016
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My maths may be (badly) out, but also, as City Vice cards are mostly Standard Frequency, they tend to turn up quite a lot. So they have the effect of significantly decreasing the odds of drawing rarer (often better ) cards every time you draw a new card from the deck.
Very (very) rough analogy - Say you have a hundred sided dice, and really want to roll between 1-5. But the dice has been weighted to roll above 50. Taking away City Vices is sort of like getting a permanent re-roll if that dice ever lands on anything between 50-70.
--
"Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar."
Social actions welcome. Only, send me dupes if you need help with the Affluent Photographer please, I like the bats! [And boxed kitties, and extreme gardening]- Thank-you!
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Charlotte%20de%20Witte
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Hannah Flynn
Administrator
Posts: 491
2/23/2016
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Remedan wrote:
Isn't the Young Turks Club kind of serving as a pretty successful version of that?
The Young Turks Club are delightful. But their thread is already 36 pages long and dates from October. Also, small questions aren't necessarily from new players.
--
Wields the news canon, aboard the hype train.
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Guest
1/18/2016
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Charlotte_de_Witte wrote:
My maths may be (badly) out, but also, as City Vice cards are mostly Standard Frequency, they tend to turn up quite a lot. So they have the effect of significantly decreasing the odds of drawing rarer (often better ) cards every time you draw a new card from the deck.
Very (very) rough analogy - Say you have a hundred sided dice, and really want to roll between 1-5. But the dice has been weighted to roll above 50. Taking away City Vices is sort of like getting a permanent re-roll if that dice ever lands on anything between 50-70.
The analogy is spot on! The maths/odds I'll leave for a Statistician to figure.
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malthaussen
Posts: 1060
12/29/2015
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@Adolferch: check in with the Young Turks Club.
-- Mal
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"Of two choices, I always take the third."
Will do all socials except Loitering or Private Evenings (all my Free Evenings are accounted for), and Affluent Photographer Betrayals only, please. I am not currently accepting calling cards.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/malthaussen
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Adolferch
Posts: 5
12/30/2015
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suinicide wrote:
The Young Turks Club is a thread on here for new players. It's about asking for advice, and helping each other out with social actions.
Here's a link: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic20877-proposal-for-new-players-the-young-turks-club.aspx
edited by suinicide on 12/30/2015
Thank you very much 
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Adolferch
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malthaussen
Posts: 1060
12/31/2015
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@Deatheye: In Spite, you have an airs-dependent chance of robbing a glim assayer. In Watchmaker, any Ring-Fights will always give glim on victory. And they build your Dangerous. The problem, of course, is that you need the entry fees (minimum 100 rostygold) to enter.
Mal
--
"Of two choices, I always take the third."
Will do all socials except Loitering or Private Evenings (all my Free Evenings are accounted for), and Affluent Photographer Betrayals only, please. I am not currently accepting calling cards.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/malthaussen
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Guest
1/3/2016
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Deatheye wrote:
I got the event once if I start to engage with the smugglers storyline will I be excluded from somones else story or not?
and whats the deal with attending the needs of a singular plant? I read the wiki im still lost on that
oh and should I sell all my contraband or keep it or just sell some specific items?
actually what items should I sell? im at 70 allstats btw
edited by Deatheye on 1/3/2016
Deatheye, please use the edit feature to add questions to an existing current reply if it's the last one on the thread and not answered, instead of triple posting.
The Once-Dashing Smugger is an independent storyline that checks its progress by the amount of roses you have. The more options spent on drawn cards, the more roses spent. As the count lowers, you get different options. Side-choices also cost roses such as "investigating things" about him. Turning him in of course ends that storyline. it's for each player and does not interact with any other story or player. When at a certain level of roses very low, you get one last moment with him. Choose honestly how you feel about him. (After it's done, you might bump into him at the Tomb Colonies.)
Attending the needs of a singular plant is you finding and growing this plant. The more it grows, the more it costs, but you can also get rewards from it. If it's too much of a bother, you can sell it for profit (the longer it grows the more it gets, but that resets the pant and you can draw the finding the pant again and regrow it should you wish.) Again, after it gets to a certain value (10) you are then offered admittance into a secret plant-fighting club, the top position gets a very valuable item needed by POSI especially. However, each Ranking of entry requires a certain item to offer, and winners get other items and a bump in the plant's "Singular Plant" value. Losers get that value lowered and they have to win the previous plant's tournament level ranking again.
By this time, you can get things from its "fruit" See above for paying-rewarding value.
Should you so wish to never see this again, you need to gain its Singular value to 19. That stops all cards good or bad, including the selling option. The higher this value also, the more likely (and luck is also involved here) to win the above tournament.
Contraband is not a simple yes or no question. it depends on what you want to sell and where your progress is. For instance, a London Street Sign is absolutely needed to access the Flit, but (besides the Light-Fingered or Nemesis Ambitions at a specific point, or raising criminal renound for some reason) becomes worthless to those not planning a Wedding or deploying a Knife and candle gambit, both not for new players. (It also can be used as a component to make a Collection of Curiosities, but it's better to win Curiousities instead of the high cost of making them.) So besides the previous, once obtained for the Flit, sell signs.
