Does anyone know if there exists a wiki whose purpose is summarizing the setting of Fallen London / Sunless Sea, as opposed to specific cards and actions one can take in-game?
For example, one obvious page would be The Traitor Empress, on which one could find information about how Queen Victoria sold London to the Masters in a bid to save Prince Albert. Other pages could include information gleaned from the forum here, and the people trying to figure out what locales in Fallen London correspond to which in pre-Fall times.
If this kind of wiki doesn’t exist, is there a reason it doesn’t [such as Failbetter requesting that it does not?]. I love the setting and would love to learn more, especially when it comes to things that would be common knowledge to people in Fallen London. {Just as an example, my girlfriend’s been playing for a bit over a month and didn’t know about Queen Victoria’s betrayal or Prince Albert’s current status; and I realized I only knew because my friend Lord E told me when he invited me to play. But these are things our characters would know, you know?} That’s the kind of wiki I want to read.
Neat tumblr, though compiling all of that info into a wiki might take a lifetime ;) The “other one” of which you speak… what is that, the one used to keep details straight for the writers themselves? Definitely not one I’d want to poke in unless I applied to write for Fallen London myself. I’m happier without spoilers, I just want to get to know what most people in Fallen London know.
I had a similar idea once, to collect common lore that a relatively new player to Fallen London would know and present it in a spoiler free way. I had a slightly different audience in mind however, as I wrote my Fallen London Lore Glossary Beginner’s Edition for players of Sunless Sea so as to make the transition between the two games a bit more seamless. Like, to help bring in players from that game to this one by making the lore more accessible. So it focuses more on topics relevant to sunless sea like the blind bruiser, the war of '68 and so on. But if you would like a very gentle introduction to the most basic lore, its not a bad read:
I worked with several members of the fan run IRC for a few days on creating both this spoiler free glossary, and a more spoiler heavy advanced edition glossary which touches on more end game content. Advanced edition is available on request via private messaging. For expert level lore analysis however, your best bet is Saint Arthur’s Candle run by Spacemarine9. And yes, someone did actually compile all the information on that blog if you are interested in that sort of spoiler heavy really detailed endgame lore.
Sorry for vanishing for a few days, was busy offline and didn’t get to come back. I just want to say thank you to NiteBrite for the wonderful glossary. I still hope some day to see a more fleshed out wiki of the world of Fallen London. It’s such a wonderful setting, but having concrete details of non-spoilery concepts would be wonderful.
If I wasn’t already stretched so thin I’d begin it myself, but my knowledge is lacking to begin with. In-game I’m only a Person of Some Little Consequence, so I’ve got a lot left to learn :)
If I wasn’t already stretched so thin I’d begin it myself, but my knowledge is lacking to begin with. In-game I’m only a Person of Some Little Consequence, so I’ve got a lot left to learn :)[/quote]
I would be very happy to add to a project like this if you were to start it.
Hmm. I suppose it can’t hurt to put together a list of pages such a wiki would need to get off the ground.
What would an appropriate name for such a wiki be, I wonder? There’s already three [I think?] wikis devoted to Fallen London as a game [although I believe I might be misremembering a Sunless Sea wiki as a Fallen London one, given that I can’t see to find the third now]. The wikidot one is echobazaar.wikidot while the wikia one is fallenlondon.wikia. I don’t want to step on either’s toes, certainly.
Would perhaps "The Fifth City" be appropriate maybe? That would reference Fallen London [given that London is the fifth city stolen by… err, sorry, sold to the Bazaar] and allude to the greater world [ie the whole point of such a wiki] by virtue of evoking the other Cities that Fell.
I’m open to other possibilities, and very much open to other input before deciding if this is a project worth getting off the ground. Even with Bertrand’s help it is likely a massive undertaking for just two people :)
EDIT: More importantly, we would need to figure out a way to divide information based on whether it’s common knowledge to Fallen Londoners, speculation, or straight up spoilers. Things like certain locations we pretty much know as fact and can treat as such, but the identity of the First, Second and Third Cities, or the Duchess and Widow? Speculation abounds but hard evidence is lacking [to my knowledge]. That would be a tricky field to navigate.
