2025 Questionnaire Results | Player Satisfaction & Recommendations
Analyzing the results of the Unofficial Fallen London Profile Questionnaire 2025 | From 290 responses to "Part I — The Character" and 201 responses to "Part II — The Player"
It’s been nearly a year since I first shared my 2-part survey of Fallen London player character profiles. Since then, there have been numerous additions to the game which have made this survey out of date, including new cameos, new spouses, a new profile header and portrait frame, and various outfit items. All in all, it’s high time I wrapped this up with a final post!
Having reviewed all the biggest survey takeaways, all that remains is to pull back and broadly consider the question of player satisfaction with character customization in Fallen London, and top recommendations for increasing player satisfaction when it comes to profile and character customization.
SATISFACTION
Survey respondents were asked about their satisfaction with existing options for customizing the different aspects of their characters’ profiles. From most to least satisfactory, players ranked the customization options as follows:
↓ Respondents most satisfied↓
Forms of address — 86.1% satisfied
Pronouns — 83.3% of players can choose their characters’ correct pronouns in-game
Nouns — 72.6% satisfied
Adjectives — 69.7% satisfied
Profile headers — 63.2% satisfied
Outfits and outfit items on a character level — 59.4% satisfied
Lodgings — 52.2% satisfied
Outfits and outfit items on a mechanical/meta level —40.3% satisfied
Cameos — 37.8% satisfied
Profile portrait frames — 25.9% satisfied
↑ Respondents least satisfied↑
Note that personal description and names, being options that players write for themselves, are not included. The mantelpiece and scrapbook was also not included (an oversight on my part).
It seems notable that fewer than half of respondents are satisfied with outfits and outfit items (on a mechanical/metal level), cameos, and profile portrait frames.
As we saw in the Player Values post, the customization aspects ranked most important to players are their character’s name, mantelpiece and scrapbook, and pronouns. (Numbers have been updated to reflect the latest survey results.)
↓ Most important ↓
Name (49.3%) Mantelpiece and scrapbook (29.9%), pronouns (27.4%)
Form of address (33.3%), cameo (30.8%), lodgings (28.9%), adjectives and nouns (27.9%)
Profile header (26.9%), personal description (17.9%), current outfit/favoured outfit (19.9%)
The overall feedback was that players want more customization options for everything. Failbetter should be proud that their game has resonated with so many players, and that players want even more ways to make their characters distinct, believable, and grounded in the world of Fallen London.
63.2% of players want new cameos
40.8% want new 1–5-card lodgings
38.8% want new outfit items addressing mechanical gaps
33.1% would change their name if they could freely
30.4% want more outfit items to reflect their character’s aesthetic or personality
29.4% want more profile headers from the existing header options
27.9% want more free outfit slots
27.4% want mechanical upgrades to old outfit items to make them more useful
26.9% want new adjectives
25.9% want more nouns
18.9% want new profile headers
16.9% want more options for spouses, clubs, tools of the trade, treasures, destinies, ships, or airships on a meta or mechanical level
15.2% want more options for spouses, clubs, tools of the trade, treasures, destinies, ships, or airships on a character level
14.6% want to use multiple sets of pronouns
7% want changes to the art style of existing outfit items
6% want more outfit items to reflect their character’s ethnic and/or religious background or family heritage
6% want changes to the art style of the current cameos
4.2% want more outfit items to reflect their character’s gender presentation
2.5% want more outfit items to reflect their character’s disability
2.5% want more paid outfit slots
RECOMMENDATIONS — GENERAL
In order to address the customization options that most matter to players and are least satisfactory, Failbetter could consider some changes to address the top player desires identified through these surveys.
The ability to freely change a character’s name
Pitch 1: Include a one-time option to freely change a character’s name at the conclusion of a non-repeatable storyline, like the Page from the Liber Visionis granted at the conclusion of Secrets of the Face Tailor.
Pitch 2: During character creation, clarify to new players how a character name is used before they enter a name. For example, this could be a text description: “Your character’s name will be prominently displayed on your public profile, and will be used during social actions with other players. Changing your name costs Fate.” Links to a sample character profile could also be helpful.
More mantelpiece and scrapbook space
Pitch: An expansion to two slots for each with the purchase of a five-card lodging.
The ability to upgrade a lower-level lodging to a 5-card hand with the purchase of a 5-card lodging.
The ability to create a vanity Favoured Outfit that doesn't use up an outfit slot
Pitch: Failbetter could sell additional vanity outfit slots (beyond one free slot) for Fate — although only one could display at a time, this way players could save different vanity outfits to quickly switch between.
