If you've logged onto Echo Bazaar lately you may have noticed a big green button. This is a feature people have been requesting for ages: a chance to try out the game *before* you sign up via Twitter or Facebook.

Clicking "Play Trial" takes a new player through the first area of Fallen London with a temporary identity. Once they've escaped from New Newgate, they'll be asked if they want to create a character as normal.

We understand how frustrating it can be to get your friends to play Echo Bazaar; people often regard social media signups with suspicion, no matter how transparent and polite we are about it. As an Echo Bazaar player, you already know that we never echo without your express permission and we never abuse your personal information.

But try telling your friends that, right?

So that's what the big green button is for - to make Fallen London a more sociable place for you. And because we like new people too, we're making it much easier and more rewarding to invite new players to the game.

Here's how it works: if a player signs up to Echo Bazaar from your Profile page, you get a little gift. This might be a free action refresh, in the form of Darkdrop Coffee, or something more valuable. You can do this seven times, and the seventh gift is a particularly nice one.

They do have to sign up directly from your Profile page for this to work, and they'll need to create an account when they're done with the trial. Don't know how to find your Profile page? Look at the top of your Me page in the game - there's a link.

The same technology allows us to drop random gifts when you echo content sometimes. You may have come across that already.

We're constantly working on ways to make Echo Bazaar more fun to play for you and your friends. We've got a number of improvements coming soon, including inventory tweaks and economy improvements, and of course lots of new content. Forthcoming delights include the concluding episode of "Stormy Eyed", a thrilling Scientific Expedition and a whole new use for your Lodgings.

As ever, delicious friends, we are your servants.