If you get Renown based on who you supported (and not necessarily who died) that both makes sense and is consistent with all other Renown being exclusively positive fame (and never negative infamy, as originally conceptualized).[/quote]
I favored the Last Constable, the Cheery Man died, and I got renown Criminals…
I’m glad they’re removing the big ol problem of possibly losing a thing you paid for. Also glad I swapped before it happened.
I’m just really not feeling the ending. But at least the part that was super A Problem is fixed.
If you get Renown based on who you supported (and not necessarily who died) that both makes sense and is consistent with all other Renown being exclusively positive fame (and never negative infamy, as originally conceptualized).[/quote]
I favored the Last Constable, the Cheery Man died, and I got renown Criminals…[/quote]
Though I also didn’t get invited to the funeral… and haven’t had any word from the Last Constable since. Despite winning fair.
Of course, I did have my account bug for about 12 hours, so maybe something went screwy…
I also wasn’t invited to the funeral. I wonder what the specific requirements are/are supposed to be to get invited?
I am…unhappy.
Now, this could be from a long day of work or whatever else but the ending left quite a sour taste within my mouth. Really, I help the only honest character in London engage in a game of chance to kill her own father?
Ok, so lets assume that even makes any sense, why can I not resolve this peacefully? Fallen London is so very rarely black and white, that it feels downright odd to have an ending in which the game has set a straight succeed/failure condition? Not only that but its LUCK BASED?
Not only is it luck based but you cannot reset it upon the conclusion? Unlike say, the ability to resurrect your rat which you might lose to the snuffer during the white rat? Or the ability to turn back time on Jack of Smiles? Ok, so lets say this is one of those events where you just have to live with the consequences. Fine. Ok.
Then why on earth is there not a compromise? The Cherry Man is a criminal, the Last Constable is…well the Last Constable. Why not unite them against their true enemy, the special constables?
Criminal and Constable fighting corruption, that would have been an ending. Instead I am left in the dark for trying to achieve compromise, kicked entirely out for trying to make them stop. So I sit here, worrying about my friend within London as I wait for a card to pop up.
So I am upset with the results, it goes against what I’ve been taught by the game and brought to expect. Even after the clarifications and fixes in this thread; I am still left upset by the result. This needed ALL SHALL BE WELL and ALL SHALL NOT BE WELL tags. Hell it needed those before you even began the final stage of the story.
So I want to know where the hell those were, and why they weren’t included.
edited by ShroudedInLight on 10/21/2017
Well, one, the Last Constable IS a Special Constable.
Two, the story’s a tragedy. Happy endings are not to be expected.
Three, it’s the will of both the Cheery Man and the Last Constable to play their game of Neathy Roulette. They respect each other, they have the modesty to not value themselves over the other, therefore they put it to chance. It’s really quite honorable of both of them.
Four, the whole thing’s not really the player character’s choice anyhow – it’s between the Last Constable and the Cheery Man, and nobody else. Player characters are just along for the ride.
Four and a half, the Last Constable and Cheery Man have their wishes, and you can’t really expect them to be happy if you decide to go against said wishes.
…But honestly, yeah, unhappiness is a natural thing to have for a tragedy. It’s just a matter of how much you can chuckle grudgingly while shaking your fist at the writers.
So can we kill the Cheery Man if the last constable loses?
I didn’t think of that… What a genius idea!
(I doubt that’s an option in the game, but I don’t know because I was lucky.)
Though if there was a choice between getting revenge for your friend’s death or accepting their death and mourning them… Hate or grieve?
edited by lolahighwind on 10/21/2017
I disagree, NPC. No where else in London are we side-lined as lacking player agency. In other locations, our choices matter. Here the course is set and there is nothing we can do to alter the outcome. As this is a game that prides itself on player agency, I am annoyed at not being given that agency. If the outcome doesn’t matter, why am I using my actions to interact with it?
I know our decisions alter things during the story, but the point of “You are just along for the ride” is exactly what pisses me off.
I took a gamble and lost, and now my Constable is dead. I do find it odd though, that I was not allowed to attend the funeral even despite my rank in the force.
It would be nice I think, if a new or modified opportunity card made a reference to this story based on how it ended for you. Anything for some closure.
I didn’t think of that… What a genius idea!
(I doubt that’s an option in the game, but I don’t know because I was lucky.)
Though if there was a choice between getting revenge for your friend’s death or accepting their death and mourning them… Hate or grieve?
edited by lolahighwind on 10/21/2017[/quote]
Its not entirely a matter of revenge for me. Its more I’ve been wanting to kill him for a long time, and the only thing stopping it was respect for the last constable’s wishes. As I haven’t so far received a request to spare him if he wins, i’d kill him to throw the organized crime rings into disarray. Probably go after the remaining higher ups of his circle as well in order to finish the job.
That being said, if the last constable does die when I go through there would be bit of revenge mixed with the choice.
And so it turns out my Constable died. Go go RNG, go go.
