I completely agree.
While for me, personally, the lore book holds the most appeal, I doubt that it’s the best new product to introduce to a mass audience.
I’d probably back on Kickstarter a few of these choices, should they happen.
[quote=Parelle]Some one argue with me on this: I do want a Lorebook. I do, I very much want one. I’d love to dive in and have something off line to engage with.
But I’d be afraid of a written history cutting off some of the grand speculation we have here. If the Powers that Be have to definitely declare what is true, it closes off possibilities: what is the First City? Who is the Manager of the Bethlehem Hotel? What is the true name of the Duchess? What’s exactly has happened under the cellars of the Palace (and which palace is it?) The world of Fallen London then becomes fixed in a way it wasn’t before and less open to interpretation. It’d be like having a set generated map for Sunless Sea (and honestly, I’d expect a lorebook to have a map…). For new players coming in for the first time, they’ll have a question and - bam. We’ll answer it in a second by looking it up. And they’ll have the answer, but not with the exploring it would have been taken earlier.
And, worse yet, fans being fans, we’ll probably find something they missed or an inconsistency. Something small (Wine didn’t exist in the 15th Century BC! Dip pens can’t write upside down like that! Ladybone’s Road is North of the Forbidden Quarter on the map but East of it in the Book!) which doesn’t necessarily matter - but something a bit off. And unless we plan an elaborate Sherlockian style mythology around it, it’ll be, ‘Oh, they made a mistake’ and spoil some of the fun of it.
But, oh, I’d like a book, as much as I’d fear what we’d lose by it.[/quote]
I just read that paper, and I can’t say I see too much of a problem with an elaborate Sherlockian style mythology. Besides, retcons have already happened. (See the Orientals, et al). In a world with Parabola and the Iron Republic warping reality, it won’t be too hard to explain them.[li]
Nevertheless, I kind of want the rats. It reminds me heavily of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, and that is a good thing.
(Did this thread just disappear?..)
ETA: Nm. It seems to be back
edited by genesis on 6/7/2016
Oh, I could only choose one, but had at least 2 favorites!
- Completely happy and excited to see FL expanding.
- Kinda sad, because when this someday be a landmark in RP games, and many will know FL, I’ll be that old fool yelling "I was here before FL went into space! We used to grind all day and night for a Cider and a goat! You kids know nothing!"
- That is probably how you feel towards me, you who have 4 to 5 years of FL gaming ahead of me. I salute you elder players - I will always respect you. Not like those new kids who only knows FL in space!
- These are great times.
- I finally chose the lore book. Would probably back every product that will be decided.
edited by Gonen on 6/7/2016
[quote=nightday]Sunless Sea…in SPACE! Yeah, that’s my jam. I mean, I’d be for the rats too, but I don’t think the game format is that appealing. I’m not much for side-scrollers. If they could retailor that to be Sunless Sewers or the like, that would be my vote because rats > suns any day.
PS: I also really like the lorebook option. I love lorebooks and would totally buy a FL one! I think that would be more of a hardcore fan option, though, and not appealing to a more general audience.[/quote]
Why can’t we get the best of all worlds?
"A game about rats
An exploration game set among the living, warring rats of Fallen London’s cosmos."
It said that the Digital Card Game was between warring factions. Not specifically Great Game. Maybe each of the current Connected factions have their own team for the game?
Voted for the lorebook, being a tabletop RPG lover, but Digital Card Game was a close second.
I voted for Sunless Sky, naturally.
I was always really excited by the promise of the mysterious islands beyond the Unterzee. Wasn’t always all that satisfied when we finally got to visit them, though Flint did eventually deliver in spades. But we’ve seen the Neath now, surely? It’s time to expand the explorable Neathverse into the High Wilderness, the final frontier!
In fairness, we have one of those.
I voted for Sunless Sky. I would be interested in the lore book but I think it would be a less viable product.
Honestly, I am finding Sunless Sea to be an incredible game, both artistically and in its storytelling. The atmosphere of being alone out on this dark stretch of ocean is so powerfully conveyed through every aspect of the design, that when imagined this translating to space, I just get shivers.
The lorebook sounds super cool and interesting, but I have to also think about the amount of time I invest for the amount of money I put in. Sunless sea is great in how it can’t all be done at once. You can play an hour here and and two hours there but it’s never really quite finished. I’m afraid with a lorebook that I’ll flip through it once or twice and it’ll just end up back on the shelf.
