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Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 senior narrative designer Cara Ellison has left the project

Davilmar

Davilmar

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,266
I think this was posted in the other thread on the game, but these departures are the kiss of death for me. This is unfortunately going to be a pass for me, and I'm incredibly disappointed to see another game I highly anticipated fall under.
 
Freezasaurus

Freezasaurus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,001
Man, this is not filling me with confidence. I was happy to see the V:tm franchise being revitalized with new games, and even a comic series.
 

Deleted member 1105

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
679
What the fuck is going on with this project? Even if the narrative/writing is already done, losing two key members of the team looks really bad. Especially when Mitsoda is the reason why I was hopeful for this game in the first place.
 
EatChildren

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,029
Losing your core leads is rarely a good sign irrespective of the reasoning. AFAIK Mitsoda, Ellison, and Cluney were the trio that really set this project in motion and pitched it to Paradox in the first place. Have all three removed from the project (or possibly left willingly, in Ellison's case) speaks of a production that either was a total mess and needed revaluation, or Paradox changed their plans relative to what these three started with and the working relationship eroded.

Games are not made by individuals. They're made by teams. And I have no doubt that Bloodlines 2 has a lot of very, very passionate and talented people working hard to make it a worthy successor. But man news like this really burns and makes it hard to stay optimistic.
 

Shoeless

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,000
I hope Jason Schreier interviews these people at some point for a new book, because I'm so curious now as to how this situation developed.
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,871
Davilmar said:
I think this was posted in the other thread on the game, but these departures are the kiss of death for me. This is unfortunately going to be a pass for me, and I'm incredibly disappointed to see another game I highly anticipated fall under.
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Look, it's obviously not a good sign and it's even reasonable to expect the game will underwhelm... But pre-emptively deciding you are going to pass on the game based on staff changes seems a bit much. What if the game actually turns out well? It's happened before.
 
dodo

dodo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,997
she left in september according to her twitter.

really worried about this project which was once upon a time my most anticipated game
 
Lumination

Lumination

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,483
From the trailers to the departure news, I have yet to see a single thing about this game that makes me want to play it. A gigantic shame.
 
Davilmar

Davilmar

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,266
Poimandres said:
Look, it's obviously not a good sign and it's even reasonable to expect the game will underwhelm... But pre-emptively deciding you are going to pass on the game based on staff changes seems a bit much. What if the game actually turns out well? It's happened before.
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I don't think its a bit much when we have had limited communication and updates on the progress of the game for months, limited new footage, and almost all/if not all the original writers either being fired or quitting. The writing was such a major part of the original game, so to see many of them gone isn't a "bit much." I have been patient with this game from the jump, and practically every major development since the beginning of the year hasn't spelled confidence at all. I don't say this lightly as all. Could the game turn out well? Sure, and Deebo could be a basketball player tomorrow. However, a game with numerous delays, departures, and continual developmental struggles often don't bode well for success. Especially since this isn't a large studio either. It's like both games have cursed development, with less talent helping this sequel.
 
FHIZ

FHIZ

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,942
JJD said:
What's up with Dying Light 2? Haven't heard from that game in a long time...
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Exactly. If I remember correctly, the last gameplay they showed off was even the same water choice scenario as they showed off when they announced it, and that was at least a year between demos, maybe more.

But also, like Bloodlines 2, it was another game that Chris Avellone was involved with and then ousted from. And they can wash their hands of him as much as they want (and they should) but the sudden nature of it has to have an impact on development, even if they say his stuff isn't being used, which I think was the case with Hardsuit and Bloodlines 2.
 
CupOfDoom

CupOfDoom

Member
Dec 17, 2017
3,141
This is not a good look. Like, it could still turn out to be an amazing game but, considering she is the third lead developer to leave the project I highly doubt all is well behind the scenes.

Cynically, it does make me start to wonder if this game will release in 2021, if at all, at this point.
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,871
Davilmar said:
I don't think its a bit much when we have had limited communication and updates on the progress of the game for months, limited new footage, and almost all/if not all the original writers either being fired or quitting. The writing was such a major part of the original game, so to see many of them gone isn't a "bit much." I have been patient with this game from the jump, and practically every major development since the beginning of the year hasn't spelled confidence at all. I don't say this lightly as all. Could the game turn out well? Sure, and Deebo could be a basketball player tomorrow. However, a game with numerous delays, departures, and continual developmental struggles often don't bode well for success. Especially since this isn't a large studio either. It's like both games have cursed development, with less talent helping this sequel.
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I for one hope the game does turn out well, and you don't get to partake because you already "passed" on it!

I'm just messing around, and yes I think it's likely the game isn't going to turn out well, but I just don't like writing things off completely until we see the finished product.
 
HylianSeven

HylianSeven

Shin Megami TC - Community Resetter
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,068
This sucks. It's not looking good for this game, and it was looking so good before. I'm curious if we ever get the story some day if this gets cancelled, which is where I have a feeling this is heading.
 
HylianSeven

HylianSeven

Shin Megami TC - Community Resetter
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,068
Poimandres said:
Look, it's obviously not a good sign and it's even reasonable to expect the game will underwhelm... But pre-emptively deciding you are going to pass on the game based on staff changes seems a bit much. What if the game actually turns out well? It's happened before.
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I mean if the game still turns out to be good, great, but I don't think it's likely.

People were hyped for Duke Nukem Forever for years, it eventually released and...yeah you know how that went.
 
CupOfDoom

CupOfDoom

Member
Dec 17, 2017
3,141
Gamer @ Heart said:
What the hell happened with that. Have they shown it at all this year?
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The developers pushed the game from Spring 2020 to TBA. Which is not a good sign. They claim its because they needed more time, and they now want to release on XSX and PS5 as well. I haven't been following it closely enough to know if they released new gameplay footage though.
 
Nessus

Nessus

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,920
I'll wait for reviews. It could end up being decent despite all this, but definitely not a good sign.
 
Anustart

Anustart

9 Million Scovilles
Avenger
Nov 12, 2017
9,050
I started the first one a couple months back, got a decent ways into it but my interest and drive to continue died in China Town. Maybe I should finish it.
 
RPGam3r

RPGam3r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,519
I still think this could be a good game. I've lead projects before (not game related) and I've moved on to other opportunities and those projects were still successful with other leaders.
 
mozbar

mozbar

Member
Feb 20, 2018
856
Cyberpunk and VtmB2 were games that had me excited for some grade-A role-playing. Both have completely shit the bed for different reasons.
 
dodo

dodo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,997
Freezasaurus said:
I just feel like we haven't gotten a steady stream of updates like we have for Cyberpunk, so it's a bit concerning.
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i mean, that in and of itself isn't the concerning part i don't think. cdpr has a much more robust marketing department and budget than paradox/hardsuit; happy for vtmb to be relatively quiet and ready whenever it's ready. but these departures, unexplained, for a narrative-heavy game... that makes it pretty worrying
 
antispin

antispin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,780
mozbar said:
Cyberpunk and VtmB2 were games that had me excited for some grade-A role-playing. Both have completely shit the bed for different reasons.
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Yeah, for VTM I'd been fine with some gameplay/visual gank. But narrative is vital to how I play this particular title. Let's see how this pans out for the project, but I'm not too hopeful.
 
Nox

Nox

Member
Dec 23, 2017
2,904
Yikes, besides being a Vampire Masquerade game she was one of the reasons I got excited for it
 
InspectorJones

InspectorJones

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,621
This news sucks and has me considering cancelling my pre-order. I mean the amount of bad news this game has had is just really sad after the joy of its announcement at all. Really hope this game can release and please its fans.
 
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