World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 - VTMB sequel from The Chinese Room - coming early 2025

[La vie sexuelle]

But how defined can you really be when already the choice of Clan represents so much of the character's personality?

There are always outliers. What is "typically Gangrel" about Beckett?

He's Indiana Jones of the kindred and his interests lie in the vampire mythos and archaeology. This would mean that he'd be more knowledgeable about the vampiric condition than the average bloodsucker. That's what's said about gangrels, that they're closer to The Beast than any other clan.

Clans also give Kindred a sense of identity and belonging.
Beckett breaks the stereotype of the brutal, animalistic Gangrel by being a scholar, but he is still a loner. Gangrel value independence.
I guess you could say he is a LONE WOLF.....

The inversion of a stereotype still carries the nature of the original stereotype.

 

[Delterius]

The real question here is how they give the elder PC a background that allows for any race

easy. they are american

 

[Delterius]

It was always obvious to me that whatever studio was tasked with finishing the game would reuse as much as possible. Art assets. Levels. Plot. Switching the character to an elder seems like a calculated move to address some of the fan criticism and ramp up the power fantasy selling point. And it worked. People are hardly talking about anything else.

As you said they'll try to re-use as much as they can. But I don't think they can skip the exploratory phase of the game's development because a) they aren't even american so they need to study up on Seattle and such and b) it seems HS BL2 was too unfinished so this can't just be a hackjob. They still need to come up with new tech, assets and maps. Enter a plot premise they've lifted from White Wolf themselves. Being an Elder is good for marketing, but it also means they don't have to try and tell someone else's story. It's not like they can ring up Mitsoda and ask what he wanted for this third act.

 

[The President]

I’m also going to assume this elder isn’t from Seattle, so they’ll need an explanation for that. Seattle isn’t even 200 years old.

 

[d1r]

I prefer:

Please post the correct version:

 

[Roguey]

I’m also going to assume this elder isn’t from Seattle, so they’ll need an explanation for that. Seattle isn’t even 200 years old.

One of the first settlers likely. They haven't said when you entered torpor.

 

[Vincente]

I’m also going to assume this elder isn’t from Seattle, so they’ll need an explanation for that. Seattle isn’t even 200 years old.

One of the European elders probably, like Marcus Vitel.

 

[Wesp5]

But I don't think they can skip the exploratory phase of the game's development because a) they aren't even american so they need to study up on Seattle and such and b) it seems HS BL2 was too unfinished so this can't just be a hackjob.

HSL BL2 did some lore dumping in the beginning. Except for official stuff in the court, which I hardly remember, most of it was done in dialogue with coward vampire Dale and it was very funny! TCR can't use that now though...

 

[Semiurge]

But how defined can you really be when already the choice of Clan represents so much of the character's personality?

There are always outliers. What is "typically Gangrel" about Beckett?

He's Indiana Jones of the kindred and his interests lie in the vampire mythos and archaeology. This would mean that he'd be more knowledgeable about the vampiric condition than the average bloodsucker. That's what's said about gangrels, that they're closer to The Beast than any other clan.

Clans also give Kindred a sense of identity and belonging.
Beckett breaks the stereotype of the brutal, animalistic Gangrel by being a scholar, but he is still a loner. Gangrel value independence.
I guess you could say he is a LONE WOLF.....

With a naturalist's approach on mythos no less. He doesn't believe in superstitious hocus pocus. There's also the time when his animalistic sixth sense alerts him about the indefinable evil in the sarcophagus, and warns the player in a visible state of panic. Like how some animals can sense incoming cataclysms.

 

[ChildInTime]

But I don't think they can skip the exploratory phase of the game's development because a) they aren't even american so they need to study up on Seattle and such and b) it seems HS BL2 was too unfinished so this can't just be a hackjob.

HSL BL2 did some lore dumping in the beginning. Except for official stuff in the court, which I hardly remember, most of it was done in dialogue with coward vampire Dale and it was very funny! TCR can't use that now though...

Oh, right, the old BL2 had that shut in vampire nerd as your 'best friend' or whatever, yeah?