Surface Currency is again used to access Wolfstack Docks along with 500 Glim but (besides this and that on Surface Ties) loses its necessity afterwards unless you are on the Heart's Desire or Light Fingers Ambitions (and the latter not as much as the former.)
The rest of the items are used in POSI-Related rewards, and they shouldn't ever be sold unless desperate (or you want even longer grinding getting them back after you are a POSI) but saved for future crafting needs besides saving only a few Flawed Diamonds (Ask Madame Shoshana to cast your horoscope, Compete with your rival, Give him gifts, The gift of jewels) and selling the rest. This is especially true not selling the other diamonds which are quite costly and used to make Bejeweled Lenses for future cards/a possible Zumbmarine. Gaining favours to 7 on Criminals and Beating the Minister on Pugilism is the "simplest" way of getting those higher end items, but it's still rare. (The Fabulous Diamond is only obtainable from selling your soul in a fate-locked story and actually can be sold for "What Profit" it brings. A Sealed Copy
of the Crimson Book is only obtainable on a specific holiday offered by access code and then is obtainable only if you have Master's Blood to sell them, and either can be sold for its immense profit or kept as a collector's item very hard to obtain.)
edited by the truthseeker on 1/4/2016
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Optimatum
Posts: 3666
1/4/2016
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Generally I find it best to only sell items when I need the money right then or would otherwise lose them through actions that do not require them as a cost. Rarer items are in general more expensive but of course harder to obtain. Some expensive items are also useless functionally but interesting from a collecting standpoint. If you can find the cash you need by selling larger quantities of easily obtainable items I'd recommend doing that over selling rare ones. (Some items may also be more profitable to convert before selling; the only one that comes to mind is the Eyeless Skull's use option to sell it at a higher price.)
edited by Optimatum on 1/4/2016
--
Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome.
 Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi!
PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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Jermaine Vendredi
Posts: 588
2/19/2016
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Thank you. That is rather more helpful than at least one reply upthread.I'm not sure anyone wants to hear "delete your account, you did it all wrong".
--
No plant battles, please.
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Jermion
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Hobnail
Posts: 179
2/19/2016
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WARE LOVE AND EAT WELL
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Hobnail
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Remedan
Posts: 61
2/19/2016
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Hannah Flynn wrote:
I'm going to suggest that we unpin it and let it slide away into oblivion, and instead have a Small Questions thread that is replaced frequently. Something like this is doing well on the r/fallenlondon subreddit.
Isn't the Young Turks Club kind of serving as a pretty successful version of that?
--
 My Neathly Alter Ego -- Still trying to make some sense of it all.
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Flyte
Administrator
Posts: 671
4/29/2014
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I've added this to my fix list. We'll probably change it in the next week or so, unless there's a reason to keep things as is that isn't immediately apparent.
For now, a Talkative Rattus Faber should solve the problem for almost everyone.
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SarahTheEntwife
Posts: 50
4/30/2014
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Lady Taimi Ward-Felix wrote:
It's not an option yet, along with Closest to the University or the Duchess.
Thanks!
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Strel Retired zee-captain turned scholar. Open to social interactions of various sorts.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Winona~Tintenfisch Winona Tintenfisch, aspiring street urchin. Would definitely be up for some fisticuffs or loitering.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
5/5/2014
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Oh, I know. I just mean in terms of helping a stat the other options aren't as good as the Watchful patron.
Actually, abstaining from thievery is only temporarily a hindrance to your Shadowy stat. Once you get it high enough you can pick up the Affair of the Box without needing to steal said box, and after becoming a POSI you'll be able to run a Newspaper.
--
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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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
5/5/2014
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And when you get a ship Mutton Island is a good place for boosting shadowy.
--
ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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empirimancer
Posts: 99
5/22/2014
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Is this happening to anyone else? Am I in the adviceanimals twilight zone?
http://imgur.com/o6JbEvu
--
moi
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Mordaine Barimen
Posts: 670
5/30/2014
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Not all. the three Secluded Addresses do not give cards.
--
I'm sorry, but due to policy clarifications, I will no longer be giving detailed mechanics advice on the forums.
If you still need help, try the IRC channel.
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Mordaine Barimen
Posts: 670
7/8/2014
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Some items the Bazaar will not take. Chances are that theya re either something the Bazaar wouldn't deal in, or often, a special tem that the game wants to ensure that you don't get rid of. (Unique items from your Ambitions, for example)Warm Amber, for example is something onyl of value to the Rubbery Men. You might discover that some opportunity cards can show up with ways to trade it for other, more valuable items.
As to what you should or should not sell, Nevercold Brass, Deep Amber, Rostygold, and Moon Pearls are usually safe to sell, as long as you keep a little on hand. Anything that you have a reliable (not card-dependent) way of replenishing is also fair game. The items worth 50 pence at the Bazaar when selling, like Tales of Terror and Zee-Stories are usually more valuable than their selling price and should be held onto for now until you discover where they can be utilized.
Also of note, in your "Meself" tab, you may note that some items have a green border that are not equipment. If you click on them, there will be actions that you can take with them, usually exchange a number of items for the next higher tier if the same. this can be useful to examine when you run across a story that needs something you don't have yet, but you own a fair lot of similar items.
Really, the economy of Fallen London is intentionally obtuse in places. as the Masters of the Bazaar have no desire to engage in fair trade practices. Fortunately, there's very little you could do that is unrecoverable in some manner, so don't stress too badly over it.
