Just finished this story, and I found it underwhelming. The prose was lovely and the zee allusions captivating, but the main plot failed to hold my attention.
Part of the issue, I think, is that my character had little investment in everything that happened. Once I decided to help with the salon, my involvement was taken for granted. None of the parties had compelling reasons. I helped the Dilettante because the story expected it, but he didn’t offer a significant reward. Nor did the Dilettante care about the party outside showing up his rival. Similarly, the Socialite wanted me to sabotage the Dilettante, but without a reason to care about the feud and little time to get to know either character, why bother? The Footman was the most potentially compelling with his Lady Fairfax obsession, but when his plotline also turned into targeting the Socialite but with added body horror, I had no reason to help besides horrified fascination. (Which was, to be fair, quite tempting.)
My other issue with the story was that—despite the ominous hints—very little felt consequential. Much of the story was spent working to support or undermine the salon, but the individual options didn’t matter, just the final numbers. Similarly, earning the trust of the characters did nothing outside the climax. At which point… the Socialite randomly decided not to listen, I staged a rescue with the Dilettante, and then everything was forgotten. The Dilettante doesn’t care, the other two characters vanish, and the only important thing is the party’s success. Even the story quality didn’t seem to care—first with the wrong QLD, then apparently not tracking what ending I got at all.
If I refuse to help the Footman by leading the Socialite to the cellar, does that stop it entirely and/or lock me into a path for stopping him, or does he still get the chance to go forward without me? Letting him do it seems far more interesting than stopping it, but I’m not sure I want to actively participate…
Where oh where does the story actually start? I did the introductionary storylet about a bottle, then realized I’d forgotten to renew my exceptional friendship , renewed it - and I can’t find it anywhere.
Don’t tell me you have to be an exceptional friend when the story launches, now!
edit: it appeared in Veilgarden. Though definitely not immediately so. Took some hour or so - or perhaps a sneak-fix by some Failbetterian. Unless, of course, I’m going blind.
edited by Ruddertail on 6/1/2020 edited by Ruddertail on 6/1/2020
I don’t know if this needs to done with a spoiler, but just in case, I need some help, see -
I’ve lost track of the story - literally; I can’t find it anymore. I was preparing things at The Dilenttante’s house, then, poof, the story vanished. I’ve checked all over London to try and find where it’s gone - as you sometimes have to change which part of London you’re in, when you want to continue the story (as you no-doubt already know) - but I cannot find it anywhere. At all.
[quote=Pithiny]I don’t know if this needs to done with a spoiler, but just in case, I need some help, see -
I’ve lost track of the story - literally; I can’t find it anymore. I was preparing things at The Dilenttante’s house, then, poof, the story vanished. I’ve checked all over London to try and find where it’s gone - as you sometimes have to change which part of London you’re in, when you want to continue the story (as you no-doubt already know) - but I cannot find it anywhere. At all.
Can someone help?[/quote]
Go to your lodgings. No need for spoilers, if you check your journal you’ll see it echoed.
I refused in horror to help the Footman, then reconsidered with the intention of sabotaging the Footman. This went through smoothly as he trusted me completely (BWAHAHAHA). I made the roll to convince the Socialite to stay quiet.
My reward for all this included a Catured Jillyfish, which is just a Curiosity - maybe the item for the season’s end?
The Footman’s fate wasn’t described in the same detail as you seem to get if you victimise the Socialite.
I ended doing the same thing, only I failed the check at the end. Overall I have to agree it was fairly underwhelming. It felt a little like the story was written with one particular path in mind and everything else was more of an afterthought. Also…
[spoiler]The mechanics needed more explanation, I think. There was no indication early on as to what use the Regard/Gossip qualities would have, other than a brief hint that you could use them to play the Socialite against the Dilenttante or vice versa. By the time it became apparent what you actually needed them for, it was too late to go back for more.
I ended up with only 3 of the Socialite’s Regard because it seemed like increasing it might increase the chances of the party being ruined (she did ask me to sabotage it, after all), only to find that the only way to ensure it went through without a hitch was to have more. In retrospect, this makes sense, but only because I know now how the story unfolds.[/spoiler]
I really didn’t much care for this one (although, admittedly, I loved Go Tell the King of Cats and The Ballad of Johnny Croak so much that it would be pretty hard for anything to follow them)
The first time I played it through, I was very loyal to the Fairfaxes, but decided not to help the Footman mutate the Socialite, and I was really frustrated that I couldn’t convince the Socialite not to talk and she ruined the salon a little bit. I had a 0% chance of success because I didn’t have any Favor with the Socialite, and it felt like I was being punished for being TOO loyal to the Fairfaxes. I didn’t want to ruin the party because I had put a lot of work into planning it, but I didn’t really care about their familial squabbles.
I’m also an Exceptional Friend on my alt account, so that time, I tried just letting the Footman complete his plan, and I hated that ending even more. I didn’t really feel like there was any good justification for why I should let the Footman do that to the Socialite - and I didn’t need much! Just, like, one sentence saying that she did something bad, like she yelled at a waitress to try to get her food for free, or she threw a fit in a store because her coupons were expired, or something else I don’t approve of. (I mean, if the Footman had been planning to do that to the Dilettante, I would not have stopped him, because I heard the Dilettante brag about not giving the Footman a raise! That was all I needed!) As it stands, it seemed like I was supposed to let the Footman experiment on her because she was… annoying? I guess? Kind of a lush? Having TOO much fun? And the fact that she gets sent to a sanitarium (a place where, historically, women were sent for misbehaving in minor ways, and where they were essentially tortured) genuinely disgusted me.
