World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from Hardsuit Labs

[Delterius]

ample scientific evidence of danger.

not to *me*. do you think the paint in my house is leaded, like that of the usual prole? no, i just sold the poison. i didn't consume it. i get to pay large amounts of money to harvest water from the mountains of tibet because i worked for that privilege.

But in real life, it’s not literally Satanic

it definitely comes across as satanic. i guess some people just can't see the devil's influence in the world. just the self evident evil of the torture nexuses required to supply us with non stop non nutritious food is rather impressive. remember when chicken used to taste like chicken? you probably don't, it was before your time.

I’m not suggesting defending corporate interests.

frankly you come across as a worshipper rather than a defender. quite impressive, the lies that the devil can tell. 'humans are just stupid, look away from sin and greed for they have nothing to do with the world'.

ecoterrorists as villains for once

sounds like corporate slop to me

people want

doesn't matter if people came to enjoy the demon semen cola, it's a holy war.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

ample scientific evidence of danger.

not to *me*. do you think the paint in my house is leaded, like that of the usual prole? no, i just sold the poison. i didn't consume it. i get to pay large amounts of money to harvest water from the mountains of tibet because i worked for that privilege.

But in real life, it’s not literally Satanic

it definitely comes across as satanic. i guess some people just can't see the devil's influence in the world. just the self evident evil of the torture nexuses required to supply us with non stop non nutritious food is rather impressive. remember when chicken used to taste like chicken? you probably don't, it was before your time.

I’m not suggesting defending corporate interests.

frankly you come across as a worshipper rather than a defender. quite impressive, the lies that the devil can tell. 'humans are just stupid, look away from sin and greed for they have nothing to do with the world'.

ecoterrorists as villains for once

sounds like corporate slop to me

That’s still a false equivalence. In real life, the motivation is ultimately “I got mine, fuck you!” not “I wanna cause the apocalypse!”

I have seen the other side do so much stupid and evil shit that I find it impossible to take them seriously anymore. “Eat the bugs,” “live in the pod,” “own nothing and be happy,” “suck my dick or you’re a bigot,” “subject your child to unethical medical experiments or we’ll shoot up schools,” etc.

Maybe humanity deserves to drown in its own pollution.

 

[Delterius]

“I got mine, fuck you!”

progress. now you understand its about sinful greed rather than an excuse

“I wanna cause the apocalypse!”

yes, this is the world of darkness. rather than just the sins of men, demons walk amongst us. and work their magic on us.

I have seen the other side

again, such beautiful lies the devil can weave all around us, in cold screens, in the dead of night. a man screams at you. 'care for my bullshit rather than your own survival!'. and lo:

Maybe humanity deserves to drown in its own pollution.

the result.

 

[Roguey]

In real life, the motivation is ultimately “I got mine, fuck you!” not “I wanna cause the apocalypse!”

It's perfectly fine for fictional villains to have goofy and hilariously entertaining motivations.

 

[Cricket McBangle]

Even then, corporations polluting has a profit incentive anyway.

They can pollute the exact same amounts and not profit - by giving away all their profit to charities. What would the furries say then? It's still pollution, and it's done for the creation of products that people want.

Profit is only a certain way of redistributing money. Redistribute it differently and what does it change to pollution itself? Nothing. Hence, profit is a non-issue. It's only brought up by edgy teens who don't understand anything and don't have enough pocket money for some toy.

If the creation and redistribution of products was done in ways that had profit incentives from not polluting, then it would be done. Corporations and businesses exist to make profit and it is undeniable that the chase for big profits includes pollution among other things because it includes profit, not for the sake of pollution. No such viable solution really exists and I'm not advocating people stop buying shit people need or even want.

(I thought ideas were cheap and execution was all that mattered

I thought WoD was a tired outdated IP that nobody wants to work on?

...yes? What has changed? Based on your previous posts filled with cargo cult criticism and a general unwillingness to engage with any material in good faith on its own terms because it's not Bloodlines, trying to look at things critically is lost on you which is bonkers because this is Werewolf The Apocalypse.

