Echo Bazaar

[Starwulf]

Hey, Starwulf - have you been duelling the Black Ribbon society?

And capturing Dangerous beasts, but doing the actions that build those up give no reward, and are excessively repetitive. While it is interesting to see what happens once you finally build a quality up high enough to duel a black ribbon member, or capture a particular beast, the amount of time it takes to actually get there is mind-numbingly boring. On the other hand, I loved the Forgotten Quarter and the Shuttered Palace, and The Flit wasn't to bad. I LOVE the University, so incredibly awesome it's hard to put into words really.

Also, there really are only so many Black Ribbon members and Dangerous Beasts to capture(Given, I haven't captured to many of them yet, just Spider Council and Fungus Beast). I've dueled everyone except the chick right below Feducci, and again, the action per reward ratio is pretty off. It can take upwards of 60(I only say 60 because I"m sure at some point you'll get the opportunity card to pay rostygold to raise your running battle) Actions to build a running battle high enough to beat Feducci comfortably(ie: straightforward, because I'll be damned If I'm going to waste 60 or more freaking actions just to possibly fail and get NOTHING for my time), and again, the journey there is soooo boring.

At the moment, I've actually put on all my negative gear and gone back to hunting spiders for Silk and Cheap Wine. It's just as boring, but I know I"m getting something for every action.

Really, I think the Running Battle and/or The Hunt is On stuff would be a little bit better if it gave a SMALL reward for each of the actoins. Nothing big, just maybe like 10 Silk, or Jade Fragments, or Glim, or something of the sort. That way, when combined with the actual reward(I mean, the 2k Primordial Shriek reward for capturing the Spider Council was pretty awesome), it'll average out to something equivalent to what you can earn with a single action over in The Shuttered Palace, or The Forgotten Quarter, or The Flit before you start raising Casing ability to rob places.

I've actually taken to(when Not actually in the specific area), to starting a Casing, or Running Battle, or Fascinating quality, then just using opportunity cards to raise them. It's cheaper action wise, and while it does cost a bit of money, I'm pretty sure the actions saved doing it that way makes it more profitable then burning turn after turn raising the quality bit by bit.


Wow, sorry for how long-winded that turned out to be. TL:DR: Raising Running Battle and The Hunt is ON, and other qualities of the sort, get awfully boring and mind-numbing. Maybe add a couple of actions along side those things as an alternative way to raising your primary qualities, and/or giving small reward for the actual challenges that raise those qualities, to make the time invested worthwhile comparatively.

[Tome]

That would be pretty kick-ass ^^ Especially since, even though I'm at 83+13, I really don't want to graduate to the Maze of Tigers, because I don't feel like spending 200 Echoes on the 10k rats needed to get in there, that'll set me back a week or more towards acquiring my first 4 opportunity card dwelling place ^^(Over halfway there now, about 900 echoes out of 1600 required. Might even be 1k echoes, it's been a while since I counted, and I've gotten several large rewards since I last counted).

Do some favours for Mr. Inch and he'll give you the rats you need to unlock the Labyrinth, if I recall correctly.

EDIT My mistake, it's actually the Tiger Keeper in the Labyrinth who gives you the 7000 odd rats. Still, that's only 30 Echoes lost if you sell them.

[Ceric]

My Dangerous isn't high enough yet, but I have a friend who loved the Black Ribboners stories and used penalty items so she could stick around and keep fighting. Then again, her Dangerous is at the level cap and her Persuasive is still in the single digits as far as I know, so I don't know what that says about her ability to grind.

[Starwulf]

Do some favours for Mr. Inch and he'll give you the rats you need to unlock the Labyrinth, if I recall correctly.

EDIT My mistake, it's actually the Tiger Keeper in the Labyrinth who gives you the 7000 odd rats. Still, that's only 30 Echoes lost if you sell them.

So in other words, once I get INTO the Labyrinth, I'll eventually get my rats back, and basically only lose 3k rats on the deal? That's pretty sweet.

My Dangerous isn't high enough yet, but I have a friend who loved the Black Ribboners stories and used penalty items so she could stick around and keep fighting. Then again, her Dangerous is at the level cap and her Persuasive is still in the single digits as far as I know, so I don't know what that says about her ability to grind.

