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

[Silverfish]

"How dare they attack someone's artistic career because they don't like his personal behavior"

"I'm going to speak out against this game because I don't like the personal tweets of one of the designers"

Pick one.

"Everyone else can do or say as they please but you shouldn't because, after all, you wouldn't want to be marginally hypocritical."

 

[Zombra]

Eh, we've been speaking against this game for the past 373 pages so current drama is just another reason to add to the pile of good reasons not to buy it.

"Reasons" and "good reasons" aren't always the same thing. Anyway, I'd rather point out fallacies than spend another, what, 5 pages debating whether Damsel is the perfect waifu any more

 

[karoliner]

Americans devs don't care about your play pretend money. Please use a real currency next time.

 

[Semiurge]

5 pages debating whether Damsel is the perfect waifu any more

It's a bit strange how Damsel fans would never tolerate someone like her in real life. She's a bitch, loud, abrasive, confrontational and a bit stupid. And a communist to boot. Probably someone who'd even make the Brujah facepalm.

To her credit though, she's tough and fearless.

 

[ZVERMIX]

This guy is a senior designer on Bloodlines 2, oof.

How the fuck do you publicly shit on a person who is still officially involved with your game.
What a shitshow.

 

[Wunderbar]

"How dare they attack someone's artistic career because they don't like his personal behavior"

"I'm going to speak out against this game because I don't like the personal tweets of one of the designers"

Pick one.

preordering was a mistake in the first place, but i was hyped by the announcement.

Then there was that janky demo presentation, I thought "well, it's an early version of the game and they will fix this, bloodlines was janky too anyway". Then they've started saying bullshit about distasteful portrayal of sex workers and mentally ill people, i thought "well replacing fishmalks with legit creepy psychos is a positive thing, i believe in Mitsoda". I started regretting my decision around the time devs spoke about trigger warnings, and Avellone dogpiling was the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

This guy is a senior designer on Bloodlines 2, oof.

How the fuck do you publicly shit on a person who is still officially involved with your game.
What a shitshow.

Something like this wouldn't even happen 5 years ago. Is somebody drugging the water in major cities?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Eh, we've been speaking against this game for the past 373 pages so current drama is just another reason to add to the pile of good reasons not to buy it.

"Reasons" and "good reasons" aren't always the same thing. Anyway, I'd rather point out fallacies than spend another, what, 5 pages debating whether Damsel is the perfect waifu any more

How about good reasons to buy it? Can you come up with any? Aside from nostalgia for another game, made by another studio, 15 years ago in another galaxy.

I was hyped too, at first. Mitsoda was on board after all. But then devs started talking about their plans and posting screenshots and trailers. Turns out the game looks shit, seems to play like shit, it's made by a noname studio with no experience for RPGs, devs make weird decisions, talk absolute nonsense, strip away things that made VTMB great for reasons that have nothing to do with game design and everything to do with politics. And now they're gangbanging on Avellone even though these supposedly "serious accusations" wouldn't even outrage a nun as early as 3-4 years ago.

 

[Delterius]

i like their plans for a quest where you track the other illegal thinbloods tbh

 

[Zombra]

How about good reasons to buy it? Can you come up with any?

Classic "whataboutism"! Okay, fine. Let's talk about this now

First: I'm not in the business of selling this game, and I'm certainly not in the business of converting anti-SJW hysteria on the Codex.

With that out of the way, personally I still want to see what happens with this project. For the most part, it looks like they're trying to make more or less the game I want to see: a first-person RPG with dorky goth writing, tons of factions, and choice & consequence; with cool music and one or two sexy babes thrown in. While Mitsoda is older and perhaps mellower now, I still like him and I want to see what he comes up with. Now that he's no longer married we might even see some of his edge come back - maybe. Cara Ellison doesn't hit the perfect tone, but as a woman who's not shy about sexuality, I hope there might be some edginess on that score as well. Courtenay Taylor making a return is good news. Music so far seems not bad, the look of the graphics so far is not bad. The promise of multiple solutions to all missions is always welcome. Taken all together, and for the moment disregarding some of the stuff I'm not hyped about, I think that yes, this adds up to a game worth at least trying.

 

[compvet24]

How about good reasons to buy it? Can you come up with any?

Classic "whataboutism"! Okay, fine. Let's talk about this now

First: I'm not in the business of selling this game, and I'm certainly not in the business of converting anti-SJW hysteria on the Codex.

