Hi. I can understand your frustration; as I've said previously, we will work throughout this and next year to get fans answers, info, and a greater look into the game.
It's been many years and ups and downs of hype, and I get that it can be exhausting for you.
But y'know, there's no need for barbed words. We don't know each other, but I'm sure it doesn't improve either my day or yours. Perhaps it doesn't even matter to you either way, but I'd ask, when on this forum, to bring it down a notch. Just a tad. Thank you.
Feeona, I am not trying to be barbed and I apologize if my snarky sense of humour was construed as such. These are just video games and nothing worth causing other people hurt or insults over.
However...
Unfortunately video game developers seem to almost universally live in a bubble where they do not interact with their customers outside canned press junkets and pre-approved posts. They don't interact, you know, like human beings. They also tend to almost universally ignore their customers and fans, insisting they know better. Basically it's "We'll tell you what you want and we refuse to listen when you say you don't like it", followed by poor sales and total bewilderment why their game got trashed by the fans who didn't buy it. Often it's also followed by corporate apology and excuse making, even sometimes blaming their own customers for not "giving it a chance" or some other contrived excuse.
Unfortunately because of this culture in game development, video game fans have been conditioned to be loud and nasty because it's the only thing that gets the companies attention. The one language upper management understands is money and they see negative word of mouth as an impact on sales. If video game developers want this type of culture to stop then maybe they should start listening and stop insisting they know better and ignoring their customers.
You guys chose to make a sequel to a very beloved, cult favourite video game with a passionate base. You could have very easily not made a Bloodlines 2 and avoided certain desires and expectations... but you did. You could have just made a Vampire RPG without the baggage.
Rather then engage with your potential customers as human beings and answer questions, you choose to stubbornly stick to some corporate approved roadmap and damned be the response or consumer reality... you're sticking to it!
Fine, that's your choice but don't be surprised if people get more annoyed or pessimistic. By the time they get to any real information that might be beneficial people will have been stewing for so long nothing you say will be well received. You don't need to be a 20 year veteran game publisher or community manager to know how to read a room and pivot.
No one's asking Paradox to dump all their work on the internet for the world to see, just information about what kind of game we're getting given the title and pedigree it's tied to. Quite honestly, video game publishers take themselves way too seriously sometimes and protect their game information like it's state secrets. I sincerely doubt there is anything so cutting edge about your game (or anyone's these days) that it just can't fall into the wrong hands too soon.
I'm especially pessimistic because I work in film and know that if voice acting has been recorded, that means the game is almost complete because that's one of the last things you do. At this point there isn't much room for change.