If all else fails, maybe look at the Wiki and see some of an item's uses to help decide if you need to keep it or not, although it does take some of the mystery out of things to know too much ahead of time.
--
I'm sorry, but due to policy clarifications, I will no longer be giving detailed mechanics advice on the forums.
If you still need help, try the IRC channel.
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Taleria
Posts: 46
7/11/2014
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Inky Petrel wrote:
I have a friend who is possibly joining (hooray!) and I would dearly love to find a concise beginner's guide that isn't spread out over the forums? Does such a thing exist? This thread is wonderful, but the talk of change points and so forth would have intimidated me as a newcomer
I'm not a math person. Numbers freak me out and my brain just sort of shuts down. That being said, I love the wiki beginner's guide. I read it every once in a while and really found the tips about item crafting, converting things to make more money, very useful. It's something I would not have known to do. Also, the advice on hanging on to things but not hoarding substantial amounts, either.
The thing with FL is that one doesn't always play the way you kind of expect an RPG to go. Conventionally, you do expect to grind for money and levels. However, it's assumed that you only get one chance at scenarios, that death is very bad, that upgrading equipment is absolutely essential for survival. It's also kind of hard in the beginning because it's tough to make echoes. Or at least, it was for me. It still is tough, but I'm getting a bit more payout now with skills in the thirties and forties. I'm finding that equipment isn't really that necessary. Having cheap equipment only means that you have to grind more. Whether you succeed or not depends more on the skill level than the equipment itself.
And that brings me to my one significant gripe about the game. I'm enjoying it. Don't get me wrong. But the combination of sheer luck, unless your skill gives 100% success, combined with writing that sometimes assumes too much/tells you what you feel makes RP kind of clunky. One could, of course, ignore scenarios that are "OOC" or just ignore the occasions one fails, but it's really annoying to fail just because of something outside my control. And since this is my first character, I'm loath to skip any scenario because that's game content I'm not seeing for no really good reason. I might make another character one day and RP properly, but yeah, there are inconsistencies that crop up between narratives that a character-driven person like me finds kind of jarring.
At any rate, I really do appreciate the beginner's guide a lot. Thanks for making it. It really helped me. I grind skills at Modest difficulty because of it. Safe, but decent rate of change so that menace acquisition is manageable.
SarahTheEntwife wrote:
How does one become closest to Rubbery Men?
I'd like this option, too. I know I'm a long way off from really picking a side, but am most intrigued by them.
edited by Taleria on 7/11/2014
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Taleria No Loitering requests, please. Menace help is accepted, but no more than two requests per person. Not interested in cats. Other invitations are fine.
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Karhumies
Posts: 75
12/19/2013
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Also, a summary/quick reference/tl;dr of the main game mechanics would be appreciated in the end.
Something like this:
1. Actions and stat/quality checks
- Action candle
- Storylets and cards consume actions. 1 by default, others more.
- "Perhaps not" does not consume an action
- Second chances
- Stats in left sidebar
- Stats increased even when you fail
- Stats give probability. Click on the challenge's stat symbol to see numeral for probability
2. Storylets
- One of "the points" of the game is to read the storylets. If you are not interested in story-telling or delicious words, this might not be your cup of tea.
- Storylet colors: "normal", bronze, gold, others?
- Storylet qualities, such as Fascinating...
- Failure in a storylet quality check DOES lower the Storylet quality. This is the opposite from stat checks.
3. Qualities
- Negative: Scandal, etc. try not to let these go up to 8. Failure in any kind of action may increase these as a "penalty"
- Lowering negative qualities: Bazaar-> buy things (very useful especially for non-PoSI!), social actions, some other actions (e.g. attend Church)
- Others: Respectable (e.g. Racing Slug), Dreaded, etc. may be used in some challenges. Typically not important in early game.
4. Cards, hand and lodgings
- Deck->hand does not consume an action
- Discard does not consume an action
- Not all cards can be discarded. Typically, this is a sign that the card might not be entirely beneficial (you can't get rid of it).
- Better lodgings have higher hand size
- Lodgings are not "keep the newest, discard the rest" in fact, you want to buy ALL the lodgings available
5. Discover & Travel
- how to unlock new areas from lodgings
- travelling does not cost an action. you should learn to use "Travel" a lot in early game! Especially to visit one's lodgings from time to time.
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Karhumies
Author of A Delicious Guide to Fallen London
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Karhumies
Posts: 75
12/19/2013
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Gillsing wrote:
I'm thinking a series of screenshots with descriptive text might be a good way to convey a lot of the very basic information that would be too basic for the tooltips that already exist. I'm tempted to get working on that myself, but ever since I started playing this game I haven't really had any time to spare. Funny, that.
My suggestion for such screenshots would be to cover all but one area of the screen in shadow and use the shadowed areas as background for text that gives information about the area in the spotlight.
Excellent idea! Someone could create an alt for this purpose.
Some things which could definitely use an illustrative screen shot:
1. Welcome to prison / new game opening screen, which is quite WTF as a newb. probably no blurring, so people who have not created a character yet can have a long looksie.
