Jick
Posts: 1
1/6/2015
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So after several years of just poking around and more or less clicking things at random and reading cool story bits, I've recently been trying to actually set goals for myself and work toward them. I set my sights on the Journalist profession and got the requisite Connected: Bohemian to unlock it, and since then...
I have spent weeks logging on every time I think of it to go through my opportunity cards, and the Demi-Monde has yet to show up.
So I'm either super unlucky, which I guess is fine, or I don't understand how opportunity cards work, which is more likely.
a) Are they tied to a location? Does where I am when I draw them matter? Does where I am when the deck fills matter?
b) Is "when the deck fills" even a thing? Is there a deck, in any meaningful sense, or just a number of draws I'm allowed?
c) Is there any sort of RNG mitigation at work? Is there a pool that is drawn from until it is empty, or is it just rolling on a table with every draw?
With c) it feels like there has to be something going on, because at the very least I never seem to see duplicates in a single hand of 3.
I guess it's also possible that I'm just missing something about the Demi-Monde, in particular? But I keep getting the opportunity card that would give me the Trickster profession if I had sufficient Urchin connection, which leads me to believe I'm barking up the correct tree.
edited by Jick on 1/6/2015
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
1/6/2015
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I think I got your Demi-Mondes. I swear I drew that card five times this evening. It doesn't have any pre-requisites or locational requirements - you've just been staggeringly unlucky.
Summing up what I know of the card system: your cards are randomly selected when you click the deck. You can't have two of the same card at once, but there's nothing preventing you from dismissing every card in your hand and them immediately drawing them all again. Each card has its own assigned frequency, but you still may well draw several rare cards in a row but not see the specific common one you're after for weeks. Usual fist-shaking at the RNG applies.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Fairweather
Posts: 86
1/6/2015
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Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
there's nothing preventing you from dismissing every card in your hand and them immediately drawing them all again
That's happened to me a lot recently (well not the whole hand, but single cards). I really feel the deck functionality could do with a little finessing still.
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P. Fairweather - One time wild child, turned Correspondence obsessive. Just don't ask her what the 'P' stands for.
Aurora Chasseresse - A little rough round the edges, but there's no one you'd want more in a hunting party... or zee shanty sing-a-long
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Aximillio
Posts: 1251
1/6/2015
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a) Are they tied to a location? Does where I am when I draw them matter? Does where I am when the deck fills matter?
- Some cards are tied to a location. The demi-monde doesn't, but you can technically increase your odds at getting it by drawing in a location that doesn't have any. See the wiki page for a list of the known ones (and/or suspected ones)
b) Is "when the deck fills" even a thing? Is there a deck, in any meaningful sense, or just a number of draws I'm allowed?
- The deck is the amount of draws you have. Your hand is the cards you have drawn.
c) Is there any sort of RNG mitigation at work? Is there a pool that is drawn from until it is empty, or is it just rolling on a table with every draw?
- As far as I know, every card has a value for drawing. Your chance of drawing that one card is value/total value of all cards. If you have already drawn a card, you can't get a duplicate, and the values depend on the card frequency.
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Possibly returned after a long hiatus. Please do not send live rats or tournament requests.
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O'Neill
Posts: 6
1/6/2015
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That's me and the Bandages and Dust card. I swear I used to discard five of them a day, and now that I have a Collection of Curiosities, the tomb-colonists are making me pay for snubbing them so many times.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/ONeill
Most social actions welcome, but please no Affluent Photographer investigations, boxed cats, or suspicious loitering. If you RP in your message, I usually try to RP back, exhaustion levels permitting.
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Uvecheri
Posts: 3
12/9/2015
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I swear I used to discard at least 3 of Demi-Monde card a day, and now I can't draw it anywhere either. And I really wanted to be a journalist...
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malthaussen
Posts: 1060
12/9/2015
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It is Saint Finagle's Law at work: "The perversity of the universe tends towards a maximum."
-- 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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Parelle
Posts: 1084
12/9/2015
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Also, if you have acquired favorable circumstances you can use that to force draw the card. Pricey, to be sure.
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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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thedeadlymoose
Posts: 214
12/10/2015
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Parelle wrote:
Also, if you have acquired favorable circumstances you can use that to force draw the card. Pricey, to be sure.