This is honestly the worst FL story I’ve gone through and this is from someone who has go through all of the monthly released stories. I’m disappointed in this content. These stories have been on hold for years and this is the ending, the mechanics, and the consequences?
Maybe I’m just a bitter old man these days, but it makes me hope the rest of the stories that have been put on hiatus stay on hiatus. Better to never see them complete than see them mangled.
edited by ShroudedInLight on 10/21/2017
I agree with the writers that the option to guarantee a golden ending weakens the narrative power of this story’s tragedy. If they did that, then one’s favoured party dying would cease to be "the tragic outcome of a tragic story" and instead become a "failure" on the part of the player. (Imagine: "What? You let the Last Constable die? You could’ve avoided that, like I did. Too bad for you.")
The choice we make in this subplot is not "who lives and who dies", per se - it’s whether or not we choose who lives/dies. If I want the characters whose feud this is to live by their decisions, then by definition I accept not having control over the final result. I didn’t let her fail, I didn’t let her die; I just let her gamble. The result mightn’t be preferred, but it is fair. (And I know that a flaw made the odds less-than-even; that’s why that’s being fixed.)
While I look forward to rolling the dice again when it’s reset, I’ve no desire to contest the result I get from that.
Still, I can’t help but feel that their could have been a better conclusion to the story. It simply ends, with little payoff or conclusion; you are not even allowed to attend the funeral even if you allow the RNG to have its way.
I don’t need a happy ending to this story, but I do need a satisfying one.
The thing is, there is a "good ending" here, even if tragic. It’s just luck based.
Consider the Comtesa’s story - also a tragedy, no matter what the player chooses. But what if, when choosing to smash her statue, there was a 50% chance for her to emerge from it alive and well?
The players getting the unlucky result would be understandable upset.
[quote=Slyblue]Under what circumstances, exactly, do you get invited to the funeral? I didn’t rig the match, didn’t choose Double Or Nothing, didn’t intervene–Just did everything they asked.[/quote]I completed the preparations, such that "Inform the Last Constable" was pinned as the top storylet everywhere in London. I then went to Ladybones Road and told the Last Constable that I wanted no part in the Princess Bride LARP. Shortly thereafter I was invited to the Cheery Man’s funeral.
[quote=Mr. Secrets]I disagree, NPC. No where else in London are we side-lined as lacking player agency. In other locations, our choices matter. Here the course is set and there is nothing we can do to alter the outcome.[/quote]Except for, y’know, rigging the game to ensure a specific outcome of your choice.
The notion that the player is only an observer in the story is a bit off the mark. Rather, the story is about whether the player chooses to be an observer. There is nothing you can do to alter the outcome if and only if you allow the game to be fair. The possibility of losing an ally is the price you pay for allowing a fair game, or compromising the integrity of the game is the price you pay for ensuring your ally will survive. Neither choice is ideal. Such is tragedy.
[quote=dov]The players getting the unlucky result would be understandable upset.[/quote]When the Comtessa is found, the player cannot know which choice is in the Comtessa’s best interest. In Family and Law, the player knows that rigging the game is in the best interest of their ally, even if their ally does not wish for the game to be rigged. Taking the chance for a "best" ending means accepting the risk of a "worst" ending.
edited by Anchovies on 10/21/2017
Thank you. Judging from your and other’s posts, it seems the key to being invited is walking out of this insanity. And while it does seem strange (Why, exactly, are you punished for seeing things through the end?), I guess there’s no going back now.
Out of curiosity, does anyone have the text for choosing the "love" option when Cheery asks for your reasons? I never saw the option to ask him in the first place, and I can’t help but feel like Max missed out on finally getting that out of his chest.
I confessed my feelings for him: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Leonine%20Veteran?fromEchoId=12708628
I really enjoyed this story. I took some real life hours deciding whether or not to devil the things, and ended up going with what I always knew I’d do - letting people make their own decisions. And I hoped my friend would make it through. And he didn’t.
Of FL stories, this one felt to me quite a bit more "real" than many others - there wasn’t any wild lore about the tentacle rabbits that dwell in the depths, just you and your friend dealing with what might be the last moments of said friend.
I was slow enough with starting that I only got to the finish after it’d been fixed, and that surely helped me enjoy it. I can certainly see why some aren’t happy with only now being told there’ll be no reset, and not to pile on the extra work, but I think it’d be ok to put maybe a temporary reset possiblity for those who’d like for RP/Closest To reasons to have sided with one, but thought they’d first side with the other and are now stuck. For me, one of the exciting things about this story coming out was that I could finally fix the years of not being able to side with the faction I have the highest Renown with because of one decision made way back when the character started.
But all in all, a really good story, and I personally would now not reset the story even if I could, even though this isn’t what I wanted. Having had a real chance for a friend not to die, and them dying anyway, makes this feel like a very strong character-defining moment. A real loss.
Does Coffee with the Last Constable card lock with 4+ Family and Law, or exactly 4?
I got Family and Law up to 5 but still haven’t seen the card. Then again it’s got a low frequency, so thought I’d ask.
edited by Kaijyuu on 10/21/2017