2. Deck & hand intro, with blurring. highlight Discard. Second pic where you show border colors.
3. Travel intro, highlight the Travel button.
4. Storylet intro. Highlight something Bronze. Second pic where you show gold.
5. Stat check screen. Highlight mouse hovering/click open for numeral. Second pic for quality check (e.g. fascinating), not affected by stats.
6. "Myself" screen -> Highlight that you can combine items. Second pic where you show to move into the better lodgings you have acquired (if it's not automatic upon purchase with the new Bazaar landlord system?)
7. "Bazaar" screen-> show Merrigan's exchange. Second pic where you show how to buy gear from any of the stores for stat boost.
8. Main stat intro. Highlight second chances.
9. "Your journal" intro. Show where the "Echo this" actually goes. A newb might think it will just spam one's social media.
edited by Karhumies on 12/19/2013
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Karhumies
Author of A Delicious Guide to Fallen London
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Inky Petrel
Posts: 370
12/20/2013
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Wow, I lost track of this for a day and come back to some BRILLIANT things Anything that encourages new players to join the world is a good thing imo.
My friend is now playing, mostly because I can be pretty annoying and persistent :p but they seem to be enjoying themselves Win!
Riley, you're absolutely right, I wasn't clear when I posted about possible guides earlier, and I apologise for being grumpy at you. (For the record, I'm a "she" when not being all indistinct and mysterious, but no worries )
Also I feel the need to clarify that my comments were in no way intended to take away from the wonderful guide Urthdigger has made! I just know that the fact that it IS so extensive would probably have made me nervous as a starting player. ♥
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Re: Fallen London, please don't invite me to things or send me things, I'm only on occasionally, so you will waste your candle Thank you.
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Karhumies
Posts: 75
12/23/2013
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Karhumies wrote:
I could host stuff on my university account.
Since the graphics updates to the candle, storylets (color) and cards seem to be compelte, I guess I could come up with something. At least a rough draft version.
Clickity click:
A Delicious Guide to Fallen London
edited by Karhumies on 12/23/2013
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Karhumies
Author of A Delicious Guide to Fallen London
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Gillsing
Posts: 1203
12/25/2013
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Raymond Price wrote:
ETA: I've got a high-level question of my own; I'm trying to scrabble together the goods for higher-tier lodgings and/or a Zubmarine, and I'm curious if there's a better source for grinding up those materials than this page. Also vaguely curious why there are two wikis, but that's less important. The wiki on wikia has links to the sources of anything you might wish to get more of. And most of the difficult stuff is uncommon enough that I managed to track down a good source of Ostentatious Diamonds (build Connected: Criminals, preferably from visiting the Sardonic Music-Hall Singer, and "A merry sort of crime", then cash it in on "A knight of the underworld" from "An implausible penance" card). A good source for Strong-Backed Labour would be siding with the dockers on "The Acacia and the Butterfly". I haven't found an easy way to get Whirring Contraptions, just the time-consuming search for missing women, or any of the other ways to build Dramatic Tension.
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Gillsing
Posts: 1203
2/1/2014
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I've considered making an alternative character myself, but so far I've decided that just playing a single character takes more than enough time. Then again, I'm very slow and meticulous, so that's why it takes a lot of my time.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
2/1/2014
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I'd save making an alternate account for when you've exhausted most of the content on your main. It's nice to have something else to do while you slowly work towards certain goals on your main account.
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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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Flipz
Posts: 177
2/7/2013
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Greetings!
I have only been in Fallen London for a few days, but already I am deeply enraptured by this strange new world!
One thing of some annoyance I have found, however, is that the Dangerous quality is somewhat...odious to advance, at least for a beginning visitor like me. It is no more difficult than advancing any other quality, it is simply less pleasurable than the other three, and the rewards seem to be of lesser use than those granted by, say, Watchful or especially Shadowy challenges. Is there a repeatable storylet somewhere that will aid in Dangerous advancement that is a bit more...palatable than the starting options? Or at least one that will grant me rewards of fair value?
edited by Flipz on 2/7/2013
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Profile Link
Happy to accept all Second Chance, Menace reduction, and Affluent Photographer requests. No boxed cats or SMEN, please.
0/50 Bazaar Permit (New counters coming soon!)
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Zeedee
Posts: 276
7/13/2013
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The optimum options depend on your current level, but this is generally useful for mid to high level players:
http://echobazaar.wikidot.com/end-game-grinding
Blatant paste job of Tesuji's advice on obtaining Tier 1-3 items:
As with a lot of the Tier 1 items, Unfinished Business is your best bet. It's not universally true: go to Mahogany Hall for Glim, Nevercold Brass and Deep Amber, Hunter's Keep for Silk Scraps and Cryptic Clues, and Coil 1 of the Labyrinth of Tigers for Whispered Secrets. For the rest, however, Unfinished Business is usually going to be your go-to source.
For Tier 2 items, converting upward from a Tier 1 item is usually the way to go.
For Tier 3 items, using Thefts or the Iron Box to get the closest item and converting sideways is usually your best option. (Building up Tier 1 items and then converting upwards to Tier 3 is almost never your best bet.)
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Please do not send me monstrous invitations tinged with the inks of the undernight or Boxed Cats. (I rotate my Starveling list, so it might take me a while to reach your name. I haven't forgotten anyone!)
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Aximillio
Posts: 1251
10/16/2013
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First a basic principle: The more cards you have available, the lower your chance to draw a specific card.
