I don’t know what to say except… Wow. Just wow.
I agree with a lot of what Nitebrite wrote. Seeking has been my favorite plotline for years, and I’ve rarely been more involved with the community or the lore as when there was active Seeking to be done. It’s true that I originally got into it on my main because I was content maxed, so pain was the only progress. However, as new content came out at the same time as new Seeking content, I found that I cared about Seeking first. So, heck yes I was doing this on my main, and 100% would continue to do so.
I do not miss the days of hiding all the time though. These days I mostly grind wealth so that I can buy whatever I require to throw into the flames when Seeking returns.
Well, why won’t we gather all together to BURY that bastard once and for all, keeping him out of our dreams, laying those betrayals to rest. Let us postponed the reckoning INDEFINITELY!
Now that I am thinking about it, won’t it be grand to create TWO huge story lines - Seekers vs. Annullers.
Many will choose to Seek and promote the reckoning, others will have the monumental task of postponed and abolish the memory of the Eaten. Like Shepherds and Spirifers working on an opposite agenda. Only with a massive community social actions and story telling. Just imagine the climax!
(yeah, I have now suggested 2 massive storylines insteade of one. Why not, it’s not me who needs to write them, right?)
Why not make it 3 then? ;)
There’s a question I’ve been pondering for a while: say, if the Name is found, how hard could it be to extract it from the Seeker who has it? Something along the lines of secret base in Parabola guarded by a herd of Ubergoats (controlled by a Heptagoat probably) and Correspondence sigils written in irrigo should do. And a garden. WIth certain bees and certain flowers.
How did you know Alexis was the secret genius behind Goat MMO Simulator?
Anyone who creates an alt to do SMEN is a hopeless dilettante.
I did my research and knew SMEN was something that could destroy all the time and effort which went into my character. I thought long and hard and decided I would still love to do it. Unfortunately my character was soulless for a long time and when he got his soul back SMEN was already put on hold. I can understand why Alexis decided to retire the content. Some players tried SMEN and despite explicit warnings, felt unfairly treated by the game and threatened to take legal actions. Like if they spent nex and then SMEN took their virtual possesions, which of course happens. If the content comes back, who knows how some players might react. Maybe SMEN should only be available for seasoned players and be accompanied by agreements and more warnings.
Anyway if SMEN comes back I’ll do it. Can’t exactly explain why I want to but… I guess I’m just one of the crazy ones.
[quote=Mirrorhouse]I did my research and knew SMEN was something that could destroy all the time and effort which went into my character. I thought long and hard and decided I would still love to do it. Unfortunately my character was soulless for a long time and when he got his soul back SMEN was already put on hold. I can understand why Alexis decided to retire the content. Some players tried SMEN and despite explicit warnings, felt unfairly treated by the game and threatened to take legal actions. Like if they spent nex and then SMEN took their virtual possesions, which of course happens. If the content comes back, who knows how some players might react. Maybe SMEN should only be available for seasoned players and be accompanied by agreements and more warnings.
Anyway if SMEN comes back I’ll do it. Can’t exactly explain why I want to but… I guess I’m just one of the crazy ones.[/quote]
sometimes SMEN could take some fate locked items like the cantigaster venom, i guess that’s why it was retired
As it happens, only one player ever threatened legal action but turned out to not have ever visited Winking Isle in the first place. Two others requested nex refunds for action refreshes prior to being forced out unexpectedly. The number of players to even set foot on Winking Isle was likely only in the single digits though. The main reason for the SMEN hiatus was it costing Failbetter money, both literally in terms of the couple actual refunds and large drain on Alexis’ time by unsupported content.
As it happens, only one player ever threatened legal action but turned out to not have ever visited Winking Isle in the first place. Two others requested nex refunds for action refreshes prior to being forced out unexpectedly. The number of players to even set foot on Winking Isle was likely only in the single digits though. The main reason for the SMEN hiatus was it costing Failbetter money, both literally in terms of the couple actual refunds and large drain on Alexis’ time by unsupported content.[/quote]
Thanks for the clarification. I remember Alexis saying that SMEN contents were created using personal unbilled time…
As it happens, only one player ever threatened legal action but turned out to not have ever visited Winking Isle in the first place. Two others requested nex refunds for action refreshes prior to being forced out unexpectedly. The number of players to even set foot on Winking Isle was likely only in the single digits though. The main reason for the SMEN hiatus was it costing Failbetter money, both literally in terms of the couple actual refunds and large drain on Alexis’ time by unsupported content.[/quote]
Thanks for the clarification. I remember Alexis saying that SMEN contents were created using personal unbilled time…[/quote]
There’s quite a bit more detail in the blog post when SMEN was suspended.
