Hey friends -- since there isn't a lot of discussion left to have about the current vote (there's still a chance that Spend It Now overtakes as the Boon option, but I'm not optimistic and don't really want to fight about it at the moment), I figured I'd poll for the thread's opinions on preliminary turnplanning.
For those who haven't been following the discussion about T26, here is a summary: unless Belegar chooses to reassign us, our task this turn is our Queekish project. There are two major schools of thought about this:
- We should plan to finish it up this turn and write our Queekish reference books with what we currently have, then take a new project to start T27
- We should try to learn as much as we can of Spoken Queekish this turn, extend the project by one turn, and write the Queekish reference books on Turn 27, starting a new project on T28
I'm personally pretty divided about this, though I lean slightly towards finishing it up. So what I've been trying to do is come up with outlines for a T26 plan
of each sort, so that we have good candidates for each plan and the voters can decide. Now, the other day, I realized the following:
I had previously thought a book needed to be written all in one turn. The fact that it doesn't means that we can trade turn X's personal action for turn X+1's Serenity action, and personals are wildly more valuable than Serenities. We can do something like this on the turn we wrap up Queekish:
Max: Take dictation
P1: Dictate one dictionary
P2-4: Free
Serenity: Write half of the other dictionary
And then the following turn we use our Serenity action to write the other half of the dictionary. It means not getting to use Serenity on a paper that turn, but swapping a Serenity for a personal means that, if we really wanted to write a paper before it times out, we could use a personal to dictate two papers to Max on turn X+1, essentially gaining one paper for "free" if we so chose*.
*Not really free. Compared to the "do it all in one turn" plan of dictionary-writing, it turns a Max action and a Serenity action into two papers, which is the usual conversion rate... but that applies only when there's a paper Max can write totally by himself, which isn't always the case, and Max+Mathilde teaming up is the route to the highest-quality papers.
Regardless of whether we want to finish up Queekish in the coming turn or if we want to go for spoken Queekish and extend the project by one turn, I think this is a really useful potential optimization to keep in mind for whatever turn we end up writing the dictionaries.
Previously, my outline for "Finish up this turn" was like this:
- Max: Take dictation
- Serenity: Write half of one reference
- P1: Dictate one reference book
- P2: Write half of the other reference book
- P3: Rapport with Qrech (necessary so we can stop spending actions on him every turn)
- P4: College class on Waystones
- (Overwork) P5: AV research action
- Johann/Duckling Club/EIC/Penthouse/Coin: Not relevant to this discussion
But I do really want to convert a Serenity action into a personal action, so I'm inclined to spread a book out over two turns. But now I'm wondering, and I want to ask the thread... what is most important to
do with that saved personal action we're no longer spending on "Write half of the other reference book"? Here are the options, as I see them:
- Take a self-improvement action (get an Arcane Mark under control? Train Wolf? Practice a skill?)
- More research (that last We research action? Another AV research action? Study Ranald's Coin?)
- More investment into the Waystone excitement that got dumped in our lap (Class on Practical Diplomacy? Some Waystone-related action that I cannot predict now because I am not Boney and I don't know what he plans to make available to us?)
- EDIT: Scout Black Crag?
- Take no fifth action and instead keep Overwork in reserve?
- Damn the personal action cost, stick to the original plan and pump out both books in a single turn?
Like I did yesterday by polling the thread about Penthouse and EIC actions, I'm just interested in taking the thread's temperature. I am pretty sure that when the update where we're actually supposed to vote about this gets posted, the thread is going to be dominated by discussion of whether we should extend Queekish or finish it up, so I'd like to get as much discussion in about the
other factors we need to consider before then.
I have opinions about what to do with a saved action, but there's no way of knowing what other people are thinking without, well, seeing what they say.
(I know this is probably a futile request, but I'd prefer that right now we
not debate about
whether we should be finishing up this turn -- like I said, I expect that will be the big thing we discuss when the vote is open, so I want to focus right now on "what
should be in the finish-up-this-turn plan.")