To limit your opp. cards:
Get rid of qualities which grant unwanted cards.
Draw cards from locations with few location-specific opp. cards, cause there are no loc.specific dreams cards afaik.
Have unwanted, common cards in your deck to prevent them from appearing.
But most importantly: Take your time.
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Possibly returned after a long hiatus. Please do not send live rats or tournament requests.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
11/15/2013
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Have done
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
11/22/2013
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For the most part places of Menace will leave your progress qualities alone, but going out to Zee will wipe most of them. Loose Change and Someone is Coming stick around.
I think all you need are the Memories of Light.
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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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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
11/22/2013
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Once you have got a Memory of Light you automatically go to the Mirror Marches, but if you want to go to the Royal Beth there is a way to get there from the Mirror Marches.
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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MaskedGentleman
Posts: 339
12/12/2013
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I'm not sure one exists. I normally try to answer questions on a case by case basis. We should probably get around to making one.
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I would like to thank this community and game for the many years of joy you have brought me. May you find your Heart's Desire.
Daniel Redwood
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Urthdigger
Posts: 939
12/12/2013
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As far as I know, this little guide is the only real newbie guide I know of. That's why I made it, to fill a gap. While the change points and the other more advanced advice may be a bit intimidating (And I need to update these as well), I would advise that your friend pay attention to the first bit: Not to worry. It's astonishingly difficult to screw yourself over accidentally, especially early on.
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Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
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Inky Petrel
Posts: 370
12/13/2013
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Riley, thanks, but that appears to be nearly verbatim the first page of this thread. While it's slightly more friendly, layout-wise, it's not what I meant, and I was already aware it existed. I did, in fact, do a search before I asked here, so put the snark away.
edited by Inky Petrel on 12/13/2013
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Re: Fallen London, please don't invite me to things or send me things, I'm only on occasionally, so you will waste your candle Thank you.
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Elene
Posts: 184
12/13/2013
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I think that the main issue Inky has is that the current beginner guides are titanic walls of text that go a bit too deep into explaining the mechanical underbelly of the game. Its great for people like me who love to research and plan out a deliberate approach to things, but not so great for people who get bored or intimidated by such. Frankly though, I think the help page and the tutorials in the modern version of the beginning stages are pretty good for getting started. As for the pace they should go at, I think its fine to just kind of go ham with whatever seems interesting at the time. Its actually pretty hard to advance too quickly or slowly. If you just take a seeing the sights approach to things its actually pretty hard to miss most things in the beginning. I would simply say not to totally ignore the area that corresponds to the stat your job raises. One of my alts sat on a month of job pay outs, and completely missed a chunk of content from that area.
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Elene: Generally open for invitations. No cats or Photographers though.
May or may not actually be Mr Wines.
Associates: Grey Colors, Elene2
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Urthdigger
Posts: 939
3/18/2012
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Alys Indigo wrote:
I am going to sticky this
Yay, another sticky thread!
Making Waves is increasing...
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Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
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Aspeon
Posts: 311
3/20/2012
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Keep track of your goals. If you see an interesting opportunity or storylet that requires something you don't have, make a note of it so you can save up and come back to it or look for the card when you meet the requirements. A few good early game goals include:
- Purchasing new and better lodgings. Even if it won't increase your hand size, having more sources of Scraps is quite useful.
- Completing the "neighbor" storylines in the starting areas. (The Clay Man Coalman, Bohemian Sculptress, Loquacious Vicar, and Brazen Urchin) Finishing each of them gives you access to other storylines from your Lodgings.
- Paying for the "open a way to new parts of the City" storylets in your Lodgings. Those new places aren't worth going to if your stats are below the suggested value, but once you get there you'll quickly run out of things to do other than unlock the next area.
edited by Aspeon on 3/20/2012
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A raccooning will not be postponed indefinitely.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Aspeon
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pinstripeowl
Posts: 53
4/2/2012
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This is a great thread to have. Some things I especially wanted to add:
> Don't be too afraid of menaces or failure. Failure will still bring up your stats (not to mention the text is often quite funny), and menaces will eventually bring you to interesting places. There are ways to avoid them, though, and I cannot stress how often having --a goldfish-- saved me a trip to Bedlam: after seeing nightmares hit 8 and equipping it quickly before clicking through in the story screen.
> Following on from first point: Don't be afraid of nightmares: the dreams are pretty awesome.
> Only sell things you can still get. If you have a reliable source of something, they can be your echoes. Do keep a reserve of items if they're needed later, as buying from the bazaar can be painful. Similarly, now we have item conversion, more higher level items are being asked for because you can get them that way using earlier items.
> Ask people things and people will help. Asking the bazaar twitter may have someone following their replies step in to help if they've not seen it yet. This forum's snazzy. I don't know much about the FB FL community, but I'm sure it has chatter.
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http://twitter.com/#!/pinstripeowl
http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/pinstripeowl
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Urthdigger
Posts: 939
4/3/2012
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Just a comment on that "Don't be afraid of nightmares" tip: While one shouldn't be afraid of EARNING nightmares, one shouldn't KEEP the nightmares quality. Those dream qualities are very nice indeed, but are also one of the more difficult qualities to raise, and going insane will damage all of them. Moreover, some of the recurring dreams have variants that only appear with a high enough Nightmares: As I recall, they're just the same as the failure result on another card, they still increase nightmares, and they do NOT increase your dream progress at all. So, best to deal with your nightmares as you get them.
