Junior Adventurer's Guild - June: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

[Vergil]

**** Half Life for introducing "in-game cutscenes." This has started the trend of unskippable cutscenes that is just blood-boilingly infuriating. And having to watch the same long cutscene every time I change my mind about which Clan I am playing in this game is aggravating to no end.

This guy basically "maintains" the patch by randomly fiddling with minor changes back and forth so it looks like he's doing something huh

[Oyster Sauce]

This Malkavian font sure is ******* annoying

[Vergil]

This Malkavian font sure is ******* annoying

What you get for playing the reddit clan.

[Boontaker]

This Malkavian font sure is ******* annoying

What you get for playing the reddit clan.

VISION OF DEATH

[Vergil]

The game is so desperate for you to like this guy and think he's cool that it complete 180s me into thinking he's a complete tool

[wndrbr]

It never occured to me that the game tried to make Nines likeable. I always thought he's a boring jackass with a holier than thou attitude. "I'm not like those manipulative bastards" - proceeds to manipulate you.

[rusty_shackleford]

**** Half Life for introducing "in-game cutscenes." This has started the trend of unskippable cutscenes that is just blood-boilingly infuriating. And having to watch the same long cutscene every time I change my mind about which Clan I am playing in this game is aggravating to no end.

**** Half Life for introducing "in-game cutscenes." This has started the trend of unskippable cutscenes that is just blood-boilingly infuriating. And having to watch the same long cutscene every time I change my mind about which Clan I am playing in this game is aggravating to no end.

This guy basically "maintains" the patch by randomly fiddling with minor changes back and forth so it looks like he's doing something huh

Going to go out on a limb and guess they were originally unskippable, he made them skippable, then realized some cutscenes caused bugs when skipped and made them unskippable

[Vergil]

Going to go out on a limb and guess they were originally unskippable, he made them skippable, then realized some cutscenes caused bugs when skipped and made them unskippable

Perhaps, but I feel like that's something he could have discovered in the previous 15+ years of fiddling with the game.

[rusty_shackleford]

Going to go out on a limb and guess they were originally unskippable, he made them skippable, then realized some cutscenes caused bugs when skipped and made them unskippable

Perhaps, but I feel like that's something he could have discovered in the previous 15+ years of fiddling with the game.

Everyone needs a hobby

[Vergil]

It never occured to me that the game tried to make Nines likeable. I always thought he's a boring jackass with a holier than thou attitude. "I'm not like those manipulative bastards" - proceeds to manipulate you.

Similar to Smiling ACK the writers are clearly simping for who they think you outta agree with while demonizing LaCroix for doing the same things they themselves do. Which would be fine and make for a compelling/gray narrative but the writers have a direction they're clearly trying to push you in.

[wndrbr]

I thought Strauss was the most likeable of the faction leaders/manipulators.

Also the best ending of the game is the one where your character gives Nines a finger and then walks away.

[rusty_shackleford]

Strauss is by far the most likable, probably because he just went under the writer's radar. Not favored by the writers or hated by them.

[Vergil]

LaCroix is pretty likable to me. He rewards you for competency and most of the worst things he allegedly does like having his initial decision to kill you changed or calling the bloodhunt on you to for false reasons rely on you to trust the faggy anarchist characters who have been lying to you and keeping you out of the loop from the beginning.

[rusty_shackleford]

LaCroix is pretty likable to me. He rewards you for competency and most of the worst things he allegedly does like having his initial decision to kill you changed or calling the bloodhunt on you to for false reasons rely on you to trust the faggy anarchist characters who have been lying to you and keeping you out of the loop from the beginning.

The problem with LaCroix is they just wrote him poorly. He should be one of the better choices, someone in his position should be seeking out people who are loyal, especially when they can be groomed for it.

[Vergil]

The problem with LaCroix is they just wrote him poorly.

That really is the key issue. The writing betrays the actual depth of the situation and the game punishes you in a way no other ending punishes you.

[wndrbr]

LaCroix is pretty likable to me.

you only like him because of his French name

[Vergil]

you only like him because of his French name

His dutiful service to His Imperial Majesty By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French Napoléon Ier and belonging to God's favored people is only part of it =D

[Element]

The hotel is incredibly lame after you've beaten it once before, like the nightmares from MP 1-2. Thankfully you can speed run it.

Managed to save both of the sisters for the very first time. 5 in persuasion suffices.

