Baigan
Posts: 10
8/30/2016
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Shadowcthuhlu wrote:
I'm still stuck on the need for secrecy in this case. It's not like the Mr. Eaten in which it's part of the theme of sacrifice or Engima's puzzle game like aspects. The fact that you can stumble into it and never know it was meant to be a secret - and I doubt what happens is really on the same level as Mr. Eaten's conclusion.
It's funny you mention this because I didn't really care about this whole "paths not taken" business until I came to the forums and found out I'd missed something. But it's gotten me thinking about how this kind of "forks in the road" approach is going to have several possible reactions:
1. Anxiety in those who like to see the unseen. Discouraging, if you want to complete the mantlepieces, know what isn't supposed to be known, etc.
(I am here.) 2. Meh. It's cool. I didn't choose that fork in the road (as others said). Don't bother none.
3. There's major lore hidden behind unprompted stuff! "Man, that sucks that I had no idea!" Casual players who don't know what to look for or don't invest as much as the lore gods and long-haulers do will simply drift by. Some may feel roughly used that they have to pay to "un-miss" something they didn't know was there!
Choices promote anxiety and that's a key element of the game itself we're all playing. Choices cause suffering by forcing a deliberate "I will lose the chance to do this." Fallen London even prompts a lot: "Don't leave until you've asked all the questions you want." "Don't leave unless you've eaten all the prunes you like from this parlor."
People want to make choices and fully enjoy the game they're playing, but some choices in Fallen London are IMPOSSIBLE to enjoy all aspects of unless you really like alts. Even then... the whole "Seeking" thing is a club of a kind. It's got a cult following because it IS a cult thing. You don't share what happens when you join its inner circles. You don't talk about fight club. Er. Lore club. It's not about solving a puzzle - it's about making the value of the choices amazing and mystical, which I think is largely trying to preserve the power of the storytelling device.
But this is me reading into writers who are a lot better than I am. The above is written in my voice and solely my own thoughts - any words put into mouths are solely my own words and have a habit of wandering.
ULTRA EDIT: oh, and yes. 150% agreed about "don't tell what happens here" being dangerously depleted if overused. Hard to solve it when you're embarking on weaving Mr. Eaten choices and massive lore branches into hidden parts of content in a text-based clickerino game and people's access to events/stories is asynchronous.
Yrs.,
-b
edited by Baigan on 8/30/2016
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It's a complex flavour. Something like regret - but less assertive, perhaps?
Please say hello to me and send a calling card. I'll do whatever I can - excepting annoying cats and photographer nonsense. I am a Correspondent for all your needs.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Baigan
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hwoosh
Posts: 104
8/31/2016
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I'll go even further and say that I'm philosophically opposed to the notion of keeping any published content secret, even Enigma.
I'm not saying Alexis and the writers of the Exceptional Story "easter egg" don't have the right to request people not share certain content, but I don't think anyone is under any ethical obligation to comply. Indeed, I think the cataloguing and neat organization of information that was formerly secret, mysterious, imperfectly known, in places like game wikis is one of the great forces for good in human civilization, and can never fail to make the world a better place, ceteris paribus.
If the Eleusinian Mysteries—the most sacred, fiercely kept secret of the ancient world—were still practiced today, in the age of wikis, you can bet your bottom I would document them comprehensively and put them up on a wiki. In conscientious spoiler tags, of course. And I'd rest happy on my laurels, knowing I'd done a public service.
As someone who figured out Enigma on my own, I would gladly hand out gentle hints via PM to those who wanted gentle hints, and would not stint to provide complete solutions via PM to those who wanted complete solutions. I don't plan on ever posting the solutions publicly, but mostly because of the immense social pressure from the FL community at large. After all, I love the game, admire Alexis's creative vision, and don't want to incur bad feelings from this small, cozy group of people who share that love and admiration.
(Let me note that I've always found this sentence on the wiki—"take it as a sign, and accept that some storylines are not for you"—intolerably smug and condescending. Nobody is more or less worthy of reading any storyline than anyone else, any more than some pieces of published writing (as opposed to, say, a private diary—an important distinction) are more entitled to be kept secret than others.)
Haven't decided whether I'll echo the Exceptional Story's "easter egg" or the end of SMEN, once I get to them.... probably not, again because of the social pressure. But I do make sure to take screenshots of every stage of "secret" content I play through and keep a backup for myself. That way, I at least know that the content exists in some stable form outside of FBG's servers, and can be easily accessed for reference—and shared privately with those who want to be spoiled.
(Edits only for minor formatting and to add this notice.)
edited by hwoosh on 8/31/2016
edited by hwoosh on 8/31/2016
edited by hwoosh on 8/31/2016
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Persona: hwoosh
R Fellow Oswho. Don't ask what the "R." stands for. The poor fellow is sensitive about it. And violent.
Most social requests gladly and promptly answered.
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