Interview Bloodlines interview right here

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Leonard Boyarsky; Troika Games; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

We've just posted our <a href="http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=104">interview</A> with <b>Leon Boyarsky</b> about his first person blood letter, <A href="http://www.vampirebloodlines.com/">Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines</a>. Here's a bit:
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<blockquote><b>9</b> <i>What features would you have like to have included in Bloodlines, if money, time and manpower wasn't an issue? </i>
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I think that if you asked any developer that question, they’d say they’d like to implement every last detail that they originally envisioned for the game, but was just not feasible due to money/time constraints.
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For us specifically, we would have loved to have given the player the opportunity to play one of the independent clans, or even go over to the sabbat side, but that would have necessitated making at least three different games in one. And don’t get me started on Diablerie...</blockquote>
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Less CTF, more clans.
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[space captain]

troika probably has the best RPG dialog system of all, starting with Fallout and on from there...

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I think this game is looking better and better all the time.

 

[Easy]

No Diablerie? That would mean that your character can never become truly powerful. If I remember the p&p rules correctly, your generation determines how many blood points you can "store and use", required for example to heal yourself or use a discipline. And since the only way to lower your generation is diablerie... Unless you start out around 6th generation, you'll always be at a disadvantage against the truly powerful vampires.

But on the other hand, that might be a good thing. Less powergaming, more thinking And after all, diablerie is punishable by death under Camarilla jurisdiction.

~Easy, only ever played one or two sessions of p&p Vampire

 

[Kortalh]

That's the way the game was designed, though. In the P&P, you're not supposed to perform diablerie... it's just in there as a neat storytelling or powergaming device. Normally if you do it, any vampire with the ability to see your aura will announce to others what you did, and your name gets passed around (particularly in the Camarilla) to where nobody trusts you and you're generally not welcome in any cities.

In other words, as nice as it would be to have a fully realized version of the P&P version, doing it is extremely rare, so what's the point of putting programming time into it when they could be doing less powergamery features?

 

[monkey]

I don't know: not including diablerie seems to me to be something of a problem. Yes, it's "illegal" in the game world; on the other hand, the mechanics of the game are designed such that, the more blood levels you have, the more powerful a vamp you are. Assuming Bloodlines follows the typical FPS convention of you facing more powerful enemies at higher levels, you are going to be in trouble late in the game without having ready access to a lot of blood levels (unless the game's going to allow you to feed in mid-combat or something...)

Heck, assuming Bloodlines follows the typical CRPG convention of you facing more powerful enemies at higher levels, you're going to be in the same boat...unless, Troika goes one step further and consistently allows you to select a non-combat option for conflict resolution.

Even then, if their non-combat option requires you to use any combination of advanced disciplines (say, two or more), you're still going to be dangerously close to becoming hungry and going into a frenzy...

 

[Kortalh]

Gaining a lower generation isn't what makes a character stronger. It is a way to get stronger, but it's not the only way. By investing your experience points wisely (using a run-n-gun character as an example) you could put more points in your firearms and dodge skill. The former would let you kill the enemy faster, the latter would let you live longer by avoiding hits.

I don't know how combat oriented the CRPG is going to be, but a major theme of P&P is that you can (and will) die quickly if you get into a fight. Allowing the player to circumvent that by lowering their generation would ruin that theme. Not to mention that it would render the game unplayable for those players who choose not to diablerize.

To make my original arguement stronger: Not only is it a crime against vampire-dom to diablerize, but the chances of finding a lower-generation vampire who is weak or surprised enough to be diablerized is an insanely rare thing in itself.

 

[monkey]

Yes, you can increase your skills; however, if your enemy damages you, to heal, you have to use a blood level. Want to temporarily increase your attribute? Blood level. Basic Celerity? Blood level. Advanced Obfuscate? Two Blood levels.

I'm not talking about strength; I'm talking about the blood pool. Yes, you can dodge all you want; but if you get hit, you're going to need blood levels to heal that damage. If you also have to make use of any disciplines in combat (or out of combat), you're going to have to use blood levels. At ten blood levels (which is what a starting P&P character is going to have), that does not give you a lot of latitude...unless you can feed constantly.

(And we're not sure if Troika is going to include feeding or not...)

Bloodlines is going to have to include some way for the player to replenish, and hopefully increase, the character's blood pool. And by getting rid of diablerie, you've cut off at least one option (it definitely cuts off the increased blood pool...).

It might be a crime, but unless Troika has some other way of increasing the blood pool, I don't know how any character is going to survive very long on 10 levels, assuming things ramp up as is normally expected in an FPS.

(Also, assuming a lower-generation character has enough resources, I'm sure they can find some way of immobilizing an older vampire through indirect means...)

 

[Petey_the_Skid]

Well...not every discipline requires blood, in fact most non combat disciplines don't use any, except for obfuscate, they use willpower instead. Also depedning on how flexible char creation is, PC's in PnP can start as low as eighth generation, which allows 15 blood points compared to a 13th genners 10. In any case though this game is a must buy for me anyways, if i can get my computer spec high enough to play it. The only thing better would be vampires in a post apocalyptic setting.

 

[GreenNight]

(And we're not sure if Troika is going to include feeding or not...)

You may be not sure, but it was one of the very firsts things they told about long time ago. Don't remember much about it but I remember a pic of a nosferatu stalking a policeman or security guard.

(Also, assuming a lower-generation character has enough resources, I'm sure they can find some way of immobilizing an older vampire through indirect means...)

I would worry more about the dominate branch than the physical one, at least in P&P.

And they could make a mechanism to simply state that spending N points you decrease a generation.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Feeding = Walking medikits.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

Feeding = Walking medikits.

You can't avoid that aspect but i'm sure you can't just wander the streets grabbing anyone and feeding on them like in redemption. That would break the masquerade and you'd be in the shit.

How are they handling the humanity side of things.

 

[Voss]

Actually from the preview a while back... in some areas you can grab anyone and start feeding. There are Masquerade and non-Masquerade zones.

And remember, from another preview- all disciplines will be costing blood, based on the level you're using it at. It was changed for balance.

 

[monkey]

Masquerade and non-Masquerade zones? Are they roped off with a vamp. or ghoul bouncer at the entrance to each one, allowing you in if you're on the guest list (maybe you can charm/scam your way into each zone...)? Do they have neon signs at the edge of each zone: "You are now leaving a non-masquerade zone; thanks for stopping by"?

 

[Voss]

From what I understood, there is an icon on the interface that indicates it. Not sure how you get from area to area- it might be a world (city) map style of thing.
Basically it sounded like it doesn't matter if the hobos see you or not.