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Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 taking a firm political & progressive stance, standing for LGBT rights & mental illness representation

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Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

Local Horror Enthusiast
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,804
OnionPowder said:
Steam forums are already what you expect
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Thankfully it's just a loud vocal minority, the game's already climbed up to the #3 global top sellers spot (behind Sekiro stuff which just released). Some are going to be very anti this game since they're taking a vocal firm progressive stance, but I think it's important for more games to do this and normalize it.
 
TheMrPliskin

TheMrPliskin

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,564
Makes me very happy to see a developer being so vocal about this. It's also nice to see somebody acknowledge the importance of representing mental illness correctly.
 
OnionPowder

OnionPowder

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,323
Orlando, FL
Dusk Golem said:
Thankfully it's just a loud vocal minority, the game's already climbed up to the #3 global top sellers spot (behind Sekiro stuff which just released). Some are going to be very anti this game since they're taking a vocal firm progressive stance, but I think it's important for more games to do this and normalize it.
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Yes, what the game is doing is important. I've seen a lot of push back against the dumb alt right trolls which is exciting.
 

Deleted member 2254

user requested account closure
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The first game was ahead of the times in that, so it's good they're backing up their views for the sequel instead of shying away from them.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,190
Helsinki, Finland
Their stance makes me want to buy the game even more. Unfortunately, I never got to play the original, only admired it from afar, so I hope the sequel will live up to the expectations.
 
ThreepQuest64

ThreepQuest64

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
5,735
Germany
LeAve pOLiTicS oUt oF "oUr" gAMeS, I already hear echoing from specific (social media) channels, ignoring the fact that every piece of art involves – sometimes more visible and obvious, sometimes less – the author's political stance and/or views, or is at least shaped by time and place of its creation.
 
NoblesseOblige

NoblesseOblige

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,231
ThreepQuest64 said:
LeAve pOLiTicS oUt oF "oUr" gAMeS, I already hear echoing from specific (social media) channels, ignoring the fact that every piece of art involves – sometimes more visible and obvious, sometimes less – the author's political stance and/or views, or is at least shaped by time and place of its creation.
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Not to mention Vampire the Masquerade was born from the gothic-punk scene, making it inherently anti-establishment in theme. Also the game describes itself as 'a game of personal and political horror'
 
LossAversion

LossAversion

The Merchant of ERA
Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,714
The people complaining about this are the same people that moaned about recent Bioware games and the ending of The Legend of Korra. There is no universe in which LGBT characters wouldn't be considered "pandering" by those types of people. Regardless of how the characters are presented.
 
Lozange

Lozange

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,103
Not gonna lie, wasn't super interested initially, but if they do this stuff well then this is how you get me interested. Very cool stuff being talked about here. Best of luck to the devs!
 
Tunahead

Tunahead

Member
Oct 30, 2017
986
As a five year old, I think it's VERY inappro-pro for vampires to demonstrate a broad scope of human sexuality, which is clearly unprecedented in any media.*

*books, plays, musicals, radio plays, films, television shows, graphic novels, video games and podcasts not included
 
DocDeltree

DocDeltree

Member
Jan 4, 2018
102
Very happy to see them taking a stance, especially in these times and when bigger corporations don't have the balls to do the same.

Of course, Steam forums instantly turned into an alt-right cesspool, bringing out the worst in people.
 
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Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

Local Horror Enthusiast
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,804
Melchiah said:
It probably runs pretty well on laptops now. I recall it had some bugs back in the day, if so, do they affect the experience? And is there any recommended mods for it?
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Made a thread for those playing/replaying the game now. The top of the thread details the one necessary mod, which is included in the GoG release.

Outside of that, the game does have a few mods that seem interesting, there's four others outside of the one absolutely crucial one I see mentioned a lot, but depends on how much you want to customize your first experience with the game.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,190
Helsinki, Finland
Dusk Golem said:
Made a thread for those playing/replaying the game now. The top of the thread details the one necessary mod, which is included in the GoG release.

Outside of that, the game does have a few mods that seem interesting, there's four others outside of the one absolutely crucial one I see mentioned a lot, but depends on how much you want to customize your first experience with the game.
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Thanks for the heads-up. I'm not that interested in mods that add content, but those that improve the visuals.

However, when installing there is an optional choice for a "plus" patch (which is turned off by default, but can be selected when installing) which add in several scrapped areas and missions from the base game that were cut due to time and re-implement them fully functioning (and include a few more controversial "fixes" to the game for playability reasons).
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Is it better to experience it for the first time without the "plus" patch, and what do the controversial fixes include?
 

Deleted member 46948

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8,852
This sounds fantastic. I hope they don't fuck it up, but it's about time someone was vocal about progressive themes in a major game.
 
Barkspawn

Barkspawn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
158
I just hope it's polished. If it's in a rough state at launch, it'll get torn to shreds by a certain segment of gamers.
 
Detail

Detail

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Dec 30, 2018
2,947
EatChildren said:
I think outright cutting and nullifying the concept of "madness" as a narrative and lore device is an unnecessary hardline sensitivity, but I don't read it so much as that as taking a more sensitive approach to the presentation of these traits, such as refraining from bad punch-lines and resentment.

Malkavians literally hearing voices and that being an aspect of their clan, and the lore connotations associated with that, would be disappointing to cut. And I don't think they will.

The rest is excellent to hear, though. The usual suspects have already predictably started whining about SJWs taking over Vampire and ruining it and other such garbage. It's such an odd extension of nerd culture. The goth/punk nerd scene is outrageously queer and sexually adventurous. It always has been. The blurring of gender and sexuality lines has been a trademark of Vampire since forever.
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This is exactly how I feel about it as well tbh, feel like you essentially wrote my thoughts lol.
 
TheGhost

TheGhost

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,137
Long Island
Though I'm more interesting the up coming Werewolf the Apocalypse game, I'm interested in giving this a spin. Only recently played the first one and was a fun flash back to a small slice of the world of darkness universe (a world I wished had books on audible)
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

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Oct 26, 2017
4,190
Helsinki, Finland
nillansan said:
I didn't play it with the Plus additions. I would advise you to go with vanilla with the fixes.
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Good to know. Thanks.

Xagarath said:
Nice to finally see a major release with pronoun choices. It's been the realm of obscure indie games so far.
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Not to mention, being able to create a feminine male character, or a masculine female one. That actually might persuade me to play a RPG for the first time with a male character.
 
CampFreddie

CampFreddie

A King's Landing
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,957
The first one was great so I was already looking forward to the sequel. These statements give me confidence that the sequel will be even better.
It seems like they're focusing on allowing player freedom, which was a great part of the original. You always felt that player choice really mattered, rather than just adding a serious/sarcastic/funny tone to a fixed story.
 

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Hooray.

When was the last time a video game discussed mental illness in a respectful way. (this meaning something to me because of a loved one and myself)

Please be good.
 
Fridaynightcatlady

Fridaynightcatlady

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,585
I'm in love with this. I'm for sure making an LGBT character :)

I'm only concerned on how they're doing malkavians this time (or could it mean they're cutting them out entirely?). Not to say that bizarreness = mental health problems/schizophrenia, but I wonder how their approach will be. Time will tell.
 
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