Your opinion on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

[Shadenuat]

I was under the impression that a proper Malk should be absolutely normal 95% of the time, and ideally quite intelligent and rational...

There is Malk like that in the game, or rather what's left of him.

 

[Excidium]

The main problem I have with VTMB is that the plot is shit and lacks the social intrigue that is so characteristic of the setting.

I was under the impression that a proper Malk should be absolutely normal 95% of the time, and ideally quite intelligent and rational...

There is Malk like that in the game, or rather what's left of him.

Grout.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

I was under the impression that a proper Malk should be absolutely normal 95% of the time, and ideally quite intelligent and rational... But completely insane (i.e. a Bloodlines Malk) when specific subjects / keywords are involved.

iirc, the maunal for the tabletop game says something about while LOL CHEESEMONKEYS IMMA SO RANDOM XD insane characters are annoying for everyone involved, Malkavians should still maintain that "creepy fucker" aura whenever possible.

 

[Grunker]

Grunker (the 'Great Unnamed Role-Playing System')

????

I think he is referring to my rampant fanboyism towards GURPS

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I was under the impression that a proper Malk should be absolutely normal 95% of the time, and ideally quite intelligent and rational... But completely insane (i.e. a Bloodlines Malk) when specific subjects / keywords are involved.

iirc, the maunal for the tabletop game says something about while LOL CHEESEMONKEYS IMMA SO RANDOM XD insane characters are annoying for everyone involved, Malkavians should still maintain that "creepy fucker" aura whenever possible.

The lolrandom Malks still outnumber every other character archetype among VtM PCs though.

 

[Roguey]

Just finished reading that thread, and you and Black Cat are clearly wrong. No lore rape takes place in Bloodlines whatsoever. What are you two on about?

Clearly wrong, that's why all the great minds of the Codex can't actually argue against, it, right? Just go on, keep your head in the sand.

 

[TripJack]

I still don't see the appeal of this game. The combat was generally shit and the story wasn't nearly interesting enough to make up for that.

I know there are a lot of troikacockgobblers and worldofdarknessfags on the codex but still.

 

[Grunker]

The combat was generally shit

On the level of Deus Ex's, roughly. Some better points, some worse ones.

 

[Oriebam]

Grunker (the 'Great Unnamed Role-Playing System')

????

I think he is referring to my rampant fanboyism towards GURPS

I know, but I aimed for links to drama threads about it, though it seems this thread is going to generate some minor drama in a few pages

 

[Excidium]

I was under the impression that a proper Malk should be absolutely normal 95% of the time, and ideally quite intelligent and rational... But completely insane (i.e. a Bloodlines Malk) when specific subjects / keywords are involved.

iirc, the maunal for the tabletop game says something about while LOL CHEESEMONKEYS IMMA SO RANDOM XD insane characters are annoying for everyone involved, Malkavians should still maintain that "creepy fucker" aura whenever possible.

The lolrandom Malks still outnumber every other character archetype among VtM PCs though.

Of course, it's a great excuse to play a character without any depth.

 

[Grunker]

I don't think I created any drama on the topic, which is a failure in itself, I know

 

[someone else]

After playing DE:HR and Deus Ex+mods I decided to replay this after many years and I've forgotten most of the game. With WESP 7.8 too.

DE:HR has third person look, no leaning, item highlight, health regen and bosses, guess which game has this too? As for combat, at least I can hit my enemies with melee while they are running around in VTMB, try doing that in Deus Ex when they are on fire. But cinematic takedowns are in real-time and you can get hit out of it.

Most of the dungeons are terrible, remember the carpark where you sneak from one vent to another at least 8 times? Well I just replayed it, it is more fun as a corridor shooter anyway. The stealth missions like the museum are poorly done, Alpha Protocol/Hitman/Thief/Deus Ex 1& 3 are all superior. I'm halfway through the sewers now, lololoz big creatures throwing green stuff at me here I come. Any way the plant explosives mission at the first hub, I did it without a single kill but the game didn't didn't acknowledge it, I did just made a run for it after bomb has been planted, being bullet-proof with health regen helps. Remember those youtube FPS videos of players running around without firing a shot, I bet you can do this too. But then we alraedy have obfuscate.