 

[deuxhero]

The real question here is how they give the elder PC a background that allows for any race

easy. they are american

Except that's not really possible if the PC was embraced before ~1848, when Chinese immigration actually started in earnest. Japanese is flat out impossible before the Meiji era.

 

[Häyhä]

The real question here is how they give the elder PC a background that allows for any race

easy. they are american

Except that's not really possible if the PC was embraced before ~1848, when Chinese immigration actually started in earnest. Japanese is flat out impossible before the Meiji era.

You really think modern game developers care about stuff like this? They have blacks as Roman senators, centurions and noble women in kid's "historical" cartoons now.

 

[Delterius]

when Chinese immigration actually started in earnest.

the keyword here is earnest. vampires are the absolute minority of the population and can have exceptional histories by default. 'wait you're han chinese and you've been in seattle since its founding?' doesn't flow to 'thats impossible and you don't exist'. because it isn't *really* impossible. it's rather an open question and those make characters more interesting. not every elder in the US has to be your standard pommeranian pig farmer.

so yeah. here ya go. 'i was born in guandong. i was poor and made some money on the side whenever trade ships came to port. soon enough i learned english and dutch. i became errand boy to a british trade clipper. once i was in north america i got embraced. my sire was actually interested in me because i looked so different. the rest is history, but as you know i eventually came to seattle'. none of this is impossible, it just doesn't correspond to a historical average.

and i'm not even busting out the romanticism. japanese pirate gets captured by the british, ends up in north america. swahili nobleman gets sold to the portuguese, ends up in north america. slav colonist keeps going past alaska, ends up in the US. greek-lebanese trader sailing under british colors trades coffee, ends up in north america. the list keeps going. it's down to how creative you are.

edit: hell i just googled it. seattle is from 1850s+. there isn't even a question to be solved here.

 

[RagingNomad]

I come bearing tiny gifts of Bloodlines 2 drama from stuff made available by one drunk person at a media event in Brighton, UK. This was back in August. I don't really have anything better than this as a "source" so if you want to tell me to fuck myself, I completely understand, but I see we're having fun with the CDPR 4Chan post so why not this as well.

1. The Chinese Room is in fact the new studio for Bloodlines 2. This wasn't The Chinese Room's choice. This was Sumo, their parent company's choice. Some in the studio aren't happy with this due to being treated like a boutique studio who can turn around some disaster into an RPG but they're trying hence why they're going on a hiring spree for a new branch they've opened up.

3. The Chinese Room are going to try to re-use whatever assets they can. The writing, the missions, the characters are all being done from scratch. I don't know if they're going to keep some of the characters that have been shown off to the public but basically, it's safe to expect a different story set in Seattle.

6. The Chinese Room has got like ~2ish years to get this game out the door. Mostly junior staff are working on it.

After all years you were right at all. That's fun to read old speculation posts. Do you have any contacts with this guy?

 

[RagingNomad]

And Roguey droped this year ago:

"It will be an advantage if you have:​

• Experience of Unreal Engine 5.
• Experience designing melee or brawler combat in a 3rd or 1st person game.
• Experience designing character abilities/spells.
• Experience in gunplay systems and delivering weapons that are satisfying to shoot.
• Experience designing AI behaviours for enemies."

Looks like we've got guns and 3rd person view in Bloodlines 2

 

[La vie sexuelle]

I'm wondering... The first information about this game was from 2018. Harduits Labs worked on it until 2021, four years. Sometime that same year, the Chinese Room takes over production and intends to release it in 2024, about three years after production. If they need that much time to finish, how bad was what Hardsuit Labs left behind?

 

[RagingNomad]

I'm wondering... The first information about this game was from 2018. Harduits Labs worked on it until 2021, four years. Sometime that same year, the Chinese Room takes over production and intends to release it in 2024, about three years after production. If they need that much time to finish, how bad was what Hardsuit Labs left behind?

it wasn't bad, Paradox just wanted another vision of project. Now TCR have less money and time than HSL. That's all

 

[Roguey]

Looks like we've got guns and 3rd person view in Bloodlines 2

Guns yes, but I wouldn't expect a 3rd person view on account of the cost of all those extra animations they'd have to do. They just don't want to dismiss someone with 3rd person brawler experience since those skills can also be applied to a first person brawler.