More profile portrait frames
Pitch 1: Recolors of existing frames to match/complement most profile page header colors (brown, green, purple, blue).
Pitch 2: New frames themed to 5-card lodgings.
Pitch 3: New frames themed to a variety of other neathy themes (e.g. the Zee, tentacles, amber, jewels, bones, gaslamp, Big Ben/House of Chimes), along with a steampunk one.*
More outfit items for aesthetic purposes
Pitch 1: Cosmetic variations of existing outfit items, including color variants, and thematic variants (see below).
Pitch 2 (may be covered by Pitch 1): Outfit items (or cosmetic variations of them) with aesthetic themes including: steampunk*, edgy outlander, “ordinary” historical Victorian.
Pitch 3: Offering as many traditionally feminine outfit items as there are traditionally masculine items (particularly in the clothing, boots, and gloves categories) — currently, there are many suits available with no dress equivalent, and most in-game boots and gloves are atypical of Victorian women's clothing.
Mechanical updates to old outfit items
This is such a complex issue that I don’t have any pitches :0 but I would love to hear pitches from you all!
More profile headers
Pitch 1: More options for mid-game players for the major areas they unlock, including: the university, the university laboratory, the Shuttered Palace, and Mahogany Hall.
Pitch 2: New headers for the remote lodgings, so they feel more worthwhile to players even after they've secured 5-card lodgings.
Pitch 2: A new header with an interior view of more humble lodgings, so it feels all the more significant when you can upgrade to a 5-card lodging.
Pitch 4: Players could be given the option for their profile header to display their current location once again.
More adjective and nouns
Pitch 1: Allow players to choose from the adjectives for Watchful, Persuasive, Shadowy, and Dangerous as they unlock them.
Pitch 2: Adding more gender neutral nouns, which are popular with players.
Pitch 3: Adding alternate advanced skill adjectives, so players can choose between 2
Pitch 5: Adding a 7-related adjective (septimal or septenary?) for achieving one of many 7-related vanity qualities.
More forms of address
Pitch: “Mister” and “Miss” could be added as forms of address.
* Of course, Fallen London is not a steampunk setting; if anything, it's more gaslamp fantasy. But many players wrote in about their desires for steampunk themed items — when it's an aesthetic enjoyed by such a big chunk of the fan base, why not throw them a bone?
Failbetter has taken steps to address some of players' desires already (which I'm sure they identified in their 2024 survey), including:
More cameo options with realistic proportions — October 2025 during Hallowmas
Pitch: 63.2% of players wanted more cameos; I’m sure they would welcome even more than the 11 added!
More spouse options, including more aromantic and platonic spouses — February 2026 during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose
Pitch 1: While Failbetter has added two new non-sentient spouse options (An Unwavering Commitment to Your own Good Self and The Call of the Unterzee), they are Fate-locked and reflect very specific types of characters. There are many players who reported that they intend to never marry; if the spouse slot cannot be hidden, those players may appreciate being able to choose a non-stat-giving (including no +1 Committed), non-Fate “spouse” to showcase their intentions. Options could include: happily unattached, retiring recluse, avowed ascetic, widowed mourner.
Pitch 2: Players would welcome the ability to formally marry Poor Edward. So that players don’t feel obligated to do so, it might be best if his stats as a spouse are negative, with either no BDR or BDR that balances to 0 (such as -1R, +1D).
Pitch 3: Given how personal one’s choice of spouse is, cosmetic variants for the spouses would be a great way to expand options without creating issues with balancing. The three variants for the new Mutually Pleasurable Entanglement were incredibly well done! This could also help to expand the racial and ethnic diversity of spouses, which is currently lacking.
Additional outfit items that address gaps in available outfit items mechanically — this seems to be happening, little by little, with each new game update and festival.
Finally, I would also recommend that Failbetter include an in-game profile customization tutorial. Survey results showed that many players had no idea about some of the profile customization options, with the least-known options being:
a favoured outfit (30.9%);
a personal description (24.5% haven't written a personal description for their profile, and of those 47.1% want to but haven't gotten around to it);
a pinned journal entry (24.3%);
a profile portrait frame (10.4%);
profile header (5.2%);
an adjective (2.6%);
outfit names (2.2%);
a noun, and the mantelpiece and scrapbook (1.1%);
and pronouns (0.7%).
