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

[jje100010001]

Quick question regarding the first game- any reason as to why Los Angeles was fictionalized to have a gothic appearance rather than something closer to real life? Is it some alt universe thing?

Interesting though that they're not taking this approach to Seattle in VtMB 2.

 

[Corn Flakes]

Quick question regarding the first game- any reason as to why Los Angeles was fictionalized to have a gothic appearance rather than something closer to real life? Is it some alt universe thing?

Interesting though that they're not taking this approach to Seattle in VtMB 2.

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Artistic choice, following the tabletop RPG's own aesthetics.

The World of Darkness isn't meant to be like the real world. It's this weird, distorted, dystopian and goth-punk version of the real world.

(Sorry for the low quality caps, my VtM revised is buried in storage somewhere, and the one PDF I have at hand right now, the Trove's version of VtM Revised, is ass.)

So yeah, it's an entire world that looks like Gotham City in the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher movies. That's actually another red flag for Bloodlines 2: they were trying to make the game world look like reality, when it's definitely not meant to be. It's supposed to look vaguely surreal and uncanny, exaggerated to an almost comic degree.

 

[smallmilk]

I will be honest, I prefer to see Lecroix again than Damsel, at least I can trick him into "opening it" again for the entertainment factor.

I might be the only one who unironically wants LaCroix back, not just cause I like him as a character but I think an asshole Ventrue fallen from grace would also be an interesting concept.

 

[The handsome tard]

I might be the only one who unironically wants LaCroix back, not just cause I like him as a character but I think an asshole Ventrue fallen from grace would also be an interesting concept.

To be extremely fair, if we met a scarred (can vampires even have scars?) Lacroix from just barely escaping the explosion with his unlife who now lives like a nosferatu, hidden from both human and vampire society...that could be actually interesting. Maybe he was humbled by the experience and is actually a decent person now that you may or may not want expose to the rest of the world (which no doubt will get a blood hunt on him). I guess its to ask the questions if he still deserves Final Death or if his present self compensate his past sins.

But hey, its much easier just to say he is Trump and that he deserves death because of it because deep writing and character growth are for racist pricks

 

[Rakdos92]

But hey, its much easier just to say he is Trump and that he deserves death because of it because deep writing and character growth are for racist pricks

There's no redemption in the eyes of the SJWtards. Once you've sinned, even for just existing, you are condemned forever.

 

[Honest Coyote]

Will they keep the Trump=Prince metaphor? They already have a massive reworking, so there no reason not to removed an expired cliche.

 

[smallmilk]

To be extremely fair, if we met a scarred (can vampires even have scars?) Lacroix from just barely escaping the explosion with his unlife who now lives like a nosferatu, hidden from both human and vampire society...that could be actually interesting. Maybe he was humbled by the experience and is actually a decent person now that you may or may not want expose to the rest of the world (which no doubt will get a blood hunt on him). I guess its to ask the questions if he still deserves Final Death or if his present self compensate his past sins.

But hey, its much easier just to say he is Trump and that he deserves death because of it because deep writing and character growth are for racist pricks

Not sure about scars, but they do heal over time, so maybe he could just look mangled cause he's mid-healing.
There's a chance he could survive if he had good Fortitude.

 

[The handsome tard]

Not sure about scars, but they do heal over time, so maybe he could just look mangled cause he's mid-healing.
There's a chance he could survive if he had good Fortitude.

Given fire really fucks up vampires and that explosion was pure firey goodness so its EXTREMELY unlikely he could have survived in any scenario where he "Opens it", especially if you stabbed him and left him to open it on his own.

I just sort of made up the scenario in my mind for as much unlikely it was. There is no he could still look mid healing after the in universe years (vampires do show they can heal VERY fast with even something as simple as rat blood).

Tho it would be hilarious if he had so much Fortitude that he could just survive that firey explosion just because. Thats some Kenny surviving in The Walking Dead telltale game season 1 and just throwing the "I got lucky, real lucky" insanity

Will they keep the Trump=Prince metaphor? They already have a massive reworking, so there no reason not to removed an expired cliche.

