The GM assesses the likely effect level of this action, given the factors of the situation. Essentially, the effect level tells us "how much" this action can accomplish: will it have limited, standard, or great effect?

The GM's choices for effect level and position can be strongly influenced by the player's choice of action rating. If a player wants to try to make a new friend by Wrecking something—well... maybe that's possible, but the GM wouldn't be crazy to say it's a desperate roll and probably limited effect. Seems like Consorting would be a lot better for that. The players are always free to choose the action they perform, but that doesn't mean all actions should be equally risky or potent.