Wait, they said something about skipping Malkavians?? That was possibly the best clan choice in Bloodlines 1.
I don't dislike them, I just see them as symptomatic of recurrent issues with Bloodlines' writing, which on the whole failed to impress me. Their storyline falls so easily into the tritest of cliches, and its presentation is so cheesy and triehard edgy, that I struggled to take the game seriously forever after, no matter how desperately it begged me to.
I did like how bizarre Jeanette's dialogue could occasionally get, but I'd have preferred more emphasis on that and less on the 'slutty vamp in schoolgirl outfit' character concept ("This is a serious game!" I could hear the devs desperately yell. "With MATURE writing!") Other bits of the writing I liked were the radio show and the twist at the end, which I'm fairly certain was lifted straight from an old film noir, but otherwise it was pretty unremarkable stuff that took itself way too seriously.
No, I only ever rolled a Tremere. I pondered trying the others out but found the second half of the game too frustrating to bother with a replay. So I settled for clips and pictures instead. Not the most informed opinion, I'll grant, but I doubt inflicting the experience on myself would much improve it. To me it sounds like playing a low intelligence character in Fallout: I get why people remember it e.g. the memetic potential, but it's hardly sophisticated penmanship or complex roleplaying.
I recall a recent interview with Cain and Boyarsky about The Outer Worlds, where they addressed questions about how anyone would ever follow a low intelligence captain or some such. They pretty much granted that if you went that route, narrative logic is out the window and the game's descended into utter absurdity. Not my thing, unless maybe that's the whole premise from the get go. But Bloodlines ain't Discworld, I hear. It's a gritty, super duper serious narrative about vampires that don't sparkle.
They're certainly free to do whatever they want, and everyone else is free to think whatever they want about it. I'm of the opinion that inclusivity and not offending people has the potential to lead to better stories. After all, when material comes across as offensive is often because of the author's ignorance. If you belong to a particular demographic and don't even bother to consider others, chances are your writing will grow considerably stupider and more simplistic as you gravitate outside your ballpark.
Like when straight male writers take every chance to describe their female characters in loving, libidinous detail while three-hundred pages in their male protagonist remains utterly nondescript. Or when nonwhite characters get to teach the white protagonist the secret skills of their culture only for him to outmatch them in no time at all. It doesn't matter that writers are blissfully unaware of what they're doing; that only makes them guilty of incompetence rather than malice. Forget whether it is offensive or not, if you don't care about that stuff. Think instead about how tolerating this sort of thing encourages lazy storytelling.
Pretending to write with authority about things they know jack about is a huge flaw in a storyteller; they will get called out on it if their science fiction presumes to know about physics when it clearly doesn't, or if their historical/fantasy novel tries to dissimulate ignorance of how sailing works by vomiting random naval terminology the reader's way. But to research real mental diseases and disabilities before putting them into your work, or involving actual women and minorities in a game where they feature and which is, allegedly, also meant for them? Perish the thought.
Here's a list of details that are currently known about the game
If this was post already i am sorry.
- Brian Mitsoda is lead writer (just like the original) alongside Chris Avellone and Cara Ellison
- Rik Schaffer is composing again
- Set in Seattle
- Seamless hub world
- Multiple hubs
- Direct sequel to 2004's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
- Takes place 15 years after Bloodlines
- Game starts off with a Mass Embrace at Pioneer Square where player is among the new vampires born from the event, you're captured and brought upon a court of prominent vampires like the first game to recount the events of the mass embrace before being sentenced to death, court is firebombed and you escape, thrust into Seattle to find out who's responsible
- Player is a thin-blood at first, later on you can choose a clan.
- No quest markers
- First-person with contextual third-person actions just like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided.
- Fan-favourite characters from Bloodlines returning
- You can use telekinesis, turn into mist to go through vents and glide
- You can scale buildings, there's an emphasis on verticality
- Level design is very reminiscent of the original Deus Ex in the sense that you're offered many different pathways to approach a particular scenario
- Way more dialogue than Bloodlines
- Huge emphasis on character creation. You can choose your background, gender pronoun, employment history, body type and fashion
- Loads of secrets and hidden pathways to find
- Seattle as a hub world is described as "very active", crowds gather outside clubs and muggers prey on victims in side allies, all seamlessly done.
- Main side-questline involves hunting down and finding all the other thin-blood created from the Mass Embrace, each will have their own story about entering into their new life e.g you might find a married thin-blood struggling to deal with their newfound powers
- Blood resonance from the 5th edition will appear in this game. Using your enhanced vampire senses, you can see when NPCs are experiencing an intense emotion like fear, desire, pain, joy and anger. Humans give off a bright aura. Drinking a person with a strong resonance will give you an immediate bonus to things like melee power or seduction. If you drink a particular resonance constantly, you will acquire a taste for it and this will give you permanent buffs called "merits".
- If you continuously suck on people's blood in full view of the public, they'll be more wary of going to those areas and you'll see less citizens wandering the streets
- Emphasis on fluid combat, using vampiric speed to slide in and out of melee range and slash people and execute them with melee weapons. You can get special cinematic finishers in combat when you execute people a la Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Counters are in. Guns exist and are treated as temporary opportunities, you pick em up, use it, then discard it and move on.
- NPCs can react to you depending on what background you chose for your character in character creation
- Game has modding support, available Day 1
Does this mean the MC is sired by Sabbat, or did 5th Edition change the Camarilla's stance on Mass Embraces? Since you're hunting down other thin-bloods from the embrace I'm assuming the former.
Yeah.. I'd assume that it's going to be the Sabbat that actually spawned the mass embrace attack. You'd then maybe fight the camarilla a bit and somehow escape a death there as well. I'm thinking this will all be the "tutorial" level. Kind of introduce you to the world of vampire and then let you the player choose a clan. I also think that the clan will be player choice not character choice... as in the clan the player chooses will turn out to be the clan that caused the mass embrace. It'd just make sense that way. I'm just speculating of course.
