[quote=Sir Wensleydale of Hardwick]Solution: Look to Port Carnelian as an example, but spread it out so that your &quotTime Passing in Mayoral Office&quot quality can only increase at 1 CP per day. This solution is not without problems (namely, Port Carnelian), but the problems involved could just be blocked off.[/quote]The criticism was that with a PC mayor, there are significant structural challenges to implementing new Mayoral content. This content in the past has included a new opportunity card for the duration of the term, appearances at festivals (Fruits of the Zee and Hallowmas), references in Fate stories ("The Empress’ Shadow", most notably, is the fulfillment of Sinning Jenny’s campaign promise, while "The Marriage of Feducci" was the possible goal of his campaign), and a continued presence in ensuing elections. Furthermore, mayoral candidates have tended to bring new, powerful items into the fold during the Election, along with interesting lore. There are enormous hurdles to implementing any of these with PC mayors.
[quote=Sir Wensleydale of Hardwick]Solution: The way that I look at it, this would be more of giving an idea than the recipient stealing it.[/quote]The explicit reason why Failbetter states that its employees rarely look at fan work is to avoid the possibility of an accidental resemblance bringing about legal issues. While the staff has developed ideas from high-paying Kickstarter backers as rewards, there are likely legal documents and agreements that need to be set in place to ensure that the company cannot be sued, and the created character is only a representation, not a literal PC. The Merciless Modiste in Sunless Sea is not NiteBrite. The Merciless Modiste has no Heptagoat, nor has she gone NORTH. She is only a representation of a character, independent but connected. It is very different to have a character named "The Sir of Hardwick" run in an election than to have the player "Sir Wensleydale of Hardwick" run in an election.
[quote=Sir Wensleydale of Hardwick]Solution: Make them known. My original idea involved storylet a only open for less than a day. The solution involves that, and afterwards, opening a storylet revealing the candidates, and giving brief descriptions.[/quote]You would still have to limit the choice of candidates, censor the descriptions as necessary, and go through the logistical nightmare of sorting all the submissions, and that doesn’t include all the time needed to draft, write, and edit the Election event itself.
[quote=Sir Wensleydale of Hardwick]Solution: Look to the beginning of Seeking Mr Eaten’s Name. You are told then of what this would entail, and receive an item to let you opt out. The opt-out will be discussed in a second, but definitely let them know what may happen.[/quote]That lets anyone who doesn’t want to run opt out, but it doesn’t address the fundamental social problem of the Election. Have you seen the debates around here? They can get heated. Last year was better (bolstered by the fact that most of the active forum users coalesced around the same candidate), but Election 1895 was heated (not helped by the hostile political atmosphere in the United Kingdom and the United States). People became emotionally involved in the politics of fictional characters. That’s not great when it’s no longer fictional and we’re debating the merits of real people’s characters.
[quote=Siar Wensleydale of Hardwick]Solution: The opt-out item mentioned earlier would send a message to Failbetter saying that this mayor has resigned, and letting them create an auto-fire card for the runner-ups. This would require some bit of maintenance, but would be feasible.[/quote]"Some bit of maintenance" is an understatement, especially since Fallen London is essentially already operating on "some bit of maintenance", with bug fixes and updates (such as monthly Exceptional Stories). The current focus of the studio is rightfully on Sunless Skies, and they’re still a small, independent company. The gain from investing significant resources into this one thing would need to justify the costs, and I don’t see how it does.