Editing Abbreviations and Terms (Guide)

{{GuideNeedsWork|Reason=This list should not be considered definitive and all are invited to contribute! Where possible, please link to wiki pages with further information!}}

Like any game, Fallen London has developed its share of jargon and abbreviations which might confuse newcomers.

Here, an attempt is made to provide definitions for the most common terms and abbreviations encountered on this wiki, [https://community.failbettergames.com/ the Official forums], the [https://www.reddit.com/r/fallenlondon/ Reddit forums], the [https://discord.gg/59aNpKf Official Discord], the [https://discord.gg/jEJeKpe Community Discord], or [https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.synirc.net/?#fallenlondon the IRC (Internet Relay Chat)]

==FBG & games==
'''FB/FBG'''

*Failbetter Games: The developers of Fallen London.

'''FL'''

* Fallen London: The game. Was once called Echo Bazaar (EB/EBz).

'''The Silver Tree'''

*Another small game in the Fallen London world and in the Storynexus engine. Still available at http://silvertree.storynexus.com/. 

'''SS (SSea, SSkies)'''

*Sunless Seas or Sunless Skies: Other games set in the FL universe.

'''MoTR'''
*Mask of the Rose, a visual novel set in the FL universe.

'''ES'''

* [[Exceptional Story]].

'''EF/EEF'''

*(Enhanced) Exceptional Friendship: A paid subscription granting quality of life features, extra locations, and the monthly Exceptional Story. 
*(Enhanced) Exceptional Friend: Someone with Exceptional Friendship.

'''StoryNexus'''

*The engine Fallen London is built in. It was briefly a more major product offered by FBG early in the studio's history.

==FL-specific game mechanics/concepts==
'''FLPC'''

* Fallen London Player Character: This is you, and you are ''magnificent.''

'''TtH'''
*[[Time, the Healer]]: A weekly (or near-weekly, depending on the servers) event that does very many disparate things.

'''BiS'''

*Best in slot: An item which gives the most of a particular quality (highway stat, advanced stat, etc) when compared to all other items in its equipment category.
**Strict BiS: the strict interpretation of best; this item is truly superlative and there are none that can compare.
**Shared BiS: a slightly looser interpretation; there are other items as good as this one, though there are none better.

'''Carousel'''

*A repeatable loop of actions, resulting in one large payout at the end. Examples: [[Port Cecil (Guide)]], [[Publishing a Newspaper (Guide)]].

'''Wheel'''

*Similar to a carousel, except the options available at any one point are randomized either through a randomizer quality or by being cards in a deck. Examples: [[Professional Activities (Guide)]], [[The Maze-Garden (Guide)]].

=== Progression terminology ===
[[Qualities|'''Quality''']]

* An aspect of your character's identity, personality and history. All qualities have levels, though some only have one level. In the back-end of the game, even items are (discrete) qualities!

'''CP'''

*[[Leveling|Change point]]: Tracks progress toward increasing the level of a quality. Could be considered experience, of a sort — see [[Leveling (Guide)]].

'''Pyramidal quality'''

*A quality that uses CPs to advance, instead of a quality that is directly incremented. It's [[w:Triangular_number|"pyramidal"]] because you need 1 CP to advance to level 1, 2 CP to advance to level 2, 3 CP to advance to level 3, and so on. Compare "Discrete quality" below. Pedantically, these are more obelisk-shaped, as CP-to-next-level caps at 70 for highway stats and 50 for other qualities.

'''Discrete quality'''

*A quality that does not use CPs, such as {{IL|Honoured with a Statue -|Appearance=Honoured with a Statue}}. Compare "Pyramidal quality" above.

==Back-end/wiki terminology==
'''QLD'''

*Quality level description: The name given to a particular level of a quality. For example, {{IL|Scandal|}} 1 has the QLD "Suspect".

'''QCD'''

*Quality change description: The text that appears when a quality changes. For example, "''You only have one point of [[Cat-Like Tread]] left. Finish quickly or escape now!''"