Something you must understand is that the left is confused and conflicted right now. They "got rid" of the orange man bad in a very democratic and fair manner (or at least thats the hill the media will die on) but they still seem to want to act like he won the election.

A lot of people seem to be going through "trump withdraw" if that makes any sense. They realize they got what they wanted and that was the worst thing it could have happened to them because now they "lack" their "big bad". Entire careers were built over hating this man and now that this man is gone, their careers are at risk...just look at the massive layoffs, the left is getting rid of its useful idiots now that their usefulness ran out. They seem to be now trying to rabidly defend Biden even tho he is obviously doing a worse job than Trump and he hasnt been in office for more than THREE god damn months. Things are legit getting worse under Biden and its voters will always defend him because they know that its their fault deep down. They voted a pedophile into the white house because the previous one had a runchy attitude and an active twitter with little care if his politics and policies werent ultimately better for the country. Only their emotions mattered.

As to media, now they are probably wondering if they should stick making fun of Trump and risk this shit getting old even for their own kind or ...urrgh...try something original? ....

Nah, lets stick with the Trump hate...it worked until now and people are so addicted to hating this man, they rather pretend that he still has some sort of influence over their lives. Games, movies, books and TV will still pretend that he and what he stands for (the usual "isms" and "cies") are still around so that people still believe they are fighting for a cause buying their product...at least until it gets old even for them, which might take a while.

As for Bloodlines 2...well, the game has been in developtment for a while and its going to show as it feels stuck in the Trump administration.

Instantly dated

 

[Megatardingo]

Exactly. But, new fans aren't brave enough to dive deep into the lore to figure this shit out, they just see "trans-enby-vampire uwu" and get mad when they find out people referred to Vykos as it.

Beckett's Jyhad Diary already started the processes of wokening-Vykos, it's just sad that characters can't be monstrously evil without making sure nobody's going to be offended.

Just keep the headcanon up and disregard woke additions to lore made to appease the masses, it's what I do when they ruin lore that I like. I agree that it's fucking whack though than a game about creatures losing their humanity through millenia and being twisted from the inside out people are gonna be throwing hissyfits about muh gender studies and duh evil but there's little you can do besides reject it (I still keep fucking laughing at that warning that you cannot under any circumstances play a nazi from one of the rulebooks lmao)

I'm gonna say this again, but Bloodlines 2 doesn't need to exist because the first game was a self contained story in and of itself. The protagonist from that has come to terms with their new reality as a vampire and found a place in undead society (assuming they didn't side with Ming Xiao in which case they are feeding the fishes.)

The fact that they made a new VTM game but piggybacked onto the Bloodlines name should have made us all suspicious to begin with. Why not have a game that plays similarly but call it something different to reflect it's a whole new story.

Brand recognition ain't bad, it's easier to know what you get into even if you don't really have a tie-in to the previous game besides the lore so as far as marketing goes it's a whammy, people who keep changing the names to shit that has nothing to do with the previous iterations just confuse casual fans.

 

[Ginger Piglet]

As for Bloodlines 2...well, the game has been in developtment for a while and its going to show as it feels stuck in the Trump administration.

A lot of current year media is going to suffer from that. Wonder Woman 1984's bad guy is basically Orange Man.

Things are legit getting worse under Biden and its voters will always defend him because they know that its their fault deep down.

They're not kids in cages, they're temporary accommodation for undocumented immigrants, bigot!

 

[blablabla]

all this rpg shit is insane, let me talk to stop signs and bang the crazy big boobed blonde with split personality and my big boobed redhead slave. what the fuck is this shit about tranny vampires

 

[The handsome tard]

They're not kids in cages, they're temporary accommodation for undocumented immigrants, bigot!

"We are the good guys, god damn it!!!!"

 

[peterturner]

all this rpg shit is insane, let me talk to stop signs and bang the crazy big boobed blonde with split personality and my big boobed redhead slave. what the fuck is this shit about tranny vampires yowhatsaapp apk

haha yes I think so.

 

[SiccDicc]

They're not kids in cages, they're temporary accommodation for undocumented immigrants, bigot!

That we occasionally give to our vampire overlords not to kill us.

