Value for money for the fate-locked storylines
I have played two storylines that cost 25 fate, and I was quite surprised by the significant difference in quality and amount of story to play. Without wishing to spoil, the rubbery murders storyline cost 25 fate, took about five minutes to play, and I cannot repeat the story. A big disappointment. On the other hand, flute street also cost 25 fate and has taken me several days to play - and I can replay it as much as I like. I am very pleased with this storyline and feel I have definite value for money here.
I would suggest that the pricing structure be reconsidered to reflect the amount of play and the rewards accrued - I would have happily paid 35 fate for flute street, for example, but I think the rubbery murders was more comparable to, say, shroom hopping, which if I remember right is only 3 or 4 fate.
(I have used those two fate-locked storylines as examples - I have similar concerns about the varying value for fate of the other fate-locked storylines I've played.)
Lady_Red
shared this idea
14 comments
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James Walker commented
@pearl - understand the leariness! I've done a list of the Fate stories I've payed for, in order of best to worst, would you be willing to do the same?
http://fallenlondon.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=313 -
Pearl Crandall commented
I have to say I've become a bit leary about spending fate. Flute Street seems like the last time I had a good chunk of story for my money. The Velocipede Squad was terribly disappointing (unless there's more to come with that) and it's not the first to be so. I mean the Rubbery Murders really isn't worth 25 fate. It makes me worried about spending money on fate for further storylines like the Foreign Office.
I don't have a problem with spending money on storylines, Failbetter Games is a business after all, but I feel like it's often more money than the content is worth.
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Patrick Reding commented
I think these two storylines should have been part of the same 25 Fate package, but that's probably just me.
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Deskairn
commented
@James Walker That's true, yes. It could've been a little forkier.
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@Deskairn - sorry, I was unclear - meant that who to blame was the only fork in the story.
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Deskairn
commented
@James Walker There was way more than a single choice on who to blame. I recall there being like four options. One of which was preposterously unlikely.
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I vaguely recall the rubbery murders as a railroad with a single choice on who to blame and then a query on your motives. Vaguely. Of course, we can't record anything on the wiki, and I've had a computer die since then taking my notes, so given my memory, who can tell?
What would be useful would be the ability to vote on storylines/locations, so that new players could see what previous players had thought of them. -
Deskairn
commented
I personally don't regret having bought the Rubbery Murders. At first I wanted to be persuaded by this post - they are indeed an affair of brevity - but the more I reminisced about the events the more I realized that the Rubbery Murders line was very well-written.
I only wish there might be some allusion to the choice I made, later on. As a reminder to having done it at all.
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Little The
commented
That is a good point. Although, would it be possible for the devs to refund any Fate after the fact?
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Weaselless
commented
If I were to suggest something, It would probably be better to extend the problem fate stories, integrate them more into the game or add extra benefits rather than lower the fate cost. If the fate cost were lowered that would disappoint alot of people who have already paid for them.
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mr_teem
commented
I've got to sympathize with FBG a bit here. In my opinion, they've gotten better at properly pricing the new Fate options. I use very little Fate and the few times that I've spent it, I've found it worth it. (The shroom-hopping adventure was fun and priced well. Everything I hear about Flute Street and seeing the new options that certainly involve having been there make that one likely to be the next investment.)
Like a fair number of suggestions made, I can see the principle but I think it's better to suggest specific fixes. I haven't played many of the fate-locked stories at all, so I can't judge what's good and what's not so good. Sounds like the Rubbery Murders, which is an older story, is now overpriced and should either be adjusted or tied into the main game in more ways. Are there others?
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[nods] I consider the Soul Trade story very good value for Fate, both for quality and quantity; but the Rubbery Murders? If nothing else, why doesn't the "They all look the same to me" card hook provide a Rubbery Murder specific option? Or hook into Flute street?
Another consideration is the habit the game has of not loading the reward/failure screen - I've paid paid on options and had no idea what the result (if any) was because of this: a major reason I now ignore Fate locked content and save my Fate for Exceptional Friendship. -
Little The
commented
Would give this a vote but I'm out right now.
But yeah, the special stories on the Fate page seem ridiculously pricey -- shroom-hopping definitely has more than a dozen storylets, yet it costs less than one-fifth the price! I haven't actually seen the Rubbery Murderers story, but I'm sure that even if it has a higher focus on story, I highly doubt it's worth more than shroom-hopping. I think something like 5 Fate would be a reasonable price for a dozen unique storylets...
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Weaselless
commented
I agree, the fate content is sort of a roulette in terms of value for money. I recently had the misfortune to accidentally spend 30 fate on resetting all my progress on the big rat storyline
Whilst I haven't unlocked the rubbery murders story, I agree that Flute and shroom hopping are good value. The ability to revisit Flute street was a major reason I risked paying fate.
On a related note. I had avoided the soul trade story because of it's cost (with no guarantee of value for fate) but I recently took the leap and spent the fate only to find that I couldn't progress in the story because I had a stain on my soul. A stain which took a ton of sacrifice and work to get in the first place. It seems there is a frustratingly random correlation between time/effort/money spent and reward gained