One obstacle players face is the fact that these profile customization options are spread out across multiple spaces (including the “Myself” page, the “Possessions” page, and several options in one’s lodgings). It might improve visibility for the non-lodging customization options (including mantelpiece/scrapbook, profile description, and favoured outfit) if they could somehow be linked to from the lodgings so everything is in one place. Even just a 0 action storylet with a description of how to customize those aspects of the player profile could be helpful.
When Failbetter launched the new profile customization options in October 2024, they added a tutorial card to the card deck to encourage players to try the new options. I'm not sure if that card still exists for new players, but I think something like it should be!
THANK YOU
I am so grateful to everyone who participated in the survey — I really treasured getting to not only satisfy my curiosity about what customization choices are most/least popular (which was what inspired this whole survey in the first place), but being able to learn so much about/from other players through their responses. There are so many cool characters and interesting stories that players are developing as they play this game! I also appreciate everyone who has been kind enough to read my silly thoughts about your responses. I may post some final reflections/even sillier thoughts at some point because this is my blog and I can do that… But for now, that’s all!
And most of all, my thanks to Failbetter Games for making such a compelling game that has inspired such creativity from its players!
when the game is so good it has you learning how to make a game, or something like that
seriously I don't know what I am doing or what the goal is, if anyone knows some good ressources on how to use godot - I would loove a recommendation omg
(I am still super duper proud of this, even with all the jankyness lol, this is so far from the stuff I usually do ahh).
(final Pam voice) I take a hammer and I FIX the canon
tentative final design for the Tailor's Jaguar Blade, remembered. research and thoughts under the cut.
We don't have much from the text itself about the blade's design:
From the beginning I'd pictured something more of a sword length, perhaps a fantasy sword that could be in a whip mode. I LOVE a fantasy sword, especially a European style sword. But when I finally sat down to work on this thing I ran into a lot of problems.
See, I love researching stuff for historical accuracy. Obviously the blade was going to be fantastical since it could shapeshift but to still draw from clear sources. Only, uh, not getting into FBG's handling of Third City stuff too much- we have almost no existing blades from Mayan culture, or Mesoamerican culture at all. We have some of the art of the main weapon used, we have maybe one sacrificial Aztec knife. We're lacking a LOT. maybe I was not looking hard enough. I don't know.
(I found a couple scepter heads with figures on them exemplifying the Mayan association with Lightning, and I think that's neat and it does make me wonder if there's a relationship between that and making the Jaguar Blade Wailing with Hunger from SMEN 30 and What Might Be A Thunderbolt, buuuuut that might be giving FBG too much credit.)
So. What do we have. Well, we got the fact that the Mesoamerican cultures did have and use jade. Considering you are using Third City Relics in the construction of the Jaguar Blade, and Third City Relics are upgraded from Jade fragments (yeah I know it is a trade ingame shhh) that felt like a reasonable material to play with. We DO have Mayan art of jaguars which WERE significant in the Maya (and many Mesoamerican) cultures. So the jaguar didn't need to be lifelike and instead was styled closer to Mayan depiction in art. (just don't, uh, don't say it's totally accurate okay? wild variation and I have my own style.)
I drew a little bit from the Aztec sacrificial blade but I didn't want to start mixing the cultures too much, that felt.... bad. They are two distinct cultures from different periods and to treat them as just two things to pull from.... bad! But I liked the slight twine wrapping above the grip.
The blade itself was a fight of its own kind, I forced myself to learn how to draw five strand braids but I really liked the look of seven strand braids. While I presume the five strands represent the five wells.... seven is the Number. As for the length, I realized the game did say knife but while I considered a shorter blade (say, machete length), what can I say? I love a long fantasy sword.
Is it obsidian glass? no. Does it wrap like a cord of rope might? Maybe. Unclear as of yet. It might simply have a sheathe, or it might sit on the hip like a whip. I'm not sure yet! I stayed up too late last night getting this sorted out. Here's some other tests I did.
How do we feel, gang? I'm mostly happy with it. Enough to set it down for now anyway haha.
This is great, I love to see redesigns of in-game items grounded in such thoughtful research! (And thanks for sharing all your research and sketches, too)
Custom Spouses Template credit to violant-apologia, via Tumblr A note for new players: spoilers and esoteric in-jokes abound! With Friends
I'd like to give thanks to violant-apologia for the original creation of this template.
For the first time, every (well, almost every) fan-spouse I've ever mocked up, together in one place! Over sixty, at this point. Peek ever so briefly into a Fallen London where you could marry the Unlucky Devil or the Efficient Commissioner! Contemplate the tragic storytelling potential of marrying a Lifeberg! Imagine the discourse around the Rat Market being the most mechanically optimal spouse! And many...many more.
