On Quality and Free Content

Fallen London
1

I’m writing this post to express my concern about the decreasing quality (and quantity) of free content in FL. The recent ESes have been great - no complaints here - but only makes it more noticeable when the free content suffers as badly as it has lately.

This election offered even less content than the one before: again, no social actions, but also less flash lay and reputation content. The content we did get was ripe with bugs and typos - something very disheartening to see when new free content is already so rare. Last time we got anything was March 7 with a new Heist for the Envoy’s Townhouse - compare this to the steady stream of far more grandiose content the paying players get.

The two most recent Hallowmases didn’t offer any new companion art, a feature that was something people absolutely looked forward to - even the small changes on the portraits were something fun and exciting. Additionally, the changing of the mechanic for gaining confessions - pushing more focus on paid content instead of using the (admittedly unpopular) notability grind method.

I know that ES content is the priority here, as the real money-maker of the site - but the foundation of free content has to be good for people to want to invest their money.

With Skies and Seas, you pay an upfront cost and get a complete game. New content might be added via an expansion or free updates, but you get a complete experience and multiple stories. FL already suffers from the opposite - an incomplete free story with the majority of new content that is potentially good requiring $7 membership and not a lot of positive free updates outside of that - essentially, subscribers are buying a new copy of Sunless Skies every three months for three additional stories to a base game whose plot they can’t finish.

There’s a lot of hooks for free content possible - from all the things currently marked as Impossible, to things like new social actions, cases for the Honey-Addled Detective who’s a big hit amongst early-game players, maybe even more Black Ribbon contestants. The ability to change our Toasted To, and which school of writing we identify with was also something that would be much appreciated. The forums have a more in-depth list of unfinished content that can be read at http://community.failbettergames.com/topic19876-summary-of-loose-ends-and-unresolved-stories.aspx.

Another idea would be, perhaps, to make some of the smaller - or older, or less wildly popular - ES free to play. One free ES a year would already be something nice for the free players, and paid customers will still be getting a whole lot of dedicated content.

2

I agree with some of the issues you brought up, mainly: typos.

Typos in new FL content have become so vastly prevalent that I now notice when a piece of content I play for the first time hasn’t got any typos, especially concerning punctuation marks. It sometimes gets so bad that the meaning of a sentence becomes distorted and I’m not sure what I’ve just read. This concerns most content released in more or less the past 12 months, free and paid-for.

I do not agree with your statement that we don’t get enough free content, though I recognize that everyone will have a different idea of how much exactly is &quotenough&quot. But last year’s Hallowmas, for example, was especially enjoyable in this regard. We also got the new expeditions, a new heist, and from what Shoshana said today, more Arbor content is on its way. I’ve no complaints here.

I do agree that new art for each new companion and location would be great, but here we come to something I must mention: Failbetter Games are, at this moment in time, an extremely small team. I’m thankful they managed to continue churning out any new stuff for FL at all while working on Sunless Skies. I can’t speak to how much work still goes into Skies at this point - I haven’t even played that game yet - but I hold some hope that both the writers and the visual artist(s) will have a bit more time for FL in the near future.

Your idea of releasing an old Exceptional Story for free once a year sounds good. Alternatively, they could put a discount on them. After all, we now have some that are four years old. Maybe you should post this in the Feedback thread, too, it’s not certain that this thread will reach FB’s attention.

TL,DR: less new free content than we got in the past 12 months would probably not be good, but I can’t bring myself to ask for more. What I would really ask for is better proof-reading and editing of new content before release. (And I would like to send a hearty thank-you to all players who regularly send in emails with the typos they’ve found - I confess I hardly ever bother. Still, it shouldn’t be the playerbase having to do the proof-reading ;))

3

Having played for so long, mostly as an Exceptional Friend, I admit I felt worried as well lately. Though I am getting the EF extra content, I felt that a couple of minor things should not be neglected: new art (as little as adding a hat or changing the background colour, I am not talking about a brand new painting ES-style), small fixes (a BDR slot, some card frequency problems), incomplete rewards (the disappointing conclusion to Poet Laureate is supposedly because a residence is in its way), RNG problems during the festivals (how many players complain about not getting a card they are waiting for in order to participate?).