Personally, I started SMEN (probably 2 year ago) simply because I was at the content boundary and had no other interesting goals in mind.
I didn’t know much about it (it was all wrapped in secrecy), but slowly I pieced together what it was about and got hooked. The writing for SMEN is some of the best in all of Fallen London. I can’t think of any other storyline which compares.
Add to that the feeling of belonging to a secret club of mad masochistic Seekers and all the in-jokes on the forums, and you get a unique blend of exceptional content and lore, interesting mechanics, and a sense of an community, which is both exclusive (since it was only a minority of players) and inclusive (anyone who wanted could join) at the same time.
@ A.B. Nile: I disagree. I would suggest that anyone who considers an "alt" a lesser character is a hopeless dilettante. In every role-playing game I have ever played, I consider each character to be unique and valuable in his own right. I always have disliked games that denigrate characters as "mules" or shadows of the "real" character. Different strokes, I imagine, but if an actor didn’t put forth his heart and soul for each character he played, he would soon be an actor unemployed.
– Mal
edited by malthaussen on 2/3/2016
I believe Mr.Nile’s point was that a newly created alt, having literally nothing at first, will not be able to proceed along the thorny path of the Seeker, as it apparently requires significant resources, and, more importantly, will not be able to convey all the true …err… pleasures of seeking. Which is, from my utterly dilettante point of view, basically reducing a bored stat-capped goat-breeding POSI to it’s original state of being stuck in a prison cell with spirit, future and body utterly shattered. And all shall be well, yes.
edited by Talkes on 2/3/2016
[quote=malthaussen]@ A.B. Nile: I disagree. I would suggest that anyone who considers an "alt" a lesser character is a hopeless dilettante. In every role-playing game I have ever played, I consider each character to be unique and valuable in his own right. I always have disliked games that denigrate characters as "mules" or shadows of the "real" character. Different strokes, I imagine, but if an actor didn’t put forth his heart and soul for each character he played, he would soon be an actor unemployed.
– Mal
edited by malthaussen on 2/3/2016[/quote]
I don’t think it’s just about considering it to be inferior, rather, it’s a matter of any option other than the first is poorer. Choosing to inflict the fall on a lower character. If I seek the name, I’ll seek it with my main- because that is most true to the story.
This is pretty much exactly what I meant. Not everyone sees their alts as equal.
Interesting view. Not sure I completely agree, actually. I created my alt so that I could do completely different things to those I do on my main account (where I make choices pretty much in accordance with my actual morals!). The result is that I feel a much stronger connection to my main, don’t spend Fate on my alt (well, I do actually, but only tiny amounts) and play through the game a lot more slowly with him.
Sorry Zanzibar. You are a little on the sinister side though, and being you makes me feel weird.
Anyway, it seems pretty clear from this thread that not all FL players feel the same as you - I have not doubt plenty of people will create alts (or use ones they don’t care that much about) to Seek, rather than damaging their mains. My comment was intended to be light-hearted, but I think my point stands. Here’s some (again, light-hearted) wild speculation for you: I bet that if FBG had a means of making sure that players only used their main/most important account to Seek, they would do so. How else are players supposed to learn the REAL meaning of loss and self-destruction?
I think I may not have the detachment that some others have - my character is a reflection of myself (oh hi there, 0 Hell, no Brass Embassy, and Intimate of Devils 0) and even choosing to do the exact opposite for an alt wouldn’t be a new character. It would be a mirror of my current one, a half life… a nomen perhaps? I couldn’t pour my emotions into it in quite the same fashion, and the weighing of "doing the right thing" verses "doing the most profitable thing" wouldn’t balance correctly, because for me, an alt wouldn’t have a conscience. They’d be the non-physical manifestation of a little devil sitting on my Main’s shoulder. So that’s just me (hey, every one of my RPG characters has been a sneaky magic using thief. I’m now no longer allowed to be bored-neutral in some circles.)
It sounds like though you’d at least have to put in a fair bit of time and effort into grinding or even gearing up to be a Seeker. So that does put a damper on mass alt creation.
edited by Parelle on 2/3/2016