Me and my two alts all voted for the rats. That said, I’d back any of the options mentioned, especially if there are interesting tie-ins with Fallen London (i.e. Claddery Heart, Panther, Falcon, etc.).
Just don’t expect me to actually play the tabletop or CCG game.
My personal opinion is Lorebook -> Ratgame -> Skygame -> Cardgame.
What I’d like over these four is something like a crowdfunding where we pay extra for some sort of ES, except free to access for all, although that might be too big a pipe dream.
Can you imagine my disappointment when Sunless Sky is not about being a star but another ship blargh
edited by Estelle Knoht on 6/7/2016
I voted for the tabletop. The cards and rats sound- not bad, exactly, but like the sort of thing I can get elsewhere. Sunless Sky sounds interesting, but it’s a bit too tangental to the setting I’m actually interested in for me get excited about it.
But a tabletop sounds amazing- the setting is good portion of why I’m here, so being able to be play with it, exorcizing the aspects of the franchise I don’t like… I’m sold.
Like Estelle, my choices are Lorebook/tabletop -> Ratgame -> Skygame -> Cardgame. So I voted lorebook/tabletop even though I guess it’s the least lucrative choice for Failbetter Games. :s
The ratgame could be so much fun, and we’d learn so much about the life inside of the walls (literally) of Fallen London.
It is kind of a shame that the voting is in game, so people with alts get multiple votes, but unlucky saps like myself get no vote (yet.)
Though if I did actually draw the card, I would certainly have a hard time deciding. The card game is absolutely where I would sink the most money, IF the mechanics are good. Making a good card game is extremely challenging though.
I have a similar problem with the RPG, there is a vast universe of tabletop RPG systems out there, and most of them would be absolutely awful in this setting. Additionally, an RPG is more of a “buy once” sort of product, so it would make a lot less money off of me (though it would also be much cheaper to make than a videogame.)
So I think ultimately I would vote for sunless sea in space, because it’s a proven concept, and I can at least throw a large amount of money at the Kickstarter, like I sadly failed to do for Sunless Sea.
I was very torn on this. I came to FL through Sunless Sea, and would love more gameplay in that style.
However the idea of a game set in Fallen London itself was too tempting to pass up, so I ended up voting for rats. Hopefully we’d get plenty of lore about the different places and characters of London while we explore the city. If it’s just a sidescrolling combat game set in nondescript sewers fighting random monsters, that would be a bit disappointing. But if we actually get to visit different parts of the city, that would be incredible. Emerge from pipes in Veilgarden to forage for supplies… negotiate/fight our way past the duchess’ cats to raid the palace larder… rob the brass embassy basement to get metal parts for our ratwork pistols… explore the deeper tunnels to where the clay and rubbery men dwell… That’s the kind of game I would love to see.
The lorebook might not be like an encyclopedia or guide or anything like that. It’s mentioned with the tabletop RPG, so it might just be something like a Player’s Handbook or rulebook for the game.
I guess my ordered votes would be Sunless Sky > Tabletop > Rattus > Cards.
I really like the idea of a Tabletop RPG, but at the moment I don’t have anybody I could reliably play it with, so it would just be a book sitting on a shelf at home. (Even trying to get people to play a one-shot of All Outta Bubblegum has been a challenge lately - I guess I’m just hanging around the wrong kind of people.)
Parelle’s summed up what I would have said about a Lorebook though. In theory, it sounds like a good idea. In practice, I’m worried it would be like being given end-game rewards when you’ve barely played. (Some of my fondest moments have been when the pieces have fallen together and I’ve realised what is actually going on.)
The rats adventure game sounds interesting, but I’m not always so fond of procedurally generated games (though I did very much enjoy FTL, so it could go either way.)
Digital card game? Not really my thing.
I ended up choosing Sunless Sky, myself. I’d like to learn a bit more about the Judgements, etc. and it’ll be interesting to see how that one turns out.
(The RPG and Rats are both interesting as well, so if they win I won’t be upset. :-p )
edited by Kittenpox on 6/7/2016
I so would love the Sunless Sky game. Not only would it expand on the part of the lore I find most interesting ("The big picture" - what is the bazaar, the dragons, the stars, the masters? What games to the gods play?) but it also promises more of the Sunless Sea-type gameplay. I think Failbetter is easily strongest on the writing front, so an "action" game would feel like a waste of talent.
Lorebook/RPG would be a close second.