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

[Gangrelrumbler]

IME Swedes are much less idpol than Kwanzanians (although moreso than Danes or Finns, don't know about Norwegians). Also Paradox's strategy games are mega popular among shitlords. I think it's unlikely he got axed for being problematic. More likely just vanilla office politics.

Isn't Paradox butthurt about their popularity among the right? I remember them removing phrase Deus Vult from the sequel to one of their games because of association between the phrase and the far right.

Yeah nah.

It literally was fake news. I've tried searching for an article and found RPS note where author admitted that he was full of shit.

 

[cyborgboy95]

Maybe Brian Mitsoda got fired because he didn’t agree with slicing the story up into endless DLCs aka the usual Paradox way?

 

[Harthwain]

"Wouldn't be able to tell what was written by Brian, and what by Cara"

Uh-huh, sure.

Obvious damage control is obvious.

 

[Takamori]

There goes any chance that I could give a optimistic take on this game release. So many red flags scattered around I rather not deal with this shit at all.

 

[Tyranicon]

Firing Mitsoda now would be like firing Avellone from the official PST sequel. Or firing Kojima from MGS5.

Both of these men have WAY more social recognition than fucking Mitsoda, and even with them I doubt it matters much. Maybe if you made a niche targeted Planescape 2 Kickstarter Avellone would be important, but not with a bigger mainstream game like this one wants to be. Did MGS5 fail? Wikipedia says best sales in the franchise and extremely high critical reviews, so I'm guessing it didn't. You guys seriously have to recognize what a small niche we're in even knowing these names let alone caring about them. Saying "you do not fire Mitsoda!" is a big wet fart outside of sites like this one.

You're not wrong, but VTMB was already a niche cult hit, and for many people, Brian Mitsoda was the only reason for optimism in what seemed like a janky, poorly-produced sequel. Not to mention that without him, there likely wouldn't be a sequel in the first place.

This project is now DOA.

 

[prengle]

 

[just]

fixed

 

[Tyranicon]

fixed

What else exactly has Cara Ellison worked on? All I see is that she was a journo at RPS and an "external narrative consultant" for Dishonored 2(which usually just means she was some sort of proofreader/editor).

How do these no-name journos keep getting writing jobs? Another sign the games industry is incestuous garbage.

 

[prengle]

What else exactly has Cara Ellison worked on? All I see is that she was a journo at RPS and an "external narrative consultant" for Dishonored 2(which usually just means she was some sort of proofreader/editor).

the wrinkly balls and two inch long chodes of dozens of Game Industry Influencers™

 

[DalekFlay]

You're not wrong, but VTMB was already a niche cult hit, and for many people, Brian Mitsoda was the only reason for optimism in what seemed like a janky, poorly-produced sequel. Not to mention that without him, there likely wouldn't be a sequel in the first place.

Odds are overwhelmingly on the side of it never being the sequel that niche cult audience wanted anyway, whether he was fired or not.

 

[whydoibother]

My excitement for the game just went from 5/10 to 3/10. Hopefully he was done curating concept art, setting the tone, and writing the main plot and bigger side quests by now. A lead writer's job is usually over before anyone else's, and even though I would've liked him to stay on board until release, and even post release to patch it up and expand, I hope it will be his game we get to play.
Did they release the reason for the dismissal yet?

 

[throwaway69420]

All these tards saying, “THIS is the final straw!” as if it wasn’t apparent the game was going to suck cock since its reveal.

 

[mk0]

Until recently, I was the Narrative Lead on a videogame called Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 for Hardsuit Labs, Inc being published by Paradox Interactive (which owns 30% of Hardsuit Labs). After almost five years involvement with the studio, I was suddenly terminated on 7/16/20.

That this came as a shock to me is underselling it. I’ve worked on Bloodlines 2 for almost five years. The story and main cast was initially conceived in my living room. I helped develop the pitch for Hardsuit Labs and helped pitch the project to Paradox in Las Vegas. I’ve been in charge of the narrative since the beginning, working long days and sometimes weekends to deliver a successor to Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, and I’ve never been led to believe that I hadn’t succeeded. Very obviously, I have also been involved in the PR and marketing side of things, even though it was one of the most difficult parts for me. I’m a pretty private person – press and crowds tend to heavily trigger my social anxiety (which, if you’ve ever wondered about the gloves, they are “armor” that make me feel less exposed in situations that trigger my anxiety).

Bloodlines and the fandom of the game mean the world to me. So I lent my legacy with the franchise, my name, and my participation in marketing efforts for the game, even when it was intensely difficult and took a mental and physical toll. This is all because I wanted to do what was best for the game and the team.

The pride in the work, the fan expectations, and the support from co-workers who started out as fans kept me going through this long five years. And I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project.

I was not part of the conversations that led to the decision to delay production, and to my knowledge, there were no delays caused by the Bloodlines 2 narrative development. I am confident and proud of the work that I and my team put forward. When that work will be seen and what form it will take is unknown to me.

It was a pleasure to work on this game and with many people at Hardsuit Labs and Paradox and I’m sorry I won’t be able to see it to the end. I spent years on some of the best characters and dialogue that I ever wrote. It’s meant a lot to hear from the Bloodlines community and I do hope that what’s finally delivered is as satisfying as I intended it to be. Thanks to all of you who supported me throughout the project.

I hope he learned his lesson, a man should never get so personally invested in something where he's just another replaceable cog in the machine.

 

[whydoibother]

All these tards saying, “THIS is the final straw!” as if it wasn’t apparent the game was going to suck cock since its reveal.

