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

Wesp5

Arcane
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
1,988
There are a lot of cool Malkavian Dementation choices in dialogues, like you can make Samantha believe you are her lost pet turtle or make the patron at the Lotus Blossom think he is a frog. Quite often you got several options: Dominate, Dementate, Presence (added by the plus patch), Persuasion, Seduction and Intimidation! HSL clearly wanted to include something like this, but it isn't visible at all yet from the videos that TCR presented...
 

NecroLord

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck Shitposter
Joined
Sep 6, 2022
Messages
16,459
There are a lot of cool Malkavian Dementation choices in dialogues, like you can make Samantha believe you are her lost pet turtle or make the patron at the Lotus Blossom think he is a frog. Quite often you got several options: Dominate, Dementate, Presence (added by the plus patch), Persuasion, Seduction and Intimidation! HSL clearly wanted to include something like this, but it isn't visible at all yet from the videos that TCR presented...
You can make Tommy Flayton believe he is eating maggots at the Cavoletti Cafe.
 

Semiurge

Cipher
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
7,848
Location
Asp Hole
There are a lot of cool Malkavian Dementation choices in dialogues, like you can make Samantha believe you are her lost pet turtle or make the patron at the Lotus Blossom think he is a frog. Quite often you got several options: Dominate, Dementate, Presence (added by the plus patch), Persuasion, Seduction and Intimidation! HSL clearly wanted to include something like this, but it isn't visible at all yet from the videos that TCR presented...
You can make Tommy Flayton believe he is eating maggots at the Cavoletti Cafe.

giphy.gif
 

Joyvankek

Learned
Joined
Dec 4, 2021
Messages
296
All signs point to the fabian is being in there as a vessel for devs is... sensibilities.
It wouldn't surprise me if it turns out that like in C2077 we will be secondary character along for the ride.

Also I don't like the look of our PC nor do I like it's name, "Phyre" really? Just why?
Why can't I make my own PC like I could in VtM:B?
I don't need customizable look of my PC, though it would be nice to have that option, I don't want to look like some butch lesbo, or metro faggot.
Chose his backstory, as what kind of elder he was in the past.
Could be done like it was done in Tyranny, if we want to have some NPC's recognition of our past deeds.

Didn't this get cancelled?

It's in dev hell, and it seems we're up for a disaster.
 

Child of Malkav

Erudite
Joined
Feb 11, 2018
Messages
3,125
Location
Romania
If malkavian clan is in the game do you think they will rewrite all the dialogue options from the perspective of the clan member or add any unique interactions? Probably not, they struggle to get the game out as it is. Jesus this will be bad.
 

Cross

Arcane
Joined
Oct 14, 2017
Messages
3,061
Making the protagonist an Elder was always a dumb idea. You can't have a protagonist with centuries of history and immense power also function as a player avatar who gradually improves their skills while doing chores for NPCs. It just doesn't work. Planescape: Torment doesn't count because the Nameless One was designed to be a blank slate for the player, lacking even a name, and that game explored the tension between being both a player-defined and pre-defined protagonist.

You're not getting anything like that here. This tranny (?) looking creature is clearly a pre-defined character in the mold of a Commander Shepard, designed to be as bland and inoffensive as possible, to the point of androgyny. The video repeatedly mentions Mass Effect as an inspiration, as if that wasn't obvious already. Most of the things she (?) says are unprompted, without any input from the player.

So no skill checks, no stealth, no alternate playstyles, no meaningful character customization or development. Just a bunch of badly written, barely interactive cutscenes and combat. And considering they've never designed gameplay before, having solely made walking simulators, the combat system in this game might turn out to be an even bigger disappointment than the narrative.
 
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Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
8,326
Making the protagonist an Elder was always a dumb idea. You can't have a protagonist with centuries of history and immense power also function as a player avatar who gradually improves their skills while doing chores for NPCs.

