Chris Gardiner
Administrator
Posts: 539
3/6/2012
|
Since the last community consultation thread was so useful, we'd like to ask for your feedback on another topic.
We're considering making improvements to the journal in Echo Bazaar. What do people think would make the journal experience easier to use, more functional, and more attractive?
edited by Chris Gardiner on 7/24/2012
|
|
|
0
link
|
vdate
Posts: 3
3/11/2012
|
I suspect that I'm asking for rather more than most people when I say this, but what I want out of the Journal, as long as you're redesigning it, is for it to be a replacement for the wiki text dumps that you object to. So, what I actually want in clearer terms:
1) An option for my journal to be self-updating.
2) For the self-updates to my journal to log the text of storylets and cards that I personally have seen, including the failure/success/rare success results, provided I have seen them.
2a) Much lower on the list of priorities, although it would be pretty darn nifty, to tag the first sightings of each story result with the date on which it was first seen. If it's too much work, disregard this entirely.
3) For this self-updating data to be organized by location (e.g. a list of all that I have seen in Ladybones Road, a list of all that I have seen from my inventory, a list of all that I have seen on the Broad Unterzee, etc. ...
3a) ... except in those instances when the storylet is part of an ongoing storyline, in which case I'd rather like them to be organized separately by storyline, with a note regarding where they appear (so that I can, for example, look back on my experiences hunting my nemesis Scathewick more readily). I understand that this might be a pain in the ass for every story, so even only for the really big ones (Ambitions, SMEN when I get around to it, and so on) it would be lower on the list than a log of what I have seen by location.
4) That this journal be visible only to us, so that it doesn't become a content dump replacement for the Internet- if we want to echo snippets of content, let us do THAT to our Twitter/Facebook page. That and refreshes are all I use the functionality for anyway, so I'd prefer to only be able to echo individual storylets or sidebar bits of interest to social networks, and have a PRIVATE journal for my own reference. After all, I don't want other people reading my journal!
Basically, I want my journal, should I so desire it, to BE a journal of what I've seen in Fallen London as a whole, a way to look back at all I've experienced in sequence, to chart my trips through Ladybones Road or my encounters with rats in my lodgings. It shouldn't be hard to add a bunch of seen/not seen flags to a player's personal data, I would think. (If I'm wrong, do tell me.) I use the wiki for exactly that reason- to look back on all I've done. If the journal already did that, then I'd be OK with the removal of game content from wikis!
|
|
|
+5
link
|
Urthdigger
Posts: 939
3/6/2012
|
I really do wish I used the journal more often. There's the occasional super awesome story that I put there, but there's many others that I don't. This is partly due to laziness combined with not wanting to flood my twitter feed with journal posts... sadly, not much can be done about this, as there's already an option to post to journal without tweeting about it. Though, perhaps we could enable an option to automatically post notable storylets (Those that can only be done once).
I agree with the others that a way to search through the journal might be nice. Months from now I'll probably still remember the time I threw a physician out the window in the Empress' Court and got banished for it, but by then it would be a daunting task to go back through all my journal entries to find it. Perhaps also allow us to get the same link that gets posted to twitter and facebook, so we can link others to it (For instance, I was recently talking to someone over instant messengers about the game, and wanted to show them an interesting storylet I did recently)
Another thing that may be nice would be if we can share more information about ourselves in our profile. Currently, we show our equipped items and current lodgings by default, one quality, and one item. However, when I'm checking the journal of a friend on here, I might be interested in seeing how they are coming along in the game, maybe what they might need, those kinds of things. It would be nice if we can share all of our main qualities and menaces. Perhaps even let people peruse our qualities as they will, though we should be able to turn this on or off as we please, as some people may not be as open as me. Maybe even allow that for inventory as well, I know I for one would like to be able to show off not just that I've written a novel or a poem, but that I've written six different kinds!
edited by Urthdigger on 3/6/2012
--
Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
|
|
|
+3
link
|
Urthdigger
Posts: 939
3/28/2012
|
Something I've realized recently is the journal NEEDS to contain the whole action: The initial storylet text, the text for the action, and the text for the result. I like to think people actually click on the links I post to my twitter: After all, that's the whole point of giving us an incentive to do so right? So I try to more often than not echo interesting things. The problem, however, is that often times I'll come across an interesting success message (Or even a failure message), but without the other two pieces of the puzzle there's absolutely no context.