Maybe if you are OD'd on redpills, and think that every time a stupid liberal voices their opinion the world moves one step towards apocalypse. This game's development, marketing, setup, etc, was nothing unlike most other of its weight class. We were just predisposed to dislike it, because of the memory from the first Bloodlines video game, and how the team looked then, and its perceived martyrdom (not that I didn't hate them for releasing a buggy shit game back then).
This isn't the last straw for me, I'm still pirating the game as soon as I can to play it, and unless it is utter inane shit I'll push myself to see it to the end. I hope its like having fun, and not like doing homework, but I'm invested enough to play anyways.

 

[fantadomat]

I must have missed something,did the glove boy got kicked out? I thought that only his mate got sacked or something.

 

[fantadomat]

Until recently, I was the Narrative Lead on a videogame called Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 for Hardsuit Labs, Inc being published by Paradox Interactive (which owns 30% of Hardsuit Labs). After almost five years involvement with the studio, I was suddenly terminated on 7/16/20.

That this came as a shock to me is underselling it. I’ve worked on Bloodlines 2 for almost five years. The story and main cast was initially conceived in my living room. I helped develop the pitch for Hardsuit Labs and helped pitch the project to Paradox in Las Vegas. I’ve been in charge of the narrative since the beginning, working long days and sometimes weekends to deliver a successor to Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, and I’ve never been led to believe that I hadn’t succeeded. Very obviously, I have also been involved in the PR and marketing side of things, even though it was one of the most difficult parts for me. I’m a pretty private person – press and crowds tend to heavily trigger my social anxiety (which, if you’ve ever wondered about the gloves, they are “armor” that make me feel less exposed in situations that trigger my anxiety).

Bloodlines and the fandom of the game mean the world to me. So I lent my legacy with the franchise, my name, and my participation in marketing efforts for the game, even when it was intensely difficult and took a mental and physical toll. This is all because I wanted to do what was best for the game and the team.

The pride in the work, the fan expectations, and the support from co-workers who started out as fans kept me going through this long five years. And I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project.

I was not part of the conversations that led to the decision to delay production, and to my knowledge, there were no delays caused by the Bloodlines 2 narrative development. I am confident and proud of the work that I and my team put forward. When that work will be seen and what form it will take is unknown to me.

It was a pleasure to work on this game and with many people at Hardsuit Labs and Paradox and I’m sorry I won’t be able to see it to the end. I spent years on some of the best characters and dialogue that I ever wrote. It’s meant a lot to hear from the Bloodlines community and I do hope that what’s finally delivered is as satisfying as I intended it to be. Thanks to all of you who supported me throughout the project.

I hope he learned his lesson, a man should never get so personally invested in something where he's just another replaceable cog in the machine.

That sounds kind off sad,do hope that he got sacked because of his sjw views and speared us the pain of watching it. It will be shit if he was the reasonable one and got sacked for that.

 

[Raskens]

IME Swedes are much less idpol than Kwanzanians (although moreso than Danes or Finns, don't know about Norwegians). Also Paradox's strategy games are mega popular among shitlords. I think it's unlikely he got axed for being problematic. More likely just vanilla office politics.

Yes, I'm swedish and I agree with this. From what I can observe most idpol people are inspired by american feminists.

 

[whydoibother]

I must have missed something,did the glove boy got kicked out? I thought that only his mate got sacked or something.

Those organizational changes have now been unveiled in a short statement available on the official Bloodlines 2 website: Both Lead Writer Brian Mitsoda and Creative Director Ka’ai Cluney are no longer working part of the team at Hardsuit Labs. The statement further says that this was "a joint decision made by the leadership of Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive".

And a month ago they removed Chris Avellone's writing from the game. Maybe its related, his buddies standing up for him or something?

 

[Mikeal]

 

[Tye]

If you squint and cross your eyes the development troubles actually bode well because they mean the game is going to be more like the first.

 

[LilWololoMane]

The Bloodlines 2 Discord server was popping off. There were a shitload of corporate dick suckers who believe complaining about the direction the writing took and the firing of Mitsoda is all just an "alt-right dogwhistle" as you'd expect. I guess this is the game's audience now, virtue signalers. There was some god-tier shitposting though.

 

[Chippy]

So I take it Brian Mitsoda has left the writing team? I haven't really been following this. Is the work that he has done going to remain?. Will he be credited for what he has done?.

It seems to be a strategy these days of people on the political left to stand on the creative shoulders of other artists.

 

[Alexios]

So I take it Brian Mitsoda has left the writing team? I haven't really been following this. Is the work that he has done going to remain?. Will he be credited for what he has done?.

He got fired.

 

[Zyondyne]

All the Paradox dude would say about it is that it was about creative stuff and not about money and that the decision to fire Brian was made between the studio and Paradox. Outstar was also talking about it:

Imagine firing the guys responsible for pitching the game idea in the first place for CREATIVE DIFFERENCES. Just say you wanna turn it into a generic multiplayer FPS, Hardsuit Labs. This is after all you've ever done before.

 

[DeepOcean]

When I heard the announcement: This looks like shiet.

When I heard Brian was involved: This might be good, Brian knows how to write characters that arent sitcom character shooting inane "funny" one liners each 30 seconds. Lets be fabulous optimistic here.

When I heard about his firing: Yep, this will be definitely shiet.

If he was fired for not agreeing with the changes, pretty sure alot of his work was thrown in the garbage but hey... to all people that are still going to buy this, there are good news, you will be able to eventually buy Brian's deleted work on 2021, 2022,2023, 2024, 2025 ... on 12 small payments to Paradox.