Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
1/6/2017
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But you COULD have learned about Jenny prior to the election. The info was all there in the game. If the character is from a different game that we don't play, however, the info is not there, and we have only the info we get via the character's campaign to convince us. Without knowing the person's character and history, how are we supposed to decide if they're being genuine or lying through their teeth? :P
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Pumpkinhead
Posts: 516
1/6/2017
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Kukapetal wrote:
But you COULD have learned about Jenny prior to the election. The info was all there in the game. If the character is from a different game that we don't play, however, the info is not there, and we have only the info we get via the character's campaign to convince us. Without knowing the person's character and history, how are we supposed to decide if they're being genuine or lying through their teeth? :P
I did notice Jenny at one point prior to the election, but I think it was just in one storylet in veilgarden or something in the early game. Something to do with the parlour of virtue, I think. I didn't actually recall that snippet until after we had already elected her. I thought she was just a nun, because I wasn't paying all that much attention to the game at that point. Then about a week later I realized our dear mayor was actually a lady of negotiable virtue. (Only in fallen london...)
Anyway, I honestly didn't really know much about any of the candidates at that point. I think the contrarian was the only one I had really heard about because of the affluent photographer, but I didn't really know much about him. I hadn't been to the 4th coil, otherwise I would have known the Bishop.
I don't think any of them had all that extensive backstories prior to the election, except maybe the bishop. This is especially true for newer players, like I was at that point. I think a lot of the playerbase probably plays the game like I did back then, which is to say, not knowing a whole lot.
My point... uh, what was I getting at here? Oh yes.
My point is the only reason I really know any of these candidates is because they became candidates. I think the majority of the players aren't into the game nearly as much as we here are, so I think next year, the a lot of people will be learning about the new candidates for the first time. Thus, I think it's okay to have an out-of-the blue candidate, because for most people, that's what they'll be anyway.
In any case, I think the Northbound parliamentarian should run so she can lead us NORTH. Maybe that's how London ends up beyond the Avid Horizon in time for Sunless Skies?  WHAT IS THE NUMBER?
edited by Pumpkinhead on 1/6/2017
edited by Pumpkinhead on 1/6/2017
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McGunn/Bsymstad is on the slow boat, waiting to see if he can find out what death is. (I'm done with London for now. Thanks for everything!)
Amanda Albright is a *spoiler* now, like she always wanted.
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
1/6/2017
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But you're confusing your particular situation (just happened to be new to the game at the time of the election) or playstyle (didn't pay much attention to the characters until they became candidates and was fine with that) with a flawed mechanic (having candidates it is impossible for ANY player to get to know unless they purchase another game).
Just because certain players might not know much about the candidates due to being new or don't care about the characters prior to them becoming candidates is no reason to force that on all players
Again, one is a particular person's playstyle or circumstances, the other is a flawed mechanic that keeps all players in the dark, no matter what their preferences are.
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suinicide
Posts: 2409
1/6/2017
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We could have an early newspaper article explaining who they are, not just what they stand for. (But only hinting at their secrets)
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/sunnytime
A gentleman seeking the liberation of knowledge, with a penchant for violence.
RIP suinicide, stuck in a well. Still has it under control.
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Anne Auclair
Posts: 2215
1/6/2017
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suinicide wrote:
We could have an early newspaper article explaining who they are, not just what they stand for. (But only hinting at their secrets)
Sounds like a suggestion for this thread here.
edited by Anne Auclair on 1/6/2017
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Anne%20Auclair
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
1/6/2017
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Or we could stick with characters who are actually IN the game we're playing and which features the election. There are tons of characters in Fallen London who would make interesting candidates. Why toss them aside for characters from a different game who we'd need to read a newspaper bio for in order to know who they were?
Then again...if we did do that, maybe Flesh-Stick could be a candidate! :P
Flesh-Stick: WE DEMAND A NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF NUDITY! MAKE NO PANTS DAY A REALITY!
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The Master
Posts: 804
1/6/2017
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Kukapetal wrote:
Or we could stick with characters who are actually IN the game we're playing and which features the election. There are tons of characters in Fallen London who would make interesting candidates. Why toss them aside for characters from a different game who we'd need to read a newspaper bio for in order to know who they were?
Then again...if we did do that, maybe Flesh-Stick could be a candidate! :P
Flesh-Stick: WE DEMAND A NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF NUDITY! MAKE NO PANTS DAY A REALITY!
Jenny was usually shown as a prostitute and just that except in one ambition, you could barely learn anything important about her, where we really learnt about what she was running for was on the election, Bishop and Contrarian are more common, but if you aren't a person of some importance or if you don't deal with revolutionaries you couldn't really meet the Jovial Contrarian either, you could only learn about him in those situations, and remember that new players vote as well, it's not just the veterans.