 

[mr.moon1488]

Haven't keep up with this game much, but I feel like it's time to call Shazam on this game. It honestly sounds like they're on a worse track than what even CyberPunk was.

 

[Marissa Moira]

Quick question regarding the first game- any reason as to why Los Angeles was fictionalized to have a gothic appearance rather than something closer to real life? Is it some alt universe thing?

Interesting though that they're not taking this approach to Seattle in VtMB 2.

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Because having it look like a trash heap just doesn't look cool in a video game.

 

[wrangled tard]

Haven't keep up with this game much, but I feel like it's time to call Shazam on this game. It honestly sounds like they're on a worse track than what even CyberPunk was.

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It was called a while ago. They fired Mitsoda months ago who was the only person left from the original game, then fired hardsuit labs, which is probably for the best all things considered but it still means an entirely new team is working on the game if they're not just remaking it entirely. 'Member when they were accepting preorders and had announced a Q1 2021 release date?

 

[Sascha Vykos]

There is absolutely no way the new team will be able to work with whatever Hardsuite gives them. It could take them years to try and understand the current game's structure. At best, the new team will keep the story and assets given to them while creating a whole new alpha build. That's if big daddy Paradox doesn't just pull the plug on this dumpster fire.

I do hope Hardsuite's build will get leaked one day. I'm morbidly curious to know what it was like.

 

[Discourteous Discourse]

'Member when they were accepting preorders and had announced a Q1 2021 release date?

Remember all of this?

According to the Wiki the Collector's Edition doesn't even come with the game.
ETA I'm not assmad about it or anything, just pointing how they put the cart before the horse, as so many companies do these days with crowd funded media.

I avoided this thread and most info on the game for a while because I wanted to be optimistic, but pushing merch like this before a game is released is never a good sign. When I first noticed that SEEKER board behind Elif I was like, great, this really is a game fueled by SJWism. Although Elif herself is enough of a red flag; she looks like an Instathot who wants to be goth for a day. She doesn't look like she belongs in the World of Darkness. None of the characters do. Look at the Nosferatu:


A Marvel villain reject and a burn victim.

What was wrong with how they looked before? They're supposed to be misshapen and gross looking, but still have a design that makes them unmistakably WoD Nosferatu.

Spoiler: more sperging about design

So yeah, it's an entire world that looks like Gotham City in the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher movies. That's actually another red flag for Bloodlines 2: they were trying to make the game world look like reality, when it's definitely not meant to be. It's supposed to look vaguely surreal and uncanny, exaggerated to an almost comic degree.

I thought the first game did a great job with aesthetics and setting overall mood. Now we have rather average environments that could be used in any murder/mystery game:






Swinging back to characters, I hate Mr. Damp.


uwu murdering psychopath so kawaii! I'll take my neg rates for this, but Mr. Damp reminds me of Eddie Gluskin from Outlast: Whistleblower, or rather the crowd that heavily fetishized him. Gluskin mutilated and murdered women before being tossed into the asylum, and after that he mutilated his male inmates by cutting off their genitals, carving them up to give them large breasts, and making at least one of them look like a pregnant woman in labor. Completely unhinged, absolutely dangerous, and yet there was a sizeable crowd that fetishized Gluskin torturing Waylon Park, the protagonist. IMO Damp is the creation of the kind of lunatic who gets turned on by murderers as long as they're semi-attractive. The glamorization and fetishization of mental illness and murder in horror media is beyond tiresome.

if they're not just remaking it entirely

If they must make another game I think this would be for the best, and maybe not call it VtMB 2, because that comes with expectations. If it isn't tied to the events of the first game then just call it something else. Hopefully they can't shit the bed harder than Hardsuit Labs did.

 

[blablabla]

There is absolutely no way the new team will be able to work with whatever Hardsuite gives them. It could take them years to try and understand the current game's structure. At best, the new team will keep the story and assets given to them while creating a whole new alpha build. That's if big daddy Paradox doesn't just pull the plug on this dumpster fire.

I do hope Hardsuite's build will get leaked one day. I'm morbidly curious to know what it was like.

the best thing that could happen tbh. the hardsuit lab writers were woke fucking morons. let this game die