--
Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
@Urthdigger on twitter
|
|
|
+3
link
|
travellersside
Posts: 288
3/6/2012
|
The ability to add things to the Journal after the event...
Right now, my journal doesn't contain much of value, because it's a long trawl through it, looking for anything specific. I'm at cap and have been for most of the last year, barring periods when the cap was raised. This means that for me the majority of the game went past long before the ability to echo content into the Journal existed. As such, I'm only capable of adding recent content. Even then, that gets buried amongst the refresh spam, so I need to delete that on a regular basis to have an even vaguely useful Journal.
So, what would make the Journal more attractive would be for there to be a full index of everything capable of being added to the journal, and as we progress through the game, it tracks what we've had and allows us to revisit it. Much like a lot of other games do with automatically updating journals/logs/bestiaries etc. If there was then an index of this, set up by category and location, we'd be able to dip in and out and see what we'd done. It wouldn't be a manually updated journal - more the game letting us reread anything that we'd already seen.
Or I'd like the ability to replay any part of the game at any time so that we can go back and look at something six months later - including the things that are currently once only! That would be a slower method of our being able to check things, but require less actual changes.
|
|
|
+2
link
|
Kaanyia
Posts: 35
3/7/2012
|
It would be nice if echoing a storylet result would include the accomplishments/qualities/items that came from that storylet. As it is we can put these in separate echoes, but it would be nice to have them together. That way if when we decide to look back a few months later as our memory of the original events gets a little fuzzy, it is clear which accomplishments are linked to which stories and we aren't left wondering whether two echoes happen to have come from the same event.
I also like to be able to re-examine story chains I've already finished to appreciate the writing quality and humour, and perhaps notice nuances I missed the first time. And of course to appreciate the story again once my memory of the original reading starts to fade. With the current journal system this can be difficult since they are in chronological order and echoes from a story that we took a few weeks to finish might be spread apart by many pages. A tagging system, as suggested by previous posters, is a good solution. Another possibility to consider is adding the ability to create user-definable sections in the journal, and allowing us to choose which section each echo goes in.
edited by Kaanyia on 3/7/2012
--
@Kaanyia on Twitter.
Display Fallen London storylet requirements in text without mousing over icons: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/11306-echo-bazaar-display-storylet-prerequisites
|
|
|
+2
link
|
Lady Red
Posts: 517
3/9/2012
|
M_L_G wrote:
Basically, something to replace the wiki that's now defunct. Automatic journaling of what we do, combined with a way to go back and look at it afterwards.
I don't really use the journal, because if I'm enjoying a storyline I don't want to consciously have to click on things to 'echo' it to my journal - I just want to enjoy the storyline. I agree with MLG, basically - I'd like each storyline I've played through to be accessible in my journal in an orderly fashion, so I can read through the text again and enjoy it. This is particularly important for storylines where there is a gap - like the tattoo parlour or the missionary looking for her husband - as by the time the next set of content appears, I don't remember what the first part of the story was. And I think this is essential for storylines I've paid fate for and can't replay, as well. (Because, obviously, I could have copied and pasted the text into a Word document as I went along - but I usually think of doing things like this after the fact, and it would be much neater if the game itself basically did this for me!)
--
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lady~Red
|
|
|
+1
link
|
WintersNight
Posts: 65
3/27/2012
|
I agree that you need a tagging and/or search system and the ability to edit past entries.
Let me also make this suggestion -- a tutorial. Early on maybe a storylet that walks you through the journal system and shows you how useful it can be and what exactly gets saved. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I've been playing for over a year and only recently discovered how useful the journal system is to saving memories.
--
~~alea iacta est~~
Twitter @wintersnight
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Maurna Frost
Posts: 246
3/6/2012
|
Actually, I'd like to know if I've journal'd a fact before, perhaps just a message on the echo screen so I can unclick it.
~MF
A Lady sorting
--
~MF
I greatly enjoy meeting delicious new friends and participating in deliciously exciting new adventures! Please feel free to drop a card to meet for dinner, exchange favors, give an interview, or any other activity that comes to mind. I DO particpate in exchanges requiring Fate, BUT you must contact me first; twitter, facebook, or here on the forums via PM.