That’s still a false equivalence. In real life, the motivation is ultimately “I got mine, fuck you!” not “I wanna cause the apocalypse!”

I have seen the other side do so much stupid and evil shit that I find it impossible to take them seriously anymore. “Eat the bugs,” “live in the pod,” “own nothing and be happy,” “suck my dick or you’re a bigot,” “subject your child to unethical medical experiments or we’ll shoot up schools,” etc.

Maybe humanity deserves to drown in its own pollution.

"I got mine, fuck you!" to "Maybe humanity deserves to drown in its own pollution."

The irony here is palpable.

Does everyone in completely made-up stories need to be true to life?

 

[Delterius]

Does everyone in completely made-up stories need to be true to life?

on the contrary. the real danger might be that they are, in a way.

such depictions must be regulated.

 

[SlightlyRadioactive]

Reading the last few posts feels like a fever dream.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

In real life, the motivation is ultimately “I got mine, fuck you!” not “I wanna cause the apocalypse!”

It's perfectly fine for fictional villains to have goofy and hilariously entertaining motivations.

That’s fair. Where it crosses the line into stupid for me is when it loses any sense of self-awareness. WTA is written completely seriously with no awareness of how ridiculous its own premise is. This is reflected in its fandom. Among other things, fans are complaining that the new edition removes the deformed incest baby splat.

Writing it as a comedic satire of Captain Planet is all fine and dandy, but it isn’t written that way. It’s written as an intentionally and seriously political work. It’s a leftwing Chick tract. It’s furry Captain Planet.

But wait, there’s more! Paradox is trying desperately to scrub it to be more presentable, with all the poor results you would expect from trying make a Chick tract more presentable. That’s the version Earthblood is supposed to be using.

 

[J1M]

Saying that a bullet is magic or silver and therefore can kill a vampire the way a regular bullet kills a human sucks a lot of the life out of vampire antagonists.

Sure, but that's a common trope of the vamp genre for better or worse. And if we're talking about more action-focused franchises like Blade, is it really that different from a mundane action film in which our outnumbered hero defeats a shitload of enemies?

Yes, it's a waste of the setting's differentiating element.

 

[Roguey]

That’s fair. Where it crosses the line into stupid for me is when it loses any sense of self-awareness. WTA is written completely seriously with no awareness of how ridiculous its own premise is. This is reflected in its fandom. Among other things, fans are complaining that the new edition removes the deformed incest baby splat.

Writing it as a comedic satire of Captain Planet is all fine and dandy, but it isn’t written that way. It’s written as an intentionally and seriously political work. It’s a leftwing Chick tract. It’s furry Captain Planet.

But wait, there’s more! Paradox is trying desperately to scrub it to be more presentable, with all the poor results you would expect from trying make a Chick tract more presentable. That’s the version Earthblood is supposed to be using.

I haven't read the primary sources, but the stuff on the wiki is hilarious and also self-parodying e.g. https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/PCP https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Magicians_of_the_Bay https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Dog_Game_Factory_(Pentex) https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Tellus

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Saying that a bullet is magic or silver and therefore can kill a vampire the way a regular bullet kills a human sucks a lot of the life out of vampire antagonists.

Sure, but that's a common trope of the vamp genre for better or worse. And if we're talking about more action-focused franchises like Blade, is it really that different from a mundane action film in which our outnumbered hero defeats a shitload of enemies?

Yes, it's a waste of the setting's differentiating element.

Meh, I think that the genre (to the degree that we can even define it as a genre in itself rather than just a trope that spans multiple unrelated genres) is broad enough that there's a place for all sorts of settings. And while this sort of trivialization of vamp powers might not work for some work of gothic horror or what have you, it works just fine for something like Blade.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I haven't read the primary sources,

Who here has? I’m under the impression that most people here were introduced through Bloodlines and never heard of the IP before then nor know anything about it besides vague tidbits they read on a wiki somewhere.

