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

[Nano]

And 5'7/170 cm and 6'4/193 cm guys can definitely not like each other based on height alone.

Wow, I'm taller than Avellone? Nice!

I wonder how our cock sizes compare.

 

[BruceVC]

The Chinese Room have no experience making larger games like this. Do people think Paradox would make the same mistake twice in handing the project over to an inexperienced and incompetent studio and hoping that throwing money on them would magically help them make a fully fledged RPG?

This post echoes my opinion on this latest rumor that Chinese Room is the unnamed development studio that is now working on Bloodlines 2 . In summary

• I really want to see another Bloodlines that is delivered with quality and lives up to the prestigious name of the previous and beloved franchise, I dont mind waiting 10 years as long as its quality
• I blame Hardsuit for the delays much more than Paradox, they dropped the ball and they were contracted to create the game.
• If Chinese Room has been selected then I will have no confidence that we will ever see Bloodlines in a fitting state. As you mentioned they not experienced enough to deliver a game as large and complex as Bloodlines. I dont think they incompetent because I played both Amnesias and they were fun. But these are simple adventure games and not even remotely on the same scale as a RPG

So I hope the rumors aren't true

 

[EvilWolf]

I'm comparing it to an actual RPG. And having three main story splits is what I consider minimum effort for any self-respecting RPG. The fact that you can complete all three in one playthrough also throws C&C out the window.



But hey, if you think that this is a good RPG, by all means, play it. I'm just saying that this standard will be the final nail in the coffin for a sequel to VtMB (as if the current version before the key developer left wasn't raising red flags already).

Ah yes, the nebulous "ACTUAL" RPG. Let's stop the generalizations and say, for instance: "Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines". How exactly, given the C&C in Cyberpunk, can CDPR fuck up the sequel any more than the original, by your own metric? Are your rose colored glasses so thick that you think Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines had better C&C than Cyberpunk? The two games were, comparably, in the EXACT same state on launch. Arguably Cyberpunk was in better shape since you could actually complete the first mission in that game without it soft locking you. Troika bit the dust and ex-developers worked on bug fixes for a while to throw together a barely functioning game. The bloodlines you know is the result of nigh-decades of work on various unofficial patches. Whereas after the first month Cyberpunk was fully playable, albeit in an un-optimized state with abysmal FPS drops. I love both games and play them both once a year, but if you're going to describe one of these games as "linear": it ain't Cyberpunk.

 

[0wca]

I'm comparing it to an actual RPG. And having three main story splits is what I consider minimum effort for any self-respecting RPG. The fact that you can complete all three in one playthrough also throws C&C out the window.



But hey, if you think that this is a good RPG, by all means, play it. I'm just saying that this standard will be the final nail in the coffin for a sequel to VtMB (as if the current version before the key developer left wasn't raising red flags already).

Ah yes, the nebulous "ACTUAL" RPG. Let's stop the generalizations and say, for instance: "Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines". How exactly, given the C&C in Cyberpunk, can CDPR fuck up the sequel any more than the original, by your own metric? Are your rose colored glasses so thick that you think Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines had better C&C than Cyberpunk? The two games were, comparably, in the EXACT same state on launch. Arguably Cyberpunk was in better shape since you could actually complete the first mission in that game without it soft locking you. Troika bit the dust and ex-developers worked on bug fixes for a while to throw together a barely functioning game. The bloodlines you know is the result of nigh-decades of work on various unofficial patches. Whereas after the first month Cyberpunk was fully playable, albeit in an un-optimized state with abysmal FPS drops. I love both games and play them both once a year, but if you're going to describe one of these games as "linear": it ain't Cyberpunk.

Yeah Bloodlines was a buggy mess, so was F:NV. And yet I've finished Cyberpunk and feel like I've seen 80% of it in a single playthrough, where as I can keep coming back to Bloodlines over and over again and find something new.

Doesn't even matter because CDPR probably isn't developing it anyway (since 4chan is the source if this info), regardless of how much you want them to.

 

[EvilWolf]

I'm comparing it to an actual RPG. And having three main story splits is what I consider minimum effort for any self-respecting RPG. The fact that you can complete all three in one playthrough also throws C&C out the window.



But hey, if you think that this is a good RPG, by all means, play it. I'm just saying that this standard will be the final nail in the coffin for a sequel to VtMB (as if the current version before the key developer left wasn't raising red flags already).

Ah yes, the nebulous "ACTUAL" RPG. Let's stop the generalizations and say, for instance: "Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines". How exactly, given the C&C in Cyberpunk, can CDPR fuck up the sequel any more than the original, by your own metric? Are your rose colored glasses so thick that you think Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines had better C&C than Cyberpunk? The two games were, comparably, in the EXACT same state on launch. Arguably Cyberpunk was in better shape since you could actually complete the first mission in that game without it soft locking you. Troika bit the dust and ex-developers worked on bug fixes for a while to throw together a barely functioning game. The bloodlines you know is the result of nigh-decades of work on various unofficial patches. Whereas after the first month Cyberpunk was fully playable, albeit in an un-optimized state with abysmal FPS drops. I love both games and play them both once a year, but if you're going to describe one of these games as "linear": it ain't Cyberpunk.

