Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines II

The latter, but also because there are too many games to play these days. Also upset over delays feels very 2003.

Or flip the trope and go full fish out of water. How much is a 17th century French noble really going to be hip to the 'gram? Follow in the footsteps of What We Do in the Shadows, both movie and TV, and showcase the different generations of vampires dealing badly with modern society. Let the PC take advantage of the incredible technical speed of today’s society to rise in the shadow society.

You would have to be a very unwise predator of humans to stay in the land of CSI anyway. Why not slip away to the edges of the world where human life is cheaper? Who notices a body more or less among the cartels, the human trafficking, the edges of war zones?

People stuck in the past who don’t understand, that’s who.

Actually a person who grew up in the excesses and frivolity of the Sun King’s court might understand the ebb and flow of frivolous public passions more that some of us today…

Do they still not show up in mirrors? Maybe they don’t show up in video. That’s a relevant talent for the age.

Indeed. That was a fascinating period. Well, fascinating for historians to look at now. At the time, I suspect it depended a lot on what your position in society was. In any event, though, the 17th century would be a killer game setting for a ton of reasons. I can’t recall many games using it, though. Were there some?

I mean, you have the Thirty Years War that turns central Europe into a seething mass of chaotic alliances, shifting power blocs, mercenary armies, banditry, and the like, plus religious strife, diplomatic skulduggery, dynastic tug of war, and technology that’s shifting between the medieval and the early modern, with firearms and pikes and swords and armor and cannons all appearing at the same time. It’s friggin tailor made for an RPG. Sort of like Darklands, I guess, though I can’t recall if that was earlier or at this time.

Clearly, I am going around here…for better or beautiful…

Engines and change…for the long haul.

So, drugs, then.

Huh.

Brian Mitsoda has been “suddenly terminated” from his position as narrative lead on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. “That this came as a shock to me is underselling it,” wrote Mitsoda in a email statement given to RPS. Paradox Interactive have said in their own statement that Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney are “no longer part of the team at Hardsuit Labs.”

Mitsoda was a lead writer on the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines at Troika Games, and his presence on the development team for its sequel lent the project credibility. Most of the Bloodline 2’s marketing has put Mitsoda front and centre, both in trailers and at events.

Paradox’s statement, posted to the Bloodlines 2 website, says that the change was a “joint decision made by the leadership of Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive.”

“We appreciate, and value, the contributions of Brian and Ka’ai, which were instrumental in establishing the game’s storyline and dark tone and have helped to ensure that we are making a true successor to the iconic Bloodlines. We wish them both the best in their future endeavors,” the statement continues.

In his statement to RPS, which is quoted in full below, Mitsoda says that he is “incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project.” He says that he’s been involved with the project since its very beginning, in charge of narrative, and he had “never been led to believe that I hadn’t succeeded” in fulfilling the projects goals. He also describes the game’s marketing as something which was “intensely difficult and took a mental and physical toll.”

Utterly bizzare. Replacing writer of Bloodlines 1 with…someone who worked on Asscreed and Farcry. Ok. I really wonder what the hell happened there. Mitsoda’s statement does not exactly illuminate. If he is truthful, than frankly Paradox’s behavior is despicable. Of course, it is possible he isn’t.

This project is going places.

He said sarcastically.

With so much public airing of dirty laundry these days, it’s rare that we get a mystery like this!

I guess we also had Dr Disrespect recently too.

If it was just him, I’d suspect some -ism accusation that was handled quietly and internally in an appropriate way instead of blasted across social media. But with the creative director gone as well, maybe they want someone to blame for the delays. That still seems unlikely. Who cares about delayed videogames these days?

Yeah, this is just weird.

Paradox has done weird things before, in non-PDS games they published. I’m pretty sure some of those devs have stories to tell (that they probably can’t due to NDAs though).

A Paradox representative on Discord commented on the firings:

“nope, the decision was made between the studio and pdx as a publisher not because of money. this is a decision about creative differences as was stated. beyond that, we’ve already said we’re not saying further”

Judging by how Mitsoda reacted (and assuming it’s the genuine reaction), I wonder if those “creative differences” have ever been communicated properly. It does look like a one-sided decision by Paradox for… reasons?

I’d say “I hope this doesn’t compromise Mitsoda’s vision”, but who am I kidding? Of course Paradox will.

Yeah. So you have “creative differences” with someone whom you don’t tell you have creative differences with? What kind of nonsense is this.

I don’t think we know enough to really comment yet, though it certainly on the face of it does not bode well for the game in general. Then again, for all we know, those creative differences might have been things about which we’d end up siding with the company and not the individual. Who knows? It does read oddly for sure, though.

Obviously one of the two (or the two!) is lying.

Something to note is that Brian Mitsoda isn’t the only one fired, they also fired the freaking Creative Director, so the issue wasn’t only with whatever creative differences in the script.

He isn’t even a writer. I suspect he has been hired as someone external with the mission of re-steer the ship, cut whatever needs to be cut and deliver a final product. Something similar happened with the original STALKER, after 5 years of development and several delays someone from THQ had to flew in, took the lead, cut what it wasn’t working and was too ambitious and salvaged the rest in a working product.

Clearly the suits want to drive the game from the corp/business perspective and these creative types are just getting in the way…

Ventrue takeover!

I mean, yeah, God forbid the game actually makes money. That would be creative death!