'''QVD'''

*Quality-variable description: Text ''within'' a storylet or card that changes depending on your character's qualities. For example, the first word of [[The City of the Tracklayers/Name|the name of the TLC]] is determined by your {{IL|Hinterland City - Chosen Site|Appearance=Chosen Site}}; the second is determined by {{IL|Hinterland City - Foundation|Appearance=Foundation}}.

'''slet'''

*[[Storylets|Storylet]].

==Content & Stories==
'''MYN'''

*Making Your Name: Storylines that help shepherd players through the early game, each centered around a single highway stat — see [[Making Your Name (Guide)]]. Specifically,
**[[A Name in Seven Secret Alphabets]] (Watchful)
**[[A Name Whispered in Darkness]] (Shadowy)
**[[A Name Scrawled in Blood]] (Dangerous)
**[[A Name Signed with a Flourish]] (Persuasive)

'''PoSI'''

*[[A Person of Some Importance -|A Person of Some Importance]]: After you have made your name, you must become a PoSI to unlock most further content. Comes in two tiers; has minor disadvantages, the reduction in efficiency of menace reducers such as [[F.F._Gebrandt's_Superior_Laudanum|laudanum]] being a significant drawback if done too early — see [[A Person of Some Importance (Guide)]].

'''SFiG (or USFiG)'''

*[[Uncovering Secrets Framed in Gold (Story)|(Uncovering) Secrets Framed in Gold]]: a fate-locked storyline of some lore interest.

'''SMEN'''

*[[Seeking Mr Eaten's Name]]: an incredibly menacing and damaging storyline with a long and storied IRL history. A guide can be found [[Seeking Mr Eaten's Name (Guide)|here]].

'''TLC/CiS'''

*Tracklayer's City/City in Silver: The culmination of the Railroad storyline — see [[The City of the Tracklayers (Guide)]].

===Ambitions===
*'''BaL''': [[Ambition: Bag a Legend!|Bag a Legend!]]
*'''HD''': [[Ambition: Heart's Desire!|Heart's Desire!]]
*'''LF''': [[Ambition: Light Fingers!|Light Fingers!]]
*'''Nem''': [[Ambition: Nemesis|Nemesis]]
**'''Knifegate''': A step in Nemesis that requires [[Ambition Nemesis – Is this the Dagger?|spending a lot of Echoes on Skyglass or Ravenglass Knives]]. A money-gate with knives.

===Characters===
*'''CC''': Calendar Council
*'''EC''': Efficient Commissioner
*'''FFG''': F.F. Gebrandt
*'''HAL''': His Amused Lordship
*'''JC''': Jovial Contrarian
*'''TC''': [[Faction: Tomb-Colonies|Tomb-Colonies]], Tomb-Colonist
*'''TE''': Tentacled Entrepreneur
*'''TLU''': Tracklayer's Union
*'''VPC''': Veteran Privy Councillor

===Content Cycles===
Since Fallen London turned 10, FBG has operated in a system of content cycles where a particular aspect of the game is focused on. Most (though very much not all) major new content released during a cycle is part of its setting or story.