Still, I think it could be possible to make NPC's from SS run as mayors as long as Failbetter gave enough information about them before they made you vote(though they don't appear in London very often they are still interesting characters and with proper introductions I don't see many problems coming up, after all, alot of people knew nothing about the candidates on the first election but they still got the basic idea of what they were going to do).
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lolwolfking
A very ruthless and daring doctor of the neath.
No more gift exchanges, im getting too many and I can barely hold these.
He has knowledge of a certain enigma, ask, you will get a clue.
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
1/6/2017
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The Master wrote:
and remember that new players vote as well, it's not just the veterans.
Of course they vote, and I'm sure those who cared about the election educated themselves about the candidates as best they could. But it doesn't automatically follow that, since new people might be less informed about the candidates, everyone who plays the game should be deliberately hobbled.
And I say this as someone who didn't really care about the election, had no idea who one of the candidates was, and picked a candidate for a silly reason. Just because those were my circumstances and that was how I played the game doesn't mean it should be forced on everyone else via the mechanics.
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Anne Auclair
Posts: 2215
1/6/2017
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PSGarak wrote:
Like it or not, the category of "non-human" still encompasses a range of "more human-ish" to "less human-ish." Our Rubbery brethren are dear to my heart, but they still get stoned on the streets on occasion. Tomb-Colonists and Devils can generally mingle without as much trouble. (Part of that may be that Rubbery folk don't fight back as well as the other two.)
And even Devils will occasionally get tossed into the Stolen River by a suitably pious mob.
My problem with a Devil running for Mayor is that all the Devils are foreigners. They're not citizens of London, nor are they subjects of Her Enduring Majesty. Most are the formal and informal representatives of the Republic of Hell.
The Brass Ambassador or one of his associates running for Mayor of London would be like the Soviet Ambassador running for Mayor of 20th century New York or President of the United States. The Soviets couldn't do that sort of thing for a whole host of reasons. Instead they gave clandestine and not so clandestine support to the US Communist party, for all the good it did them. I think a similar situation would exist with the Brass Embassy if it wanted to get more directly involved in London politics. The Devils would back a human candidate who is appropriately close to Hell, perhaps a member of the 11 percent.
A problem arises however in that I find it difficult to think of a character who could be such a candidate... A lot of the more human associates of the Brass Embassy, such as the Infernal Sommelier, are just Devils thinly and obviously disguised as humans.
edited by Anne Auclair on 1/6/2017
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Anne%20Auclair
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
1/6/2017
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Exactly. And the same goes for Rubbery Men too. They're foreigners who come to London on business. It wouldn't make sense to elect one of them mayor.
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Pumpkinhead
Posts: 516
1/6/2017
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Kukapetal wrote:
Of course they vote, and I'm sure those who cared about the election educated themselves about the candidates as best they could. But it doesn't automatically follow that, since new people might be less informed about the candidates, everyone who plays the game should be deliberately hobbled.
And I say this as someone who didn't really care about the election, had no idea who one of the candidates was, and picked a candidate for a silly reason. Just because those were my circumstances and that was how I played the game doesn't mean it should be forced on everyone else via the mechanics.
I think that regardless of whether the candidates are already-established FL characters or not, the vast majority of their story that might be useful to for the election will only appear once they are election candidates, so I don't think introducing a new character is a bad thing. I don't think having an unknown candidate=being hobbled, because playing through the election will give you plenty of time to learn who they are. That's how I learned about last year's candidates, and it was fun! (although, as noted in my post above, I didn't learn that much about Jenny during the election...)
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McGunn/Bsymstad is on the slow boat, waiting to see if he can find out what death is. (I'm done with London for now. Thanks for everything!)
Amanda Albright is a *spoiler* now, like she always wanted.
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1449
1/6/2017
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Well, I definitely wouldn't find it fun to have a candidate who the Sunless Sea players can discuss and debate about at length while I have to make do with a newspaper blurb. I'm already left mystified about what the heck is going on in any Exceptional stories that use elements from Sunless Sea. I'd be grateful if it didn't get dragged into the election too.
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Pumpkinhead
Posts: 516
1/7/2017
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Kukapetal wrote:
Well, I definitely wouldn't find it fun to have a candidate who the Sunless Sea players can discuss and debate about at length while I have to make do with a newspaper blurb. I'm already left mystified about what the heck is going on in any Exceptional stories that use elements from Sunless Sea. I'd be grateful if it didn't get dragged into the election too.
