[quote=Wilhelm Klossner]
Well, the current endings do evoke anger and sadness — but probably not in a way that was intended. I am genuinely upset and disappointed. For the first time in years my confidence in Failbetter Games has been shaken.[/quote]
I just meant that this is my experience 90% of the time…even if the most recent slap to the face is by far the worst.
On another note, this may be the first true incident where Renown is gained based on a faction not liking you. If the Last Constable dies, you get some Constable renown; if the Cheery Man dies, I’m assuming you get Criminals renown?
…although it’s only like a point’s worth or so.
This is mainly my fault for not thinking it through, but I didn’t realize that choosing the other option at the end, rather than taking the gamble, would end the story in the same way as just walking away earlier. I didn’t expect an easy way out, but I thought there would be something different by trying to stop it at the very end. Instead I just got kicked out with no resolution to the story.
Is that regardless of who you’ve favoured all along?
I got Criminals Renown when he died, but I favored him all along. Not sure if you’d get something different if he died when you were favoring that…controls herself with some effort…other person.
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).
I’m curious, has anyone who has the Stiff-Backed Young Lady companion won the luck challenge without cheating? If so, did you lose the Stiff-Backed Young Lady and/or gain the Last Constable’s Cudgel? I’m assuming they’ll be changing that portion up in the edit tomorrow, but I’m wondering how they built that up in the first place.
On a related note, glad to see that Failbetter is taking feedback from players into account and are changing up the story accordingly. I’m not happy with how the ending turned out (if my posts haven’t somehow made that clear already), but it’s reassuring to see them open to criticism like usual. Now let’s just hope the change tomorrow addresses a few of our concerns.
[quote=Kukapetal]Not sure if you’d get something different if he died when you were favoring that…controls herself with some effort…other person.[/quote]Kuka, I love you and Flesh-Stick but gods help me I will fight you and granddad kingpin both.
edited by Sir Joseph Marlen on 10/19/2017
I’m so glad FBG is listening to our feedback, even if my only contribution was "I just want to cry" and "I want my daddy criminal back"
An option to punch the Constable’s face in would be appreciated…
This is just my guess, but I think it’s the same result as having the Gentleman companion and winning the luck challenge without cheating: Nobody dies, and they just keep drinking.
edited by Slyblue on 10/19/2017
[quote=Sir Joseph Marlen]Kuka, I love you and Flesh-Stick but gods help me I will fight you and granddad kingpin both.
edited by Sir Joseph Marlen on 10/19/2017[/quote]
Come at me, bro!
(though I do support the option for Last Constable supporters to murder Cheeryman if he snarks at you when she dies as well. Fair’s fair :P )
Glad to hear there will be changes. I stopped playing the story yesterday after seeing people comment on the ending. Even without the Fate companion, I did not want to risk the life of one of my favorite NPCs on a luck roll, or at least not when the narrative around it is so unsatisfying. I might be happy with a haunting, wonderfully written tragic ending like the Comtessa’s, or with a non-memorable narrative that led to a happy ending. Having just the negative aspects of each option, though, is a no go, and was very unfair on people who paid for either companion. Looking forward to seeing how the story will go after the changes!
I’m looking forward to how the edit works with we who’ve completed it
I guess the only real problem was mention we wouldn’t lose Feast companions despite, y’know, losing them. The luck check was way too skewed but it otherwise worked to have it a luck check, and the Constable’s death was sad.acne unsatisfying but only in the way death tends to be.
I would be completely ready to pay fate and replay if I could guarantee the good ending (at least, without cheating in her favor), but that wouldn’t bring back her as a previously gained feast companion
It makes me so happy that they are making changes, and that even those of us who played and failed get another chance. That helps a -lot-.
[quote=Anchovies][quote=Jolanda Swan]I rigged the game in favor of the Last Constable, and got lucky. The result is she will not talk to me. So the actual chance to get a "good" (read: not depressive) ending, was 25%.
This would have been better if the poison game made any sense for the Constable, which it did not. Why should someone like her risk it all in a game of chance?[/quote]Yeah, this really doesn’t make sense from a story perspective.
This is a good point, Anchovies, but I think I know the answer. I think she believed that the Cheery Man needed to be removed from the world. Since it’s pretty clear from prior story events that she couldn’t manage that in an ordinary fight, she could well have figured that going for a "Russian Roulette" type of challenge was her best chance of getting the result she wanted.
