Preview Bloodlines previewed at GameSpy

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Troika Games; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

<A href="http://www.gamespy.com">GameSpy</a> has served up a <a href="http://www.gamespy.com/articles/october03/bloodlines/">preview</a> of <A href="http://www.vampirebloodlines.com/">Vampire: The Masquerade - BLoodlines</a>, which is a whopping four pages long. Here's a clip:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote>In fact, according to Boyarsky, the unique experience goes even further than that. "The paths and choices a player chooses will have much more to do with how the game plays out than clan affiliation itself will," he said. "If the player chooses to disregard his humanity (other than keeping it high enough to keep from indiscriminate frenzying) and kill indiscriminately, for instance, he will have a much different gameplay experience than someone who is trying to not kill innocents." Apparently the choice of whether to play as "good" or "evil" has nothing to do with the player's clan, though certain NPCs will react differently depending on your clan. The choices the player makes will even have a dramatic impact on the way the game ends. </blockquote>
<br>
<br>
Eh... Good vampires.. What's the point?
<br>
<br>
Spotted this on <a href="http://www.homelanfed.com">HomeLAN Fed</a>
<br>

 

[Vault Dweller]

Eh... Good vampires.. What's the point?

As long as they stop there and don't do the vampire with a soul thing

 

[Voss]

Uh, well...
One of the more obscure plotlines in Vampire the Masquerade has always been the possibility of chasing Golconda- accepting the vampire nature and transcending it. Possibly becoming human again.

Though if they're tying it in with the whole End Times thing, they way they've been suggesting they are, its rather moot.

Edit: Oh, and theres nothing in V:TM that suggests they lose their soul when they get Embraced, though many think of themselves as Damned.

 

[baelstren]

Eh... Good vampires.. What's the point?

I think that this is the GameSpy interviewer conflating character development and morality. Boyarsky tells his interviewer that feeding only out of necessity vs. feeding as sport will have different consequences for your character. Given the target audience of the site, though, the interviewer tagged the former "good" and the latter "evil." Have no fear, St., I don't think Troika will trap Bloodlines within the shackles of DnD alignment (I hope).

 

[Seven]

Bioware recently showed what was possible in a branching storyline with their brilliant Knights of the Old Republic. In that game, a player's experience was dramatically changed by whether they were playing as Dark or Light-side Jedi.

I love how Bioware always gets credit for rehashing what's already been done. Like FO, didn't show what was possible 4 and-a-half-years ago

 

[triCritical]

Bioware recently showed what was possible in a branching storyline with their brilliant Knights of the Old Republic. In that game, a player's experience was dramatically changed by whether they were playing as Dark or Light-side Jedi.

I love how Bioware always gets credit for rehashing what's already been done. Like FO, didn't show what was possible 4 and-a-half-years ago

Hell that was shown in countless CRPG's before Fallout, although I doubt any were as non-linear as Fallout. Phantasy Star 3 on my Sega Genesis had some branching storylines. These guys don't know what they are saying.

 

[Petey_the_Skid]

It's not really "good" or "evil" in the D&D sense of the word, here's a snippet from the Vampire book.

Condensed somewhat from Vampire 3rd edition Rules:

Humanity

"The trait of humanity is integral to the underlying theme of Vampire the Masquerade. It is a moral code that allows Kindred to retain their moral sensibilitioes in the face of transformation into parasitic monsters. In essence it is waht keeps a vampire from becoming a mindless animal, enslaved by his thirst for vitae(rated in Pnp on a 1-10 scale)

Because a vampire follows the path of humanity does not mean he is a saint(there are also other rarer paths of morality, but players are generally discouraged from starting their characters are these paths, having to spend time and experience in game to learn them). Vampires are predators by nature, and humanity only gifts them with the ability to pretend they're not. It is an inward charade that protects a vampire from herself, much as the Masquearde protects vampires from the mortals outside.

Unfortunately, the very nature of existence as a vampire is anathema to one's Humanity. As the centuries wear on, the Beast takes hold, and Kindred become less and less concerned with the wellbeing of mortals. As such characters are likely to lose humanity over the game(older and more montrous vampires may also switch to other paths of morality, though Humanity is the only "official" path of Camarilla Vampires)

Mortals also typically follow the path of humanity, though this is largely out of ignorance. They don't know they can be anything else. As such this mecahnical system for morality rarely comes into play for them. Some mortals(rapists, murderers, etc) have low humanity scores, but they have no Beast roiling inside them, as Kindred do. It is possible for a kindred to be more human than some humans are."

I can give some more explantion if you want, but that's the gist of it. If a vampire loses all his humanity, without switching over to a different path of morality, he becomes a raging monster, unable to reason, speak or do anything except mindlesly hunt for blood. Let me know if you want more explantion on the different levels of humanity, it's game effects, or what the other paths are and how they work.

Edit: Spelling and punctuation

 

[Spazmo]

I love how Bioware always gets credit for rehashing what's already been done. Like FO, didn't show what was possible 4 and-a-half-years ago

No, it didn't.

It did that six years ago. And besides that, it didn't only have two linear paths like I assume KOTOR does (since those math whizzes at BioWare hate those "exponentially complex" plotlines), it had complex branching paths wherein you could do what you wanted and then deal with the consequences. KOTOR probably just asks you to choose one of two paths that are quite rigidly linear.

 

[Rhombus]

It's not really "good" or "evil" in the D&D sense of the word

I would say it's not at all "good" or "evil" in the D&D way... but that's me..