Some of these are fan-favorites people have desired for years. Some of these are obscure bone market injokes. Some of these are spoilers for ambition rewards or exceptional stories. Quite a few of them are monsters. And two of them are the Struggling Artist. Reader beware.
A fierce explosion shakes London. It reverberates through the cobbles like the passing of an underground train. Flakes of ash - or snow? - rain down upon nearby roofs…An unexpected delivery has brought Hallowmas to your feet!
Hallowmas has returned! The Feast of Masks will take place from 24th October until the 7th November. This is the season of unexpected guests and dangerous revelations! To begin, find Hallowmas: An Explosion Shakes London!, available throughout London.
Confessions at the Feast of Masks
Don your mask and collect confessions. Then it’s your choice to trade them to friends, factions, or other prominent people of the Neath. No secret is safe.
Confessions will no longer grant the Spirit of Hallowmas, instead, certain pairings of confessions will allow you to enhance particular companions.
Divulged secrets from particular figures in Fallen London will also allow you to honour them or betray their trust. Just beware, confessions are tricksy, and you may find the second week of Hallowmas brings additional opportunities. And of course, be sure to make any decisions about the confessions you’ve gathered from any characters by 7th November!
We’ve set up a space to trade confessions, or feel free to search out your own with #HallowmasTrade. In order to make a trade with someone else in Fallen London, you will need to be certain they are on your contact list. Add your acquaintance either by visiting their profile page and clicking ‘add contact’ or by typing in their character name during the trade.
At the end of the festival, Mr. Huffam will still be about, looking to interview festival-goers and some of your new companions. While the Spirit of Hallowmas is absent this year, you will still discover a Hallowmas epilogue and special epithet.
Destinies
The Feast of Masks, when opposites meet at midnight! This is the season of unexpected guests… who carry terrible glimpses of possible futures.
The ability to acquire or change your destiny will be the same as previous years. This can only be done at certain times of the year, so be sure to take advantage of the chance! Begin with Attract a Visitor at Hallowmas.
Exceptionally Scary Stories
Some of Fallen London’s stories are darker than others. For the duration of Hallowmas, three Exceptional Friendship stories will be available for purchase at a discount: The Haunting at the Marsh-House, The Art of Murder, and The Waltz that Moved the World.
To purchase one of these exceptionally scary stories, or to restart one of them, find A Hallowmas Special throughout London, or visit the Fate page.
so i made a generator that creates a "the/a/an Adjective Noun" style epithet and assigns them a faction. there's over 200 adjectives and over 300 nouns for a total of at least 5 unique combinations. admittedly some of the combinations will be canon characters, contradictory/nonsensical, or Moon Moon type shit but that's not my problem. the 12 in-game factions are available alongside a few non-faction major players like the tigers just for kicks. i'll go back and add new shit if i feel like it ig.
anyway just for fun, reblog with the first guy you generate please :)
Throwing a request out into the wild: I need to reference the text for fashioning Parabolan Parables (or Parables and Revelations) into the three types of Oneiropompic Staves (Serpent-Headed, Rook-Crowned, and Tiger-Furred). I don't have the resources at the moment to make them all myself, so I'd be very grateful if anyone could send me the text!
Throwing a request out into the wild: I need to reference the text for fashioning Parabolan Parables (or Parables and Revelations) into the three types of Oneiropompic Staves (Serpent-Headed, Rook-Crowned, and Tiger-Furred). I don't have the resources at the moment to make them all myself, so I'd be very grateful if anyone could send me the text!
Throwing a request out into the wild: I need to reference the text for fashioning Parabolan Parables (or Parables and Revelations) into the three types of Oneiropompic Staves (Serpent-Headed, Rook-Crowned, and Tiger-Furred). I don't have the resources at the moment to make them all myself, so I'd be very grateful if anyone could send me the text!
Edit: I have all the text now (see reblogs), thank you so much szilverer and codexnuminous!
so i made a generator that creates a "the/a/an Adjective Noun" style epithet and assigns them a faction. there's over 200 adjectives and over 300 nouns for a total of at least 5 unique combinations. admittedly some of the combinations will be canon characters, contradictory/nonsensical, or Moon Moon type shit but that's not my problem. the 12 in-game factions are available alongside a few non-faction major players like the tigers just for kicks. i'll go back and add new shit if i feel like it ig.
anyway just for fun, reblog with the first guy you generate please :)