EDIT²: God, and compiling all the research people have done? Just reading the thread concerning the past few years, yes years, of research into which Fallen City pairs which real world counterpart, has given me a thorough headache. edited by lostdrewid on 6/8/2015
[quote=lostdrewid]Hmm. I suppose it can’t hurt to put together a list of pages such a wiki would need to get off the ground.
What would an appropriate name for such a wiki be, I wonder? There’s already three [I think?] wikis devoted to Fallen London as a game [although I believe I might be misremembering a Sunless Sea wiki as a Fallen London one, given that I can’t see to find the third now]. The wikidot one is echobazaar.wikidot while the wikia one is fallenlondon.wikia. I don’t want to step on either’s toes, certainly.
Would perhaps "The Fifth City" be appropriate maybe? That would reference Fallen London [given that London is the fifth city stolen by… err, sorry, sold to the Bazaar] and allude to the greater world [ie the whole point of such a wiki] by virtue of evoking the other Cities that Fell. edited by lostdrewid on 6/8/2015[/quote]
I think The Fifth City is a suitable name.
And a list of necessary initial pages would be a good idea, with pages for more minor subjects developing later.
[color=#0066ff]I’m interested to hear what you all think about this. The launch of Fallen London as an iOS game will bring (hopefully) thousands of new players in a short amount of time, many of whom will immediately want to dig into this stuff. I’m looking into how we should prepare the ground for them![/color]
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[color=#0066ff]One thought: would it not make sense to add pages like these to the current wikis, rather than starting another? The format might not support it, but can the format be developed?
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[quote=Hannah Flynn][color=#0066ff]I’m interested to hear what you all think about this. The launch of Fallen London as an iOS game will bring (hopefully) thousands of new players in a short amount of time, many of whom will immediately want to dig into this stuff. I’m looking into how we should prepare the ground for them![/color]
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[color=#0066ff]One thought: would it not make sense to add pages like these to the current wikis, rather than starting another? The format might not support it, but can the format be developed?
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The one reason that I thought a new wiki might be in order is that the two other wikis I’ve found are both explicitly Fallen London as a game rather than as a setting. Most of the pages on each are individual cards or actions. I can’t even begin to think about how we’d go about flooding either wiki with setting pages [because, let’s face it, in the long run this is going to be a huge undertaking] without completely upsetting the balance they’ve currently got. As you said, their existing formats don’t support it as things stand. Could something be worked out? Perhaps. But the strength in a wiki specifically for the setting is that it can also take Sunless Sea setting fluff into account. After all, I’m sure the goal is to drag people into not just Fallen London but the franchise as a whole :) Unfortunately, if I’m no expert in Fallen London lore, I’m even more a novice to Sunless Sea, having only played long enough to die once ;) edited by lostdrewid on 6/9/2015
I, for one, would welcome the production of A Gentleperson’s Primer to Fallen London: Being a Guide to the Fifth City and Environs.
Indeed, so much so that I would devote many hours however I could to see it come to light, as I desperately want such a thing to be written, even if I have to help produce it myself.[li] edited by Mr. Zane on 6/9/2015
[quote=lostdrewid]
The one reason that I thought a new wiki might be in order is that the two other wikis I’ve found are both explicitly Fallen London as a game rather than as a setting. Most of the pages on each are individual cards or actions. [/quote]
[color=#0066ff]I’m in touch with the wiki editors and will ask them about this, because I think given that we’ve launched Sunless Sea and are bringing FL to iOS, the universe will eclipse the game sooner than later, and I can’t think of a better place for this information than a wiki that’s for ‘Fallen London’.[/color]
[quote=Hannah Flynn][quote=lostdrewid]
The one reason that I thought a new wiki might be in order is that the two other wikis I’ve found are both explicitly Fallen London as a game rather than as a setting. Most of the pages on each are individual cards or actions. [/quote]
[color=#0066ff]I’m in touch with the wiki editors and will ask them about this, because I think given that we’ve launched Sunless Sea and are bringing FL to iOS, the universe will eclipse the game sooner than later, and I can’t think of a better place for this information than a wiki that’s for ‘Fallen London’.[/color][/quote]
Would it be okay if I got in touch with you for this as well Hannah? As a major contributor to the wiki and a representative of the fan run IRC, I can provide organization, manpower, and expertise to this great works project. It’s also in the best interests of the IRC to prepare for the oncoming storm of new players. I already have a few ideas on how to incorporate lore pages into the existing wiki.