I'm not really sure why she would do that, as the stories don't change the more you do them(I tested it with the Colonel and Feducci, same exact story both times I beat them).

[Starwulf]

Soo...has anyone else here happened to notice that the price of the entry into the Maze of Tigers has gone down by half? I'm pretty sure it used to be 10k rats, but now it's 5k rats! I said screw it and blew 100 echoes on buying the 5k rats and now have entrance :)

[Tome]

It was only 5000 rats when I unlocked it myself about a month back, and I'm pretty sure it was the same even before that, so I don't think that's a recent change.

In other news, I've only got to increase my Shadowy by another 15 to carry on with the Person of Some Importance story. Whoo! Almost there.

[Starwulf]

It was only 5000 rats when I unlocked it myself about a month back, and I'm pretty sure it was the same even before that, so I don't think that's a recent change.

In other news, I've only got to increase my Shadowy by another 15 to carry on with the Person of Some Importance story. Whoo! Almost there.

Hmm, it's very possible I was thinking 10,000 because that was the price in pence of the rats, and eventually got it mixed up and thought it was 10k rats.

Congrats on getting that far in the person of some importance storyline :). I've completed the Watchful and Dangerous portions, I'll be working on Shadowy next, and then persuasive, so it'll be a while until I can advance(Since it wants me to go to Veilgarden next, but I don't feel like raising my persuasive next), but when I do I'll have both of them done at once.

[Aidan305]

Well now, here's an interesting new change.

Some actions that cost more than one action, for larger reward.
Wade in to Ring Fights for Persons of Some Importance in Watchmaker's Hill for example costs five actions and nets you 550 Rostygold. Used to be be one that net you 100 Rostygold.

I'm liking this alteration. Makes the grinding go past much more easily and also causes you to think a bit mored at max levels as to wether you take the opportunity car or grind up something else.

[Eurus]

Well now, here's an interesting new change.

Some actions that cost more than one action, for larger reward.
Wade in to Ring Fights for Persons of Some Importance in Watchmaker's Hill for example costs five actions and nets you 550 Rostygold. Used to be be one that net you 100 Rostygold.

I'm liking this alteration. Makes the grinding go past much more easily and also causes you to think a bit mored at max levels as to wether you take the opportunity car or grind up something else.

Oho. I quite like that too.

[Starwulf]

So, uhhh, I could use some help. I'm in the Maze of Tigers, and I can't progress. I left the 2nd coil, and went to the third, and there is literally NO options whatsoever for me, except to go back to the 2nd coil. I can't even go to the 4th coil because it says I need "Making Progress in the Labyrinth of Tigers 14", and I only have 4, and no idea how to raise it. The 2nd level didn't have to much either. "There is scant work" which actually just gave me a base increase in my dangerous by clicking on it, but no reward or anything, something to do with a penguin, and doing a tour. Nothing that would increase my "making progress" quality.

So, how do I get any further? Driving me nuts now :-(

[Tome]

So, uhhh, I could use some help. I'm in the Maze of Tigers, and I can't progress. I left the 2nd coil, and went to the third, and there is literally NO options whatsoever for me, except to go back to the 2nd coil. I can't even go to the 4th coil because it says I need "Making Progress in the Labyrinth of Tigers 14", and I only have 4, and no idea how to raise it. The 2nd level didn't have to much either. "There is scant work" which actually just gave me a base increase in my dangerous by clicking on it, but no reward or anything, something to do with a penguin, and doing a tour. Nothing that would increase my "making progress" quality.

So, how do I get any further? Driving me nuts now :-(

What's your current Making Progress quality at?

If there's not much to do in the second and third coils, chances are you haven't completed the first Coil yet. You have to complete each coil before moving onto the next.

The other possibility is that your Dangerous is too low.

[Starwulf]

What's your current Making Progress quality at?

If there's not much to do in the second and third coils, chances are you haven't completed the first Coil yet. You have to complete each coil before moving onto the next.

The other possibility is that your Dangerous is too low.

My Making progress quality is 4. I raised my "The Hunt is on" quality to 8 and talked to the Junior Keeper(in the first Coil), and he mentioned

Spoiler

Show

That some old tiger knew the way to the Keeper of the Maze but he didn't tell me if I was supposed to raise my Hunt is On again to find said Tiger.