Yep, and if this person could do that with Notability, they wouldn't need the Bohemians card to become a Journalist (they could just use Unsigned Message), IIRC.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/Eris~Jay
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/Red~Rose
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Dr Cop
Posts: 38
12/10/2015
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You can boost your odds a bit by shrinking the pool of cards you might draw from. Things like:
- Cash in and remove your connections with most of the Fallen London factions (to get rid of conflict cards);
- Selling all your proscribed materials and incendiary gossip (both of which unlock cards, one of which is pretty useless unless you're trying to grind connections with the masters);
- Completely getting rid of one or more of your menaces (and the menace-reducing cards they unlock, as well as things like Orthographic Infection);
- Selling any companions that unlock extra cards;
- Keeping 'frequent' frequency cards in your hand (e.g. Brass Embassy Guest Room, Royal Beth) to stop them immediately coming up again;
And if you're really, really desperate, I suppose you could:
- Sell your houseplant;
- Leave your club and break off your relationship with your spouse;
- Play Flint, take the Sardonic Music-Hall singer with you, and make sure she never returns.
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fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/hawkinsssable
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thedeadlymoose
Posts: 214
12/10/2015
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uli wrote:
Won't this just get you the card that gets you a new plant?
As far as I know, the only way to get rid of plant cards is to get the plant to full strength, at which point cards cease to show up.
If I'm correct, then selling your houseplant would be the biggest mistake one could possibly make there 
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/Eris~Jay
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/Red~Rose
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Grenem
Posts: 2067
12/10/2015
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thedeadlymoose wrote:
uli wrote:
Won't this just get you the card that gets you a new plant?
As far as I know, the only way to get rid of plant cards is to get the plant to full strength, at which point cards cease to show up.
If I'm correct, then selling your houseplant would be the biggest mistake one could possibly make there
Yes and no. The only way to get rid of all three houseplant cards is to get it to full strength, but... there's only one intro option, so if you sell it, it's one card to deal with instead of three.
Like he said, though- if you're desperate.
--
Married!:http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/takuza
I will accept all social actions that do not consume free evenings- and i will provide patronage to anyone who requests it, though it will be split between all requesters.
On psudeo-hiatus. Will be inactive and active and fluctuate without warning.
Grinding Favors without cards: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic22266-storylet-favors-grinding.aspx
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Parelle
Posts: 1084
12/10/2015
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thedeadlymoose wrote:
Parelle wrote:
Also, if you have acquired favorable circumstances you can use that to force draw the card. Pricey, to be sure.
Yep, and if this person could do that with Notability, they wouldn't need the Bohemians card to become a Journalist (they could just use Unsigned Message), IIRC.
That's incorrect - you'd be able to upgrade to either a Tier 3 or 4 with Unsigned Message, but Journalist is Tier 2 and only in the Bohemian card.
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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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Erika
Posts: 528
12/10/2015
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uli wrote:
And if you're really, really desperate, I suppose you could:- Play Flint, take the Sardonic Music-Hall singer with you, and make sure she never returns.
Nope, zero-ing your Music-Hall Singer quality drops the two City Vices cards from your hands, but not the card "An Old Acquaintance", which doesn't have any additional locks on it other than having your Music Hall-Singer quality at 1.
--
 Where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep.
Going on a fate expedition? I'm collecting data! Help me?
"Bottles of Oblivion" drunk in the name of content: 57
Catboxes (send more!) opened in the name of science: 1093
Fancy a friend?
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Guest
12/10/2015
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Parelle wrote:
thedeadlymoose wrote:
Parelle wrote:
Also, if you have acquired favorable circumstances you can use that to force draw the card. Pricey, to be sure.
Yep, and if this person could do that with Notability, they wouldn't need the Bohemians card to become a Journalist (they could just use Unsigned Message), IIRC.
That's incorrect - you'd be able to upgrade to either a Tier 3 or 4 with Unsigned Message, but Journalist is Tier 2 and only in the Bohemian card.
Since my second character is the (in)famous Snow Belie Author, I have some knowledge on this. Only the Bohemian Connection card (with 25 connected) will work and having no Profession. Tier 3 or advancing to Author only allows said Notability option or the Story option on the same connection card for Journalist.
And it's all random. That's it. My Pickpocket waited a whole damn week trying to draw the Devils card for Trickster.
Either pay fate/Notability for Favourable Circumstances for the connection card or keep redrawing your deck every hour (1:40 for exceptional friends) until you get it. You don't need to wait 3:20 for a turn reset.
edited by the truthseeker on 12/10/2015
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Grenem
Posts: 2067
12/10/2015
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Cecil wrote:
uli wrote:
And if you're really, really desperate, I suppose you could:- Play Flint, take the Sardonic Music-Hall singer with you, and make sure she never returns.
Nope, zero-ing your Music-Hall Singer quality drops the two City Vices cards from your hands, but not the card "An Old Acquaintance", which doesn't have any additional locks on it other than having your Music Hall-Singer quality at 1.
again, if you're desperate it removes a card. note how he said "really, really desperate." a bad idea, but an option to prune the deck a little further in 5-card lodgings/ non-remote lodgings.