That is a very good point, although it's still not dealbreaking for me. An interesting character is still an interesting character, even if everyone else knows more about them than I do.
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McGunn/Bsymstad is on the slow boat, waiting to see if he can find out what death is. (I'm done with London for now. Thanks for everything!)
Amanda Albright is a *spoiler* now, like she always wanted.
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The Master
Posts: 804
1/7/2017
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Kukapetal wrote:
Well, I definitely wouldn't find it fun to have a candidate who the Sunless Sea players can discuss and debate about at length while I have to make do with a newspaper blurb. I'm already left mystified about what the heck is going on in any Exceptional stories that use elements from Sunless Sea. I'd be grateful if it didn't get dragged into the election too.
But if enough information was given about them I don't see why that would be a problem, they could even make some stories about them before the election, some people knew more about the characters from the previous election anyways, Jenny was never important except in one specific ambition, all information we got about her were some small lines of text telling us what her profession was,
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lolwolfking
A very ruthless and daring doctor of the neath.
No more gift exchanges, im getting too many and I can barely hold these.
He has knowledge of a certain enigma, ask, you will get a clue.
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Frederick Metzengerstein
Posts: 69
1/7/2017
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Anne Auclair wrote:
A problem arises however in that I find it difficult to think of a character who could be such a candidate... A lot of the more human associates of the Brass Embassy, such as the Infernal Sommelier, are just Devils thinly and obviously disguised as humans.
Mr. Slowcake for Mayor.
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Anne Auclair
Posts: 2215
1/7/2017
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Frederick Metzengerstein wrote:
Anne Auclair wrote:
A problem arises however in that I find it difficult to think of a character who could be such a candidate... A lot of the more human associates of the Brass Embassy, such as the Infernal Sommelier, are just Devils thinly and obviously disguised as humans.
Mr. Slowcake for Mayor.
That...could actually work really well! Mr Slowcakes is a fictional human persona that has been created by a cabal of Brass Embassy Devils to manipulate London Society. Taking their very influential and respected creation out of the shadows and directly onto the stage might be a logical next step. In this way those who want a Devil to run for Mayor could get their wish without a Devil actually being the official candidate.
Of course the Devils would need to find a suitable human patsy or partner to play the role of Mr Slowcake in public and at campaign events, but in a city of professional spies and mad face tailors how difficult would that be really? They’d also need considerable wealth to give Mr Slowcake the image required of him, but Devils have money in abundance. And one would think that Mr Slowcake already has a built in fan club among London’s exclusive and prestige obsessed Society, which also has a number of spies and abstraction fans amongst its number. Surely the Devils might be able to find a soulless spy whose skill set involves infiltrating the upper class.
The resulting infernal coalition could potentially be that of the Devils, the Great Game, and Society. It might be a little more challenging for the writers than a straightforward campaign, as they'd be detailing a collaborative writing/acting/espionage project rather than a single candidate, but it could work really well. And it would also allow us to learn more about the inner workings and influence of Slowcake's Exceptionals.
edited by Anne Auclair on 1/8/2017
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Anne%20Auclair
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Pumpkinhead
Posts: 516
1/8/2017
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Wait until the bishop gets wind of that!
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McGunn/Bsymstad is on the slow boat, waiting to see if he can find out what death is. (I'm done with London for now. Thanks for everything!)
Amanda Albright is a *spoiler* now, like she always wanted.
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Krysin
Posts: 34
1/8/2017
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Defiantly the Bishop again...
And of course the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel would make a whimsical addition to the candidates.
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I am Krysin.
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The Master
Posts: 804
1/8/2017
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Pumpkinhead wrote:
Wait until the bishop gets wind of that!
He will probably scream on the streets about how the devils are trying to take over London, maybe someone would believe it if he wasn't the good ol' bishop, I can imagine him going up to "Slowcake" and punching him in the face.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lolwolfking
A very ruthless and daring doctor of the neath.
No more gift exchanges, im getting too many and I can barely hold these.
He has knowledge of a certain enigma, ask, you will get a clue.
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Anne Auclair
Posts: 2215
1/8/2017
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The Master wrote:
Pumpkinhead wrote:
Wait until the bishop gets wind of that!
He will probably scream on the streets about how the devils are trying to take over London, maybe someone would believe it if he wasn't the good ol' bishop, I can imagine him going up to "Slowcake" and punching him in the face.
Sabotage Slowcake's Campaign
Smuggle the Bishop of Southwark into Slowcake's soiree? Only interesting things can result from this!
*
edited by Anne Auclair on 1/8/2017
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Anne%20Auclair
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