I'm impressed with the character system, but not being familiar with WoD I can't really judge well. Why can't I get a rifle until the end of the game?

 

[Wyrmlord]

Some missions reward you for stealth. Some missions don't.

Killing police officers or security guards tends to be a bad idea. But you will get penalized for killing them, in some cases, than rewarded for not killing them.

 

[someone else]

^ The mission says sneak and don't kill... even though I am suppose to blow up the building killing quite a lot of people. And you get an extra xp for killing everyone same as sneaking so... ??? Was there alternative dialogue for successfully sneaking?

 

[Skittles]

How is the Malkavian pure lore rape? Yes, the fact that you speak like an indian medicine-man on crack isn't exactly the standard malk, but it's not exactly lore rape.

Bloodlines is probably the most lore-correct video game in existence.

+ While pure lore rape, the malkavian was kind of fun. Though, oh god, her Clothes. :/

+ While pure lore rape, the malkavian was kind of fun. Though, oh god, her Clothes. :D

 

[SCO]

^ The mission says sneak and don't kill... even though I am suppose to blow up the building killing quite a lot of people. And you get an extra xp for killing everyone same as sneaking so... ??? Was there alternative dialogue for successfully sneaking?

I don't think it was needed. The Nosferatu guy mentions they are all sabbat aspirants (ie: they know of the WoD vampires). I think the original plan might have been substantially different, they might not even have been main quest related at all (since the sneaking path is still "operational", and it's possible to enter and return with it, and there are some cut things (the device under the wharehouse, exploding the train) that suggest it was more important before.

 

[attackfighter]

^ The mission says sneak and don't kill... even though I am suppose to blow up the building killing quite a lot of people. And you get an extra xp for killing everyone same as sneaking so... ??? Was there alternative dialogue for successfully sneaking?

That mission doesn't tell you to sneak. As SCO said, the quest giver tells you that the humans are already aware of vampires and that you shouldn't break a sweat over killing them. In fact he even goes so far as to tell you that you're upholding the masquerade by killing them, and indeed there's a masquerade redemption point upon completing the quest.

The stealth missions like the museum are poorly done, Alpha Protocol/Hitman/Thief/Deus Ex 1& 3 are all superior.

How is the stealth in the museum worse than DX stealth? It has all the same elements: security cameras panning corridors, guards with patrol routes, noise based detection, throwable items to distract guards, hacking and lockpicking.

 

[Vibalist]

Just finished reading that thread, and you and Black Cat are clearly wrong. No lore rape takes place in Bloodlines whatsoever. What are you two on about?

Clearly wrong, that's why all the great minds of the Codex can't actually argue against, it, right? Just go on, keep your head in the sand.

Why do you keep arguing when you know you're wrong? Is it that fun to troll?

I was under the impression that a proper Malk should be absolutely normal 95% of the time, and ideally quite intelligent and rational... But completely insane (i.e. a Bloodlines Malk) when specific subjects / keywords are involved.

iirc, the maunal for the tabletop game says something about while LOL CHEESEMONKEYS IMMA SO RANDOM XD insane characters are annoying for everyone involved, Malkavians should still maintain that "creepy fucker" aura whenever possible.

Malks come in all shapes and forms. Some of them are normal 95% of the time, some aren't. Some are extremely creepy, some aren't. Some are lolrandom, some aren't. My favorite types are usually those that suffered from some sort of mental illness while alive, with their malk blood adding a supernatural twist to their derangement. Kind of like a paranoid person who suddenly has all sorts of hallucinations that confirm his paranoia.

I still don't see the appeal of this game. The combat was generally shit and the story wasn't nearly interesting enough to make up for that.