--
Married!:http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/takuza
I will accept all social actions that do not consume free evenings- and i will provide patronage to anyone who requests it, though it will be split between all requesters.
On psudeo-hiatus. Will be inactive and active and fluctuate without warning.
Grinding Favors without cards: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic22266-storylet-favors-grinding.aspx
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Gerald Edgerton
Posts: 127
12/10/2015
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Yeah, I think it has to do with the low likelihood overall that any SPECIFIC CARD you really want is going to come up that often, despite the very high likelihood that something in a set that large will end up super over-represented. Rather realistic, when you think about it.
For example, what I display in my profile (for now) represents what I'm "working on." My character is endeavoring to upgrade his 4-card Bazaar lodgings, so he shows off the tears he has so far. I also NEVER pass up an opportunity to gain Criminal Favours, but my renown isn't quite out of single digits yet because I draw such cards once, maybe twice a month max.
Similarly, it's very easy to earn enough wine to redeem all possible Portly Sommelier visits for an Airag. Although I've got 1+ potential BDR in every possible equipment slot, that's it - my character has no tattoos yet, so my Notability reaches 5 pretty easily with no assistance from the "blast" approach of using a Salon or Orphanage to produce Waves. I still like to maintain a healthy stockpile, but the appropriate lodgings card shows up maybe once a week tops.
That said, the Revolutionaries show up close to once per day even though I've never been that nice to them and will have no use for them whatsoever once I cap Dangerous. On the bright side, the Sardonic Music Hall Singer invites me over constantly, but given my voracious appetite for Salon CPs, I can't say I mind.
Changes of profession are one purpose for which I would endorse the use of Favourable Circumstances to arrange a faction meeting. With the exception of making or breaking a Closest To: relationship, that's the only truly substantial transaction that occurs that way. I wouldn't recommend changing profession often, although I haven't ruled out becoming an Author since my Midnighter deals heavily in wine overall.
As long as you HAVE a job, though, it's probably best to wait as long as it takes, make SURE you have the requisite amount of Bohemian connections, and RP that your character is an aspiring author. Your big break is somewhere in that Opportunity Deck.
Edit: In case anybody happens to be interested in wine and somehow wants to glean information about Airags, I should note that Airags CAN sort of be ground through Expeditions. I'm currently spending most of my non-wine turns making my name at Court; for RP purposes I wanted to achieve 100% on all such challenges before letting certain events come to pass.
edited by Gerald Edgerton on 12/10/2015
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
12/10/2015
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Grenem wrote:
Cecil wrote:
uli wrote:
And if you're really, really desperate, I suppose you could:- Play Flint, take the Sardonic Music-Hall singer with you, and make sure she never returns.
Nope, zero-ing your Music-Hall Singer quality drops the two City Vices cards from your hands, but not the card "An Old Acquaintance", which doesn't have any additional locks on it other than having your Music Hall-Singer quality at 1.
again, if you're desperate it removes a card. note how he said "really, really desperate." a bad idea, but an option to prune the deck a little further in 5-card lodgings/ non-remote lodgings.
Just a note: you don't have to play flint to prune your deck this way; you can just borrow Moon-Pearls from the Music-Hall singer when visiting her, and it'll zero out your connection with her just like Flint does.
--
Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
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Kittenpox
Posts: 869
12/10/2015
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metasynthie wrote:
Just a note: you don't have to play flint to prune your deck this way; you can just borrow Moon-Pearls from the Music-Hall singer when visiting her, and it'll zero out your connection with her just like Flint does.
I'd been considering thinning my deck further because I'm tired of drawing various cards over and over and not feeling like I'm getting anywhere with them, and so this is particularly helpful. Thankyou!
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Kittenpox
Current [Fabulous Diamond] count: Twenty-Five (of 50). Halfway there! ^_^
Metaphysical Caprice: 11.
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Currently: Returned to the Neath, and regaining my footing in this place. :-)
NO PLANT BATTLES PLEASE.
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Guest
12/10/2015
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Kittenpox wrote:
metasynthie wrote:
Just a note: you don't have to play flint to prune your deck this way; you can just borrow Moon-Pearls from the Music-Hall singer when visiting her, and it'll zero out your connection with her just like Flint does.
I'd been considering thinning my deck further because I'm tired of drawing various cards over and over and not feeling like I'm getting anywhere with them, and so this is particularly helpful. Thankyou!
One thing that sometimes works, is talking about bad luck. As soon as I mentioned what I could not get, I got it. Keep mentioning how you could not get it, and it may show up to mock you!
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