You receive a sworn statement and some very interesting information about the Veteran P[color=rgb(34, 34, 34)]rivy Counsellor[/color] of the court.
I don’t really agree with this. FBG have made many premium stories in the past that come with advisory notices on where your stats should roughly be, in order to enjoy it most
But even if that is a necessary design goal, i don’t see how making it easy achieves that. In this case you’re just sacrificing the enjoyment of experienced players, in favour of newer ones. Someone always loses out.
I’m inclined to think a company should favour its established fans first and foremost. YMMV.
Perhaps the difficulty of things could adjust to the level of the player. Certainly this storyline had some options that specifically targeted lower and higher ranked players differently (the checks on the Making your Name qualities)
the storyline isn’t going away though, if you’re a member when you get it, you can save it.
And if you’re a new player, you’re already flooded with a billion other things to do and places to go, that are all shiny and new. A new player never wants for activity around here
The children are transient characters. I don’t expect to see them ever again, nor the resolute aesthete, or any of a myriad of other temporary people who are introduced for storylines. It’s hard to care about them
[quote]
in my case they became more civilised and learned to understand their actions in relation to others, and your actions should impact yourself too . . . do you invade someone’s privacy or respect it, do you be cruel to be kind or be patient to a fault . . [/quote]
Personally, i just did my best to murder them by setting the starveling cat on them. They had that coming. I got bored of the children rather quickly when it became clear they were predestined to trump anything you use on them, and be even more annoying little brats in the process. So i eventually gave up on them
I’m just starting and I’m excited to travel all around London investigating. Minor feedback note:
"4 - Look for opportunities throughout London to trade this for Tales of Domestic Service x The Trust of Servants"
is pretty ungainly.
Edit: ah, apparently this is just on the first time you acquire it. Still.
edited by an_ocelot on 2/26/2016
[quote=Nanako]I don’t really agree with this. FBG have made many premium stories in the past that come with advisory notices on where your stats should roughly be, in order to enjoy it most[/quote]Yes, but those premium stories aren’t time limited. A new player has to decide whether to subscribe now to get access to this story (the preferable outcome for FBG) or wait months to pay fate for it, and buying a subscription so that they can take two actions and then sit on their hands probably doesn’t appeal.
As for the children, I’d argue you get the better of them with the bedtime story, as it leaves them quiet, still, and utterly terrified.
edited by Kaigen on 2/26/2016
I deeply regret not having realized it was possible to get playing with the Children to 10, I wanted those endings. I may reset this one eventually. Otherwise, delightful. The one thing I felt was missing was a permanent quality noting I hadn’t released the woman’s secret. Because now she and the agency that placed her are under my thumb. THAT was my motivation - “curiosity” indeed.
A MESSAGE HAS NOT BEEN DELIVERED
I enjoyed this story a lot, its tied for second favourite with July and close to Flint. I enjoyed the charecters, the children reminded me of a malicious version of the Baudelaire children from a Series of Unfortunate Events. The little servant storylets around London were fun and varied enough, and the flash lay was a fun feature. I choose to give the truth for the children, but has anyone chosen the harsh lie option?
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Oh man. This one has been amazing for worldbuilding, and I can’t wait for the final card!
An excellent story so far (I just finished the Flash Lay.)
Is "katabatist" a term one might know from real life, or is it purely a Fallen London thing?
Edit: Done now. Absolutely fantastic.
edited by Ian Hart on 2/26/2016
Hey, we already have hellspawn (in the monstrous sense of word and not the Brass one) for The Gift. Another set of hellspawn and GRIMDARKBLOODMURDER after the previous batch of Exceptional Stories will be way too much.
Mundane people thriving in exceptional environments are fun, too, especially since this time the mundane people are making use of the same rules the players have. Also these kids trumped the Starveling Cat that’s supposed to be all dreadful-and-horrifc-and-SMENish, that’s enough dark magic for the day.
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Finished the story.
I loved it. It was touching, well written, and the characters were interesting, very well fleshed out.
Having to search for informations and bits of texts all around London was very nice, and the little stories, the little slice of life (is it the right expression ?) of the servants of each area of London were especially tasty.
Surprisingly, even though I’m very curious and often conflicted about my choices in FL, this time I felt the relationship between the characters was such that I knew immediately how to react, and I made my choice without any regret.
Thank you for this lovely story, it was a great reading and a very good play. Also, I’m happy to know this is part of a “season” !
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Fair warning everyone, posting in absolute fan-girl mode… :inlove:
…but this story was such a treat! A masterpiece! Utterly delightful! Truly Exceptional! I loved every minute of it!
(I wish I could vote 10 out of 5 when the Enthusiastic Urchin comes asking…)
I feel like this ES perfectly combined everything that is wonderful about Fallen London: there was use of a variety of game mechanics; and of course a story that, while in essence quite serious, is just absolutely hilarious on so many levels. I laughed so hard so often I must’ve been in serious danger of combustion myself! ;)
There were just so many layers to this story! I loved checking every location in London for options to speak with servants, then making sure to play them all… mixed up with playing with the children, and slowly finding out more about the Governess… trading one quality for another - and when I feared I might be nearing the story’s end: nope, here comes a Flash Lay! Brilliant! :)
So beautiful that we got an extensive POV from everyone: the mother, the children, the Governess herself… I totally feel like I really got to know that family… and finally some in-depth information about the tribulations of Fallen London’s servant class - something I had long felt had been missing from the game!
I very much appreciated being able to put off the end a little longer while waiting for the epilogue opp card (as an aside, I think that should become a standard feature for ES!). I really did not want to finish! ;)
Overall, the writing was simply excellent from start to finish! Every little snippet of text fully deserved its place. For me, this story was better even than Lost in Reflections (my favourite so far) and Flint taken together!
Thank you, Emily Short! :applause:
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I accidentally clicked past the storylet after choosing to tell the Family a half-truth; what were the specific rewards for doing so?
I think this was my favourite exceptional story so far :) A great length, lots to do, with a fun and interesting plot. Perfect story pacing too, and the end wasn’t rushed. Thanks!
I opened the letter too, and regretted it. I do hope losing the children’s trust has no repercussions, they were quite adorable little murderers.
That one’s on me though, and I have no complaints about the story - one of the best yet.
Appreciate the very subtle shoutout to Nuncio on the final storylet. :)[li]
You can really set the Starvling Cat on them?
There’s an option to show the kids to your starveling cat…
Yes! YES!!
I am having an absolute ball with this story. Lots to see looking around London, very active, and it’s showing a lot about places like The Shuttered Palace.
Has anyone else seen Nanny McPhee?
[quote=Nanako]
But my biggest criticism of all i think, was the overall mundaneity of the story. Nothing i did, or discovered, had any real consquence, for myself or london. I went looking for a missing nanny, and I found her. With barely a hint of dark magic or deeper mysteries along the way. I kind of expected higher stakes[/quote]
Well, the secret servant staffing/relocating agency is kind of a big and very consequential secret, when you consider the ubiquity of servants in Victorian London.
edited by Anne Auclair on 2/27/2016
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