I was a tabletop gamer before I played Bloodlines. I read so many books. The IP is absolutely ridiculous and not in a good way.

 

[EvilWolf]

How many other games let you play vampire hunters?

According to Google:

How many of those games have you heard of, played, or have confirmed are about playing as vampire hunters?

13, 9, vampires: 10, vampire hunters: 16

 

[Delterius]

13, 9, vampires: 10, vampire hunters: 16

Castlevania: 17, Hotel: Trivago.

 

[Zombra]

Hey assholes, there are already threads elsewhere about how great capitalism is. At least pretend you're still talking about something that has anything to do with Bloodlines 2.

 

[Delterius]

Hey assholes, there are already threads elsewhere about how great capitalism is. At least pretend you're still talking about something that has anything to do with Bloodlines 2.

did bloodlines 2 fail capitalism or did capitalism fail bloodlines 2

Spoiler

psyche, no one failed. the game is releasing and its gonna be great

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Hey assholes, there are already threads elsewhere about how great capitalism is. At least pretend you're still talking about something that has anything to do with Bloodlines 2.

 

[Tyranicon]

If this keeps going on, the mods are gonna sink the entire thread into the politics subforum.

 

[Roguey]

Anyway, Paradox acknowledged Bloodlines 2's existence again in their latest annual report:

EXPECTED FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
In the coming year, continued good profitability is expected. Five
announced games are awaiting release; Age of Wonders 4 developed
by Triumph Studios, Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2,
developed by Hardsuit Labs and another unannounced studio,
Cities: Skylines 2 developed by Colossal Order, Life By You developed
by Paradox Tectonic and The Lamplighters League developed by
Harebrained Schemes. Development is also underway on several yet
to be announced games.

 

[Storyfag]

corporations aren't incompetent or stupid.

bruh. the stories I could tell you...

 

[Harthwain]

corporations aren't incompetent or stupid.

bruh. the stories I could tell you...

Indeed. Corporations can be incompetent or stupid, while cutting costs and trying to make profit.

 

[Twiglard]

The story is good. It is not deep, but it is well executed. Very well for a video game with talking heads.

I liked it back in the day but some years ago rewatched the mission briefings. Halfway through the original campaign Zeratul the magical Negro and the rest of his proud warrior race steal the show and it becomes a total cliche.

It changes tone once you go from the Raynor/Mengsk conflict to the space-fantasy elements that define the series. The former could actually be preferable.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The story is good. It is not deep, but it is well executed. Very well for a video game with talking heads.

I liked it back in the day but some years ago rewatched the mission briefings. Halfway through the original campaign Zeratul the magical Negro and the rest of his proud warrior race steal the show and it becomes a total cliche.

It changes tone once you go from the Raynor/Mengsk conflict to the space-fantasy elements that define the series. The former could actually be preferable.

Maybe? Episode 1 is the most tightly plotted (its novelization is the only one that doesn’t feel like complete schlock), but objectively speaking it’s still overrated hackery. It still goes into capeshit territory at the expense of the geopolitics/astropolitics of the world they live in. You could replace the aliens, Kerry and the Confederacy with sexy lamps and lose nothing of value. Maybe if the scale was severely shrunk down to a gang war it might work, but… the writer is still a hack who can’t even write one decent novel. It being hackery is fine, but it’s so overrated af.

But I digress. This is not the thread for that.

 

[Harthwain]

I liked it back in the day but some years ago rewatched the mission briefings. Halfway through the original campaign Zeratul the magical Negro and the rest of his proud warrior race steal the show and it becomes a total cliche.

It changes tone once you go from the Raynor/Mengsk conflict to the space-fantasy elements that define the series. The former could actually be preferable.

It is true that Terran and Zerg campaigns are better than Protoss ones in both Starcraft 1 and Brood War.

 

[hello friend]

Yeah the entire protoss campaign is boring af

Like an entire race of retards spazzing out