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Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
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Alys Indigo
Posts: 145
3/18/2012
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I am going to sticky this
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Amalgamate
Posts: 435
5/12/2012
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More specifically, as far as I know, the gender of your character (or lack thereof) has no gameplay effects besides whether NPCs refer to you as "sir" or "miss"; all seduction storylets and constant companions are equally available to all three gender options.
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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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progpen
Posts: 28
9/28/2012
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Woogawoman wrote:
I think the one piece of advice I'd add is: Don't be in too much of a hurry to advance.
-- enjoy the ride.
I very heartily second that. In fact, I think that's why I like this game so much, because I can take my time and not feel rushed. I like poking around where I don't belong and exploring and this is the game for it.
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Twitter @progpen
http://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/progpen
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Ridiculus Undarke
Posts: 48
7/16/2014
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Taleria wrote:
And that brings me to my one significant gripe about the game. I'm enjoying it. Don't get me wrong. But the combination of sheer luck, unless your skill gives 100% success, combined with writing that sometimes assumes too much/tells you what you feel makes RP kind of clunky. One could, of course, ignore scenarios that are "OOC" or just ignore the occasions one fails, but it's really annoying to fail just because of something outside my control.
I agree that the writing occasionally tells you how your character (psychologically) reacts, and I see how this may be a problem from a role-playing perspective, but I totally don't agree on the notion that the lack of complete control is unwanted. As someone has once said, you are not to choose what circumstances are presented to you, but to choose how to react to the ones that are presented. That's all that defines the character, and certainly less of a wish fulfilment and more of a... well, reality.
edited by Ridiculus Undarke on 7/17/2014
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Ridiculus
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Pyrodinium
Posts: 639
3/28/2014
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SarahTheEntwife wrote:
I presumably want the experience from eradicating the little darlings, but it just occurred to me -- given that I have more than one residence key, will my Infestation of Rats follow me if I move?
I did not transfer lodgings during my ordeal with the vermin but according to the lore they're an intelligent lot and will know if you switch your address.
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My profiles: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Pyrodinium
(A Monster hunter on the hunt of his twin brother's killer. Overprotective dad of his twin's daughter)
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Rudolph~of~Taured
(an indeterminate person of potentially rubbery lineage)
* All social actions except photographers and loitering welcome!
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
4/29/2014
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Only the Knife-and-Candle specific stats matter.
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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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"Many" Chin
Posts: 383
10/31/2014
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CulturalGeek wrote:
Thanks everyone, this has been super helpful. In a week or so when I have my bearings, I may try to condense all of this into a beginner's guide... or TWO beginner's guides, one spoiler heavy, one spoiler light.
One more question: is there a maximum to the number of items you can have in your inventory, especially of the super common items like jade and glim?
jade can be converted to probably more useful whispered secrets in the 1st coil of tiger's labyrinth.
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also found a useful way to get whispered secrets in london, though i'm not sure how useful it is to newer players. but it can be done before POSI. requires fairly high watchful, enough dangerous(80+) to open up certain tiger's labyrinth storylets, cost of opening up tiger's labyrinth, and enough shadowy(75+ ???) to open up an investigating storylet in flit.
-open up 2nd part of investigations in the university, use the "speak to porters", that give whispered's but cost 25 cryptic secrets. that will also give you a 2nd chance.
-uses 2nd chances to increase your watchful
-"flip" the investigating quality in flit for rostygold ("more than messages"). you could also use it to get cryptic secrets if you run out of it.
- once you have over 1000 rostygold, you can convert them in 1st coil of rostygold to whispered secrets too.
been using this method to get whispered secrets for my forgotten quarter expeditions.
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"My little China girl/You shouldn't mess with me/I'll ruin everything you are/I'll give you television/I'll give you eyes of blue/I'll give you man who wants to rule the world"
- The Goblin King.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
12/15/2014
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A little imbalance in the early game isn't anything to worry about. Even a major imbalance isn't an issue until it comes time to become a Person of Some Importance (which will require you to have 100 in each). In the end all your stats will be capped.
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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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Gillsing
Posts: 1203
12/15/2014
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Polycarp wrote:
I have to make some clear decisions about how this character is to be played. Many things in the late game is restricted to Persons of Some Importance, and in order to become one you'll need 100 (with modifiers) in each of the four main qualities. Consider this a fair warning that as far as the game mechanics are concerned, the RP aspect of your stats doesn't really come into play until you get 200 (unmodified) in one of the main qualities, which enables you to choose a PoSI specialisation. Until then the game more or less expects you to do everything and be anything. Well, apart from your choice of ambition, I suppose.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
12/16/2014
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That one is in The Alleys of Spite take the intercept the courier option and exchange the pouch.