Note: I am currently exchanging parcels with a large number of dear friends and my parcel opportunities are rare. I am always willing to exchange but your rate of return may be rather slow. To find others to exchange with I recommend the Starveling list.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Maurna Frost
Posts: 246
3/6/2012
|
Maybe it's because I play in Chrome but I can't edit my titles and I'd like to.
The ability to have an option to just automatically "journal" certain types of posts. Dreams, ventures, ambitions. I'm finding as I go a long that I don't always realize how much I wanted to keep something until it's already too late.
~MF
A Lady with a lack of ink
--
~MF
I greatly enjoy meeting delicious new friends and participating in deliciously exciting new adventures! Please feel free to drop a card to meet for dinner, exchange favors, give an interview, or any other activity that comes to mind. I DO particpate in exchanges requiring Fate, BUT you must contact me first; twitter, facebook, or here on the forums via PM.
Note: I am currently exchanging parcels with a large number of dear friends and my parcel opportunities are rare. I am always willing to exchange but your rate of return may be rather slow. To find others to exchange with I recommend the Starveling list.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Brythain
Posts: 13
4/10/2012
|
What I liked about the Ambition storylines is that you could choose to 'Reminisce about your adventures' and all the important stuff would be reiterated for you. I wish there were more opportunities of that kind, perhaps embedded in one's 'hyperjournal'.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Rupho Schartenhauer
Posts: 787
5/9/2012
|
I don't really need customized tags for my journal entries -- it would be enough if every entry was automatically tagged with the name of the storylet or opportunity card it was taken from, and the name of the ongoing longer storyline it belongs to (e.g. "Embroiled in the Wars of Illusion 13").
Of course, for the longer storylines there'd be an alternative to the journal we have now but I have no idea if that would be doable for you: just list them all up and let us reminisce about them like we can for the ambitions. Again, I've no idea how much of programming that would take but if there's a way to do it... do it! 
When playing new content I'm often so caught up in it I totally forget to save to my journal. (I suspect I'm not the only one with this problem...) With the option for reminiscing the constant saving wouldn't be necessary anymore.
edited by Rupho Schartenhauer on 3/24/2015
--
Rupho Schartenhauer has killed a Master, well: most of it.
Cortez the Killer has killed a Master, definitely.
Deepdelver has become the progenitor of London's brightest star. It's... complicated.
Dr. Kvirkvelia, gone NORTH on 23/12/1894.
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Saharan
Posts: 247
10/4/2012
|
This may be asking for too much, but when I think of the perfect journal system, I picture this. Each major storyline has its own chapter in my character's journal, and as they progress through them, the storyline is automatically echoed to that chapter. I could click a chapter title and recall my oh-so-kind benefactor and all I did to help him, or I could reminisce on how two very different devils tried to win my heart and soul and all the times we shared together, or even click another one to reveal a half-unfinished chapter on recent events involving a strange box with seven locks. The echoing to the profile page would still exist, ideally separate from the journals. Otherwise you could look at an advanced player's profile and see half the game laid bare. A private journal should be just that. Private.
As it is right now, however, I cannot even remember what some of my Stories are, due to not having the forethought to echo all of them. Even if I did, important pieces in between the beginning and end event would still be missing. Why am I an ally of the Widow? Why did I first start visiting Clethermont's Tattoo Parlour? And perhaps the most pressing question on my mind, how did a certain spider-expert and I first meet?
--
My Saint - My Twitter - My Seeker
"To light one candle to God and another to the Devils is the principle of wisdom."
|
|
|
+1
link
|
Kyberia
Posts: 4
4/27/2013
|
There is one aspect I've been aching for, in terms of "Echo This" functionality, for a while.
There is usually an Echo This option for the piece of text at the top of a storylet, and for the outcomes of actions, but there isn't one for sharing the action itself.
For example, when Interacting with the Silk-Clad Expert, I can echo the passage about her at the top, but this is followed by a number of possible actions that have wonderfully suggestive text, and there is no option to share them - many, many of my friends also play Fallen London and would be wrapped with sniggers to read that I was considering taking this action, for instance:
[SPOILER]
"Pick her pocket
Her purse bulges as though stuffed with rubber balls. Might be worth a dip to see what's inside."
Because that's not likely to end in a handful of sorrow spiders, is it?
[/SPOILER]
edited by Kyberia on 4/27/2013
|
|
|
+1
link
|