World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from Hardsuit Labs

[Delterius]

At least VV has purple hair so she's a good fit.

pink and im disappointed at you, son

It's red

its not red red its somewhere between red red and red pink red don't you agree i sure do

 

[Prime Junta]

pink and im disappointed at you, son

This is a swatch of imperial purple.

 

[Egosphere]

Can you play as a Malkavian?

“It’s fifteen years later and things have changed,” Mitsoda said. “We have to be very sensitive about how we handle things like mental illness and that was a concern for us and for Paradox, in how we can make a mature story but if we do anything, we do our homework and make sure that we are punching up and not punching down.”

This garbage will be a mess of virtue signalling.

Which Mitsoda said that? Actually, don't answer. We already know.

 

[Dexter]

She also said that they’re trying to broaden Bloodlines 2 from the more masculine power fantasy of the original, so that it appeals to way more people this time.

Bloodlines was shit - Cara Ellison

From Kotaku: http://archive.is/brWfk

The World of Darkness can be fraught at times. The original game traded in careless depictions of sex work and some tired writing about mental illnesses like disassociative identity disorder. You could play as a member of the mentally-addled but prophecy-gifted Malkavian clan, with altered dialogue that, while humorous, danced a fine line in terms of taste. There was even some racial stereotyping for good measure. Meanwhile, White Wolf’s management of the World of Darkness setting has not been without controversy. Last November, the Paradox subsidiary drew criticism for using the real-life persecution and murder of Chechnya’s LGBTQA population as a plot-point in the setting’s vampiric politicking. Paradox fully integrated White Wolf after this incident. When asked about their approach to the setting, the team outlined how they wanted to handle the World of Darkness in 2019.

“It was very of its time,” Ellison said of the first game. “It approached certain topics differently. How we look at stuff has matured since then.”

“It’s fifteen years later and things have changed,” Mitsoda said. “We have to be very sensitive about how we handle things like mental illness and that was a concern for us and for Paradox, in how we can make a mature story but if we do anything, we do our homework and make sure that we are punching up and not punching down.”

“We talk about these issues constantly,” Ellison added. “Because we care about including people, we want them to feel powerful and sexy, and we don’t want them to feel like it’s not for them.”

I’m cautiously optimistic about Bloodlines 2. The gameplay’s emphasis on exploration and Hardsuit’s goal of building a vibrant Seattle are compelling. The team’s willingness to talk about the first game’s stumbles was good to see. And it’s exciting to have a Vampire game that appears to play well. It could be the expansive vampire RPG that players have craved for over a decade, even if they’ll have to wait until 2020 to play it. There’s challenges to the World of Darkness setting and plenty of baggage from the first game, but also a lot of potential for engrossing stories. Also, I might get to smooch a vampire. Or at least use my Seduction skill from time to time.

“We have lots of conversations about who is everyone’s ship,” Ellison said.

From RPS: https://archive.fo/sQ2rw

“I often look at like, how would someone feel sexy in this situation?” she explained, and said that there are definitely characters in there that will be shipped like mad. “Everyone in the studio is like ‘Yeah I would definitely go for that one. He’s my bae,’ kind of stuff. They’re often very unusual choices.”

She also said that they’re trying to broaden Bloodlines 2 from the more masculine power fantasy of the original, so that it appeals to way more people this time.

At least they admit why they're shilling for it that strongly:

Disclaimer: Cara Ellison wrote things for us years ago, and has been known to make Alice O’Connor, our news editor, cups of tea (they’re flatmates).

 

[jf8350143]

Oh wow Obsidian would 1000% have gotten this if they hadn't screwed up Paradox relationship with Tyranny funds

I doubt that's the case, according to the interview they started working on this back to 2016, where Tyranny is almost complete at that moment.

 

[Duraframe300]

It’s fifteen years later and things have changed,” Mitsoda said. “We have to be very sensitive about how we handle things like mental illness and that was a concern for us and for Paradox, in how we can make a mature story but if we do anything, we do our homework and make sure that we are punching up and not punching down.”

