I’ve decided to make this only about the Exceptional Stories of the last 12 months (aka the last 4 Exceptional Seasons), to avoid an unwieldy poll-monster with 23 options (or 24 with Flint). You can still see the results of last year’s poll here; and also those of the very comprehensive poll about all Fate-locked stories by rahv7.
It would probably be best if only people voted who have played at least two thirds of these stories.
Picking HOJOTOHO! even if both, among The Heart, the Devil, and the Zee, were the best ES I ever experienced!
The Heart had some delightful insights, The Century Exhibition was lovely written and The Chimney Pot Wars didn’t have such a big conflict. Meh, I’m just a sucker for Urchins!
EDIT: Thank you for making these polls, Phryne! edited by Skinnyman on 5/22/2017
My husband also plays FL, and some of the ESes I did not play he played, with me looking over his shoulder. ;-) When our finances improve, I will buy more EF memberships and play the stories myself as well. For purposes of the current poll I note that I have played Our Lady of Pyres, 12:15 from Moloch Street, the Century Exhibition, Where You and I Must Go; and The Final Curtain. I’ve watched my spouse play HOJOTOHO!; the Clay Man’s Arm; The Heart, the Devil, and the Zee; and parts of the Persona Engine.
Quite a tough choice here… I have to go with The 12:15 from Moloch Street. The plot was excellently written and all the new lore about Hell was quite a treat.
Man, trying to choose from this really made me appreciate how consistently Failbetter hits it out of the park. I went with The Final Curtain in the end, because how can you not love being stage manager for the King in Yellow (also: Parabola!), but the competition is fierce.
Got to say The Final Curtain, since it combined a lot of themes and story beats that I personally love to pieces. The 12:15 is a close second, though, for being so haunting and mysterious, and for throwing me for a loop! I’m a little surprised by how much people like the Urchins, based on this and other threads! I never thought much of them, myself.[li]
“Where You and I Must Go.” I loved the characters and the sense of horror throughout the zee parts of the story. I know some people didn’t care for the mechanics on the lifeberg, but I loved them, because I felt they emphasized just how dire our predicament was and how we were literally clinging to life in a hostile environment. And since I was very fond of the characters in my crew, I was quite up to the challenge of keeping them all safe. I still wish I could have them all as the permanent crew of my zubmarine. Or at least kept my favorite woobie. After all, the poor Emaciated Survivor will need someone to take care of him now that he’s returned to society after a decade of living in isolation. He should pick me. I’m not creepy at all :P
Uh…anyway, this story was the right mix of exciting and emotionally satisfying for me, which is why it was my favorite out of the bunch.
My thought process right now:“Ooooh, what a lovely poll! Yes, let’s vote for 12:15, that Hell text is one of the best things I have encountered in FL. Oooh, but Calendar Code had such a great lore and lot of symbolism! And Devil Heart and Zee was lovely! And HOJOTOHO had urchin vigilantes! Aaaaargh!”
All in all, this is very hard decision. Main competitors: Calendar Code, Chimney Pots Wars, The Heart, The Devil and Zee , HOJOTOHO! and 12:15.
Extremely hard pick for me. I enjoyed both 12:15 and the Chimney Pot Wars probably equally, with chimney getting the vote because of Storm’s involvement. Its a close competition between Calendar code, Hojotoho, Where you and I must go, and the persona engine.
A very difficult choice, and while I loved finally being able to visit Hell, the warmth I felt playing HOJOTOHO!, and continue to feel every time I get The Urchins card makes it my clear choice.
:edit: I’ve added a few stragglers’ votes to the results and will consider these polls closed now! :)
Favourite story (80 users have voted):
19 votes - 12:15 from Moloch Street, HOJOTOHO!
11 votes - Where You & I Must Go
7 votes - Final Curtain
6 votes - Persona Engine
Least favourite story (72 users have voted):
18 votes - 5 Minutes to Midday
15 votes - Clay Man’s Arm
11 votes - Our Lady of Pyres
7 votes - Heart, Devil & Zee
6 votes - Century Exhibition
… and here are the results broken down in a handy table: ;)
01. The 12:15 from Moloch Street (19-1)
02. HOJOTOHO! (19-3)
03. Where You and I Must Go (11-2)
04. The Final Curtain (7-2)
05. The Persona Engine (6-2)
06. The Calendar Code (4-2)
07. The Chimney Pot Wars (3-3)
08. The Century Exhibition (3-6)
09. The Heart, the Devil, and the Zee (3-7)
10. Our Lady of Pyres (0-11)
11. Five Minutes to Midday (5-18)
12. The Clay Man’s Arm (0-15) edited by phryne on 7/27/2017