Yeah Bloodlines was a buggy mess, so was F:NV. And yet I've finished Cyberpunk and feel like I've seen 80% of it in a single playthrough, where as I can keep coming back to Bloodlines over and over again and find something new.

Doesn't even matter because CDPR probably isn't developing it anyway (since 4chan is the source if this info), regardless of how much you want them to.

I actually don't want them to, I would rather they concentrate on fixing Cyberpunk first. I will admit I played Bloodlines like 9 times the first year after I bought it, while I only played Cyberpunk 5 times in its first year. The setting and characters make it incredibly immersive.

 

[HansDampf]

I'm comparing it to an actual RPG. And having three main story splits is what I consider minimum effort for any self-respecting RPG. The fact that you can complete all three in one playthrough also throws C&C out the window.



But hey, if you think that this is a good RPG, by all means, play it. I'm just saying that this standard will be the final nail in the coffin for a sequel to VtMB (as if the current version before the key developer left wasn't raising red flags already).

Ah yes, the nebulous "ACTUAL" RPG. Let's stop the generalizations and say, for instance: "Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines". How exactly, given the C&C in Cyberpunk, can CDPR fuck up the sequel any more than the original, by your own metric? Are your rose colored glasses so thick that you think Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines had better C&C than Cyberpunk? The two games were, comparably, in the EXACT same state on launch. Arguably Cyberpunk was in better shape since you could actually complete the first mission in that game without it soft locking you. Troika bit the dust and ex-developers worked on bug fixes for a while to throw together a barely functioning game. The bloodlines you know is the result of nigh-decades of work on various unofficial patches. Whereas after the first month Cyberpunk was fully playable, albeit in an un-optimized state with abysmal FPS drops. I love both games and play them both once a year, but if you're going to describe one of these games as "linear": it ain't Cyberpunk.

Yeah Bloodlines was a buggy mess, so was F:NV. And yet I've finished Cyberpunk and feel like I've seen 80% of it in a single playthrough, where as I can keep coming back to Bloodlines over and over again and find something new.

Doesn't even matter because CDPR probably isn't developing it anyway (since 4chan is the source if this info), regardless of how much you want them to.

I actually don't want them to, I would rather they concentrate on fixing Cyberpunk first. I will admit I played Bloodlines like 9 times the first year after I bought it, while I only played Cyberpunk 5 times in its first year. The setting and characters make it incredibly immersive.

Could you two stop quoting the entire quote tower every single time?

 

[Lizard]

Guess it may forever be a mystery if Brian was throwing out Chris's submissions because it didn't fit his vision or if it was some petty revenge over Alpha Protocol. He certainly wasn't throwing out the work submitted by his Hardsuit harem.

Spoiler

I SEE YOUR SPIDERMAN COSTUME! You thought you could hide it from us under your normal clothes, probably ashamed you got costume cucked by fat mexican beetlejuice!

 

[Storyfag]

they think a studio that only made terrible walking sims is the right fit for bloodlines 2 lmao

It's Paradox. Have you played their latest Grand Strategies?

 

[Wesp5]

Would be nice if it leaked if truly playable.

Man oh man, would Wesp5 have a hobby until his death.

Yeah, the first thing I did when I heard that HSL was out was asking my contacts if they got a copy of how far they got, but sadly nobody did.

 

[Roguey]

If Chinese Room has been selected then I will have no confidence that we will ever see Bloodlines in a fitting state. As you mentioned they not experienced enough to deliver a game as large and complex as Bloodlines. I dont think they incompetent because I played both Amnesias and they were fun. But these are simple adventure games and not even remotely on the same scale as a RPG

None of those people will be working on this. As I posted up above, everyone in the studio except the two founders were laid off in 2017. Unless you feel like trying to stalk down every individual employee they have now (and they're currently working on two games so it'd be difficult to tell who's working on what, though I'm 99% sure the Bioware guy is on Bloodlines), there's really no record here to go by.

 

[Gargaune]

If Chinese Room has been selected then I will have no confidence that we will ever see Bloodlines in a fitting state. As you mentioned they not experienced enough to deliver a game as large and complex as Bloodlines. I dont think they incompetent because I played both Amnesias and they were fun. But these are simple adventure games and not even remotely on the same scale as a RPG

None of those people will be working on this. As I posted up above, everyone in the studio except the two founders were laid off in 2017. Unless you feel like trying to stalk down every individual employee they have now (and they're currently working on two games so it'd be difficult to tell who's working on what, though I'm 99% sure the Bioware guy is on Bloodlines), there's really no record here to go by.

