I thought this deserved it's own thread:
https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/21/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-political-character-creator/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/03/22/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview/
https://kotaku.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-is-getting-a-sequel-1833479366
Sorry for all the quotes, but I wanted to represent everything they wanted to say on this.
I thought it might be worth bringing this all up, and curious what Era thinks of the developer's stance on all of this.
https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/21/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-political-character-creator/
While the demo of the early stages of the game I saw hinted at conflict and the politics of warring clans, Clooney says it's central to Bloodlines 2 that the writers (who include Brian Mitsoda, narrative designer on the original game) are actively taking a political stance in this sequel, with its themes of art versus commerce and technological advances versus tradition.
"One of the reasons why that particular conflict attracted us so much was because it's an inherently political conversation but it's one of the few ones where it's hard to… there are valid approaches. The world has to move forward, right?" says Clooney.
"It is a political game but I think it's one of those few opportunities that gives us the chance to let people make their own political statement in a way that's not cheap. I don't believe you can look at both sides of a political argument without understanding both sides. It's easy to say this is good and this is bad. But it's definitely taking some political stances on what we think are right and wrong. In terms of the main conflict what is interesting is it's one of those truly balanced issues."
It's not just politics where Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes a progressive approach. The character creator, which players get to use twice – once at the start to define your human aspects and then a second time later in the game to flesh out your vampire – goes way beyond basic male and female models. Body type, gender pronouns, employment history and fashion can all be toyed with for a very modular build.
"We're interested in providing a very robust roleplaying experience for the player with something were they can really identify with their character by fine tuning and providing lots of options for them to do that," says Rachel Leiker, UX/UI designer at Hardsuit Labs.
"In the first game you start out by picking the clan. With Bloodlines 2 because you're starting as a 'thin blood' we give you some backgrounds to what your human self was before being embraced. They don't so much have a direct influence on gameplay, there are a few minor influences like dialogue options, but we were really interested in following the progression and having the roleplay experience for the player to get a handle on that side of the game before they get a handle on the political clan-oriented side of it. The gamplay becomes very different later in the game [because you've chosen a clan]. You grow into it and consciously choose your clan after you've explored them. So it's an informed decision."
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/03/22/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview/
It's still called the Masquerade, so if you eat someone in public or turn into a bat in front of a bar you'll get in trouble not only with the police, but also some beefier supernatural watchdogs. The humanity system returns, so killing innocents brings you closer to the inner beast. It's first person, but yeah, you can customise your character (including choosing pronouns separately from your body type) and this time you can choose a human background that might affect how you approach problems or talk to people. The two examples I was given were cop and coroner, but if you want a basic start, with no bonuses, you can be a barista, which Mitsoda described as the default class in Seattle.
https://kotaku.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-is-getting-a-sequel-1833479366
The World of Darkness can be fraught at times. The original game traded in careless depictions of sex work and some tired writing about mental illnesses like disassociative identity disorder. You could play as a member of the mentally-addled but prophecy-gifted Malkavian clan, with altered dialogue that, while humorous, danced a fine line in terms of taste. There was even some racial stereotyping for good measure. Meanwhile, White Wolf's management of the World of Darkness setting has not been without controversy. Last November, the Paradox subsidiary drew criticism for using the real-life persecution and murder of Chechnya's LGBTQA population as a plot-point in the setting's vampiric politicking. Paradox fully integrated White Wolf after this incident. When asked about their approach to the setting, the team outlined how they wanted to handle the World of Darkness in 2019.
"It was very of its time," Ellison said of the first game. "It approached certain topics differently. How we look at stuff has matured since then."
"It's fifteen years later and things have changed," Mitsoda said. "We have to be very sensitive about how we handle things like mental illness and that was a concern for us and for Paradox, in how we can make a mature story but if we do anything, we do our homework and make sure that we are punching up and not punching down."
"We talk about these issues constantly," Ellison added. "Because we care about including people, we want them to feel powerful and sexy, and we don't want them to feel like it's not for them."
Sorry for all the quotes, but I wanted to represent everything they wanted to say on this.
I thought it might be worth bringing this all up, and curious what Era thinks of the developer's stance on all of this.