One thought I had was I could create a wiki chat room/irc where community members can provide guidance and wiki training to interested parties. This could potentially bring in more contributors to aid in this project. Is there any interest in such a thing? Let me know. edited by NiteBrite on 6/9/2015
If I know nothing else, I know this: that is the most beautiful name imaginable for this project, whether it’s its own thing or an addon to an existing wiki.
As of about an hour ago, I have taken my plan to create these lore based wiki articles live. My plan is simple, I have made a google document index file, and a google document folder. In the index file is a list of 95 core or basic lore topics that I created with the aid of both IRC members and Skype members. These are things like Acquaintances, drownies, and clay men which are essential for any new player to know. Spoiler box below due to this post being rather lengthy
The index file is editable by anyone who opens it, but the documents that get added to the folder are limited to a few moderators. Contributors are asked to create a google document and link it to the index file. This allows them to work on their article while making it accessible to others for review, comment, and further editing. As articles, or article stubs are created, they are will be moved to the completed articles section of the index file and uploaded to the main folder by the folder admins.
My thought here is that google documents are a fantastic medium for cooperative editing, and will help to generate the initial articles in the quickest and most generally accessible manner available. No special knowledge of wiki editing is required. No wiki account is required. Just plain, simple text editing in a native browser document.
Google docs are of course, not the long term solution. They just aren’t too reliable for long term document stability, especially with so many individual contributors. Eventually the end goal is to transfer all articles created to a wiki where it will receive proper monitoring and maintenance over time. It is my strong opinion however, that it would be beneficial to start the wiki contributions from a strong core of articles laying the ground work for all to follow in the future.
As such I would like to generate the first 95 articles, or article stubs over the course of the next few weeks, and am looking for additional contributors to really get this ball rolling. Are you a lore expert on any of the topics listed and would like to claim an article? Or perhaps you are skilled at editing? There are many tasks and roles available if you are interested in this project, and we would be glad for the help! Some core rules to know however when contributing to this project:
This project is intended to be a lore focused wiki for the Fallen London universe. This includes Sunless Sea topics.
Forum rules apply. If you wouldn’t post it on these forums, please do not post it to the wiki project. This rule includes a ban on major spoilers, and especially on fate spoilers.
Please do not add or remove any topics on this list until the current list is completed. We want to focus on the very basics for now, in preparation for the inevitable flood of new players from the upcoming iOS release. The current list of 95 topics was developed with input from bot the IRC and the Skype communities and represents our best effort attempts to meet this intention.
Please be considerate and do not edit over someone as they are actively typing. It is recommended you allow them to complete their thought as a courtesy as overwriting someone as they type can be seen as rather rude. Please do not commit acts of vandalism to the document.
If in doubt, ask. We have a number of active communities in play here actively editing these articles. All of which can provide you with helpful advice. Skype, IRC, Tumblr, and even these forums are all here to aid you and make the creation and editing process that much simpler. The index file itself has a small section at the bottom where questions and discussions can be held and its own temporary gchat system.
Due to the nature of google documents, it may be possible for others to see your account name if you are logged in while editing or creating new articles. Please be mindful of this if you have any concerns about privacy or wish to edit anonymously.
If you agree to and understand these rules and wish to contribute to the setting-based wiki project, you can find the index file here: http://bit.ly/1JIRXyD
Thank you all for your efforts, and I look forward to working with you all. Happy editing :-)
If I know nothing else, I know this: that is the most beautiful name imaginable for this project, whether it’s its own thing or an addon to an existing wiki.[/quote]
Thank you! I hope to contribute more meaningfully in the future, but I thought an inspirational title might help us all get in the mood.
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[quote=NiteBrite]As of about an hour ago, I have taken my plan to create these lore based wiki articles live.
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[color=#0066ff]Ever leaping confidently into the abyss with a bright smile on your lips! [/color]
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[color=#0066ff]I’ll pop by the IRC this week for further chat on the matter and to lend any support or guidance needed from the FBG side. :)[/color]
I haven’t been on IRC in … dear God, almost twenty years. I’m going to assume my google-fu is up to the task of finding a decent client, but what channel should I look for once I’m on?