I never got this impression of the game. It's just as serious as Braindead movie. It's frequently tasteless (in a good way), packed with stereotypes and cliches, it's very B-movie in feel.
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And that's done on purpose clearly. It's part of authors humor to mock some of such stereotypes.
Well, they're thin-bloods so their sire's clan doesn't matter that much, from the sound of everything else, the MC is going to be sired by Sabbat (like in Henley & DoctorWreckage's LA At Night VtM PNP game) then brought to a meeting of powers (like in Bloodlines and Henley's LA At Night VtM PNP game) where you're supposed to be executed ("") but someone interrupts the execution ("") and you go on working for the Camarilla, despite what you are (like in Henley & DoctorWreckage's LA At Night VtM PNP game).
And it's part of it's appeal for me. Like Carpenter films, for example. So I'm rather worried if they want to step away from this, because omahgerd "offensive".
You made some compelling points across the board here, and I find myself agreeing with your first and second responses.
However, the third part is where we differ. I don't think race or gender has any effect on a writer's ability to, well, write. At least, not necessarily. I can certainly see why some might think that way, but because we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, it's really tough for me to say "a cis white guy cant write for a black gay woman (character)." For all we know, they consulted with precisely that sort of person, and still ended up with whatever their final script is, and perhaps that still isn't satisfactory for certain groups.
Anyone can write for anyone else - it's been proven time and time again. At the same time, I don't give a damn who is writing who. If it's a woman, man, or anything in between, it doesn't matter to me. But I draw the line at, say, kicking Chris Avellone off the project -- just as a wild example, I'm not putting words in your mouth -- because he's a white dude. Screw that. He's a good writer. That's all that matters. I would voice the exact same frustration if a women was considered a poor choice for writing a male character.
Remember - the people in this industry, the good writers, got where they are for a reason. They are not random dudebros pulled off the street or out of college frat parties. We can always find exceptions -- people who are high up without writing good characters -- but for the most part, the best are the best because they're the best.
Thanks for replying so thoughtfully, even if we don't line up perfectly with our beliefs. Always nice when a discussion can be respectful rather than combative or patronizing. <3
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I just hope they don't decide to make malkavian stupid/dumb like you can do with your character in Fallout.
Never liked that in Fallout, and i see many people ask if malkavian are like that.
Never liked that in Fallout, and i see many people ask if malkavian are like that.
I don't get the argument behind the 'slutty vamp in schoolgirl outfit' character concept. Just like in movies, characters in a video game have to be appealing to the audience. At the time the game released, 'Baby one more time' from Britney spears had been already a huge hit and Harley Quinn concept was very liked by players who read comics. No wonder why this character was put into the cast.
Besides, Jeanette is a malkav so she can be eccentric, say stupid things and do whatever she likes. Her role was well fitting at the time I think. She even embodies that period so well in fact.
Besides, Jeanette is a malkav so she can be eccentric, say stupid things and do whatever she likes. Her role was well fitting at the time I think. She even embodies that period so well in fact.
Things changed since 2003, Bloodlines 2 will have hardcore twerking instead of goth chicks or schoolgirl lolitas:
Otherwise I don't think they're keeping with the times.
As long as i can have kinky outfits for my female character like malkavian had in VtmB i am fine, ofc i would like that 3rd person is always on.
Depends on which vampires we are talking about though. Some might keep the outfit they had or the fashion which was on when they were made
Prince Lacroix was a good candidate, but he OPENED IT.Depends on which vampires we are talking about though. Some might keep the outfit they had or the fashion which was on when they were made
This is a friendly reminder to steer clear of real-world politics. I know what was has been published online, and I know that it seems there's a lot of crossover between actual reality and what the game is about. However, there really isn't:
If we're talking about vampires, and vampire politics, and the world of Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, then have at it. Anything pertaining to the in-game characters in that fictional world is fine.
If we're talking about the real-world developers, writers, fans, haters, and/or the political stances and philosophies they're trying to further through the game -- the line has been crossed and that discussion is off-limits.
Several posts are skirting the edge of that cliff.
If we're talking about vampires, and vampire politics, and the world of Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, then have at it. Anything pertaining to the in-game characters in that fictional world is fine.
If we're talking about the real-world developers, writers, fans, haters, and/or the political stances and philosophies they're trying to further through the game -- the line has been crossed and that discussion is off-limits.
Several posts are skirting the edge of that cliff.
Sorry, @SigilFey.
This is an interesting point - a modern era doesn't necessarily mean everybody will be wearing modern clothes; at least, not in backroom Vampire meetings. Perhaps they'll wear whatever comes most naturally to them when they aren't attempting to blend.
Or maybe they'll throw blending to the wind because screw it, some of these vampires live in massive mansions and people who live in massive mansions have always been a bit weird to begin with.
Depends on which vampires we are talking about though. Some might keep the outfit they had or the fashion which was on when they were made
This is an interesting point - a modern era doesn't necessarily mean everybody will be wearing modern clothes; at least, not in backroom Vampire meetings. Perhaps they'll wear whatever comes most naturally to them when they aren't attempting to blend.
Or maybe they'll throw blending to the wind because screw it, some of these vampires live in massive mansions and people who live in massive mansions have always been a bit weird to begin with.
Wearing out of fashion clothes though IMO ought to cause issues with the masquerade if done in public. As demonstrated in the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (granted a different IP):
Certainly. But in private, I wouldn't be surprised if they went with something that they felt more comfortable/natural in.
And you have to remember some vampires never go out. Blood is brought to them by different means.