Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines: 2 - I want to believe, but...

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Krokodil Overdose said:
It really depends on how much usable material they inherited from Hardsuit. Most of these cases of a game getting passed around by studios that release are basically the result of the last party doing what they can to bodge the mess they inherited together into something that technically works. Unless Paradox wants to pay for the game twice, they might just cut their losses
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I would not be surprised if Hardsuit had also inherited at least some art assets from the CCP MMO. The concept art for that shit has been reused in other places, for example, so receiving the whole package along with the contract is par for the course. Even if it's a new project, Bloodlines 2 is considered a "safer" project than starting a new IP. A sequel for a cult classic, with the possibility to cram it full of vapid Current Year political commentary instead of content and get rave reviews? That's the kind of shit publishers pop boners just thinking about.

So they'll keep trying. This version of Bloodlines 2 might well be dead (although I don't think it is), but they'll keep trying until they get a Bloodlines 2 released. And with the IP owners, the media and twitter being what they are, I expect nothing good out of whatever BL2 does come out.
 
Old-ass news, but here, since it wasn't posted before.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Paradox CEO Ebba Ljungerud resigns due to "differing views" on company strategy

The news comes months after Paradox reported its most successful fiscal year in history.
www.gamedeveloper.com www.gamedeveloper.com

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Mr. Zed da Robot Poon Fed said:
Old-ass news, but here, since it wasn't posted before.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Paradox CEO Ebba Ljungerud resigns due to "differing views" on company strategy

The news comes months after Paradox reported its most successful fiscal year in history.
www.gamedeveloper.com www.gamedeveloper.com

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think it was posted over in the paradox thread. or might have been culture war, can't remember.
also can't remember if that was good or bad, I think the gist was it won't necessarily mean it will get better.

PuffyGroundCloud said:
This is very cursed IP, I dont know how many exorcist can cleanse this IP.
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you wouldn't need that many, just the right ones. also depends on the circumstances, with current wokeshit and every company infiltrated it's almost impossible to not end up as a pozzed turd. so another time with the right developer could easily revive that IP, but right now chances are slim.
 
ZMOT said:
you wouldn't need that many, just the right ones. also depends on the circumstances, with current wokeshit and every company infiltrated it's almost impossible to not end up as a pozzed turd. so another time with the right developer could easily revive that IP, but right now chances are slim.
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The franchise could be "saved" if someone with the balls to bring it back to its anti-establishment and "exotic" roots took over. The World of Darkness was a big "fuck the Man" setting when it started way back in the early 90s. Just after the satanic panic and the Tipper Gore Witch Trials. It was a world that refused the utopian, orderly and God-fearing world the mainstream preached at the time. They went for weird and dysfunctional. That's what made it punk. Unfortunately for the franchise, being anti-establishment these days means refusing the utopian, orderly and Social Justice-fearing world the mainstream preaches now. It means being against the weird and dysfunctional we have now. And doing that gets you tarred and feathered as a Nazi.

So, it's probably easier to just come up with something new and have it published online, P2P, under pseudonym. It's ironic that in Current Year opposition to the cultural hegemony has to go back to the same methods used during the 'zine era.

ETA: now that I think about it, you could do a lot of interesting things with how Vampires deal with the consequences of Current Year politics. Brujah would be pissed off that the plight of the oppressed and the tenets of democracy are being subverted to benefit politicians and corporations and turning rightwards to try to bring autonomy and independence to the oppressed, Ventrue would be trading barbs and backstabbing one another over perceived slights against Social Justice, Tremere would be beating their neonates with a cane until they learn to respect the authority of their elders, Nosferatu would be trolling the shit out of everybody and... hang on, nevermind that last one. That's what the Nosferatu do already.
 
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I wouldn't really mind if they did something like V5, I know it has it's issues but the idea of the second inquisition with the NSA stumbling onto Sheknet and then freaking the fuck out has some real legs for a game setting, think a spy thriller or the second half of Deus Ex but with vampires.

To bad this game will be shit.
 
