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

[Dishonoredbr]

I am not convinced someone like her had the capability to finish Divinity:Original Sin 2.

I know, who in their right mind would waste their time with Divinity OS2. tsk.

 

[MRY]

The existence of a couple of exceptionally based women out of many hundreds just proves the general principle. He forgot to mention Terri Brosius also.

Giving indisputable examples in response to a "literally none" post is not the exception that proves the rule, it's the exception that disproves the rule. I wasn't trying to be exhaustive, and could come up with more, though "influential" makes everything subjective (I wouldn't consider Brosius influential, for instance). If we are just looking for accomplished women game writers, I should hope that Emily Short, Christy Marx, Jane Jensen, and Helen Hindpere would be beyond dispute. (I would put Short as the most "influential" of that bunch.) Any list I have is going to skew toward older games because I don't play many games any more, because time is needed for something to stand the test of time, and because a lot modern game writing does not appeal to me. None of that has anything to do with whether the writer is a man or a woman.

She's obviously a very competent developer, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to create a series as successful as Uncharted. But are we going to pretend she had a POSITIVE influence in the gaming industry? Like, seriously?

Maybe I'm just old, but criticizing Hennig by pointing at Uncharted while ignoring the Legacy of Kain series strikes me as a negative reflection on you, not Hennig.

More generally, I have no idea who had a POSITIVE (all caps and bold!) influence on the industry. For instance, I have enormous admiration for Jordan Mechner, whose "High atop a craggy cliff..." was what first inspired me to want to write stories for video games, and who managed to create amazing games across an incredibly long span. But was his influence positive? The trend toward cinematic action games might have started with him. Planescape: Torment had a profound effect on me, and every game I've worked on since playing it has, in one way or another, been an homage to it. But was Avellone's influence POSITIVE? As I wrote in another thread when people were questioning whether he had any influence at all:

Creative-wise, I mean. He will die a very wealthy man, but an influential one? Up in the air.

Before PS:T, RPGs -- even Infinity-engine RPGs -- were primarily about combat, traps, navigating tricky dungeons, building an adventuring party, etc., and their plots were essentially hero journeys about defeating a demon or dragon of some kind. After PS:T, RPGs are primarily about dialogue, lore, building a debating society/salon, and their plots typically subvert heroic tropes and explore an guilt-ridden protagonist overcoming his inner demons. Some of that may have been inevitable (other media and genres have certainly moved in similar ways), but to trivialize the role Chris played in that sea change is unfair; it diminishes his legacy. I would even go so far as to say you couldn't have something like the new Star Wars trilogy without Chris first fatally undermining the morality and heroism of the setting. So I think his impact even outside of RPGs is significant.

Aside from changing the nature of RPGs, he changed the composition of the people who made them. Again, I think the Codex generally doesn't love those personnel decisions, but he went out of his way to promote and advance young women as game writers, which was a real change -- older RPGs were typically written by men who were steeped in grognard culture. I don't want to enter the debate as to his motives; the practical effect is undeniable though. Again, this is something that was happening across the genre and may have happened without him, but it's unfair to not recognize his role in pushing for this change.

Whatever his shortcomings, I think his influence is enormous. It may be that he changed the industry in ways that will lead to his own obscurity, but I think, as his drawing above indicates, his hope and joy was to have a drink in the Zoe Quinn bar, and I'd like to think he's achieved that.

On the standards this thread is applying, his influence would probably be deemed negative, not positive.

Anyway, I try to avoid entering into Codexian political drama, but at the same time, I can't let a casual slander on the greats of the adventure game genre pass unanswered, and when one announces a categorical criticism of women writers, that is a criticism on many of the adventure game genre's greats. I would hope that between Emily Short and Helen Hindpere, there would be no dispute over whether even outspoken left-wing women writers have made enormous contributions to video games.

 

[Infinitron]

This is my annoying reminder that the only gameplay footage of Bloodlines 2 we ever saw actually had no woke content at all.

 

[Nano]

Avellone was sacked when he sort of admitted to molesting a woman right?

No.



Watch the video, bitch.

 

[DeepOcean]

molesting a woman right?

That never happened my friend.

 

[Nano]

This is my annoying reminder that the only gameplay footage of Bloodlines 2 we ever saw actually had no woke content at all.

Reimagined Damsel was proof enough, dude.

 

[Delterius]

avellone is under house arrest for 4 accounts of attempted rape while being a 6/10

^ facts

 

[Delterius]

Pyranha Bytes (Risen) and CDProjekt (Cyberpunk 2077) are very good because they have huwhites in 'em.

Found the eurojank apologist.

 

[Dycedarg]

Found the eurojank apologist.

Didn't see your quote. I think I derailed this thread enough already.

 

[Roguey]

The entire narrative team getting the chop shouldn't come as a surprise anyway. They were all hired for Bloodlines 2 and now that the game is out of Hardsuit's hands, this is the natural outcome.

