[quote=Isaac Gates]For the record, those links basically boil down to this:
"We fudged it, that may or may not make the setting anodyne. We did it because people complained."[/quote]Eh, we can agree to disagree on the standard for "complaining" here. To quote the Orient post:
[quote=Alexis Kennedy][color=rgb(0, 153, 0)]To the second, I agree that we have lost some of the flavour of Victorian London. But we’ve never made a serious virtue of historical realism, and one too many people mailed me to say [I paraphrase] ‘look, I like your game, but when I see that word used in that way, it makes me feel like I don’t belong here.’ In the end, that’s the important thing.[/quote][/color]Remember, Failbetter is a company and we are its market. They sacrifice a piece of Victorian London - a minor part of the aesthetic - to allow some people to take more joy in Fallen London, potentially expanding their market by spreading the word and potentially investing real money into the game. Is this complaining, or is it criticism? It’s always seemed like the difference between criticism and complaining is how much you agree with the critique. I mean, what’s this?
[quote=Isaac Gates]Y’know, it’s more than a little odd to me that in game lore clearly states that women are very much still on the margins of society, and yet homosexuality and the ambiguously gendered are accepted… in the 1890s. [/quote]I’d argue it’s an observation, albeit one tinged with critique. Someone else might see it as a complaint. Someone else might see it as a valid criticism. These classifications are subjective.
Some people care more about Victorian realism. Some people don’t. Fallen London can’t cater to everyone - it has to define itself as a game, and it’s not defined itself as a Victorian escapist fantasy. Its primary market is not the subset of consumers who want to have an authentic Victorian experience.
[quote=Isaac Gates]And I can’t speak for what "one" feels, I’m simply voicing my opinions. The fact that anything remotely contentious automatically provokes dozens of defensive replies and countless downvotes in this forum may or may not have anything to do with that anodyne quality mentioned earlier. Just a thought.[/quote]And I disagree about this as well. You must risk offending people to have free speech and an honest discussion. You’re voicing your opinions. That’s true enough. I’m voicing my opinions. They happen to be different than yours. I have to risk offending your beliefs in order to have this discussion. If I tried to be anodyne, I would be silent - I can’t offend you if we never interact. I suspect it’s the same for others in the discussion.
Of course, risking offense is not the same as actively seeking it. Are you offended by people disagreeing with you? I can’t say for certain. I can’t say you won’t be either. We take precautions to minimize the risk of offense because it’s difficult to work with offended audiences.
