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

[Semiurge]

If this actually written in a rulebook then fine but I think its reflection of what devs have said long before somewhere about sexworkers: treat them right, not as walking bloodpacks. Or I'm reading too deep and they simply restricting low humanity players from additional blood sources like you have said which is fine as well.

This wouldn't make any sense for WoD. If you're low on humanity, you will take your blood where you can, even from animals. Why would you need high humanity to perform a basic act like feeding, if anything it should be the opposite - when you're low on blood you need exceptional humanity and control to suppress the need. They must be enforcing artificial rules based on their liberal interpretation of the lore, simply taking what the beast needs is no longer acceptable, so only the "respectful" kindred can talk their way to hooker blood.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

Isn't Rudi meant to be a critique on SJW culture? His original characterization was meant to show how much of a hypocrite he was and how he used SJW talking points to sucker fledglings into being his minions.

He's based on a real person, the big difference being how the actual guy is still in the closet to his family. A power fantasy.

In that case it sounds like a furry inserting their own OC [DO NOT STEAL] to work out their own inner jyhad.

If this actually written in a rulebook then fine but I think its reflection of what devs have said long before somewhere about sexworkers: treat them right, not as walking bloodpacks. Or I'm reading too deep and they simply restricting low humanity players from additional blood sources like you have said which is fine as well.

This wouldn't make any sense for WoD. If you're low on humanity, you will take your blood where you can, even from animals. Why would you need high humanity to perform a basic act like feeding, if anything it should be the opposite - when you're low on blood you need exceptional humanity and control to suppress the need. They must be enforcing artificial rules based on their liberal interpretation of the lore, simply taking what the beast needs is no longer acceptable, so only the "respectful" kindred can talk their way to hooker blood.

"Horror" = You didn't get consent!

 

[Harthwain]

I think the issue isn't in not being able to pay, but with deciding the threshold at which you're not able to pay.

The lower your humanity is, the closer you are to being an animal and animals don't conform to societal arrangements. At this point you - as a player - can't PAY a hooker, because you - as a character - don't see the need to pay them. You can simply TAKE blood (by force) from whomever you want whenever you want. It also makes sense if we take a look at this in the context of the Masquerade itself: you need to have high enough humanity in order to be able (and willing!) to take the blood covertly. Because, let's face it, vampires don't really hire hookers to fuck them. They hire them for blood. And by paying a hooker you ensure easier and more secure access to food, both of which are important for the setting.

Take a look for the scale from Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines:

Mechanics
A Kindred's Humanity is measured with a scale, ranging from 0 to 10.

0: When a vampire's humanity reaches 0, the vampire is completely lost to the Beast, so deeply that it is impossible for him/her to take control ever again. Such a vampire is called a Wight, and the act of reaching 0 is called Wassail.

1-4: They are vampires who will do any heinous deed and will gain pleasure from it. No crime is horrendous for them, as they delight in their bestial nature.

5-6: They will usually be distant and neutral, as they would not see the need for excessive murder, but they would not see the need for protecting life either.

7: They have the same feelings as in life, with the moralities and taboos of humans.

8-9: These vampires are extremely compassionate, as they will fight every night against their Bestial urges while trying to protect humans as well.

10: A 10 is viewed as a saint in the world of the Kindred. They are completely repulsed by their nature and they follow an incredibly strict moral code in order to keep themselves out of the Beast's reach.

 

[Wesp5]

- the story is you get dumped by a girlfriend, but when she leaves you, you all get jumped by thin bloods who bite you and everyone dies except you...

I think this sentence alone proves that these are fake news. Cara Ellison said several times that she was writing the quests about what happened to the other thin bloods embraced in that event. How could she do that if everyone died? Q.E.D.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

- the story is you get dumped by a girlfriend, but when she leaves you, you all get jumped by thin bloods who bite you and everyone dies except you...

I think this sentence alone proves that these are fake news. Cara Ellison said several times that she was writing the quests about what happened to the other thin bloods embraced in that event. How could she do that if everyone died? Q.E.D.