Dangerous is, I think, 102, about to ding over to 103.

[Tome]

My Making progress quality is 4. I raised my "The Hunt is on" quality to 8 and talked to the Junior Keeper(in the first Coil), and he mentioned

Spoiler

Show

That some old tiger knew the way to the Keeper of the Maze but he didn't tell me if I was supposed to raise my Hunt is On again to find said Tiger.

Dangerous is, I think, 102, about to ding over to 103.

Yeah, you've still got a few more runs through the first coil then. Generally speaking, you'll be explicitly told when to move on the next coil.

Apart from the fourth coil, they all work like that. You do some storylets to raise your The Hunt Is On to 8, do a little storylet to progress and after a couple of runs through you'll be told to progress to the next coil which works similarly, but has a different set of storylets.

One thing to watch out for is that after completing the Third Coil, you'll need to hop over to your lodgings to pick up a letter that unlocks the Fourth Coil for you.

[Starwulf]

Yeah, you've still got a few more runs through the first coil then. Generally speaking, you'll be explicitly told when to move on the next coil.

Apart from the fourth coil, they all work like that. You do some storylets to raise your The Hunt Is On to 8, do a little storylet to progress and after a couple of runs through you'll be told to progress to the next coil which works similarly, but has a different set of storylets.

One thing to watch out for is that after completing the Third Coil, you'll need to hop over to your lodgings to pick up a letter that unlocks the Fourth Coil for you.

Ahh, that figures. Well, thankfully I went back to the first coil last night and burned my remaining turns for the day on raising my Hunt is On quality, so now I only had to use 6 more turns to get it back to 8 ^^. Thanks for clearing that up for me :)

[Saint Nil]

A quick question for Mr. Gardiner since I've learned he reads these forums.

When trading items in your Inventory, is there a trading partial maps for puzzling maps requires Connected: The Docks 20, while every other trade for goods worth 12.5 echoes requires Connected: X 6? I ask because at my level grinding Connected :The Docks requires traveling to Mutton Island, a Pewter Tankard, or opportunity cards. Merely wondering why this story is different than the others (thought the text from the trade is very eye opening if it is true).

Just saw on the Failbetter forums that this will be fixed, so thats good.

On other news, what does everyone think of the creatures teased at the Echo Bazaar twitter feed? Devious Moles, Haunted Bloodhounds, Magnificent Turtles (sadly real names have not been released yet).

I for one greatly look forward to acquiring a turtle.
Or a Radical Okapi. =P
Also, I'm sure others have noticed how rostygold and deep amber have new graphics. Any predictions on why or what else might change?

[Eurus]

I would be thrilled if the turtles turned out to be Magnificent.

[Starwulf]

I would be thrilled if the turtles turned out to be Magnificent.

I would rather them to be Teenaged ^^

Honestly though, just from the sounds of the names, I'd say those ARE the names, and not merely placeholders ^^

[Aidan305]

So, uhhh, I could use some help. I'm in the Maze of Tigers, and I can't progress. I left the 2nd coil, and went to the third, and there is literally NO options whatsoever for me, except to go back to the 2nd coil. I can't even go to the 4th coil because it says I need "Making Progress in the Labyrinth of Tigers 14", and I only have 4, and no idea how to raise it. The 2nd level didn't have to much either. "There is scant work" which actually just gave me a base increase in my dangerous by clicking on it, but no reward or anything, something to do with a penguin, and doing a tour. Nothing that would increase my "making progress" quality.

So, how do I get any further? Driving me nuts now :-(

You'll need Connected: Church 20 and an opportunity card that will appear. That'll bump up your making progress to where you need it to be.
The 4th is fun. You get to meet the Bishop of Southwark.

[Tome]

You'll need Connected: Church 20 and an opportunity card that will appear. That'll bump up your making progress to where you need it to be.
The 4th is fun. You get to meet the Bishop of Southwark.

Nope, no Opportunity Cards required. Or at least I didn't need any when I did it fairly recently.

And you can do it without Connected: Church 20, it just means the Bishop is slightly more insulting in his letter.