Corn Flakes said:
The franchise could be "saved" if someone with the balls to bring it back to its anti-establishment and "exotic" roots took over. The World of Darkness was a big "fuck the Man" setting when it started way back in the early 90s. Just after the satanic panic and the Tipper Gore Witch Trials.
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That's the problem right there, the "FUCK THE MAN" people are currently the ones who promote the diversity bullshit. The anti-establishment people are the right wingers.

Having a bunch of Prepper Vampires and other shit like that would give many weird feelings.
 
Marissa Moira said:
That's the problem right there, the "FUCK THE MAN" people are currently the ones who promote the diversity bullshit. The anti-establishment people are the right wingers.

Having a bunch of Prepper Vampires and other shit like that would give many weird feelings.
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I dunno, it could work. Vampires ultimately want to be left alone by humans. They need them, but they don't want their worlds to intermingle too much. I think you could make a very easy parallel between that and the right wing "don't tread on me" attitude. It's practically already written for them.

But we're all expecting some hamfisted, overly referential exposition about how black trans lives matter, and that's exactly what we'll get. Milquetoast establishment dogma coming from a franchise originally created to be anti establishment. And we'll all die a little more inside.

(Assuming it ever actually comes out, of course)
 
Corn Flakes said:
The franchise could be "saved" if someone with the balls to bring it back to its anti-establishment and "exotic" roots took over. The World of Darkness was a big "fuck the Man" setting when it started way back in the early 90s. Just after the satanic panic and the Tipper Gore Witch Trials. It was a world that refused the utopian, orderly and God-fearing world the mainstream preached at the time. They went for weird and dysfunctional. That's what made it punk. Unfortunately for the franchise, being anti-establishment these days means refusing the utopian, orderly and Social Justice-fearing world the mainstream preaches now. It means being against the weird and dysfunctional we have now. And doing that gets you tarred and feathered as a Nazi.

So, it's probably easier to just come up with something new and have it published online, P2P, under pseudonym. It's ironic that in Current Year opposition to the cultural hegemony has to go back to the same methods used during the 'zine era.

ETA: now that I think about it, you could do a lot of interesting things with how Vampires deal with the consequences of Current Year politics. Brujah would be pissed off that the plight of the oppressed and the tenets of democracy are being subverted to benefit politicians and corporations and turning rightwards to try to bring autonomy and independence to the oppressed, Ventrue would be trading barbs and backstabbing one another over perceived slights against Social Justice, Tremere would be beating their neonates with a cane until they learn to respect the authority of their elders, Nosferatu would be trolling the shit out of everybody and... hang on, nevermind that last one. That's what the Nosferatu do already.
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The obvious thing to me is to make a Vampire The Masquerade game that's a 90s period piece, thus side stepping the issue of modern politics entirely.
 
Dom Cruise said:
The obvious thing to me is to make a Vampire The Masquerade game that's a 90s period piece, thus side stepping the issue of modern politics entirely.
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Oh, you sweet summer child. "Here's why the 90's were totally homophobic and why vampires are really no different from the poor HIV sufferers bullied by evil serophobes."
 
Dom Cruise said:
The obvious thing to me is to make a Vampire The Masquerade game that's a 90s period piece, thus side stepping the issue of modern politics entirely.
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a good writer could totally make it work in [current year], but good lucking finding one, and even if you do be ready to ignore or even defend made up #metoo shit some noname on twitter brings up to "own the chuds" which only exists to get one of their woke cronies in charge.
 
ZMOT said:
a good writer could totally make it work in [current year], but good lucking finding one, and even if you do be ready to ignore or even defend made up #metoo shit some noname on twitter brings up to "own the chuds" which only exists to get one of their woke cronies in charge.
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Making it a 90s period piece would make for a perfect excuse to go all out with crazy 90s goth fashions, 90s goth music etc though and that stuff would be rad.

However it would also sidestep what's one of the most interesting things about the sequel and that's seeing how it would address how the world was supposed to have ended shortly after the events of the first game, so maybe it wouldn't be such a great idea.
 
