The online game I'm playing now.

I'd heard about Echo Bazaar first from kestrel, I think.

Before I go further, let me say that, in order to play this game, you are required to log in through either Facebook or Twitter. I know that there are some of you who are philosophically opposed to having an account on either service, so I'll just say up front that you're not going to be able to play this game. They have their own reasons for making that choice; I think we can all agree that, whether we agree with that choice, it's their choice to make. For me, I'd rather have been able to avoid doing so, but I choose to log in through Facebook.

So, what IS the game? In its basic form, it is similar to Kingdom of Loathing: you have a certain number of actions per day, and each of those actions is a little adventure. In KoL, most of those actions are going to be combats with various creatures, along with other things you can do; the "Storylets" are more widespread.

One of the first things I heard about this game was how egalitarian it is. The game designers try mot to make any assumptions about what kind of characters people are going to want to play. The first delightful thing you encounter is in character creation, in which you are given three options for what sex you wish your character to be: "A gentleman", "A lady", and "My dear sir, there are individuals roaming the streets of Fallen London at this very moment with the faces of squid! Squid! Do you ask them their gender? And yet you waste our time asking me trifling and impertinent questions about mine? It is my own business, sir, and I bid you good day."

After that, I don't know that it's ever referred to again, except on your character sheet. If you encounter a Storylet about a romantic encounter, you may play it or not as you choose, regardless of your character's gender, and the gender of the NPC. Romance plotline storylets appear to feature male and female NPCs about equally, and a few in which the gender isn't really specified.

Your character picture is a silhouette -- which means that it could be whatever skin color you'd like it to be.

Do they always succeed in being inclusive and not assuming things about the characters? No, not always. But they have requested that, if you find a blind spot that they've tripped over, you email them and tell them about it, and they'll try to tweak the storylet to un-oops it.

Okay. So what is the game itself?( May as well throw a cut in here; it's getting long )