So... the current crew's got even less relevant experience working together?

 

[Cricket McBangle]

If Chinese Room has been selected then I will have no confidence that we will ever see Bloodlines in a fitting state. As you mentioned they not experienced enough to deliver a game as large and complex as Bloodlines. I dont think they incompetent because I played both Amnesias and they were fun. But these are simple adventure games and not even remotely on the same scale as a RPG

None of those people will be working on this. As I posted up above, everyone in the studio except the two founders were laid off in 2017. Unless you feel like trying to stalk down every individual employee they have now (and they're currently working on two games so it'd be difficult to tell who's working on what, though I'm 99% sure the Bioware guy is on Bloodlines), there's really no record here to go by.

So... the current crew's got even less relevant experience working together?

In this scenario, The Chinese Room at least has the support of Sumo who are all about dealing with other people’s codes. Hardsuit Labs, I think, had inexperienced engineering leads who couldn’t properly give their team the needed tools to develop the game in a timely and efficient manner. I think during 2018-2019 there was crunch going on because the leads made pie-in-the-sky promises to Paradox without consulting them first which caused a lot of staff turnover. Like the weekly Monday “how can we make sure this is a Bloodlines game” meetings usually started with “we have new hires and also, so-and-so left.” I don’t know it sounds like Vampire: The Masquerade - Andromeda 2.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Spoiler

did they dress up like him?

 

[Xelocix]

Bryson Mitseltzer

 

[Tyranicon]

So obvious question that probably has an obvious answer: is Harebrained Schemes still in business? And if so, why are they now not the lead dev studio for VtMB2?

1. They were acquired by Paradox in 2018

2. They produced Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

3. They're based in Seattle.

4. They don't seem to have a major project at the moment.

 

[Roguey]

So obvious question that probably has an obvious answer: is Harebrained Schemes still in business? And if so, why are they now not the lead dev studio for VtMB2?

1. They were acquired by Paradox in 2018

2. They produced Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

3. They're based in Seattle.

4. They don't seem to have a major project at the moment.

They're working on two different projects and one was specifically referred to as a horror game in a job listing. They would be unsuited for Bloodlines 2 because they don't have the staff for it and Paradox bought them to make Battletech-esque games, not first person games with action combat.

 

[Tyranicon]

So obvious question that probably has an obvious answer: is Harebrained Schemes still in business? And if so, why are they now not the lead dev studio for VtMB2?

1. They were acquired by Paradox in 2018

2. They produced Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

3. They're based in Seattle.

4. They don't seem to have a major project at the moment.

They're working on two different projects and one was specifically referred to as a horror game in a job listing. They would be unsuited for Bloodlines 2 because they don't have the staff for it and Paradox bought them to make Battletech-esque games, not first person games with action combat.

That's a shame. Hmmm, one could say that VtMB is considered horror. They're probably the best Paradox-owned studio to tackle the IP, given their RPG experience. Then again, I can't really think of any studio right now that could make a first-person ARPG well.

 

[Ninjerk]

So obvious question that probably has an obvious answer: is Harebrained Schemes still in business? And if so, why are they now not the lead dev studio for VtMB2?

1. They were acquired by Paradox in 2018

2. They produced Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

3. They're based in Seattle.

4. They don't seem to have a major project at the moment.

They're working on two different projects and one was specifically referred to as a horror game in a job listing. They would be unsuited for Bloodlines 2 because they don't have the staff for it and Paradox bought them to make Battletech-esque games, not first person games with action combat.

That's a shame. Hmmm, one could say that VtMB is considered horror. They're probably the best Paradox-owned studio to tackle the IP, given their RPG experience. Then again, I can't really think of any studio right now that could make a first-person ARPG well.

Eidos Montreal did well enough with DXD. I haven't played anything by Arkane except for Arx Fatalis, but I feel like I remember reading reasonably good things about Dishonored years ago.

 

[Jedi Exile]

Eidos Montreal did well enough with DXD. I haven't played anything by Arkane except for Arx Fatalis, but I feel like I remember reading reasonably good things about Dishonored years ago.

I think that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a decent game (haven't played the sequels), but it still doesn't compare with the original Deus Ex which was a real masterpiece. As for Arkane, they can make a good action game in WoD universe, but not a good RPG because they don't have the experience needed for this. I hate it to say, but Obsidian seems to me the best studio suited for the job.

 

[T.Ashpool]

So obvious question that probably has an obvious answer: is Harebrained Schemes still in business? And if so, why are they now not the lead dev studio for VtMB2?

