Hello, Delicious Friends!

Progress in Fallen London's early game is currently determined solely by the Watchful, Shadowy, Dangerous, and Persuasive stats. If one of these stats falls within a certain range, stories may or may not be available. This is a system we moved away from in later content, and it's one we're looking to move away from altogether.
We're currently in the process of overhauling the whole of the early game, and will be implementing major changes soon. Before we did, we wanted to share some of those details with you, to give you an idea of what to expect.

We're going to divide our existing content into several tiers, and implement a qualities to measure your progress in each stat. All of the content in a tier will be unlocked immediately on reaching that point, instead of its stories being locked within a certain stat range. You are eligible to graduate from tier to tier on completing certain stories within each tier.

For example, Persuasive: A Name Signed with a Flourish is the quality which measures your progress in Persuasive. Players will begin their careers by writing commissions in Veilgarden. After writing their Mushroom Epic, an admirer of their work will show them the world of Honey-Dens; in the Dens they'll dream, and once they develop a notable relationship with either the Jewel-Thief or the Heiress and get the public whispering, will advance into the next tier. The world will notice the player; and as they continue to make their name, the world will continue to open itself for the player to freely explore.

This will offer a number of boons:

A more coherent experience. There will now be an arc to progression, and a sense of development and direction, while maintaining the sense of an open world that the player lives in.
Achievements will be recognized and celebrated on reaching graduation points, which transition the player from one tier to another.
These graduation points will offer room for self expression. Will you join those who toast you in good faith and cheer? Will you steal their secrets? Turn the celebration into a debauch? Or maybe sit by yourself, and get the whole room to talk about you? The world will recognize your choice, and your Quirks will reflect this.
There's a glimpse given of the content of the next tier, and all that the player will have to look forward to doing. In addition to giving a greater sense of unity in the player's story, it allows newer players a greater insight into what's going on.
Every graduation point will award major stat boosts, to help make the progress even smoother.

There will be a number of adjustments required as we implement these new tiers. Storylets will lose their stat locks, and instead be locked per the relevant quality. The difficulty checks of a number of stories will be adjusted; some challenges will be more difficult, while others will become easier. Some existing content will be modified. Rewards for successful actions will be adjusted. Things will be in flux for a time, but settle soon.

Some players may be wondering what would stop an individual from completing a tier immediately, if all content is unlocked right from the start. As noted earlier, story qualities still remain - if a story requires several steps to get to the end, you'll still have to go through those. Also, difficulty checks will also maintain pace. If a story is at the end of a tier, it'll be more difficult than the content there at its beginning.

We'll be releasing these new qualities individually over the next few months. The first two of these - Persuasive: A Name Signed with a Flourish and Watchful: A Name in Seven Secret Alphabets, are now live. The next, Dangerous: A Name Scrawled in Blood, is coming on or just after Tuesday 22 September.

Edit: As of 10 November 2015, Shadowy: A Name Whispered in Darkness is now live, and these changes to early game content are complete!