I understand that Sunless Skies is a priority, and I am perfectly fine with having less content for a while because of that. We got new Heists, expeditions, grinds, all that during twelve tough months. I admit though I get a bit rattled when we actually lose content. The festivals, which bring idle players back and renew interest, got hit a bit hard. Arbor was a delight, but on the other hand we lost the second week of the elections, everything fun at Hallowmass, the new item in the mutton island holiday. The most common complaint is that festivals get redesigned in a way that we don’t have anything new to play with after the first few days. Making some items BiS (Contrarian lessons, Feducci’s lance) does not substitute for playing.

Having said that, Failbetter’s stories remain amazing, and I am looking forward to more of them. All shall be well and all manners of things… you know the drill.
edited by Jolanda Swan on 7/30/2019

4

Seconding.

5

I’m of the opinion that it is a mistake to let the free content stagnate without substantial change for too long, if only because then you’d be steadily losing new players. Now, I find the recent ESes delightful, but they’re a way to keep people who are already invested in FL hooked and to keep playing. I understand we need things behind a paywall in order to keep the lights on, and I agree with that. I also understand that FBG is quite limited in manpower and their resources are divided.

However, I feel that periodic updates on free content, especially unfinished storylines, would be very helpful in keeping new players invested in the games because they’ll see that it’s a work in progress, and that it’s worth their time to stick around to find out more about storylines they like and want to know more about. Finding out that so many of the storylines are on hold indefinitely, and have been so for years, can be disheartening in combination with the markedly lesser amount of attention and resources being poured into FL–in other words, I think newer players would be more reluctant to get invested in FL and shell out money for a game that in their view seems to be in a weird hiatus phase. Something that signals to the players that FL is still something FBG cares about, and intends to keep working towards. Festivals, as some have pointed out, are one way to do that, or older storylines in early game that could use a bit of touch up are another (to say nothing of the long awaited Ambitions update).The more new, active players FL gets, the more you have people buying into the fate-locked content because they’re invested in what appears to be an active, still-growing game. This signals something similarly positive to older players too, rather than relying on monthly ESes to encourage veterans to keep logging in.

All this said with the best of intentions and love, because the general level of content is wonderful, fate-locked and not, and in hopes of adding something that might be constructive.

I do agree about the number of typos recently…human error is understanding, but a bit of cursory proofreading is another way to show us you care about the content being released!

6

Yeah, I actually had managed to avoid seeing many typos until now, but it’s kiiinda hard to ignore a lack of a full stop during the Contrarian’s mike-dropping final speech.
And yeah, as a new player who joined this year, seeing everyone talking about how X event is markedly downgraded from before or how X story just hasn’t been finished in years does not exactly bode well!
Furthermore, and feel free to strike me down if I have gotten something completely wrong here - but isn’t London in-game on a very literal doom countdown right now? Like, in 3 years or so? Are they planning on a MASSIVE revamp of London then to align with the plot they set up and it’s therefore kinda in a holding pattern in the meantime? Or is that going to just be…it?

7

[quote=Calliope ]Yeah, I actually had managed to avoid seeing many typos until now, but it’s kiiinda hard to ignore a lack of a full stop during the Contrarian’s mike-dropping final speech.
And yeah, as a new player who joined this year, seeing everyone talking about how X event is markedly downgraded from before or how X story just hasn’t been finished in years does not exactly bode well!
Furthermore, and feel free to strike me down if I have gotten something completely wrong here - but isn’t London in-game on a very literal doom countdown right now? Like, in 3 years or so? Are they planning on a MASSIVE revamp of London then to align with the plot they set up and it’s therefore kinda in a holding pattern in the meantime? Or is that going to just be…it?[/quote]

Honestly, I am not sure I’d call it &quotmarkedly&quot downgraded except that there’s never been much to the event… so I guess any downgrade is marked. Most of the &quotcontent&quot has always been people arguing on the forum.

Previously, the mayor’s card might progress a bit after several months. (I only remember that happening for Jenny, but it’s been such a little change, that I could easily be forgetting others.) There also used to be social actions, but that went very, very, very poorly in several ways. (One of the professions could just constantly jam up everyone else, it was unpleasant) That’s… really the only lessening I remember.