With that out of the way, personally I still want to see what happens with this project. For the most part, it looks like they're trying to make more or less the game I want to see: a first-person RPG with dorky goth writing, tons of factions, and choice & consequence; with cool music and one or two sexy babes thrown in. While Mitsoda is older and perhaps mellower now, I still like him and I want to see what he comes up with. Now that he's no longer married we might even see some of his edge come back - maybe. Cara Ellison doesn't hit the perfect tone, but as a woman who's not shy about sexuality, I hope there might be some edginess on that score as well. Courtenay Taylor making a return is good news. Music so far seems not bad, the look of the graphics so far is not bad. The promise of multiple solutions to all missions is always welcome. Taken all together, and for the moment disregarding some of the stuff I'm not hyped about, I think that yes, this adds up to a game worth at least trying.

If we leave out any and all mentions of SJWism and the general politicization of the game due to its staff and focus solely on the gameplay trailers, I don't really see much at all to look forward to. Everything they've shown thus far is complete ass, from graphics to weird gameplay. I will love to be proven wrong when the game does come out though.
But besides from that, I'm not hyped for this game because thus far it seems every single positive factor anyone can pull out of their ass is entirely related to comparisons from the last game (x is working on this, x is also working on this) and things not related to the actual game itself. No original thought or new ideas to look forward to. Maybe story? I am still not sure but better to not get my hopes up.

 

[Zombra]

But besides from that, I'm not hyped for this game because thus far it seems every single positive factor anyone can pull out of their ass is entirely related to comparisons from the last game and things not related to the actual game itself.

Disagree. Removing the name dropping from my post above, we still have: first-person RPG, dorky goth writing, factions, substantial choices & consequences, nice music and atmosphere. That's not exactly a slamming sales pitch, but it's not nothing either.

 

[HansDampf]

dorky goth writing

substantial choices & consequences

nice music and atmosphere

Rik Schaffer

 

[Infinitron]

The only real gameplay we've seen now is over a year old. The truth is nobody knows nothing.

 

[Cael]

The only real gameplay we've seen now is over a year old. The truth is nobody knows nothing.

If nobody knows nothing, then everybody knows something.

Which is pretty much correct. Everyone knows it will be off the wokemeter and the Reichtsoy scale. That screams "Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!" to me.

 

[Infinitron]

Every interview or development update with Cara Ellison - annoyingly woke.

All other interviews and appearances, not to mention the only gameplay footage we've seen so far:

 

[vortex]

New gameplay footage - E3 2021

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

Plot twist - there will be no E3 2021

 

[vortex]

Plot twist - there will be no E3 2021

The end of the world?

 

[Gruncheon]

Every interview or development update with Cara Ellison - annoyingly woke.

All other interviews and appearances, not to mention the only gameplay footage we've seen so far:

The emotional labour involved in producing one blog post is an order of magnitude more difficult than simply 'releasing' a 'playable' game. Gameplay, story, quests? Nice to have, sure. But can you really say, with a straight face, that they're more important than implying the original game was retrograde trash? Trash that actively harmed mentally ill people? Please understand. By interrogating the biases of VTM:B, Cara Ellison and team have already surpassed the original game. Releasing a functioning sequel is something of an afterthought at this point.

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

The end of the world?

Nah, I think big companies just start to do online only thing like Nintendo Direct or something and indie studious will have choice - trying to carry costs of presentation on their back or just trying organize some online event. It makes sense for all companies to go digital with presentation of their product in case of another epidemic situation + they can be free from hassle to deal with organization of mass scale event with shitload of people. For BIG companies there one more bonus - it will be easier to sensor any "wrongthink" against their leader Xi the Pooh, while E3 can be "sabotaged" if someone will carry in secret costume of yellow bear and dress up in toilet.

 

[Semiurge]

black nobility zone where white scum is not allowed.

Except as hoodoo zombies. Zombries.

And now they're gangbanging on Avellone even though these supposedly "serious accusations" wouldn't even outrage a nun as early as 3-4 years ago.

Attitudes can get outdated very quickly now, it seems.

On Avellone though, so he was in a habit of having to get women very drunk before he could have his way with them, then? There goes my dream of becoming a game designer/writer

 

[guestposting]

MCA certainly doesn’t have much game.

 

[Silverfish]

More than B2's dev team, though.

 

[Sailor Woedica]

There's a new interview with Brian and Cara!



https://the-re-bind-io-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bloodlines-ii-cara-ellison-brian-mitsoda

For a very special episode we're joined by some of the narrative design team on Bloodlines II, Cara Ellison & Brian Mitsoda to talk about the game's tabletop inspirations, how Ellison got involved, the art of narrative design, improving representation & diversity in narrative. We also discuss how the game's humor has revamped, a look back at Troika's legacy and what it was like to be inside the company, and Bloodlines lore. In an experiment, we've also included an auto-generated transcript.

topics:

tabletop games inspirations

how cara joined, going from journalist to developer

narrative design

humour in the game, silly jokes, himbos

bloodlines 2

representation in bloodlines 2

bloodlines 1 fan questions, lore & worldbuilding

troika, bloodlines 1 development

games journalism