Dom Cruise said:
Making it a 90s period piece would make for a perfect excuse to go all out with crazy 90s goth fashions, 90s goth music etc though and that stuff would be rad.
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Set it in 2000, after the release of The Matrix. If the player makes a "cool" vampire dressed in a black trench coat and wearing sunglasses at night the general public will call him a dork.
 
Maybe it doesn't need mortal politics or to be a commentary on social issues? A cold war / secret war between two main groups of vampires with a bunch of alternate creatures hovering around the edges or occasionally getting involved for their own reasons is a fun concept. Make it more important that the gay human's blood is the only one who can unlock the magic orb than that he has a boyfriend, or the transgender hooker is the only mortal witness to a werewolf assault instead of a statement on sex workers. Fun is a worthwhile goal in its own right.
 
Smaug's Smokey Hole said:
If the player makes a "cool" vampire dressed in a black trench coat and wearing sunglasses at night the general public will call him a dork.
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That might actually be kinda fun, really.

One of the tropes I always liked about vampires - not necessarily WoD vampires, but vampires in general - was how so many of them would get stuck in anachronistic fashions. Father Jack, Victorian man of God and science, seeks shelter from the storm inside an ancient castle, and there, he meets the young Count, curiously dressed in 16th century clothes...

I could totally see a Gen X kid who got turned in the 90s (which iirc was the default backstory for most WoD vamps), still walking around with a trenchcoat, black nailpolish, and a Switchblade Symphony shirt. It could even provide a trigger for subplots and story arcs - prospective prey laughing at him when he shows up at the nightclub, a Hollywood security guard waving him through the checkpoint because the guard assumes he just came off a movie set, the Camarilla prince pulling him aside and telling him he may need to update his wardrobe soon or risk violating the Masquerade, etc etc.
 
Solid Snek said:
That might actually be kinda fun, really.

One of the tropes I always liked about vampires - not necessarily WoD vampires, but vampires in general - was how so many of them would get stuck in anachronistic fashions. Father Jack, Victorian man of God and science, seeks shelter from the storm inside an ancient castle, and there, he meets the young Count, curiously dressed in 16th century clothes...

I could totally see a Gen X kid who got turned in the 90s (which iirc was the default backstory for most WoD vamps), still walking around with a trenchcoat, black nailpolish, and a Switchblade Symphony shirt. It could even provide a trigger for subplots and story arcs - prospective prey laughing at him when he shows up at the nightclub, a Hollywood security guard waving him through the checkpoint because the guard assumes he just came off a movie set, the Camarilla prince pulling him aside and telling him he may need to update his wardrobe soon or risk violating the Masquerade, etc etc.
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There's a reason my GM had a "sunglasses prevent you from using Auspex" rule... Granted that might be because he didn't have the best players at the time (me included, but I got better), and it was the early 2000's still... but yeah.
 
Solid Snek said:
That might actually be kinda fun, really.

One of the tropes I always liked about vampires - not necessarily WoD vampires, but vampires in general - was how so many of them would get stuck in anachronistic fashions. Father Jack, Victorian man of God and science, seeks shelter from the storm inside an ancient castle, and there, he meets the young Count, curiously dressed in 16th century clothes...

I could totally see a Gen X kid who got turned in the 90s (which iirc was the default backstory for most WoD vamps), still walking around with a trenchcoat, black nailpolish, and a Switchblade Symphony shirt. It could even provide a trigger for subplots and story arcs - prospective prey laughing at him when he shows up at the nightclub, a Hollywood security guard waving him through the checkpoint because the guard assumes he just came off a movie set, the Camarilla prince pulling him aside and telling him he may need to update his wardrobe soon or risk violating the Masquerade, etc etc.
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There's a reason this clip gets linked at least four times a year in the group I'm in with a few other WoD players:


One of my old STs loved this trope, too. Sure, the city's Tremere Primogen would tie his hair and put on a somber business suit and tie when heading to Elysium, but if you were summoned into the Chantry expect to see the dude looking like motherfucking Discount Dumbledore, pointy hat and all.
 
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