There’s always been a Fate story. This year had Arbor instead, I guess? Contrarian was involved in that.

Anyway, they’re down to an extremely small team and recently had a whole video game come out. This is their job, and they have to make money, so it’s not surprising to me that free content slowed down. It did the same when Sunless Seas came out. I’m not saying I wouldn’t like more free content, but I wouldn’t want them to do something horrid like crunch just to satisfy my want for it.

(the typos are very annoying though)

8

Also BiS like Ratwork velocipede cannot be achieved free.

9

That’s how the game works, though.

Failbetter obviously can’t create a full, self-contained story every month for free, but Exceptional Friendship also doesn’t work for everyone. For people who want a different pace, or who can’t afford a subscription all the time, or who only want to pay for certain types of content (as well as for people who are also Exceptional Friends) [color=#c2c2c2]fate-locked stories and equipment offer a flexible way to support Failbetter that works for each person. Having some best in slot items that are available to anyone at any time, some tied to specific free stories or access codes, and some available only as paid [/color][color=#c2c2c2]content keeps it interesting and also feels fair for everyone.[/color]
[color=rgb(194, 194, 194)]
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[color=rgb(194, 194, 194)](And to be clear, I say this as someone who can’t, has never, and may never be able to access any paid Fallen London content.)[/color]

10

[quote=Calliope ]
And yeah, as a new player who joined this year, seeing everyone talking about how X event is markedly downgraded from before or how X story just hasn’t been finished in years does not exactly bode well!

Furthermore, and feel free to strike me down if I have gotten something completely wrong here - but isn’t London in-game on a very literal doom countdown right now? Like, in 3 years or so? Are they planning on a MASSIVE revamp of London then to align with the plot they set up and it’s therefore kinda in a holding pattern in the meantime? Or is that going to just be…it?[/quote]

Oh, don’t worry. As a new player it will take you years to reach the end of existing content. Fallen London is massive. And new things keep being added.

The ‘downgrade’ we are talking about in terms of festivals, happens because Failbetter experiments with them. Some features (i.e. election social actions) got removed because there was negative player feedback. For example, when it came to Hallowmass, this year we got a completely new set of mechanics complete with a delightful story, essentially an ES, for free. Lots of work had obviously gone into it. The complaints came because there was less to do in the weeks leading to the story, compared to the whirlwind of previous Hallowmass festivals.

11

As a long-time Exceptional Friend (though not currently), I have to agree: about one hour’s worth of playtime every month, while delightful, isn’t enough to keep me in the game. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great stories, but they’re “single-use” as it were: as soon as I finish one, they don’t affect anything anymore. I am not even as “end-game” as some; I still have some grinds to complete, and one particular storyline I’m slowly working on; but some occasional trinkets to give new stuff to do when not mindlessly grinding the same 3-4 actions for the third month or playing though the one hour of monthly content would do wonders. The new expeditions gave me a fresh thing to grind for a few months; the new heists are a nice diversion. (And both of those are quite minimal, in that they mainly rely on preexisting lenghy mechanics and merely add new entry point and reward storylets. Poet Laureate was the las really big thing to be added, complaints about the final rewards nothwithstanding.)

And in the end, if the one story per month is really all I have to come back to, and there’s no remaining motivation or interest to make use of my expanded candles, then the price isn’t really justified for me anymore. The stories are great, but there are plenty of “great” books, from classics to contemporary authors, which don’t cost $7 per hour to read. Is just the fact that these particular stories are set in a setting I like really worth the markup?

I guess my overall point is that paid content has to be propped up by the overall free base. Paid content provides carefully crafted stories, but they’re short-lived. Free content is what makes up the meat of the game; free content is what occupies players 29-30 days a month; free content is why the setting is popular in the first place, and why some people choose to pay $7/month for years rather than buying a 300,000 word critically acclaimed novel for $15 upfront or downloading some ebooks from classic authors.

(There are some exceptions to this rule - see Tanah-Chook, or Sinning Jenny’s School - but these seem to be even rarer than their free equivalents.)