Having her beloved butt baby get hacked apart could be a reason why she quit. Maybe she and Mitsoda both weren't passing the new Paradox purity standards of the woke cult koolaid and were told to remove problematic content. One got fired, the other went along until it got too much. I mean, look at what they were replaced with. Look at what functional employees (albeit clueless of RPG design) have been replaced with. This game was shitfucked from the start and it's just been getting worse.

If HSL itself survives this development to any significant degree I'll be damn surprised.

 

[Wesp5]

Still I don't remember anything about a girlfriend in the intro I have been shown and why should anybody die in a mass embrace? Also as far as I remember there was talk about recurring characters from Bloodlines but never the Voermans, so this looks like bad fan fiction to me...

 

[Child of Malkav]

Still I don't remember anything about a girlfriend in the intro I have been shown and why should anybody die in a mass embrace? Also as far as I remember there was talk about recurring characters from Bloodlines but never the Voermans, so this looks like bad fan fiction to me...

Hopefully you're right and this is not as bad as it sounds. But still, it's not outside the realm of possibility and that is what hurts. I mean, after they fired Mitsoda, they hired another writer. Why, if the writing was done? Fucky things are happening.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

Still I don't remember anything about a girlfriend in the intro I have been shown and why should anybody die in a mass embrace? Also as far as I remember there was talk about recurring characters from Bloodlines but never the Voermans, so this looks like bad fan fiction to me...

We're talking about the same brain trust that took Damsel and turned her into srs Tumblrina, so that means creativity even on Bethesda/BioWare-tier was not an option. They are most likely just repurposing existing assets to ape the first one but with a shitty twist as the most economical way of cutting content to expedite a troubled development schedule. Bloodlines 2 IS already bad fanfic and it's not going to get any better than that, not when they have brought in Yes Men along with those known for bringing troubled developments into something that can be released. This reality should have been accepted in August when they brought in Alexandre Mandryka.

Mmmm, ARPEEGEE.

 

[True Ukrainian]

AC has fairly consistent quality and is very polished, regardless of what you think of the gameplay. That frankly would be an improvement at this point.

 

[Semiurge]

I think the issue isn't in not being able to pay, but with deciding the threshold at which you're not able to pay.

The lower your humanity is, the closer you are to being an animal and animals don't conform to societal arrangements. At this point you - as a player - can't PAY a hooker, because you - as a character - don't see the need to pay them. You can simply TAKE blood (by force) from whomever you want whenever you want. It also makes sense if we take a look at this in the context of the Masquerade itself: you need to have high enough humanity in order to be able (and willing!) to take the blood covertly. Because, let's face it, vampires don't really hire hookers to fuck them. They hire them for blood. And by paying a hooker you ensure easier and more secure access to food, both of which are important for the setting.

Take a look for the scale from Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines:

Mechanics
A Kindred's Humanity is measured with a scale, ranging from 0 to 10.

0: When a vampire's humanity reaches 0, the vampire is completely lost to the Beast, so deeply that it is impossible for him/her to take control ever again. Such a vampire is called a Wight, and the act of reaching 0 is called Wassail.

1-4: They are vampires who will do any heinous deed and will gain pleasure from it. No crime is horrendous for them, as they delight in their bestial nature.

5-6: They will usually be distant and neutral, as they would not see the need for excessive murder, but they would not see the need for protecting life either.

7: They have the same feelings as in life, with the moralities and taboos of humans.

8-9: These vampires are extremely compassionate, as they will fight every night against their Bestial urges while trying to protect humans as well.

10: A 10 is viewed as a saint in the world of the Kindred. They are completely repulsed by their nature and they follow an incredibly strict moral code in order to keep themselves out of the Beast's reach.

Ah yes, for some reason I thought they'd be stupid enough to not make assaulting hookers for blood possible, in case you can't even talk to them. At least I hope they aren't cause that's just not going to work in the setting where you can decide what kind of vampire your character is. If you were forced to play a Louie, then it would make sense.