All the stat raising living story options take about a week to show up and at some point they all stop working. (I'm still not sure if that is stat related or becoming POSI but for most it is around that level) But, if I remember correctly, there are two or three different ones for dangerous but they stop at a much lower level than the other living stories - so it is well worth investing in a rat and some other dangerous reducing gear in order to keep playing the last available one which I think is donating your body.
edited by reveurciel on 12/16/2014
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
12/16/2014
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I think Polycarp is talking about the story-related significant boosts - like the ones you get for finishing the Tattooed Courier and Rats in your Lodgings storylets. I'm not sure if Shadowy has an equivalent yet, though the Living story will definitely work to get your Shadowy up high (as will your current Profession). The living stories work regardless of your stats, so feel free to raise your Shadowy in the meantime.
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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.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
12/17/2014
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The Rats in your Lodgings is the Dangerous one. Originally none of those stories gave significant stat boosts, but they were reworked recently to not only give a hefty amount of points in their stat but also make them accessible regardless of your stat level. I'm sure Failbetter will rework or introduce a Shadowy equivalent once they get the chance, but for the time being it's a little off.
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NiteBrite
Posts: 1019
2/15/2015
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Kallanthe wrote:
I am having trouble understanding how to convert one inventory item (like a secret, or a scrap, or whatever) into another. I thought one would click on them, but it always tells me that I'm in a storylet, and to finish that first. Unfortunately, I don't know which storylet it means, or how to be sure it's finished. Googling just takes me to guides or tables which show the conversion rates, which is great except I can't convert at all. Is it that I don't yet have enough of the item? Is there a minimum # which can be converted? Help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Oh don't worry about that warning message too much. When you enter a storylet or menu of story options, the game saves your place like a bookmark. This allows you to return to the story you were in without getting kicked back into the main menu of the area you are in (areas are places such as Watchmakers Hill or Ladybones roads). If it didn't save your location you would see options similar to what you would see if you had just moved to the area using the travel button. The 'you are in a storylet warning' just means that if you proceed to the item conversion page it will get rid of your bookmarked position in the story tab and move it to the Item conversion storylet instead if you choose to proceed.
Probably you are okay with moving into the item conversion story if you are intentionally clicking it. Its a nice little warning in case you accidently misclick and don't want to lose the story you were in previously. So that warning isn't anything to worry about. Go ahead an click on the item even if it gives you that warning if you don't mind losing your current place in the story tab and wish to proceed to item conversion.
As for the other part of your question, yes there are minimum amounts of items required for conversion, and also sometimes you need things such as connections with the various factions of london. Please see the image below illustrating how you can determine what amounts and qualities you require:
http://i.imgur.com/7cHnJuh.png
http://i.imgur.com/G65kjF7.png
Here, the text at the top says explicitly you need 500 whispered secrets to convert up to cryptic clues. You also need Watchful 10, this can be seen on the hover text for the 'Locks' next to the Go button. The locks are grey until you meet them and prevent you from clicking Go. Hover the mouse over the locks to see the requirement text.
edited by NiteBrite on 2/15/2015
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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.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
5/9/2015
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Rostygold and Nevercold Brass Slivers are pretty safe to sell. You will probably want a nice stockpile of Rostygold for later, but I don't recall any particularly useful options requiring a lot of Nevercold Brass. In general you want to avoid selling anything you can't easily obtain more of. As long as you have a reliable grindable source of the resource it's fine to sell it when you need some money.
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Sestina Valdis
Posts: 210
1/4/2016
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Yep, you can return from death in London, so it's all good. I was a little worried at first, until I tried dying the first time... then I died again, and again, and again... just to experience it. =D
You need to get into the Labyrinth of Tigers through the Dangerous Making Your Name storylet sequence. So you will go from Watchmaker's Hill to Wolfstack Docks and then finally to the Labyrinth as your Dangerous increases (I won't spoiler it for you by revealing exactly how this will take place.) And then you need to progress to one of the coils (sub-zones) in the labyrinth later on and speak to the Tiger Keeper to get your rats. Unfortunately, the one-time ticket does not work to claim the rats, you need to be sent there as part of the Making Your Name: Dangerous storyline.
(Incidentally, the claim for rats is also a one-off thing and is unrepeatable. Also, you're right, the Exceptional Story and Sacksmas tabs appear almost everywhere. A few other tabs behave this way too, like certain Ambition tabs [not all]).
edited by Sestina Valdis on 1/4/2016
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Sestina Valdis, the Saccharine Satirist.
Appearance and Misc. Accoutrements
A Past Scattered Across Discarded Stockings
Fei Xue, the Artful Assassin.
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Edward de Riere, the Barebones Baron.
Avatar by Daniel Ilinca.
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
1/4/2016
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You aren't allowed into the part of the Labyrinth where you can work for the Tiger-Keeper (who will eventually give you quite a lot of rats) until you complete many other Dangerous stories in Watchmaker's Hill and Wolfstack Docks, such as the duelling rings. If your stats are in your 60s the best place to look for rats is probably Watchmaker's Hill, where you can accompany a rat-hunter.
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Positively antique
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Pyrodinium
Posts: 639
1/4/2016
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Deatheye wrote:
another question wich is the recomended ammount of supplyies to have like 50% extra etc when you go on an expedition in the forgotten quater?
50% extra expedition supplies is a good strategy. Always get at least +20 extra supplies just in case you need to Bribe/ assault your rivals. For the really hard expedition, the Cave of the Nadir, I suggest maxing the supplies to 100.