“We talk about these issues constantly,” Ellison added. “Because we care about including people, we want them to feel powerful and sexy, and we don’t want them to feel like it’s not for them.”

 

[Turbo normie]

Can't wait to fight the patriarchy with my powerful night creature, because within the Masquerade, with such political tensions in the underground world... My first concern as a vampire is to be sure that faggots in Islam aren't stoned anymore.

 

[Lacrymas]

I told you we are going to play as thin-bloods as a representation of the oppressed minority! It was so obvious. It looks nothing like Bloodlines, it looks like Vampyr in first-person. The trailer misses the point so much, VtM isn't about drowning the world in blood, it's about you being drowned in blood.

 

[Werdna's Revenge]

I never really cared for any of the whitewolf properties, so I never even bothered playing Bloodlines. Vampire going down the SJW rabbit hole isn't exactly a huge leap to me, although I expect the paradox DLC death crush to be way more disruptive to the RPG experience than anything else. I guess if I ever do hanker to play a bloodsucker game the good one is still out there untainted for me.

 

[Delterius]

VtM isn't about drowning the world in blood

only if you are a high humanity pansy

 

[Kem0sabe]

“We have lots of conversations about who is everyone’s ship,” Ellison said.

WTF is this shipping shit?

 

[Prime Junta]

If it offends nobody, it's not a VtM game.

It looks very much like Mitsoda & co are dead set on not offending anybody.

 

[Duraframe300]

Mitsoda is sadly tainted for me. That punching up/down rhetoric can fuck right off. *Triggered*

 

[Lacrymas]

only if you are a high humanity pansy

You sure can, but if you do it, it's about being justified for doing it.

 

[jf8350143]

If it offends nobody, it's not a VtM game.

It looks very much like Mitsoda & co are dead set on not offending anybody.

Read the last few pages, I'd say they've already successfuly offended tons of people here on Codex, so that part is covered.

 

[Delterius]

only if you are a high humanity pansy

You sure can, but if you do it, it's about being justified for doing it.

yeah i killed every innocent in gun zones and that left me with humanity 1 in the endgame

also yukie

drown the world in blood

 

[Vincente]

I told you we are going to play as thin-bloods as a representation of the oppressed minority! It was so obvious. It looks nothing like Bloodlines, it looks like Vampyr in first-person. The trailer misses the point so much, VtM isn't about drowning the world in blood, it's about you being drowned in blood.

Didn't they talk about how you will ''drown in an inexorable tide of blood'' during the time of Gehenna?

 

[Lacrymas]

Yes, the end-times that didn't happen.

 

[Delterius]

Yes, the end-times that didn't happen.

i am the endtimes

 

[Tavernking]

Ah shit it's not red after all

 

[fantadomat]

pink and im disappointed at you, son

This is a swatch of imperial purple.

Clearly you plebeians don't know shit about colours! It is a red velvet! Now go back to farming!

 

[Dexter]

I never really cared for any of the whitewolf properties, so I never even bothered playing Bloodlines. Vampire going down the SJW rabbit hole isn't exactly a huge leap to me, although I expect the paradox DLC death crush to be way more disruptive to the RPG experience than anything else. I guess if I ever do hanker to play a bloodsucker game the good one is still out there untainted for me.

Honestly, aside from all that shit I think people are too unconcerned about the developers of this, it strikes me similar to people expecting a competent Planescape: Torment sequel from the developers of Super Stacker and Choplifter HD: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...live-on-in-eternity.76239/page-8#post-2278162

Who the fuck are these people, and why would they be the right choice or posess the requisite skills to develop a sequel to Bloodlines?:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Studios#Games_developed
https://www.mobygames.com/company/zombie-studios-inc

 

[Egosphere]

Ah shit it's not red after all

Yep. It's boysenberry.

 

[Edija]

Monkeypawed hard here, eh? The only way you could get a proper Vampire game is if you fund Cleve to make it.

 

[Prime Junta]

VV's hair is purple.

This is the hill I choose to die on.