Sam claims she wasn't hired for Bloodlines 2, but her project was cancelled regardless. Since she seemed secure about not being at risk for being fired, it likely wasn't Bloodlines 2 DLC. My guess is that Hardsuit was pulling a Feargus and using Paradox money to fund it.

 

[Delterius]

My guess is that Hardsuit was pulling a Feargus and using Paradox money to fund it.

Paradox was founded 30 years ago to launder money for a secret cabal of incompetent middle managers.

 

[Infinitron]

My guess is that Hardsuit was pulling a Feargus and using Paradox money to fund it.

I don't know about that, but they likely realized at some point that they were going to lose VTMB2 and were trying to line up a new project.

 

[Lambach]

This is my annoying reminder that the only gameplay footage of Bloodlines 2 we ever saw actually had no woke content at all.

It's not even about cramming woke content or lack thereof, for fucking fuck sake, it's about the fact that woke people are, as a general rule, either outright incompetent or thoroughly mediocre at their chosen professions. That is precisely why they turn to wokism in the first place - it's a futile, misguided attempt to rise above their overall shittiness/utter mediocrity in the eyes of society by being "one of the good guys".

It's not that they can't make quality stuff because they're woke. It's the opposite - they're woke because they know they can't make quality stuff and public moralizing is the only thing that will ever give them a chance of not being considered just another utterly worthless failure.

 

[Roguey]

I don't know about that, but they likely realized at some point that they were going to lose VTMB2 and were trying to line up a new project.

Whose money were they using to pay her to get this project going and why are they now unable to?

 

[DeepOcean]

The entire narrative team getting the chop shouldn't come as a surprise anyway. They were all hired for Bloodlines 2 and now that the game is out of Hardsuit's hands, this is the natural outcome.

Sam claims she wasn't hired for Bloodlines 2, but her project was cancelled regardless. Since she seemed secure about not being at risk for being fired, it likely wasn't Bloodlines 2 DLC. My guess is that Hardsuit was pulling a Feargus and using Paradox money to fund it.

The more the time passes, the more this seems plausible.

 

[DeepOcean]

This is my annoying reminder that the only gameplay footage of Bloodlines 2 we ever saw actually had no woke content at all.

I've seen alot of evidence of incompetence on their trailers though, we are just discussing the cause for the incompetence, so far the most popular theory was the wokeness, another possible theory was that they were a Ponzi scheme syphoning money from Paradox, Randy Pitchford style, but we dont have much proof of that so far.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

My guess is that Hardsuit was pulling a Feargus and using Paradox money to fund it.

The difference is that Teflon Urquhart is slick enough to never get busted for 20 years, while those jokers got caught on their first attempt and now it's over.

 

[Lovely Feather Pillow]

This is my annoying reminder that the only gameplay footage of Bloodlines 2 we ever saw actually had no woke content at all.

While that may be true their messaging left little to the imagination.

https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/21/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-political-character-creator/

 

[Quillon]

My guess is that Hardsuit was pulling a Feargus and using Paradox money to fund it.

Paradox must have sworn off working with muricans ever again

 

[rusty_shackleford]

This is my annoying reminder that the only gameplay footage of Bloodlines 2 we ever saw actually had no woke content at all.

Mostly because there wasn't any gameplay footage to show off.

 

[Ibn Sina]

With source material like this it was always going to be diarrhea one way or another. Good riddance to brian cucksoda and all the other has-beens trash

 

[KateMicucci]

Why are woke people always talking about how tired they are? Maybe they should go back to sleep.

 

[Roguey]

Annie gonna Annie

You were so bad at your job you not only got yourself and your team fired, but your entire studio was removed from the game. I don't think that qualifies as either "amazing" or "excellent."

Do you not pay attention to timelines, or do you think you're some kind of crusader coming into a thread about some awful news by a talented woman in the industry and attempting to dunk on her, but instead showing your entire ass? Go fire yourself. Out of a cannon. Into a wall.

These writers may be awful but she's at least correct in that their awful writing did not get the game cancelled.

So many hugs. I'm so sorry you and your team got hit. I'll do whatever I can to help.

Also I dunno if ANet is an option but I missed the chance to work with you before and would be STOKED AF to do so!!

Since Ellison left months ago, she can say something like this.

Good morning I am at Entirely Done With Bullshit Talked About My Talented Peers By Sexist Uninformed Jackasses status
/draws knives
/beaming smile

How are YOU today

The creator of Panic! at Multiverse High talking about her peers of equal talent.

 

[Nano]

Huh, Brian and Annie still follow each other on Twitter.

 

[Spacer's Nugget]

With source material like this it was always going to be diarrhea one way or another. Good riddance to brian cucksoda and all the other has-beens trash

Where is this from? It's equally hilarious and cringey. And I thought Malkavians were insane...