As I consider ToL use this season, I’m looking ahead to SMEN and the possibility of having to replace my lodgings afterward. I plan to turn back, so I want to minimize damage and expense. (Not really in the spirit of Seeking, I know, but I’ve already gone North on my old character.) I’m interested in the Fate option to obtain St. Beau–can someone give me a hint on what the “precious possibilities” I’d be giving up might be? Would it be better or worse than having to wait until next year to get my lodgings back?
You’re giving up fate/real world money that could have been used to buy other (nice) things.
Ah, I see. I guess I was overthinking it. Thanks!
At long last, one year and one day after ZirconSea ventured down to London, he has departed.
I chose to grieve, and would be very interested in seeing what the other endings look like.
I kind of wonder if there’s ever been a census done of the Seekers who went NORTH to see which ending has been most picked so far.
Probably ‘Who is Salt?’ since it’s both more distinct and mysterious story-wise and more prestigious mechanically.
Really? I would guess that one is the least picked. Both because it takes more work, AND because unless you’ve played Sunless Sea, there’s really no reason to care about who Salt is. Grieve and Hate both seem more in line with what a player might actually think about learning when doing SMEN - what is forgotten and what is due…
snip
I retract my question.
edited by Tystefy on 12/23/2017
Doubt it. The other sacrifices SMEN requires to get to that point aren’t really comparable to actually sacrificing and rendering your character completely unplayable. Just make a seeker alt if you don’t plan on going all the way on your main.
I think the better question is whether those who actually go through with it get to know what would have happened had they turned back.
If there is such a document, I want access! I doubt it, though, but I support the spreading of unverifiable rumors about SMEN and its ending.
Greetings, fellow seekers. Claire has gone North asking what is due. I would be in your debt if someone could PM me the other endings. Thank you.
That doesn’t really seem like sound logic to me - on the one hand, you say that those who have turned back have not ‘put in the effort’, to paraphrase - but in the very next sentence, you encourage people to make a seeker alt, which is effectively not sacrificing anything at all, since it does not interfere with their main characters at all? So those who threw their main down the well get access, and those who dodged all negative effects by making a disposable alt, but not those who played it with their main, invested the still significant amount of time and resources, but turned back for story reasons or to not lose their character? I don’t really see the logic in that.
That doesn’t really seem like sound logic to me - on the one hand, you say that those who have turned back have not ‘put in the effort’, to paraphrase - but in the very next sentence, you encourage people to make a seeker alt, which is effectively not sacrificing anything at all, since it does not interfere with their main characters at all? So those who threw their main down the well get access, and those who dodged all negative effects by making a disposable alt, but not those who played it with their main, invested the still significant amount of time and resources, but turned back for story reasons or to not lose their character? I don’t really see the logic in that.[/quote]
That’s a fair point. I don’t have access to the document nor am I all that close to completing SMEN, so perhaps it was not my place to speak. I suppose you are right in that going through the motions on an alt may be even less in the spirit of Seeking than turning away at the end on your main, but I never meant to imply that people who turned away did not "put in the effort", just that knocking was a far greater sacrifice than anything else that came before it.
How much of a sacrifice something is is very subjective and relative.
So, personally, I tend to view Alexis’s request the way it was phrased (i.e. with no reference to the amount of sacrifice): simply that people don’t share what’s beyond the Gate.
You could also argue that, from a different point of view, turning back is a bigger sacrifice than Knocking.
Seeking has a lot of sacrifices. First there’s the petty sacrifices, giving up items or stats and gaining menaces to raise SMEN. Then there’s bigger sacrifices, requiring rarer and more expensive items for the candles - many Enigmas, Classic Short Stories, and so on. Then comes Winking Isle, when the game no longer takes things with your character a passive participant, instead forcing you to actively give everything up. Next Erzulie, where you permanently sacrifice your character’s ability to access key parts of the game, or permanently sacrifice some sense of Seeking the ‘legitimate’ way. And finally the Gate.
Seeking is the only true ending that Fallen London offers, at least currently. When SMEN returned from hiatus, many long-time community members promptly went North, and many then retired from active community participation. Seeking offers the sense of a proper ending, and many people use it to write a conclusion for their character’s story. Passing beyond the Gate means giving up future potential - turning back means giving up any chance of a future ending.
Now, some of you have mentioned about endings for characters who Knocked, but how about those who turned back?
I would be amused if the player character was queried about turning back since he/she has come far, and the player character can reply with something to the note of “for funsies”. (But then, the player character can say that to Mrs. Plenty.)
Do you need the scars, stains, and chains beyond the first candle? Or can you get rid of the scars and stains after you get the first candle?
I can’t remember any need for those after getting the first candle.
No.
Yet, really, you could have looked at the wiki and not ask that question in the first place. (Don’t be afraid of spoilers. That wiki is hella stringent now thanks to Adnoam and some other admins who trim the hell out of text and wipe page histories.)