* [https://www.failbettergames.com/news/fallen-london-is-10 10th Anniversary]: the conclusion of the four Ambitions, the addition of the University Laboratory, Parabolan Base-Camp, and Bone Market, and various other changes to the game. The [[Treasure]] slot was also added, featuring the items gained at the conclusion of the Ambitions. It also introduced the new stats of {{IL|Glasswork}}, {{IL|Monstrous Anatomy}}, {{IL|A Player of Chess}}, {{IL|Kataleptic Toxicology}}, {{IL|Shapeling Arts}}, {{IL|Artisan of the Red Science}}, and {{IL|Mithridacy}}.
* [https://www.failbettergames.com/news/railway-and-whats-next The Railway]: an extensive endgame storyline that immediately followed the anniversary and featured a new story about a rail line to Hell and the Tracklayer's Union that works on it. It added many stations along the railway that were built in sequence. In addition to adding ways to increase all main stat caps from 200 to 230, it also introduced {{IL|Steward of the Discordance}},and {{IL|Neathproofed}}.
* [https://www.failbettergames.com/news/zeefarer-zail-the-unterzee-and-discover-the-khanate Zeefarer] was the next cycle, targeted at midgame players. It introduced {{IL|Zeefaring}} as well as a complete overhail of zailing mechanics, many new zee ports and reworks of existing ones, upgrades for the [[Destiny]] and [[Ship]] slots, as well as new slots for [[Boon]], [[Burden]], and [[Tools of the Trade]]. It also featured a substantial rework of Fallen London's early and mid game. Its key story, [[Evolution (Guide)]], followed the Youthful Naturalist's investigations into death.
* [https://www.failbettergames.com/news/announcing-firmament Firmament]: the current content cycle. Targeting endgame players, its main storyline takes place on the Roof and is yet underway. It has introduced {{IL|Chthonosophy}}, {{IL|Inerrant}}, and {{IL|Insubstantial}} as well as new equipment slots for [[Adornment]], [[Luggage]], [[Airship]], and [[Crew]].

===Seasonal===
'''Estival'''

* The summer festival, different every year since 2021 — see [[Estival (Guide)]].

'''FotR'''

*Feast of the Rose: The yearly February festival — see [[Feast of the Rose (Guide)]].

'''FotZ'''

*Fruits of the Zee: The yearly September festival — see [[Fruits of the Zee Festival (Guide)]].

'''GCO'''

*Mr Chimes' Grand Clearing-Out: The 2021 Estival, now periodically available in the Waswood — see [[Mr Chimes' Grand Clearing-Out (Guide)]] and [[The Sacroboscan Calendar (Guide)]].

==Qualities==

===Seasonal===
'''PtPT'''
*Putting the Pieces Together: Typically refers to [[:Category:Putting the Pieces Together: the Taste of Lacre|Putting the Pieces Together: the Taste of Lacre]] — see [[Christmas (Guide)]] — but is occasionally used for [[:Category:Putting the Pieces Together: the Drownies|Putting the Pieces Together: the Drownies]].

===Early game: MYN–PoSI===

'''Main Stats, Highway Stats, Basic Stats'''

*[[Dangerous]], [[Persuasive]], [[Shadowy]], and [[Watchful]], the four primary stats — see [[Beginner's Guide]].

'''SiC'''

*[[Someone Is Coming]]: A quality gradually raised up to 4 on various cards, resulting in [[A Gift from the Capering Relicker]].

'''SotC'''

*[[A Scholar of the Correspondence|Scholar of the Correspondence]]: A quality required for entering the University and for choosing [[Correspondent]] as a profession. Of importance when dealing with the Masters or the Bazaar.

===Midgame: PoSI–Railway===
'''BDR'''

*[[Bizarre]], [[Dreaded]], [[Respectable]]: Can refer to these qualities as a group or the sum of Bizarre, Dreaded and Respectable stats together. Having high summed BDR is crucial to PoSIs looking to gain [[Notability]] — see [[Bizarre, Dreaded, Respectable (Guide)]].

'''LoN/AtLoN'''

*[[Advancing the Liberation of Night:|(Advancing the) Liberation of Night]].

'''MW'''

*[[Making Waves]]: A quality necessary to gain [[Notability]]. Also needed for a few other things, such as crafting a [[Night on the Town]] at the [[Bazaar Side-Streets]].

'''Nota'''

*[[Notability]].

'''PP'''

*Paramount Presence, the highest level of PoSI. Mostly a vanity quality for lategame players — see [[Paramount Presence (Guide)]]

'''Warabola'''

*[[Parabolan War (Guide)|Parabolan War]].

===Lategame: Railway and beyond===

'''Disco/🪩''' 

*The Discordance. A language, and a storyline.

'''HH'''

*[[Helicon House]].