A competent studio would adapt, treating Bloodlines 2 like a high-level campaign. As an elder, even one recovering from torpor or whatever, you shouldnt be fighting baseline human or vampire goons. You should be building a base of power with your own underlings that can handle that for you. If are called out to combat, it should be against sufficiently advanced threats such as werewolves, veteran hunters, etc.

Instead we get the typical 2023 power fantasy: our character is super strong and smart and sexy because we said they are.
 

jungl

Augur
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
1,489
character customization was shit anyways in bloodlines only 3 disciplines. Research skill being op created this peak indie shit meta gameplay where you use research to get tons of free skills points. Troika did so many things poorly with bloodlines in the gameplay department.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,780
Maybe some of you lore gurus can help me out. I had the theory, and people on Reddit as well, that Phyre is indeed in Fabien's body which would explain the modern hair. But then I rewatched the video and Phyre clearly talks about the mark on her hand and that she was covered in Thinblood vitae and not that she is in another body. So this theory is out, but maybe a Thinblood alchemy experiment failed. Anybody know anything about this?
There is a really dumb element in the lore where consuming the soul of a powerful vampire during diablerie can allow their soul to take over your body and allow the writers to resurrect a dead clan leader.

But I am sure it is popular with people who watch Supernatural so I expect it is something the current day writers wanted to incorporate.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,780
Maybe some of you lore gurus can help me out. I had the theory, and people on Reddit as well, that Phyre is indeed in Fabien's body which would explain the modern hair. But then I rewatched the video and Phyre clearly talks about the mark on her hand and that she was covered in Thinblood vitae and not that she is in another body. So this theory is out, but maybe a Thinblood alchemy experiment failed. Anybody know anything about this?

I don't see it. Fabien is a guy. It wouldn't be his body if you're playing as a woman. This kind of twist would only work if you were forced to play as a male Phyre (even if you did choose your gender as female in the beginning, which would actually be pretty amusing; there's a way to make an elder vampire trans right there)

I wonder what Brian thinks of all this

Drinking heavily because he lost this game and his nearly-decade-long marriage over all this.

Kind of doubt it, Nosferatu don't seem like a clan with a wide target audience attraction.
I mean, it's cool to have them, but I'm pretty sure that if we make a popularity chart these guys would be at the bottom.
Frankly this clans dlc idea is kind of ridiculous for single player story rpg.

DLC doesn't have to mean some short game, it could be a 10-12 hour expansion pack sequel where you play as a different character with unique mechanics. Hypothetically speaking, that would be a good way to manage scope, carrying over DLC clans to future sequels. Of course this is a "best of all possible worlds" scenario, given the nigh-universally negative reception the latest video got, we're looking at Paradox either never funding games like this again or filing bankruptcy after release.
:lol:
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,780
Now I'm thinking that Phyre woke up ravenous and consumed Fabien, who is a thinblood. Somehow Fabien stuck around and became a voice in Phyre's head.
Tbh, this is a known side effect of diablerie. And happens often.
Diablerie is pretty fucked up.
Most stupid Kindred who try it, especially on Elders, deserve to suffer its consequences...
I wouldn't allow it either in the game or as a Storyteller.
Camarilla propaganda to keep the cattle in their place.
 

NecroLord

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck Shitposter
Joined
Sep 6, 2022
Messages
16,459
Now I'm thinking that Phyre woke up ravenous and consumed Fabien, who is a thinblood. Somehow Fabien stuck around and became a voice in Phyre's head.
Tbh, this is a known side effect of diablerie. And happens often.
Diablerie is pretty fucked up.
Most stupid Kindred who try it, especially on Elders, deserve to suffer its consequences...
I wouldn't allow it either in the game or as a Storyteller.
Camarilla propaganda to keep the cattle in their place.
Not necessarily.
It is an utterly evil act, not simply murder, but the murder of one's soul.
You lose humanity ratings just by doing it, not to mention the other myriad problems (insanity, possession by the soul you attempt to consume, etc).
 

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