12

[quote=MrCandles]Also BiS like Ratwork velocipede cannot be achieved free.[/quote]You really can’t help it, do you? :D

13

This thread has surfaced some unspoken concerns I have about the future of FL… that this tension between video game development and narrative browser-game development is going to be the M.O for Fallen London and Failbetter Games.

A part of me is concerned about the relative priorities of FL browser-game vs. the video games. Both in the sense of revenue (which we’d probably never find out if FBG doesn’t disclose this) and in the sense of focus and energy. I’ve long finished playing Sea; Skies is in my game library but not yet played; but it’s Fallen London that I touch daily. I’ve dropped my Exceptional Friendship, but I’ve definitely spent more on FATE and EFship in the last year than I have on Skies and Sea combined. So I completely agree with Dudebro Pyro: the quality of free content prompts me to open my wallet. Conversely, take away the quality of the free content, and I become reluctant to pay for new, limited-edition paid content, even to satisfy a fear of missing out.

As a long-term fan, I do feel that the priorities of FBG have shifted to privilege the video games over the browser-game. While I completely understand the short-term need to add content to Skies, and that FBG is a small team with limited resources… I’m more critical of the long-term ramifications of this. I also understand FBG’s original concerns about diversifying revenue streams and staying solvent; I was around during StoryNexus’s heyday and saw how it did and didn’t succeed in monetization. But in doing so, Sunless Sea began a precedent and Sunless Skies continued it. If this trend of game development and revenue priorities continues, does this mean there will be a third FL video game? and does that mean the browser-game is going to continue in this new status quo of being relegated to second-fiddle, where various story- and game-based promises made years ago remain unfulfilled?

Couple this with the decreasing quality and scope of new free content, and I get the sense that the browser-game doesn’t have the same energy it had before, which in turn suggests that FBG has changed priorities, attention and resources. This is a dismaying realization; but also, change happens. In terms of FL’s future, I’m prepared to be generous with FBG now, but once the Skies roadmap for post-release development is finished, their next step is going to be very indicative as to what their priorities are. I love Fallen London and what FBG has made over the years, really – I wouldn’t have come back to active play after a 6-year hiatus if this wasn’t the case. I’m also prepared to look reality in the eye and accept that there may come a day where I have to acknowledge that the browser-game Fallen London is a game-in-stasis built on past glory, no longer a live game stretching into new and vibrant places – or (if I let my cynical side think the absolute worst) a game with a paywall. This WILL influence the way I recommend to others and spent my money on FBG.

–
edited by Vega on 7/31/2019

14

I too am a long time fan, having joined approximately when SMEN first was disabled. I became an Exceptional Friend because I could never have enough actions, there was always something to grind towards and look forward to.

But now that I have my Heptagoat, London has lost a lot of its lustre.I look forward to the Exceptional Stories because for one day I can relive that glorious past of constantly checking my phone, consuming that nugget of content in the same way a child with no willpower treats a piece of candy. I used to look forward to the monthly events whether it be the Feast of the Rose or Hallowmas but as discussed in this thread the lack of new mechanics and often watered content leaves little to be desired.

If there was a way to get the Exceptional Stories on their own I would have switched over to that monetary model already. I barely use the 40 actions in their entirety these days and I think once I convert my notablity to get to 215 Watchful there won’t be a need to worry about dipping below a certain Making Waves.

And if I don’t need a reason to grind Waves each week, do I really need a reason to check into London regularly? It’s a sad thought, seeing as how London has been a huge part of my routine for the past half decade.

15

That’s how the game works, though.

Failbetter obviously can’t create a full, self-contained story every month for free, but Exceptional Friendship also doesn’t work for everyone. For people who want a different pace, or who can’t afford a subscription all the time, or who only want to pay for certain types of content (as well as for people who are also Exceptional Friends) [color=rgb(194, 194, 194)]fate-locked stories and equipment offer a flexible way to support Failbetter that works for each person. Having some best in slot items that are available to anyone at any time, some tied to specific free stories or access codes, and some available only as paid [/color][color=rgb(194, 194, 194)]content keeps it interesting and also feels fair for everyone.[/color]
[color=rgb(194, 194, 194)]
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[color=rgb(194, 194, 194)](And to be clear, I say this as someone who can’t, has never, and may never be able to access any paid Fallen London content.)[/color][/quote]
I think, exceptional stories and exceptional friendship is good and much better than other games microtransaction. But BiS items must be hard obtainable for all players (like Renown Items, Goats, Mood, Cider, Feducci Lance/Debate Lessons/Future Virginia gift). Example ES about moths give non-BiS coat, Knapt give non-BiS weapon. Exceptional stories, exception expirience is right way, but exceptional +50 Sword is wrong way.
[li]

