Bloodlines 2 - Game Update

[Azar]

U_U

All I have to say is: put a limit as to how much of the "feedback" you take into account, as its a neverending mire. At some point you have to draw a line and not alter the game further. "Players" will never stop complaining or wanting something more.

ps.
But I would like to know what and the channels with which us players could best give feedback, and what elements can we give feedback of. Since there usually isnt many dev responses in these dev diary forum threads, it can create a feeling that we are not being listened to. Perhaps our posts are being read, but we have no knowledge of that.

 

[Pyoro]

Definitely strong deja-vu and all that.

 

[TripleAgent]

It's amazing that we've gone from a playable demo at PDXCon 2019 to a new delay in 2025. I realize that Chinese Room probably had to start from scratch, but still assuming it was a few years in development prior to that demo, that's probably almost decade this game has been cooking.

 

[Azar]

However, we will still be available online for questions and comments, and we welcome everyone to join the Bloodlines 2 Discord.

Unfortunately, this is not an option to me.

 

[Feeona]

But I would like to know what and the channels with which us players could best give feedback, and what elements can we give feedback of. Since there usually isnt many dev responses in these dev diary forum threads, it can create a feeling that we are not being listened to. Perhaps our posts are being read, but we have no knowledge of that.

We check the forums everyday! So please continue to post here if you want, we're listening.

 

[Ravenna_Black]

Don't call it Bloodlines 2. Thats my only feedback. It doesn't matter what the game is or how it releases but right now you're setting yourselves up for failure by trading on an existing idea but "going your own way." If your really committed to doing your own thing that is fine if it is its own thing.

By cutting ties with the Bloodlines branding you avoid disappointing the fanbase of the original that didn't ask for this and will likely find it more disappointing because of the association you've more or less forced.

Call it Bloodsigns, Puddle of Blood, Blood Rites. Hell add a bloodbound whale to the plot and call it Ishmal. But whatever you do don't call it Bloodlines.

 

[SarahGabriella]

U_U

All I have to say is: put a limit as to how much of the "feedback" you take into account, as its a neverending mire. At some point you have to draw a line and not alter the game further. "Players" will never stop complaining or wanting something more.

ps.
But I would like to know what and the channels with which us players could best give feedback, and what elements can we give feedback of. Since there usually isnt many dev responses in these dev diary forum threads, it can create a feeling that we are not being listened to. Perhaps our posts are being read, but we have no knowledge of that.

Here on the forum is where you give feedback. You can give any feedback, they go through it, filter out what they can and want to do and what they will dismiss.

 

[SarahGabriella]

Don't call it Bloodlines 2. Thats my only feedback. It doesn't matter what the game is or how it releases but right now you're setting yourselves up for failure by trading on an existing idea but "going your own way." If your really committed to doing your own thing that is fine if it is its own thing.

By cutting ties with the Bloodlines branding you avoid disappointing the fanbase of the original that didn't ask for this and will likely find it more disappointing because of the association you've more or less forced.

Call it Bloodsigns, Puddle of Blood, Blood Rites. Hell add a bloodbound whale to the plot and call it Ishmal. But whatever you do don't call it Bloodlines.

I think there might be legal matters attached to it. Its also silly to expect them to go against Paradox, the publisher who wants this to be a VTMB2.

 

[Pete0714]

Of course it's delayed. It's always been delayed. I was excited when the announcement came out about the game in 2019. Done.

 

[Sir.Dr.X]

I understand and respect that. The game is in its final phase as planned. Fixing bugs is not something you can do lightly. The first thing I would try is to break the masquerade and lean your character's back against the wall. According to the material provided, when you break the masquerade, a hand with a stake appears and someone attacks you from behind your back. If I lean my character's back against the wall just before breaking the masquerade, then if a hand with a stake appears from behind my back, that would be an example of a bug that I hope will not occur.

The next thing I would try is jumping off the roof onto the NPCs' heads. If nothing happens to them, we have a typical bug. Jumping onto the NPC's head should cause the NPC's death. Gravity + the character's weight are at work. The creators of many games forget about this simple fact and jumping onto the NPC's head does not cause any damage to them or the jumping character passes through the NPC as if they were not there. I hope that a similar bug will not occur in this game. Another thing that is often overlooked is the damage dealt by an NPC to another NPC. It is worth checking everything here carefully. If I am being shot at by the police and I hide behind a civilian, I run behind him, the bullets should kill him without harming me. It should be similar with opponents. An opponent who gets in the way of a comrade's fire should receive friendly fire. As a tester, I would check this right after the "walls and masquerade" test. It is similarly important for the NPCs to have different affiliations. For example, if I'm running away from a group of ghouls (hostile NPCs), I should be able to engage them in a confrontation with a policeman (NPC law enforcement officer) who should intervene in my defense (according to his knowledge, I'm just a regular guy being chased by bandits).

These types of simple mistakes and oversights can truly destroy immersion.

The last thing I would point out is the effect of gravity on NPCs. Pushing an NPC or enemy from a height should deal damage to them, as should levitating them and dropping an item on their head. Dropping a small item from a great height on an NPC/enemy's head should cause their instant death (if you don't believe me, dropping a pebble from the 20th floor of a skyscraper) will have the kinetic energy of a projectile when it reaches the ground.

 

[andersonm]

Unfortunately, this is not an option to me.

Discord is a bane, so much worse than forums but I'm old enough to have played the original in college when it came out so c'est la vie. I won't be there but await any updates here.