[Vergil]

The hotel is incredibly lame after you've beaten it once before,

I agree hard with this. It's not terribly spooky or interesting the first time around and on every other playthrough it's just sprinting through an empty level waiting for scripted encounters that might as well be a cutscene to play out. Zero replay-ability in this section.

Managed to save both of the sisters for the very first time. 5 in persuasion suffices.

4 persuasion is actually all you need. However you also have to be nice and cordial to both of them to even get the option to do the persuasion check. Learned that the hard way by being rude to Jeanette and telling her to leave me alone.

[gerey]

Why would you ever bother saving both of them?

Jeanette is clearly evil (throws the medallion away, condemning the woman and her children to an eternity of suffering, uses you to destroy her sister's art exhibit). Therese is the more benign of the two, even though she does try to kill you.

Also, didn't know until my latest (still incomplete) playthrough that they are 6th gen vampires.

[Element]

Why would you ever bother saving both of them?

Jeanette is clearly evil (throws the medallion away, condemning the woman and her children to an eternity of suffering, uses you to destroy her sister's art exhibit). Therese is the more benign of the two, even though she does try to kill you.

Also, didn't know until my latest (still incomplete) playthrough that they are 6th gen vampires.

seeing the content that i havent seen before

[ArcaneLurker]

Ventrue this time.

[logincrash]

I love all the little details in this game. They didn't have to make an entire directory of bail-jumpers, but they did.
I've never heard of the "chooch devils." lmao

Which one of you was this Chad?

Also, didn't know until my latest (still incomplete) playthrough that they are 6th gen vampires.

When I was first playing the game all those years ago, I didn't know much about the WoD system. So, when I spoke to the thin-bloods (14th-15th Gen) in the game, I got kinda bummed out that my character is such a freshly-made vampire. I thought he was just barely above the thin-bloods.
But it turns out the VtMB protagonist is of 8th Generation, which is maybe on par with LaCroix.
The protagonist of the Night Road CYOA book-thing is 12th Gen in most cases and can reach 8th Gen right at the end of the game through Diablerie and only if he's a Nosferatu.
So, the VtMB Sire was a powerful ******* specimen. We got a real pedigree in our blood.

[wndrbr]

@logincrash Chad Moore was one of Black Isle/Troika devs.

[gerey]

But it turns out the VtMB protagonist is of 8th Generation, which is maybe on par with LaCroix.

That's a fan theory, based on the MC's blood pool IIRC.

The game leaves your generation up in the air. Even if you are 8th gen, as a neonate barely a week old, you really shouldn't be able to go around smacking Tzimisce elders in the face, facing off against gargoyles or murdering your way through armies of Sabbat and Camarilla goons.

Then again, whether what you can do in the game is just down to game logic, or if there's a hidden narrative reason why you punch as high above your weight class, is never confirmed.

Ventrue this time.

I've been of the opinion, for the longest time, that in the long run the game would have benefited from narrowing down the number of clans, instead of trying to stay faithful to the tabletop.

Venture and Toreador as the "social" clans should really have been reduced to one (Venture, obviously, Toreador are *******). Ditto for Brujah and Gangrel. Tremere stand out due to blood sorcery (though the game doesn't let you do anything interesting with it), Malkavians are great for a second playthrough.

One thing I'll agree with the Bloodlines 2 dev team is changing the Nosferatu for one of a "prettier" clan that focuses on stealth. If you're including Nosferature you either have to build a whole second game around them to accommodate the fact they can't show their face in public, or you half-*** it like Troika did and force you to crawl around bland sewers all day.

You could realistically cut the clans from 7 to 4-5 and be able to flesh those out more.

[1998]

Done!

[1998]

One thing I'll agree with the Bloodlines 2 dev team is changing the Nosferatu for one of a "prettier" clan that focuses on stealth. If you're including Nosferature you either have to build a whole second game around them to accommodate the fact they can't show their face in public, or you half-*** it like Troika did and force you to crawl around bland sewers all day.

Yap, every single time I am considering playing Nosferatu. Then I am thinking of the constant sewer crawls, and ****, I just can't do that.

[Element]

wait, Cain wasn't lead programmer?

[Oyster Sauce]

Done!

post a picture of your famphyre if you want to be cool

[1998]

Done!

post a picture of your famphyre if you want to be cool

Can't post final char sheet, already uninstalled. But it was Gangrel Fort + Prot (+Security, Intimidation), here is ma boi.