Ratmas 2015

10:14 -!- mib_1jwj08 [Mibbit@51536A69.A789022.73DBD857.IP] has joined
          #fallenlondon
11:13 < mib_1jwj08> it's true, but I'm done now
11:13 < mib_1jwj08> I've broken my staff, and buried it certain fathoms in the
                    earth :)
11:14 < mib_1jwj08> I'll put in an appearance to finish Eaten at some point,
                    but I'm basically not writing in 2016
11:15 < mib_1jwj08> that's a kind sentiment! but you know, it's not a solo
                    effort.
11:15 < mib_1jwj08> hello! I thought I'd pop by and wish you a happy Ratmas
11:17 < mib_1jwj08> we celebrate it in the office, you know
11:18 < mib_1jwj08> our neighbours complain, but soon enough there will be
                    nothing left besides gnawed bones
11:18 < mib_1jwj08> the servers are polished and gleaming. hush.
11:21 < mib_1jwj08> we have changed a couple of big answers a couple of times
                    (the Bazaar, notoriously, started out as a sort of Adam
                    Smith powered space probe) where we can stay consistent
                    with extant lore
11:22 < mib_1jwj08> but it is actually much easier to build a consistent body
                    of lore when everything has an answer, if only a
                    placeholder one.
11:24 < mib_1jwj08> my Big Design Thing (as you'll know if you read my
                    Gamasutra post mortem on SS, which you should, because I'm
                    terribly clever and funny) is that everything should align
                    around a theme
11:24 < mib_1jwj08> the theme of Fallen London is desire, and the price that
                    one might be prepared to pay for it
11:25 < mib_1jwj08> themes work best when they're about human emotions:
                    otherwise they're unapproachable
11:25 < mib_1jwj08> so when I thought about what would make sense as a
                    backstory in the context of the Bazaar, it had to be about
                    desire denied and sought
11:26 < mib_1jwj08> human themes work best for human readers: and most of our
                    readers are human
11:26 < mib_1jwj08> when I say I changed this, it was way back in 2010 - it's
                    been stbale a long time
11:26 < mib_1jwj08> >how can we be leaving longboxes and sea-chests for zailors
                    several years after they receive them?
11:26 < mib_1jwj08> time is fluid and deliberately vague
11:27 < mib_1jwj08> I mean: mostly this is a storytelling convenience:
                    everything happens in a dreamtime-like nonspecificity
11:28 < mib_1jwj08> I'm not interested in lining up the precise details of what
                    happened to who when, so we don't
11:28 < mib_1jwj08> but also, yes, it's supported in-game
11:28 < mib_1jwj08> in-lore, I mean
11:30 < mib_1jwj08> the Treachery of Clocks, yah
11:37 < mib_1jwj08> >who should I bug about my character being stuck on the iOS
                    server? i assume "not you"
11:37 < mib_1jwj08> pop it in the support address we specified (I forget which,
                    but it'll be in the thread)
11:38 < mib_1jwj08> we do get to them all eventually: it is our focus right
                    now. Lottie, our producer, answered literally 90 today
11:38 < mib_1jwj08> space: they are bugs, not rats
11:38 < mib_1jwj08> hth
11:39 < mib_1jwj08> office trophy rat has got a Ratmas promotion
11:39 < mib_1jwj08> https://goo.gl/photos/tJ8GHAFiiPaEZHJq8
11:39 < mib_1jwj08> gets to sit with the skull.
11:49 < mib_1jwj08> Jeremy: there's no specific policy, but I wouldn't rule it
                    out. The original intention of the Particular Day content
                    was that we'd repeat it on a yearly cycle, but it was hard
                    work to write (something new and completely standalone
                    every week!)
11:49 < mib_1jwj08> didn't get much love ('why is this so short why does it not
                    give interesting rewards where are the Ambitions') and made
                    us 0 money; it eventually mutated into the EF stories
11:50 < mib_1jwj08> we've talked about resurrecting some of the Particular Day
                    content and expanding it to be EF stories, because it was
                    designed to be standalone
11:52 < mib_1jwj08> I remember a lot of bitching from core users about how it
                    wasn't enough :) And the I get it, it couldn't be enough;
                    it was only ever going to be a taste, and it takes careful
                    thought to make content suitable for all levels. And I
                    basically always wrote it in a hurry on Sunday afternoon.
                    So it was mildly dissatisfying to everyone.
11:52 < mib_1jwj08> I'm very fond of the Apicius Club. They are my #1 choice
                    for an EF topic
11:56 < mib_1jwj08> I haven't read the Gaiman piece; but I got the idea from
                    the Explorer's Club (chances are he did too :-) )
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/explorers-club-annual-dinner-not-faint-sto
mach-article-1.1713763
12:16 < mib_1jwj08> OK, I'm out. Thanks, Space, for the ratmas daftness: it's
                    popular round here.
12:17 < mib_1jwj08> I've added a small Enigma update in honour of the occasion.
                    I might make that a 7th Dec tradition. Clues upthread,
                    though there are clues out in the world too.
12:17 < mib_1jwj08> night all!
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