I guess overall, it felt like very few of the actions or decisions I was supposed to support had very little given justification, and certain parts of it left me feeling VERY sour.
I rather enjoyed that story. The planning for the party was cool, and I had to think about what to invite, how to act toward the Socialite, etc. The party was nice too. What I really enjoyed though, was when I had the realization of what the Footman was doing, I try to saved the socialite, but since I had antagonize her a little, I only saved her at the last minute. So I helped the Dilettante and saved the Socialite. My only disappointment was that I don’t understand what happened to the Footman after that. Also, I liked how the Dilettante was kind of a jerk toward the Footman, it gave him character.
I didn’t really care for this one tbh. I kept thinking some juicy gossip about the deceased Lady Fairfax and the Footman would revealed, or maybe something about the Zee and its secrets… but nope. I stopped the Footman, not even so much out of moral reasons, but simply because of how pointless and stupid his plan was. In the end, the Socialite prattled about what had happened, but basically no one cared, and she went back to her old ways. The Debutante, too, didn’t change a bit… so, uhm, why all the effort?
(The Jillyfish is cute, though!)
I enjoyed it. Definitely an Innsmouth look to the whole lot of them. But I felt that there was a lot I wasn’t getting even at the end.
[spoiler]Why did both the Dilettante and the Footman have weird/cracking bones? Maybe the Footman has been self-shapelinging for ages, but the Dilettante? Is it something he inherited from his nan? What was the "jagged, intricate crystal" he was drawing? A ship, possibly. Why did they serve up a baby Fluke (?) at dinner?
The Eversons seemed like a bad lot as well. The gleaming-eyed Socialite was definitely a wrong 'un. What were they doing with all that amber? And there was an Isle of Cats connection with them as well.[/spoiler]
Ideas/elucidation welcome! I don’t know Sunless Sea as well as I should, though I’m trying to remedy that at present. Don’t mind spoilers. In fact, I love them.
The Eversons had heard that the Fairfaxes were buying it in bulk, so the former wanted to mess with the latter. They did not know why the Fairfaxes needed said substance, but it was not important, they just wanted to hinder anything the Fairfaxes did. edited by Desirée on 6/12/2020
[quote=Desirée]The Eversons had heard that the Fairfaxes were buying it in bulk, so the former wanted to mess with the latter. They did not know why the Fairfaxes needed said substance, but it was not important, they just wanted to hinder anything the Fairfaxes did.
[spoiler]Is it possible for the salon to be a rousing success, end on a really high note? I pushed the "Working towards success" quality super-high, did all possible in its favour except the Socialite’s retelling of her near-amber experience disrupted the Dilettante’s speech which rushed the evening’s end:
"The guests leave eagerly, with increasingly tenuous excuses. "I suppose they were disappointed with tonight," says the Dilettante sadly. "But I do appreciate your work.""
So it was basically like a nice shiny balloon that suddenly fizzed out despite all my earlier efforts. I’m assuming there’s a better outcome and I’m kind of disappointed with mine… does anyone have journal echoes of a better ending to share, if one exists? I documented mine.
[/spoiler] edited by FlorenceL on 6/18/2020
[quote=FlorenceL]A question after finishing the story.
[spoiler]Is it possible for the salon to be a rousing success, end on a really high note? I pushed the "Working towards success" quality super-high, did all possible in its favour except the Socialite’s retelling of her near-amber experience disrupted the Dilettante’s speech which rushed the evening’s end:
"The guests leave eagerly, with increasingly tenuous excuses. "I suppose they were disappointed with tonight," says the Dilettante sadly. "But I do appreciate your work.""
So it was basically like a nice shiny balloon that suddenly fizzed out despite all my earlier efforts. I’m assuming there’s a better outcome and I’m kind of disappointed with mine… does anyone have journal echoes of a better ending to share, if one exists? I documented mine.
[/spoiler]
edited by FlorenceL on 6/18/2020[/quote]
If you stop her from sharing then it’s a success, which is the ending I got.
edited by Jel on 6/19/2020 edited by Jel on 6/19/2020 edited by Jel on 6/19/2020
Exceptional Story for June The Dilettante’s Debut The great and noble house of Fairfax has fallen into decay. Its last heir idles away his fortune on dark dreams. Will you restore them to glory? Or help bring about their final collapse?
In addition to a new, substantial, stand-alone story every month, Exceptional Friends enjoy:
[/color][ul][li][color=#0066ff]Access to the House of Chimes: an exclusive private member’s club on the Stolen River, packed with content[/color][/li][li][color=#0066ff]Access to Mr Chimes’ Lost & Found, a shop in the Bazaar where you can exchange currency earned through playing Exceptional Stories for exclusive companions and items[/color][/li][li][color=#0066ff]An expanded opportunity deck: of ten cards instead of six![/color][/li][li][color=#0066ff]A second candle: Twice the actions! 40 at once![/color][/li][/ul][color=#0066ff]
You no longer need to log in to claim your Exceptional Stories! If you have an active subscription when one is available, you’ll receive it automatically.[/color] edited by h4nchan on 5/28/2020[/quote]
is there any way to be able to play this since I was an exceptional friend but unable to log in over the last month due to health and computer issues… or is it gone? i just finished the paisley story with my 40 steps…
[quote=Kaerlyss]is there any way to be able to play this since I was an exceptional friend but unable to log in over the last month due to health and computer issues… or is it gone? i just finished the paisley story with my 40 steps…[/quote]Don’t worry, this happens now and again. Mail to support@failbettergames.com and explain the situation. They’ll be able to check if you were subscribed at the time and will unlock the story for you. :)