1. They were acquired by Paradox in 2018

2. They produced Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

3. They're based in Seattle.

4. They don't seem to have a major project at the moment.

They're working on two different projects and one was specifically referred to as a horror game in a job listing. They would be unsuited for Bloodlines 2 because they don't have the staff for it and Paradox bought them to make Battletech-esque games, not first person games with action combat.

according to the geforce now leak which is pretty much confirmed to be true they are also working on something called "project fps". i doubt it's bloodlines 2, it makes sense if their next game is something WoD related though

 

[BruceVC]

So obvious question that probably has an obvious answer: is Harebrained Schemes still in business? And if so, why are they now not the lead dev studio for VtMB2?

1. They were acquired by Paradox in 2018

2. They produced Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

3. They're based in Seattle.

4. They don't seem to have a major project at the moment.

They're working on two different projects and one was specifically referred to as a horror game in a job listing. They would be unsuited for Bloodlines 2 because they don't have the staff for it and Paradox bought them to make Battletech-esque games, not first person games with action combat.

You know what concerns me the most about the completion of Bloodlines 2, I agree with Roguey that its highly unlikely Chinese Room is the chosen development studio for this game for various reasons but foremost being the irrefutable fact that in 2017 they made major retrenchments due to their revenue stream. To complete a game like this requires resources which equates to a large and committed team and proven track record with experience in similar projects ....those have to be the most important factors right?

I work in the financial sector as a software consultant in financial software and our primary revenue stream is new business which means we work on projects and all projects have the same structure which means the following

• You have to win the tender or business against other companies that can do the same thing as your company
• Its not always about your cost because sometimes your experience as a company can motivate the final decision
• You then have to deliver based on milestones demonstrating certain success criteria as the project progresses. For example I have worked on projects that take 2 years to complete but the bank, or customer, will be reasonable and pay us for time and material on the milestones which are based on the overall project plan
• At the end of the completion of the agreed on project the customer will confirm the solution works and then, in most cases, sign an SLA( service level agreement) that ensures their is support and ongoing maintenance

Now even though I dont work in a gaming studio I dont believe any project is managed any differently if you think about any sector or type of industry?
So in other words why wouldn't Paradox share with the gaming community, who are ultimately their customers, who the development studio is ? I can only think of one reason.They are worried about the backlash, after Hardsuit, about the company they have chosen

And that worries me the most, they have decided its a company similar to Chinese Room and they know they will receive criticism and criticism in gaming drives sentiment and sentiment does impact sales

I hope I am wrong but lets wait and see

 

[Tyranicon]

Eidos Montreal did well enough with DXD. I haven't played anything by Arkane except for Arx Fatalis, but I feel like I remember reading reasonably good things about Dishonored years ago.

I think that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a decent game (haven't played the sequels), but it still doesn't compare with the original Deus Ex which was a real masterpiece. As for Arkane, they can make a good action game in WoD universe, but not a good RPG because they don't have the experience needed for this. I hate it to say, but Obsidian seems to me the best studio suited for the job.

A dream scenario is if Obsidian got the rights for VtMB right after completing FO:NV. But that didn't happen and they ended up making POE and Outer Worlds... with the release of Grounded I'd say Obsidian is maneuvering for a broader audience. They have worked with Paradox in the past so it's not completely out of the question, if they weren't already working on Avowed.

 

[Xelocix]

Lol, all you dumb cucks debating which studio has taken over like it matters. News flash, it doesn't. The game is guaranteed to be shit and we've known this for years now. Get over it already.

 

[Ninjerk]

I think that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a decent game (haven't played the sequels), but it still doesn't compare with the original Deus Ex which was a real masterpiece. As for Arkane, they can make a good action game in WoD universe, but not a good RPG because they don't have the experience needed for this. I hate it to say, but Obsidian seems to me the best studio suited for the job.

DX:HR was indeed decent, but it was in my opinion then and still now fundamentally an MGS3 clone that might as well have been its own franchise. DXD gave me the same feels at times as the original DX (partially due to level design, partially because they allowed the player to express themselves through Jensen more clearly instead of having him constantly act like a sanctimonious prick), and I believe it to be a much more worthy play than DX:HR.

 

[Ninjerk]

Eidos Montreal did well enough with DXD. I haven't played anything by Arkane except for Arx Fatalis, but I feel like I remember reading reasonably good things about Dishonored years ago.

I think that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a decent game (haven't played the sequels), but it still doesn't compare with the original Deus Ex which was a real masterpiece. As for Arkane, they can make a good action game in WoD universe, but not a good RPG because they don't have the experience needed for this. I hate it to say, but Obsidian seems to me the best studio suited for the job.

A dream scenario is if Obsidian got the rights for VtMB right after completing FO:NV. But that didn't happen and they ended up making POE and Outer Worlds... with the release of Grounded I'd say Obsidian is maneuvering for a broader audience. They have worked with Paradox in the past so it's not completely out of the question, if they weren't already working on Avowed.

Fuck Obsidian. Stop posting and make vampire porn RPG pls