Ah, Fallen London. Ironically, I was introduced to it by a tweet from King of Dragon's Pass creator David Dunham who rarely tweeted about other games, so his apparent endorsement piqued my interest. I spent many happy months (and some not-so-happy months, and lots of purchased Fate) following the various ratholes and paths which were constantly being added to the game. It ultimately got to be too much (have always been more of a tactical than a strategic player), and I never had the guts (or perserverance?) to Seek Mr. Eaten's Name so eventually abandoned it altogether. But regardless of that, this is still one of the most insanely great and unique games in the genre.
I had forgotten about Echo Bazaar's early Twitter days! I've kept up with the game and a few weeks ago got my Hesperidean Cider. The content FBG has put out in the past two years has been my favorite yet (especially the conclusion of my ambition, Heart's Desire). I'm amazed at their ability to put out stable releases with such quality prose at the rate they do, especially considering the other projects they're working on. They recently added some new mechanics that allow for a global, dynamic game state and they've gotten rather creative with it.
Truly it has been a team effort, but I have to say, Aaron: I wish you would have included at least a mention of Alexis as the progenitor of FL, and not instead felt the need to bring up the imbroglio between Weather Factory and current Failbetter in an editor's note. I don't think anyone would have taken that as explicit support for Kennedy. I'm especially wary of 'picking sides' in this situation given Failbetter's silence: if things were so conclusive, the matter would have been resolved by now.
Yes, I "felt the need" to "take sides" and leave a warning about a person who has personally creeped on several of my female friends in the game industry over the years, in addition to the public accusations by people who have come forward, and other stories that I've heard in confidence. If you're wondering why people haven't been more vocal about this issue, it's in part because Kennedy and his company send aggressive threats mentioning words like "libel" to anyone who mentions his despicable patterns of behavior, including most recently to me regarding this article.
Everything I say on this blog, and the way I say it, is done for a reason. If I mention someone, or don't, it's intentional. In this case I had zero interest in writing about Alexis Kennedy personally, but I felt I could not in good conscious mention his work without leaving a warning about his well-documented and consistent patterns of harmful behavior. You're more than welcome to read someone else's free content if you don't like that. But I will not apologize for standing up against people who abuse positions of power.
Ah, Fallen London. Ironically, I was introduced to it by a tweet from King of Dragon's Pass creator David Dunham who rarely tweeted about other games, so his apparent endorsement piqued my interest. I spent many happy months (and some not-so-happy months, and lots of purchased Fate) following the various ratholes and paths which were constantly being added to the game. It ultimately got to be too much (have always been more of a tactical than a strategic player), and I never had the guts (or perserverance?) to Seek Mr. Eaten's Name so eventually abandoned it altogether. But regardless of that, this is still one of the most insanely great and unique games in the genre.
Thank you for this. I have now spent a month playing Fallen London and I am utterly smitten. I wish I had found it years ago!
I had forgotten about Echo Bazaar's early Twitter days! I've kept up with the game and a few weeks ago got my Hesperidean Cider. The content FBG has put out in the past two years has been my favorite yet (especially the conclusion of my ambition, Heart's Desire). I'm amazed at their ability to put out stable releases with such quality prose at the rate they do, especially considering the other projects they're working on. They recently added some new mechanics that allow for a global, dynamic game state and they've gotten rather creative with it.
Truly it has been a team effort, but I have to say, Aaron: I wish you would have included at least a mention of Alexis as the progenitor of FL, and not instead felt the need to bring up the imbroglio between Weather Factory and current Failbetter in an editor's note. I don't think anyone would have taken that as explicit support for Kennedy. I'm especially wary of 'picking sides' in this situation given Failbetter's silence: if things were so conclusive, the matter would have been resolved by now.
Alas. Thank you for another excellent write-up.
Yes, I "felt the need" to "take sides" and leave a warning about a person who has personally creeped on several of my female friends in the game industry over the years, in addition to the public accusations by people who have come forward, and other stories that I've heard in confidence. If you're wondering why people haven't been more vocal about this issue, it's in part because Kennedy and his company send aggressive threats mentioning words like "libel" to anyone who mentions his despicable patterns of behavior, including most recently to me regarding this article.
Everything I say on this blog, and the way I say it, is done for a reason. If I mention someone, or don't, it's intentional. In this case I had zero interest in writing about Alexis Kennedy personally, but I felt I could not in good conscious mention his work without leaving a warning about his well-documented and consistent patterns of harmful behavior. You're more than welcome to read someone else's free content if you don't like that. But I will not apologize for standing up against people who abuse positions of power.
You were sent something for this article? That is surprisingly aggressive. Understood, thank you for the insight.