https://www.resetera.com/threads/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-taking-a-firm-political-progressive-stance-standing-for-lgbt-rights-mental-illness-representation.106919/
People who worry about the game being political are kind of missing the point of Vampire, I think, besides.
Correct, and let me try to be as clear as possible. [...]
I think all of what's been said sounds cool - but calling the choice of clan "an informed decision" is weird to me, like they're redressing a game mechanic to seem progressive. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but I could very well be overinterpreting this...People who worry about the game being political are kind of missing the point of Vampire, I think, besides.Bloodlines itself was progressive enough for its time, in my opinion - aside from making every non-white character a racial stereotype, and the "being mentally ill is so quirky" vibe of the Malkavian PC, which is an attitude that none of the other Malkavians in the game reflect, anyway.It was at least inclusive, and made these characters more than just gags by nature of their (sub)plot involvement and the fantastic dialogue. You interacted with them, which gave them depth, and the PC typically didn't treat anything as an outright joke.I'm sure Bloodlines 2 is going to be as progressive as the original was by simple inclusion of these characters and themes, but by today's standards, meaning they'll be a bit less caricatured. There's nothing really scary about that.
Well, I've actually enjoyed the republican jokes on the first one....
Personally, I'm fine with LGBT themes, racial themes, and class themes, considering they exist as real issues IRL. I just hope that we are not forced to condone or condemn certain political stances, and I also hope that the devs don't push their particular views on the player, whatever they may be. Basically, if what you say is true, then that is absolutely fine. There is a HUGE difference between mere presence and advocacy. And honestly, the stereotypes and the Malkavian PC grated me anyway, so not using those sounds like a plus regardless.
Quote from: thegooddoctorman on March 25, 2019, 01:43:40 amPersonally, I'm fine with LGBT themes, racial themes, and class themes, considering they exist as real issues IRL. I just hope that we are not forced to condone or condemn certain political stances, and I also hope that the devs don't push their particular views on the player, whatever they may be. Basically, if what you say is true, then that is absolutely fine. There is a HUGE difference between mere presence and advocacy. And honestly, the stereotypes and the Malkavian PC grated me anyway, so not using those sounds like a plus regardless.I agree - well, in principle at least. It's kind of a slippery slope though, in my opinion, trying to determine what it means, exactly, to push a viewpoint.For example, if you stumble upon a gay character and none of the dialogue options lets you call them a faggot/dyke, is there an agenda hidden there, or was it just something the developers didn't end up letting you do for whatever other reason?There would no doubt be people (a lot of people, in my experience) who would take such an instance as having progressive politics forced on them - because, to them, presence is largely equal to advocacy, regardless of context.At the end of the day, you can't please both the person living under a rock and the person straddled atop their high horse, so however the developers choose to approach any sensitive issue is really their prerogative...Hell, arguably the best ending in the original Bloodlines (ignoring the Independent ending for the sake of the argument) has you aligning with the Anarchs, who are analogous to the real-life left wing, anyway. There's already a precedent, there, which the critics on STEAM and elsewhere are very conveniently forgetting. TL;DR: We're probably not gonna see anything from Death Mask Productions in this sequel, because snuff films are decidedly risky territory to explore, as are certain other things.You know what, though? I'm fine with that - I don't think it's gonna take much away from the game overall if they play a few things safer than maybe they could have.Gehenna is not upon us because there's a gay and/or black person in a video game for inclusivity's sake, basically.