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Guest
1/4/2016
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Deatheye wrote:
thank you verry much sorry il just og edit all of those into one question ive written them just as I was about to get to sleep
but I do have 1 more important question
is it possible in any way to lose your character? or damage him so much that he becomes unplayable?
That option once existed somewhere in Seeking Mr. Eaten's Name. (Ask Nitebrite.) It and that story are now retired. The other replies are already answering your later questions. Enjoy your deaths, should you choose to allow Wounds to get to 8.
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Parelle
Posts: 1084
1/6/2016
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Notability is a POSI thing; be glad you don't need to worry about it yet!
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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
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Baron Lagavulin
Posts: 27
1/6/2016
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Deatheye wrote:
yeah and im missing out on that since im not important qq
If you keep playing the game, next year you will be. I started on February last year and I already have enough to buy an upgrade for two of them. Which I already have bought. The game is generous, you just have to have patience. And not break your screen with your keyboard when the RNG (random number generator) keeps working against you. Because it does. And it will. But it's okay.
edited by sunshinecorp on 1/6/2016
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Sestina Valdis
Posts: 210
1/6/2016
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There's a quote from a few pages back that I really like, which I think is relevant here!
malthaussen wrote:
Speaking from the perspective of a green player, I'd say the best advice is don't panic and enjoy the ride. Heck, I went insane my second day, but I'm perfectly all right now. Aren't I? Who said I wasn't? They're talking about me, aren't they?
There isn't a hard-and-fast way to play FL, but think of it this way: you can never get back the content that you rush through (unless you make another new character). So, really, try to enjoy the ride (though if you like it quick, that's fine too)!
edited by Sestina Valdis on 1/6/2016
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Sestina Valdis, the Saccharine Satirist.
Appearance and Misc. Accoutrements
A Past Scattered Across Discarded Stockings
Fei Xue, the Artful Assassin.
Self
Edward de Riere, the Barebones Baron.
Avatar by Daniel Ilinca.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
1/6/2016
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I would recommend the Pickpocket's Promenade for the Sapphires. I think you need to collect 20 Trophies in one run to get them, but it's not terribly difficult to accomplish this even with a 3-card lodging. You can start it in the Alleys of Spite.
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Gemma Hawley
Posts: 55
1/7/2016
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the truthseeker wrote:
Those with a base stat of 200 and chose that as their specialization (PoSI Tier 2,) can tutor others with one Free Evening per request to boost the protégée's stats up to base 100. They may tutor several, but you may have only one patron at a time. If need be, choose a stat, hit 100, leave them, and find another Mentor.
Just to clarify, a protege may have more than one patron, but only one per stat, i.e., one Shattering Force to teach you Dangerous, one Invisible Eminence to teach you Shadowy, etc.
While we're on the subject, it's worth a reminder that patrons can help until you're at 125 in a given stat as long as you have your Talkative Rat equipped when their invitation is sent. It can take a little coordination, but it's a nice way to squeak out a few more patron lessons before you're left to grind your way from 125 to 200 on your own.
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Gemma Hawley—Former urchin, recovering misanthrope, fixer for the Cheery Man
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Lady Sapho Byron
Posts: 770
1/7/2016
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Gemma Hawley wrote:
While we're on the subject, it's worth a reminder that patrons can help until you're at 125 in a given stat as long as you have your Talkative Rat equipped when their invitation is sent. It can take a little coordination, but it's a nice way to squeak out a few more patron lessons before you're left to grind your way from 125 to 200 on your own.
I believe as long as you can equip yourself to under 100, patron lesson will "take," so even with a stat at over 125 you can get lessons with a Talkative Rat and other stat-lowering gear.
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http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Lady%20Sapho%20L%20Byron
Fighting the Menace of Corsetry Since 1892.
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Ridagoth
Posts: 86
1/17/2016
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Deatheye wrote:
is there another way to get into mahogony hall for free? or do I just need to like the university etc.?
Nope, just buy your way in with those Ridiculous hats and other items. The university can be unlocked for free, just do the Tomb of Seven first.
By the way, if you would like an alternative place to pose questions about Fallen London, consider the Fallen London subreddit. A weekly small question thread is currently in place to help answer all sorts of questions, even if they're not small. The community on there like to help out too, just like on this forum. Here is the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/fallenlondon
Here is an example Weekly Question thread just to see how it works: https://www.reddit.com/r/fallenlondon/comments/40j5g9/weekly_small_questions_thread_20160111/ I hope this helps open up your options for seeking advice.
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Ridagoth-A Midnighter who forgets more than usual with Irrigo clinging to them...
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Lady Taimi Felix
Posts: 202
10/5/2014
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You're wed to a Player Character, yes? Sorry to tell you, but at the moment, there's no Player/Player divorce option, only Player/NPC. Presumably, this option will be added whenever the additional spouse-only activities get implemented, but that has yet to happen.
(This has created the probably unintended consequence of me refusing to marry my alt to anyone who isn't as awesome as my main's husband. It's a tall order, I tell you.)
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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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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
12/17/2015
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It might be helpful for the Halloween event or if you wish to get your Scholar of the Correspondence quality up to 21 through the University without waiting for multiple mood cards.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
12/17/2015
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It doesn't, but it'll allow you to take more advantage of the Watchful mood while it lasts.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
12/17/2015
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It's not about being more watchful but you can use the coffee so that you have more actions before the mood card dissipates.
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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