I'm wondering... The first information about this game was from 2018. Harduits Labs worked on it until 2021, four years. Sometime that same year, the Chinese Room takes over production and intends to release it in 2024, about three years after production. If they need that much time to finish, how bad was what Hardsuit Labs left behind?

HSL's Bloodlines went into development in early 2016, they spent five years on it. TCR's Bloodlines is done almost from scratch, minus art and some character concepts.

I'm wondering... The first information about this game was from 2018. Harduits Labs worked on it until 2021, four years. Sometime that same year, the Chinese Room takes over production and intends to release it in 2024, about three years after production. If they need that much time to finish, how bad was what Hardsuit Labs left behind?

it wasn't bad, Paradox just wanted another vision of project. Now TCR have less money and time than HSL. That's all

I doubt they'd throw away $20 million+ on something that didn't exactly fit their vision if it was good enough to ship (there's always the next one). There are claims that it was both very unstable and very unfun.

 

[Atlantico]

I’m also going to assume this elder isn’t from Seattle, so they’ll need an explanation for that. Seattle isn’t even 200 years old.

Well yeah, but the USA isn't even 300 years old. First explorers in that area of Seattle were Spanish and that was in 1790 A.D.

So all elder vampires must be imported.

TCR's Bloodlines is done almost from scratch, minus art and some character concepts.

 

[RagingNomad]

What this red sphere means? Is that some sort of discipline's mark or collectibles?

 

[Vincente]

What this red sphere means? Is that some sort of discipline's mark or collectibles?

Some sort of Thaumaturgy trap/bomb.

 

[SpaceWizardz]

What this red sphere means? Is that some sort of discipline's mark or collectibles?

It looked like a Mark/Recall thing where you do damage when you come out the other end.

 

[Cricket McBangle]

I come bearing tiny gifts of Bloodlines 2 drama from stuff made available by one drunk person at a media event in Brighton, UK. This was back in August. I don't really have anything better than this as a "source" so if you want to tell me to fuck myself, I completely understand, but I see we're having fun with the CDPR 4Chan post so why not this as well.

1. The Chinese Room is in fact the new studio for Bloodlines 2. This wasn't The Chinese Room's choice. This was Sumo, their parent company's choice. Some in the studio aren't happy with this due to being treated like a boutique studio who can turn around some disaster into an RPG but they're trying hence why they're going on a hiring spree for a new branch they've opened up.

3. The Chinese Room are going to try to re-use whatever assets they can. The writing, the missions, the characters are all being done from scratch. I don't know if they're going to keep some of the characters that have been shown off to the public but basically, it's safe to expect a different story set in Seattle.

6. The Chinese Room has got like ~2ish years to get this game out the door. Mostly junior staff are working on it.

After all years you were right at all. That's fun to read old speculation posts. Do you have any contacts with this guy?

Nope. I'm all out. Wasn't correct on the 2ish years thing as the game got 3 years. I think Wesp5 and Roguey got to it first anyway.

 

[Roguey]

Nope. I'm all out. Wasn't correct on the 2ish years thing as the game got 3 years. I think Wesp5 and Roguey got to it first anyway.

2 years was delusionally optimistic. It's possible that was the original plan, similar to how Interplay really expected Icewind Dale 2 to be finished in 6 months.

Also recall that Wester said it was "not impossible" that Bloodlines 2 would ship in 2023. It needed another year than they were hoping.

 

[Cricket McBangle]

Nope. I'm all out. Wasn't correct on the 2ish years thing as the game got 3 years. I think Wesp5 and Roguey got to it first anyway.

2 years was delusionally optimistic. It's possible that was the original plan, similar to how Interplay really expected Icewind Dale 2 to be finished in 6 months.

Perhaps TCR/Sumo said early on "look what we can do with a just a bit more time" and PDX gave the green light.