Game News Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Released on GOG

[an Administrator]

Because i can't open a damn paypal account from here. And yeah, DRM is technically haram

Technically, DRM is halal because it prevents theft.

"Theft"

 

[Excidium II]

It doesn't prevent anything, much less theft which is impossible. You can't steal a videogame, at most you can steal the physical media it is contained.

 

[Delterius]

Allah would rule in favour of the faithful consumer.

 

[Roguey]

The money goes to activison
Activision killed troika for making this game
Activision doesn't deserve your money for this game

Activision is the only reason Bloodlines exists in the form it does. They paid for 3.5 years of development, it's not their fault Troika had no clue how to manage a project.

(they also didn't kill Troika, they chose to bow out while they could still pay people rather than take on projects they couldn't be passionate about)

 

[Zeriel]

The money goes to activison
Activision killed troika for making this game
Activision doesn't deserve your money for this game

Activision is the only reason Bloodlines exists in the form it does. They paid for 3.5 years of development, it's not their fault Troika had no clue how to manage a project.

(they also didn't kill Troika, they chose to bow out while they could still pay people rather than take on projects they couldn't be passionate about)

Maybe Troika made some missteps, but you're exaggerating. Bloodlines was plagued by the ins-and-outs of the Source engine development. You can find the specifics on Wikipedia and other sources, but there was a point about halfway through development when details of the engine were leaked to the public that led to Valve doing some crazy refactoring for security reasons. That would have been a clusterfuck for any studio.

Also, suppose Bloodlines had been "managed properly", but had none of the charming details people love it for. Would that have been the superior outcome?

 

[Lictor]

Does the unofficial patch add the shit-tier, removed for a reason quests? Or am I thinking of another patch/mod?

We use Wesp's Unofficial Patch 9.5 but only the basic no-content added version.

Yes, this is the UK version with the cut beheading, we'll see what we can do about getting the uncensored one out whenever we can but I have no ETA at all on that part.

https://af.gog.com/forum/general/re...uerade_bloodlines_1ab3d/post278?as=1649904300

 

[Makabb]

Bloodlines 2. Its coming.

I hope not. Fuck Activision.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Activision is the only reason Bloodlines exists in the form it does.

It is? Did they make the game? Did they start throwing money in the air and the game suddenly materialized?

They paid for 3.5 years of development, it's not their fault Troika had no clue how to manage a project.

Let's see:

-Troika had to work with essentially a Beta version of the engine.

-A lot of time was wasted on idiotic stuff Activision pushed for like a vampires vs hunters multiplayer component.

-It was mandated to be released on the same day as Half-Life 2 (another idiotic decision) and Activision did a shoddy job of marketing the game.


Activision shot themselves in the foot (they didn't just fuck over Troika), if they gave the game an additional 6 months of polishing and test work and marketed it properly they would have had a hit on their hands (action adventure game with high production values featuring vampires) and a much bigger return of their investment.

I'm not saying Troika couldn't have used a better management or that developers are never at fault (if anything the kickstarter period showed how irresponsible some of them could be) but anyone championing the prevalent publisher-developer model in the gaming industry (on Codex of all places) is a fucking idiot, it cost us the near complete extinction of middle budget studios as one of the participants in the gaming industry (that is slowly being changed by kickstarter and digital distribution platforms but much of the know-how has been lost already).

they also didn't kill Troika, they chose to bow out while they could still pay people rather than take on projects they couldn't be passionate about.

Troika was a dream, it had no place in the age of Xbawks, MMORPGs, Call of Duty and other forms of lowest common denominator pandering so of course they bowed out instead of becoming shit peddlers. They did leave a worthy legacy, their games still have a following and are modded even over a decade later.

 

[hivemind]

fix ur quotes

 

[ZagorTeNej]

fix ur quotes

Done, sorry.

 

[Roguey]

Bloodlines was plagued by the ins-and-outs of the Source engine development. You can find the specifics on Wikipedia and other sources, but there was a point about halfway through development when details of the engine were leaked to the public that led to Valve doing some crazy refactoring for security reasons. That would have been a clusterfuck for any studio.

Activision didn't force them to use source, Troika made that decision on their own when they came up with their Journey to the Centre of Arcanum concept (something they couldn't do because Sierra and Valve were on bad terms).

Also, suppose Bloodlines had been "managed properly", but had none of the charming details people love it for. Would that have been the superior outcome?

Yes.

It is? Did they make the game? Did they start throwing money in the air and the game suddenly materialized?

They paid Troika a lot of money to make it.

Activision shot themselves in the foot (they didn't just fuck over Troika), if they gave the game an additional 6 months of polishing and test work and marketed it properly they would have had a hit on their hands (action adventure game with high production values featuring vampires) and a much bigger return of their investment.

No they wouldn't have. Bloodlines is a fundamentally unenjoyable experience. Even now, after all the unofficial patches, hype, and $5 sales its sales are pathetic http://steamspy.com/app/2600 even compared to an older game http://steamspy.com/app/6910 Meanwhile Bethesda games, which always ship buggy, are always huge successes.

 

[Delterius]

Also, suppose Bloodlines had been "managed properly", but had none of the charming details people love it for. Would that have been the superior outcome?

Yes.

That's a really shitty answer to a very biased question that confirms once more Roguey has a bad taste of games and really just an axe to grind about games development.