Regarding the main post, it's obvious there are some issues internally, you are wise to take the extra time before releasing. I've seen too many good games get shattered when it needed a few more months, get fixed with patches eventually but it was too late. It's very hard to recover from a premature release. Patience is a virtue.

 

[Necromass]

U_U

All I have to say is: put a limit as to how much of the "feedback" you take into account, as its a neverending mire. At some point you have to draw a line and not alter the game further. "Players" will never stop complaining or wanting something more.

ps.
But I would like to know what and the channels with which us players could best give feedback, and what elements can we give feedback of. Since there usually isnt many dev responses in these dev diary forum threads, it can create a feeling that we are not being listened to. Perhaps our posts are being read, but we have no knowledge of that.

I agree with Azar unless your feedback is Q&A testers no amount of delays will deal with players desires especially when this game has deviated so heavy from the originals gameplay design. Don't really care about the delay at this point 5 months or another five years makes no difference for me does make me feel like I'm going to get stellaris 5.0 before bloodlines 2 a this point though.

I also share the sentiment of negativity toward discord being the primary platform for developer engagement instead of you know the official publisher forum where I can filter for developer posts to see what they are sharing without having to scroll through literal years of random user spam in a single channel rather than across dedicated topic posts on specific subjects I want to look into.

 

[Cyhort]

It's just nice to see a month attached to the release date instead of the always shaky "first half of 20XX". I wouldn't be surprised at another delay though. Mostly because it seems like modern game devs are terrible at making release dates so I expect every game that isn't already up for sale on a marketplace to be delayed. It'll be interesting to see what this game ends up being. I'm trying not to have any expectations going in. I know it isn't going to be a bigger and better (and finished) VtM: Bloodlines 1, but if it's even remotely comparable to Vampyr I'll probably end up enjoying it. But we'll see.

 

[Azar]

I am sad that it got delayed yet again. I am sad but calm in my knowledge that everything seems to be in control, that we have entered the final stage of development, and that I have seen many other big rpgs on the same kind of path from development to launch. Usually launch happens around 6 months from receiving ESRB rating... and lo and behold, we just got the rating. At least all the signs point that this time the timeline might actually hold.. One can hope that GTA6's wont. Cause that release is one black hole no dev wants to compete with. I thought Paradox would've taken this into account and kept the release in this spring or summer... but.

 

[SarahGabriella]

I am sad that it got delayed yet again. I am sad but calm in my knowledge that everything seems to be in control, that we have entered the final stage of development, and that I have seen many other big rpgs on the same kind of path from development to launch. Usually launch happens around 6 months from receiving ESRB rating... and lo and behold, we just got the rating. At least all the signs point that this time the timeline might actually hold.. One can hope that GTA6's wont. Cause that release is one black hole no dev wants to compete with. I thought Paradox would've taken this into account and kept the release in this spring or summer... but.

This game is too niche to compete with top titles. They can easily release around the same time as other more popular games will release in.

 

[SarahGabriella]

It's just nice to see a month attached to the release date instead of the always shaky "first half of 20XX". I wouldn't be surprised at another delay though. Mostly because it seems like modern game devs are terrible at making release dates so I expect every game that isn't already up for sale on a marketplace to be delayed. It'll be interesting to see what this game ends up being. I'm trying not to have any expectations going in. I know it isn't going to be a bigger and better (and finished) VtM: Bloodlines 1, but if it's even remotely comparable to Vampyr I'll probably end up enjoying it. But we'll see.

Its not the devs, its the publisher pressure to release sooner.

 

[Kevkev100]

Don't call it Bloodlines 2.

I agree, this game could be a fantastic stand-alone title in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, but it’s frustrating to see a game that’s labeled as a "sequel" not even come close to capturing the same feeling that made the original Bloodlines a cult classic. If this game had a different title, I think it would be easier to appreciate it on its own merits, but as a Bloodlines sequel? It doesn’t live up to the legacy and really should be given a different name to avoid confusing fans hoping for the same type of experience they got with the original

 

[Azar]

This game is too niche to compete with top titles. They can easily release around the same time as other more popular games will release in.

Wrong. There is no game niche enough to ignore the effect of the most anticipated game of the last 10 years. A sentiment that was mirrored in the article I linked as well. GTA6 is going to pull in players from bloody table tennis. Anyone trying to compete with it would be setting themselves up for failure.

ps. This game is Bloodlines 2 and I like it. Its also not going to change, so I hope we could move on from that topic.

This is why I hope the devs take feedback only in measured doses. The amount of negativity surrounding the project after all the delays, and problems and mishandling of the world of darkness IP during the past 20 years.. BL2 project is a channel for many to voice those frustrations. I hope the devs realize that this isnt all about them. They are doing amazing work and I cant wait to see the result!

 

[SarahGabriella]

Wrong. There is no game niche enough to ignore the effect of the most anticipated game of the last 10 years. A sentiment that was mirrored in the article I linked as well. GTA6 is going to pull in players from bloody table tennis. Anyone trying to compete with it would be setting themselves up for failure.

ps. This game is Bloodlines 2 and I like it. Its also not going to change, so I hope we could move on from that topic.

This is why I hope the devs take feedback only in measured doses. The amount of negativity surrounding the project after all the delays, and problems and mishandling of the world of darkness IP during the past 20 years.. BL2 project is a channel for many to voice those frustrations. I hope the devs realize that this isnt all about them. They are doing amazing work and I cant wait to see the result!

They will use whatever feedback they see as useful and dismiss the rest.