16

I am unsure why BiS must be attainable for all players. This is not a very competitive game. There are no raids. The bump from, say, the Velocipide is nice, but hardly needed. You can achieve Paramount Presence without it easy, as well as the other bragging/meritous stuff (Courier’s Footprint, Poet Laureate). I mean I would not complain about a hard to acquire equivalent, but I don’t see it as a must.

17

A M B I T I O N S

18

The typos are frustrating and should be an easy fix: Have someone else proof read it. The writing is GREAT, it just needs that little bit of QA to be 10/10.

19

Another thought: this is a good opportunity of cross-pollination from Skies players to FL with the nice attention it’s been getting. Yes, it’s a different beast altogether and wouldn’t appeal to everyone, but it’s a window of opportunity that should be capitalized on. And wouldn’t it be best for FL to put its best foot forward so we can hook in fresh blood?

Growing the player base is the best way to show there’s an audience for this content, and increase cashflow.

20

Skies above, not access codes! I don’t mind the occasional Darkdrop from some celebratory access code, but they should never gate something significant. For one thing, even though many Failbetter access codes are active ad infinitum, they generally fade from public knowledge in a short time; anything hidden away in them is effectively blocked off from anyone who plays afterward (or wasn’t active at the time), unless that person spends time on the thrilling task of hunting down years-old access codes.

Second, it breaks the basic narrative framework of the game. Most all of our significant items come from significant story moments in our game; they reinforce the storytelling aspect that is at the heart of Fallen London. (Even the Advent Calendar is part of a larger, significant cycle of events.) Depositing an item of importance in a place divorced from context, accompanied only by a string of necessarily generic text, undermines that core of the game.

Third, it warps game balance. Let’s say that Failbetter puts a new BiS Watchful item out there via access code. Well, by nature of an access code, my brand-new Surfacer can acquire that item. Now my entire early game is warped. Getting the item, effectively skipping the built-in progression and obviating all Watchful Bazaar items for that slot, now becomes standard practice for people in the know. Tasks like SotC 21 become permanently easier, which reduces the achievement and tends to create dissatisfaction among the old hands who’ve done it the hard way. None of this makes for a healthy game.

Fourth, it eats way at Fallen London’s uniqueness. One of the chief draws of this game is that it is different from anything else out there–different in tone, in feel, in mechanics, and in the way that it sells itself. For a lot of us, it feels like a refuge from the overcommercialized games that crowd the internet. A game that is constantly bribing you with little deals and trinkets, whose prestige items come down to who was active during which special promotion, has a way of feeling like it’s only an excuse to panhandle for your money. Failbetter has never done that. Indeed, the fact that Fallen London so heartily says, &quotRighto, come ahead!&quot to anyone, and at most offhandedly mentions the collection box that keeps the lights on, is a significant part of its charm. (I know that the very fact I don’t have to drop money every ten minutes is the chief reason why, when I can, I try to squeeze a few drops for them out of the stone.) Reliance on a gimmick like &quotmust-have&quot access codes would weaken that barrier of distinctiveness, the hallmark creative integrity, and I suspect also weaken some folks’ trust that Fallen London won’t end up like its overcommercialized brethren.

Now, Failbetter has made use of things like this (including a limited-edition access code), but generally only as a Kickstarter reward when they launched a new game. I am saddened that my Parabolan kitten will never grown into a panther, and that none of my future characters will ever have a Judgmental Hat, but I can accept this because it is a rare occasion and marks something significant in the life of the company and the franchise. If, however, it became a common practice, well, I can imagine a world in which it grated so much as to eventually drive me from the game. I suspect I am not the only one.