 

[Infinitron]

What's funny about saying "don't buy it, you're giving money to Activision" is that it's never been possible to buy Bloodlines without giving money to Activision.

Actually, the whole "hurr don't buy it the money doesn't go to the original developers" thing when old games get rereleased on digital distribution platforms is getting boring. People are paying a minor fee for the service of being able to download games from Steam or GOG, get over it.

 

[Love]

People are paying a minor fee for the service of being able to download games from Steam or GOG, get over it.

Considering that the releases on GOG are mostly providing the same as the pirate hosts the critique is not inadequate. I think the purchase is mostly a relief of conscience for some.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

They paid Troika a lot of money to make it.

Doesn't make them the only reason any game happened.

No they wouldn't have.

Yup, it would have been a much bigger commercial success with some additional devtime and better marketing. Activision fucked up.

Bloodlines is a fundamentally unenjoyable experience.

Which is why it has a following and active modding scene over a decade later despite being a commercial flop. Few games inspire such loyalty.

Meanwhile Bethesda games, which always ship buggy, are always huge successes.

Bethesda is the McDonalds of the gaming industry, of course they're hugely successful, doesn't change the fact that they're irredeemable shit.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

What's funny about saying "don't buy it, you're giving money to Activision" is that it's never been possible to buy Bloodlines without giving money to Activision.

Different situation when the developer is no longer in business. You were not buying the game on release to fill Activision's coffers (that's a side-effect of the purchase) but voting with your wallet for similar games to be made in the future.

Of course with Paradox owning the White Wolf IP now and its partnership with Obsidian an argument can be made that you're still doing the same thing (showing that there's interest) but it's a bit more iffy.

 

[Roguey]

Doesn't make them the only reason any game happened.

No money = no game.

Troika is the reason its few fans like it so much, but without Activision they wouldn't have a product to like.

Yup, it would have been a much bigger commercial success with some additional devtime and better marketing. Activision fucked up.

That's your wishful thinking speaking. It had/has a decent metacritic score, and a great Steam user score, yet its sales are sub-Wasteland 2 nearly 12 years later.

Which is why it has a following and active modding scene over a decade later despite being a commercial flop. Few games inspire such loyalty.

Isn't that largely one mad German doctor? If he went the way of Drog or Qwinn, poof, no more modding scene.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

No money = no game.

No hired talent, no product.

That's your wishful thinking speaking. It had/has a decent metacritic score, and a great Steam user score, yet its sales are sub-Wasteland 2 nearly 12 years later.

Not a comparable situation, one is a modern release with good marketing campaign (credit to Fargo) which took maximum advantage of developed digital platforms, the other is an unfinished product released over a decade ago.

Steam and Kickstarter and there's a good chance Troika wouldn't have gone out of business.

Isn't that largely one mad German doctor? If he went the way of Drog or Qwinn, poof, no more modding scene.

There are other mods, Clan Quests, Camarilla Edition etc. and Wesp patches have plenty of hits, he's not some insane modder perfecting the game just for himself. How many 10+ old games have as active modding scene?

 

[Love]

It had/has a decent metacritic score, and a great Steam user score, yet its sales are sub-Wasteland 2 nearly 12 years later.

That is a bit disappointing since the game can only be played through Steam. Or is it possible that retail versions aren't counted?

 

[Roguey]

Not a comparable situation, one is a modern release with good marketing campaign (credit to Fargo) which took maximum advantage of developed digital platforms, the other is an unfinished product released over a decade ago.

I already showed you Deus Ex. Here's Thief and System Shock 2, both older, both released on Steam later, both sold somewhat better than Bloodlines http://steamspy.com/app/211600 http://steamspy.com/app/238210

That is a bit disappointing since the game can only be played through Steam. Or is it possible that retail versions aren't counted?

It just counts Steam. However, Bloodlines's sales on release were quite bad. 72,000 copies sold in North America retail after four months so maybe ~150,000 worldwide.

 

[Infinitron]

Bloodlines' Steam numbers may have been hurt by Activision's tendency not to discount their games frequently. And Square Enix have the opposite tendency.

 

[Tacgnol]

Bloodlines' Steam numbers may have been hurt by Activision's tendency not to discount their games frequently. And Square Enix have the opposite tendency.

Hasn't Bloodlines been on sale a few times? I certainly wouldn't have bought it on Steam unless it was heavily discounted (I own a retail copy from way back when).

 

[Moink]

It's often 75% off on Steam.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Also, suppose Bloodlines had been "managed properly", but had none of the charming details people love it for. Would that have been the superior outcome?

Yes.

What a surprise, extreme autists can only comprehend the most elementary concepts. Hurrr balanced and managed = good!

 

[hivemind]

What's funny about saying "don't buy it, you're giving money to Activision" is that it's never been possible to buy Bloodlines without giving money to Activision.

What exactly is funny about this ?

Actually, the whole "hurr don't buy it the money doesn't go to the original developers" thing when old games get rereleased on digital distribution platforms is getting boring.

There is a difference between a genuinely old game that needs supporting software being rerealsed digitally and when something that runs on source engine and has years of community fixes readily available for free is rereleased so activikikes can enjoy some more shekels.

Pirating VTM:B and running it on a modern system has never been a problem compared to pirating some of the really old games on GoG and then getting them to run correctly.