'''A New Pope/Spider-Pope'''

*A once-highly-profitable [[Hinterland Scrip-Making|Scrip grind]] focused on [[Skeleton_in_Progress|spider skeletons]] with {{IL|Holy Relic of the Thigh of Saint Fiacre|Appearance=St Fiacre's legs}}.

==== Advanced stats/Advanced skills ====
Special skills that become available in the late game; sometimes referred to as Esoteric Arts or MAGCATS (an abbreviation of the original seven advanced stats).
*'''KT''': [[Kataleptic Toxicology]]
*'''MA''': [[Monstrous Anatomy]]
*'''APoC/PoC''': [[A Player of Chess]]
*'''GW''': [[Glasswork]]
*'''SA''': [[Shapeling Arts]]
*'''AotRS/RS''': [[Artisan of the Red Science]]
*'''Mith''': [[Mithridacy]]
*'''SotD''': [[Steward of the Discordance]]
*'''ZF''': [[Zeefaring]]

==Economy==
'''EPA'''

*[[Echo|Echoes]] per action: An estimate of the cash value of doing something. This concept is rarely referred to as PPA ([[Penny|Pence]]/pennies per action), which is EPA*100. Not something to worry about until at least mid-game — see [[Money-Making]].

'''SPA'''

*[[Hinterland Scrip|Scrip]] per action, an estimate of the Scrip value of doing something. Irrelevant until late game — see [[Hinterland Scrip-Making]].

'''HSA/THA'''

*Hinterland Scrip Arbitrage/Tinned Ham Arbitrage: A process where [[Tinned Ham]] is bought using Scrip in the Upper River and then sold to the Bazaar, resulting in a slight, but free, 1.6% increase to EPA — see [[Money-Making/Lategame#Hinterland_Scrip/Tinned_Ham_Arbitrage|here]].

'''Crackling Trade/Horsebitrage'''

*A process, no longer possible, where [[Crackling Device|Crackling Devices]] were bought using [[Assortment of Khaganian Coinage|Khaganian Coinage]] in Khan's Heart and then sold at the Rat Market for profit.

==Retired and one-off events==
'''K&C'''

*[[A Participant in the Underground Leagues of Knife-and-Candle|Knife-and-Candle]]: A mischievously murderous game where you stab other players. Retired in 2016 — see [[Fallen London Timeline]].

'''MYE'''

* Meeting Your End, AKA Metempsychosis: A potential story that would have allowed players to retire a character and start a new one. FBG cancelled it in 2021 — see [[Fallen London Timeline]].

'''Election'''

* A retired summer event that was replaced with the Estival. See [[Election (historical)]].

==Miscellaneous==
'''CC'''

*[[Send a Calling Card|Calling Card]]: Used to invite another player to become an [[Acquainted With|Acquaintance]], which is required for many (but not all) other social actions.

'''HG'''

*[[Hearts' Game (Guide)|Hearts' Game]]: A ''new'', mischievously murderous game where you poison NPCs — see [[Hearts' Game (Guide)]].

==Items==
'''T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8'''

*Item tiers, based on sell price in the Bazaar — see [[Items (Guide)]].

===Item names===
{| class="article-table sortable"
|-
!Abbreviation
!Full name
|-
|BSI
|[[Bessemer Steel Ingot]]
|-
|CD
|[[Compromising Document]]
|-
|CD
|[[Crackling Device]]
|-
|EI
|[[Extraordinary Implication]]
|-
|JoI
|[[Journal of Infamy]]
|-
|KC, KhanCoin
|[[Assortment of Khaganian Coinage]]
|-
|MoDS
|[[Memory of Distant Shores]]
|-
|MoL
|[[Memory of Light]]
|-
|NW
|[[Night-Whisper]]
|-
|RS
|[[Rat-Shilling]]
|-
|TLS
|[[Touching Love Story]]
|-
|ToT
|[[Tale of Terror!!]]
|-
|UI
|[[Uncanny Incunabulum]]
|}

[[Category:Guides|*]]