Yeah, but this isn’t just A constable and A criminal. These two have history, they’re family, and it seems they were even fairly close before the mother died. I doubt either Wants to kill each other, but they feel they must.
I agree with you. That’s why I thought there’s be a chance for me (well, the player) to intervene at the last moment, even if they did not consent to rig the game. I was disappointed that no such opportunity materialized.
I am looking forward to seeing the changes failbetter have in mind. I am personally hoping for a non-luck based end to the story; at it seems counter to everything that these characters are.
TBH all they need to change is add a fate option to get the ending you want.
[quote=Anchovies]
Yeah, this really doesn’t make sense from a story perspective.
The Last Constable is, well, a Constable. "The last honest Special Constable in London", even. By giving the Cheery Man a fair shot, she is very directly not doing her job. Shouldn’t her supposed dedication to law and justice come first?
The Cheery Man is a crime boss who routinely has people killed for far less than what the Last Constable has done. He has shown no qualms about sending agents to kill her despite her status as his daughter and as a Special Constable. She’s a fool to assume that he wouldn’t just her cut down the moment she sets foot in the Medusa’s Head.[/quote]
I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of both characters. This isn’t a story of good vs. evil. The Last Constable and the Cheery Man are very similar. Perhaps too similar for their own (or anyone’s) good.
She calls herself "The last honest Special Constable in London" because she’s the only Special Constable who’s doing something other than the Masters’ bidding. But the regular Constables do regular crime-fighting and law-enforcement all the time. Why hasn’t she joined them?
Because law and justice aren’t her first priorities. They’re not the reason that she fights the Cheery man. Her reasons are personal. She’s obsessed with a patricidal vendetta. She even considers going to the Devils for help. Since the Cheery Man is the only Criminal who opposes the Soul Trade (I think? That’s what I gather from the FL lore, but it doesn’t seem consistent with his behavior in SS), that would be a huge boost to the Soul Trade. She’s willing to risk that, and the inevitable violence of succession wars, because she cares more about killing her father than about the good of the people of London.
That doesn’t make her evil, exactly. It makes her a tragic hero.
The Cheery Man is the embodiment of honor among thieves. There’s only so much honor a thief-prince can have, but to the extent that it’s possible, he has it. He keeps his word. That’s his reputation, his strength, what he lives and dies by. He’ll have people killed readily, yes - but not in violation of his oath, or of the sacred principle of hospitality. His honor and loyalty and occasional sentimentality counterbalance his ruthlessness and rage to make him an interesting, balanced character.
It broke his heart to put his wife in that tomb. But he did it because he’s a man who keeps his word.
That doesn’t make him a good person. An anti-hero at best, more likely just a well-characterized villain.
They’re damaged people who just can’t deal with the loss of a family member and have chosen the worst possible coping strategy. You are just a minor character in their story.
I’m not sure I like it either. But that’s how I understand it.
So I take it Special Constables in FL are something different to their real-life versions? Here they seem to be some sort of elite, an idea that would have left actual Victorians rolling around on the ground in laughter, I can’t help but feel, given their reputation in those days. Well, and nowadays too, to some extent.
From reading the responses from others on this story, it seems I’m not alone with my distaste for the current story ending. I originally regretted not interfering with the match, somewhat expecting the Constable to have a clever ruse to beat the Cheery Man… only to find out it was really just a game of Neathy Roulette… with very severe stakes. Then I discovered that interfering does not really affect the outcome of things.
I suspected that someone would probably die when I first started this story back in 2016 but… I didn’t expect that everything would hinge on a whim of the RNG. Watching my choice of character die a terrible death on a luck roll… and then going through the aftermath where we can’t even avenge their death or even attend the funeral (as someone else here said, way to rub salt in the wound) feels like a sharp kick to the junk. :(
I’m glad to hear that Failbetter is making the effort to improve the story, though. I don’t need a happy ending where everyone lives and everyone goes for Rubbery Lumps at the Carnival (although, hey that wouldn’t be bad either ;) ) but I would like to at least feel like my decisions could have made a difference in the end, similar to the ending of the Cheesemonger story.
Just my two echoes here :P