 

[Roguey]

New glassdoor review this week. A positive one but with a familiar refrain:

Pros

Genuinely kind and compassionate people
Promotes diversity
Good entry level positions, plenty of learning opportunities
Good benefits
Generally willing to hire its contractors to full-time
Fun, team-building culture
No gate-keeping across seniority; easy to speak directly to CEO and COO

Cons

Studio suffers from not only its own growing pains, but those of its publisher, Paradox
Often poor communication
High turnover rate
Lower pay than larger studios in the area
A lot of talk, very little solid decision making

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Hopefully you're right and this is not as bad as it sounds.

Do you have mud in your eyes or something? The gameplay video is out there for everyone to see.

 

[Eli_Havelock]

New glassdoor review this week. A positive one but with a familiar refrain:

It keeps sounding more like a daycare center than a game developer.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Lmao, in VTMB1 she looked hot. Now she looks like a twitter sjw creatura.

That isn't even her final form.

Isn't Rudi meant to be a critique on SJW culture? His original characterization was meant to show how much of a hypocrite he was and how he used SJW talking points to sucker fledglings into being his minions.

I doubt it, given how White Wolf (oops, gone) had to make Brujah stop dressing up as Neo-Nazis to trigger people because it triggered people.

WTF?!? Why would a (????wtf???) want to look like a fat bald male kender trying for a part in the Christmas Carol [weak arsed sideburns]???

yeeeeech

 

[Child of Malkav]

Hopefully you're right and this is not as bad as it sounds.

Do you have mud in your eyes or something? The gameplay video is out there for everyone to see.

I was referring to writing and story, not gameplay. We all saw the demo showcasing the game but things may have changed since then when it comes to narrative direction.
And you should go talk to a doctor for specialized help. Retardation, especially the bad form that you suffer from, is no laughing matter.

 

[Grunker]

AC has fairly consistent quality and is very polished, regardless of what you think of the gameplay. That frankly would be an improvement at this point.

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished. The rest were all standard AAA-releases which means fairly buggy on release, AFAIK. Even I know that and I’ve never played an AC.

 

[Roguey]

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished.

IME Brotherhood was the most polished Creed of the first four, think you might mean one of the others.

 

[Wunderbar]

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished.

IME Brotherhood was the most polished Creed of the first four, think you might mean one of the others.

Unity was the only buggy one.

 

[Grunker]

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished.

IME Brotherhood was the most polished Creed of the first four, think you might mean one of the others.

You're right, I meant the Egypt one.

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished.

IME Brotherhood was the most polished Creed of the first four, think you might mean one of the others.

Unity was the only buggy one.

Watching Whitelight's video it sure as shit seems like Black Flag and Syndicate have got issues

 

[Gargaune]

So when's this coming out? I can't crack too many giggles over Cyberpunk because I bought it, so I need another Andromeda-style shitshow to get my jollies.

 

[True Ukrainian]

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished.

IME Brotherhood was the most polished Creed of the first four, think you might mean one of the others.

You're right, I meant the Egypt one.

AC Unity, Syndicate and Brotherhood are notorious for being insanely buggy and unpolished.

IME Brotherhood was the most polished Creed of the first four, think you might mean one of the others.

Unity was the only buggy one.

Watching Whitelight's video it sure as shit seems like Black Flag and Syndicate have got issues

I never had problems with black flag, syndicate and brotherhood.

 

[Caim]

So when's this coming out? I can't crack too many giggles over Cyberpunk because I bought it, so I need another Andromeda-style shitshow to get my jollies.

Eventually.

 

[Roguey]

So when's this coming out? I can't crack too many giggles over Cyberpunk because I bought it, so I need another Andromeda-style shitshow to get my jollies.

Second half of 2021 is the most optimistic official take.

 

[hivemind]

i dropped this game when they dropped brian same as a I dropped no truce with the furies when they cucked out on the name

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Black Flag

I've completed Black Flag twice without issue. I'm currently playing Odyssey now and it has given me no issues yet.

Honestly, looking at all the recent revelations about this game, a vampire themed AC would properly be a pretty steep incline

I really hope I'm wrong.