[Aidan305]

Hmm, must have been changed since I did it. I'll just go check the Wiki...

This is the opportunity card I got:

Thump!
What is someone doing, sending you lead postcards?

Thump!
That's a heavy thump on your doormat. Is someone sending you lead postcards?
unlocked with making progress in the Labyrinth of Tigers 13, Dangerous 110

The fist and crook
The extra weight is the seal on the envelope. It's a huge, terribly old-fashioned thing. The imprint in the wax is of an iron gauntlet holding a shepherd's crook. That's the seal of the Bishop of Southwark.
Connected: The Church Challenge, almost impossible at 10, straightforward < 23

[Tome]

You do get that, but not as an Opportunity Card.

Instead, it shows up as a Storylet in your lodgings.

[Saint Nil]

Actually, you can unlock it either way. I found it in my opportunity cards one day, but I know a certain Coalman can speed up the process.

[Starwulf]

Sooo, uhh, I just had what I can only think is a "rare" success on a shadowy challenge. It was in the flit, specifically the "Spy on the couriers" action in order to raise investigating. I had done the same action multiple times before and never got it, then out of nowhere, it showed up that I have a twist in my tale "NOw embroiled in a war of Illusion". Sounds interesting, just wondering, was it really a rare success, or just something that shows up after I've used the "spy on the couriers" option a pre-set amount of times?

Edit: It's also apparently a rare success to raise it, as I got it to go up again(to halfway to 2), but only once out of 8 more actions.

[Saint Nil]

It is a rare success, and once you raise it high enough unlocks a series of intrigues and new options in the Flit. A very interesting story.

[Starwulf]

It is a rare success, and once you raise it high enough unlocks a series of intrigues and new options in the Flit. A very interesting story.

Sweeeeeeet. Glad to hear it :)

[Starwulf]

*Shrieks in high-pitched Falsetto Voice*

Hoooooolllllyyy Shhhhhhhheeeeeeeettt Guys, if you haven't checked Echo Bazaar, you might want to do so, immediately. They've removed the Daily action limit for two days only, effectively giving us 10,000 turns. It's limited ONLY by how fast our candles refresh. I for one know that I'll definitely be making good use of these extra turns, just not sure how yet. I may go jump over to the Maze of Tigers and start pounding out the Glim challenges on the 2nd level and just build up a TON of glim, or maybe hit up the University and get a ton of whatever I can get over there ^^ Either way, I plan on coming out of this a lot more richer then when I stared.

[Tome]

Yeah, they announced that on their forums a few days ago.

I did some math. Even if I give up sleep for the next two days in order to make effective use of all potential actions, I'm basically only getting a couple of days worth of extra actions out of it. 540 versus 200, or something like that.

Folks without Exception Friend status would probably get more benefit out of it.

That said, I'm gonna use it to grind out the last bit of the PoSI story. Just gotta gather the materials for my Velocipede.

[Saint Nil]

Indeed, there has never been a better time to be a delicious friend.

Thanks Failbetter!

I'm going to be exploring the inventory stories myself. What about everyone else?

[Starwulf]

Yeah, they announced that on their forums a few days ago.

I did some math. Even if I give up sleep for the next two days in order to make effective use of all potential actions, I'm basically only getting a couple of days worth of extra actions out of it. 540 versus 200, or something like that.

Folks without Exception Friend status would probably get more benefit out of it.

That said, I'm gonna use it to grind out the last bit of the PoSI story. Just gotta gather the materials for my Velocipede.

Ahh, I didn't realize they had announced it in the forums at an earlier point in time. I wish they had cut the timer in half or something. You can't even get remotely close to actually using all 10k turns. Hell, even cutting it in half wouldn't get you remotely close to 10k turns. Maybe they should just let us use them all as we please. I'd burn through them all in a few hours ^^

[Tome]

Ahh, I didn't realize they had announced it in the forums at an earlier point in time. I wish they had cut the timer in half or something. You can't even get remotely close to actually using all 10k turns. Hell, even cutting it in half wouldn't get you remotely close to 10k turns. Maybe they should just let us use them all as we please. I'd burn through them all in a few hours ^^

It's the "Festival of Infinite Actions". Setting it to 10K turns is just the quick n' easy way for them to give us infinite actions.