VtM: Bloodlines 2 - Postponed and New Studio

I watched the whole twenty minute video. She says certain questions/reasons to ask why are dumb, and goes on to act over positive about the games future development.

Sorry to say I have no faith as the veterans are gone and the rejects are left. Only positive thing I get out of this is Harebrained Schemes might be the next developer.

This shouldn't be a surprise as Paradox loaned half the studio to Hardsuit Labs.

Edit: I've been sharing links on various threads about the troubled development. So yes I know well whats going on behind the scenes, but will never get full confirmation because of NDA's.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Basically she can't trash talk or air out the dirty laundry.

She worked for CDPR before Paradox, and I think she spilled the beans on how badly CDPR were paying her. Basically, she was only able to afford rent in Poland because her husband made up for most of that. If I remember correctly. So, I wouldn't call her a shill. Of course she can't just put her current job on the line, and start badmouthing.

But the video itself, wasn't that informative for me. She relayed most of what was already public knowledge. And felt bad for Hardsuit Labs for losing the project and depended them against people that were glad they got canned.

Of course, I wouldn't have expected anything juicy from someone current hired there. We'll only likely get glimpses of what happened from someone that left/was fired. So I'd love to read an expose by Jason Schreier, or anyone else.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
So I'd love to read an expose by Jason Schreier, or anyone else.

Would love to see him do a report on the topic. I know I personally don't agree with everything he writes, but he has shed light on many topics no one wants to talk about.

He's also hated by his fellow journalists due to exposing CDPR as well.

It is a little known fact that the technical troubles of the original were not due to developer incompetence; it was simply impossible to work around the curse of the vampire. PC's would mysteriously turn on and off, lightbulbs would explode shrouding them in darkness, often when someone looked away from the screen code would have vanished or sometimes entire pages were replaced with words like blood or threats of eternal suffering.

Clearly Hardsuit couldn't hack it and run away screaming. I feel sorry for the fools who will be tricked into replacing them. This is no task for mere mortals.

Originally Posted by SirJames
It is a little known fact that the technical troubles of the original were not due to developer incompetence; it was simply impossible to work around the curse of the vampire. PC's would mysteriously turn on and off, lightbulbs would explode shrouding them in darkness, often when someone looked away from the screen code would have vanished or sometimes entire pages were replaced with words like blood or threats of eternal suffering.

Clearly Hardsuit couldn't hack it and run away screaming. I feel sorry for the fools who will be tricked into replacing them. This is no task for mere mortals.

You seem to be thinking of Geist, a different World of Darkness property.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
…Harebrained Schemes might be the next developer…[/SIZE]

Seems odd timing. The last BattleTech update was almost a year ago and I'm sure they weren't using the full development staff to put out the last DLC. Seems like they should be about ready to announce what they've been working on lately. Trying to save this game while hip-deep in their own seems a bit much for them.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Seems odd timing. The last BattleTech update was almost a year ago and I'm sure they weren't using the full development staff to put out the last DLC. Seems like they should be about ready to announce what they've been working on lately. Trying to save this game while hip-deep in their own seems a bit much for them.

I said might as I posted above Paradox loaned half of the studio employees to help bolster development of VtM: Bloodlines 2. As Hardsuit Labs had a high turnover rate.

This is based of the leaks last year about stalled development and mismanagement.

Although my expectations were already low, I wouldnt expect this. Changing development studio in year of release suggest damn high level of incompetency involved. Of course no idea who to blame, but I assume both developer and publisher have their deal of responsibility for this "result".

Its my guess that new developer will do just necessary patchwork and large parts of the intended content will be cut just to get it released. We will be lucky if its still RPG after that.

I finally requested a refund as well, which makes me very sad, but essentially starting over with the game means it is questionable if the game ever gets released.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
What can I say but I'm not surprised. The development problems and mismanagement of both Hardsuit Labs and Paradox are well known at this point. This was written in stone.

Sounds like another candidate for an Eternal Community Patch for Wesp5. He should be sponsored by The State and paid pension forever, while doing VTM community patches!
That if the sequel ever comes out, before the Alien Invasion of Earth. After the possible fake invasion orchestrated by the MIC.

George Carlin - "The Planet is fine, the people are FCKD!"

George Carlin - “We’re all FCKD. It helps to remember that.”

Would probably be cheaper to invest only half as much money in a Bloodlines 2 and then employ Wesp5 for the rest of his life to create patches ;-)

I actually think this is GOOD news, at least for those that eventually want a decent Vampire game. The internal scene at Hardsuit had obviously become a train wreck and this shows that the people at the top still see value in a Bloodlines sequel. It takes a lot of guts to keep going forward after removing the studio, most would throw in the towel. At least now this has a chance of getting back on the rails (to keep with the metaphor.) A talented group can do a lot with an unfinished game, it just won't be soon.

To be honest, this reads like Paradox is just trying to contain the brand damage that has already been done to Bloodlines 2. Hardsuit will continue to work on the game (the employees that are left) it is just under the banner of a fully owned Paradox Studio. The game was already well behind schedule and everyone knew it. HS wanted to ship it early with significant feature cut, designer and producer disagreed and they were cut. Another 5 Hardsuit employees left. Significant negative social media reactions and plenty of pre-order cancellations have forced PDX's hand. Pure damage control but there are some upsides - a bit more time in the oven and maybe some cut features might be back on the table. If they had any balls they would admit to their failings publically and try and get back some of the people who left by being humble.