I know there are a lot of troikacockgobblers and worldofdarknessfags on the codex but still.

Meh. I'm a troikacockgobbler and a worldofdarknessfag and I don't have any trouble admitting that this is probably why Bloodlines was, and still is, such an amazing experience for me. You're right that it has more flaws that The Codex likes to admit, but the atmosphere, music, art design, voice acting and dialogue makes up for it all. It's the epitome of flawed gem.

 

[Serious_Business]

Bloodlines is fucking sweet. I don't know what I like most about it, the fact that it was inspired by DX or that it's a worthy representation of the WoD. Heheheh, fuck you

The main problem I have with VTMB is that the plot is shit and lacks the social intrigue that is so characteristic of the setting.

Bullshit. Moran. Roofle. The social intrigue is there, what are you talking about? It's not like they have you kill the bad guy at the end of the plot line. You're starting to piss me off with your nonsense, kid.
Keep it up

 

[someone else]

^ The mission says sneak and don't kill... even though I am suppose to blow up the building killing quite a lot of people. And you get an extra xp for killing everyone same as sneaking so... ??? Was there alternative dialogue for successfully sneaking?

That mission doesn't tell you to sneak. As SCO said, the quest giver tells you that the humans are already aware of vampires and that you shouldn't break a sweat over killing them. In fact he even goes so far as to tell you that you're upholding the masquerade by killing them, and indeed there's a masquerade redemption point upon completing the quest.

He probably advised sneaking as a vampire spawns if you get noticed, won't know about it until I read the walkthrough. I mis-read the part about killing everyone, I thought he meant plant the bomb without killing everyone.

How is the stealth in the museum worse than DX stealth? It has all the same elements: security cameras panning corridors, guards with patrol routes, noise based detection, throwable items to distract guards, hacking and lockpicking.

Map design?

 

[Wyrmlord]

It was a very tiny office space in which you were expected to sneak. Tedious and not fun.

 

[Cassidy]

Fecesbook grade poll.

There is a much greater range of opinions than just "It's good/I like it" or "It's bad/I dislike it"

My opinion is closer to the former though. Somehow I enjoyed this game a lot despite its flaws, which still aren't enough for me to not consider its gameplay way better than that of nearly all the shit action games and FPSes for consoletards being released nowadays. It is one of the games I replayed the most, and I think its pacing, except for the trash mobs in late game, is part of the reason for it. Not as an impressive swan song as Looking Glass Studios' one, but a rough diamond nevertheless, and a game where the story, C&C relevant that will define which endings you may choose based on the decisions you make quite early in the game and NPCs, which are given emphasis, aren't shit like in the case of EAware that also is known for its bad combat mechanics but fails at everything.

I could see Bloodlines plot being made into an acceptable movie(and one hell of an antidote for the Twilight smegma shit that has been going on), but Bioware shit... wouldn't pass even as C-movie grade crap.

It's good for similar reasons Planescape:Torment is, the writing, the characters and the atmosphere and game world around, with a much higher degree of C&C than PS:T as well, and its gameplay isn't that horrible either as some claim, just so-so but that is my personal opinion.

 

[baronjohn]

I've tried to play VTM several times but I can never get more than ten minutes into it because the setting is retarded and repulsive and I'd rather jam a fork into my eye than play urban fantasy with vampires.

 

[Wyrmlord]

I've tried to play VTM several times but I can never get more than ten minutes into it because the setting is retarded and repulsive and I'd rather jam a fork into my eye than play urban fantasy with vampires.

There are settings in Bloodlines.

There is no singular setting.

It keeps changing from Adam's Family to Underworld to Hellboy to Animal House to Sopranos to Showdown in Little Tokyo to Mission Impossible. It's actually a Fallout 2 style game, if you know what I mean.

Urban vampire fantasy does not exactly describe it.

 

[someone else]

Hey do you like Japanese schoolgirl in gravity defying panty flashing short skirt wielding a katana and crossbow? Cos VTMB has that.