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Paradox aquires White Wolf from CCP

hemtae

Member
I do agree that Pillars presented a unique situation with a new world to define, and by the way, I like the characters and world. I just really dislike when exposition is leaned on.

If we're looking at Obsidian historically, their rep has been great writing, OK game. Brian Mitsoda left. Then John Gonzales left (the guy largely responsible for New Vegas' script coming out so great). Then Chris Avellone left. Those guys had major roles in getting the company that rep... And Pillars is our first example of what an Obsidian game looks like without them (with Avellone in a reduced role, specifically).

I'm just not taking it as a given that anything Obsidian does will have great writing. Josh Sawyer has a keen sense for worldbuilding, but WoD is already built.

What exactly did Mitsoda do for Obsidian's writing rep? As far as I know, he did a few cancelled projects and then maybe possibly fucked up Alpha Protocol so badly Avellone had to step in. As for Gonzalez, we'll see how Horizon turns out but nothing in his career comes close to New Vegas.
 

Chariot

Member
If there's one thing I've learned from this thread, it's that everyone should make a WoD RPG.
Yes. We call it the Age of Darkness and boycott every game that isn't WoD until every game is WoD. Call of Darkness, Assassins Darkness, Pokemon - The Collected, etc.
 

Steel

Banned
Good, now license Obsidian to make a spiritual successor to Bloodlines.

First thing I thought when I saw Vampire: The Masquerade. Though I'd be kinda curious if Paradox could pull off a decent RPG. They mostly make sandboxy stuff.

BkfOp53.png


hmmmmm indeed.

Or maybe it'll just be handed to Obsidian. I'm OK with this.
 

adj_noun

Member
I dig some of the stuff they've done with the nWoD, but darn if I don't miss Malkavians*.

*Yes, I know, it's not really the same though.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Funny thing about Bloodlines is that we've seen games built similarly see success in the modern market. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is structurally very similar to Bloodlines, in terms of overall hub-to-mission game pacing, combination of dialogue and combat, light exploration, hub side quests, etc. Bloodlines found a pretty nice balance (read: ultimately broken, but still fun) of table top role playing elements (conversations, skill trees, stats) while also being predominantly real time action driven in all your actual game functions instead of dice rolls.

You could almost take Bloodlines in its complete game design and dialogue as is, and remake it with a modern coat of paint, polish up the few rougher stretches of game (like those fucking sewers), and you'd still have an outstanding gem of a game.

Like, I think the template for a very faithful and similarly designed successor is there, without the need to seriously scale back or hinder the design, for the modern market.

I feel like people expecting a Deus Ex or Bloodlines game on UE4 are getting ahead of themselves. That kind of game is expensive. And dont forget that Bloodlines had top dollar voice talent, which was instrumental in how good it is.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
I dig some of the stuff they've done with the nWoD, but darn if I don't miss Malkavians*.

*Yes, I know, it's not really the same though.

Hunter the Vigil, Changeling the Lost and Demon the Descent are worth losing Malks. Also games for these three settings plz.
 

SerRodrik

Member
The rumors around the net seem to involve that Obsidian will continue the work of the Vampire MMO.

That seems like the one outcome of this that I wouldn't want. Also, it seems incredibly unlikely. If CCP of all people couldn't get it to work, why would Obsidian take over?
 

Steel

Banned
I feel like people expecting a Deus Ex or Bloodlines game on UE4 are getting ahead of themselves. That kind of game is expensive. And dont forget that Bloodlines had top dollar voice talent, which was instrumental in how good it is.

It did? I always thought that beyond like 2 voice actors that all of them were pulled off the street. I mean, I liked it, and it fit but I wouldn't have thought it was top dollar voice talent.
 

Chariot

Member
If it looked like The Secret World it would probably be a good game. But then we'd all just be wondering why it wasn't a single player game in the first place.
Secret World would've hugely profited from being a single player. The Theme Park MMO elements and the innovative horror-adventure elements bit each other and in the end didn't appeal to both groups of players and just alienated people. The Theme Park players didn't get into the awesome skillwheel system and the usual MMO elements got in the way of the immersion of the game and in the end Funcom is struggling to maintain a playerbase. I don't want to see something like that again. No, please, when they make a new RPG, please leave it singleplayer.
 

adj_noun

Member
Secret World would've hugely profited from being a single player. The Theme Park MMO elements and the innovative horror-adventure elements bit each other and in the end didn't appeal to both groups of players and just alienated people. The Theme Park players didn't get into the awesome skillwheel system and the usual MMO elements got in the way of the immersion of the game and in the end Funcom is struggling to maintain a playerbase. I don't want to see something like that again. No, please, when they make a new RPG, please leave it singleplayer.

I'd have been alllll over a single player Secret World.
 

Azih

Member
Secret World and The Old Republic would have both been better as single player. The MMO parts were at odds with what the narrative was trying to do.
 

Chariot

Member
I'd have been alllll over a single player Secret World.
Me too, but Funcom has driven itself into a bad financial corner. They maybe claw themselves back with little projects like the Park, but I don't think we'll see anything major from them in the near future.

Thus our best current bet is a World of Darkness singleplayer RPG.
 
I read that as CDPR and "White Wolf".

Now... where did I put those glasses...

You are not the only one. Even reading the OP, until I reread it was really CCP and not CDP.

Its getting the Vampire bloodlines franchise, and could make them hire obsidian to make a sequel son thats thankfully amazing news.
 

dude

dude
There's an article on VentureBeat with some more information. These two paragraphs are especially interesting:

This is honestly very worrying for the pen and paper side of things. It seems to imply that Paradox is going to ignore the new WoD and focus solely on the old one. Furthermore, the comment about analyzing licensing agreements is quite strange - Onyx Path is the only licensee, so it would seem that Paradox is questioning their abilities, which is frankly kind of insulting.
Mmmm... Onyx Path don't seem worried about it, their FB post was quite congratulatory. And there is actually another licensee - The guys who make the new Mind's Eye Theater.
I think Paradox are smart enough to understand Onyx Path are doing a fine job (minus delays and the whole Exalted 3 fiasco) and are the best guys around to continue the P&P side of things.
Honestly, I would just but them as well and just make them White Wolf. It's not like there's an actual company around...

I think the licensing talk is more about video games.
 

Anim

Member
Mmmm... Onyx Path don't seem worried about it, their FB post was quite congratulatory. And there is actually another licensee - The guys who make the new Mind's Eye Theater.
I think Paradox are smart enough to understand Onyx Path are doing a fine job (minus delays and the whole Exalted 3 fiasco) and are the best guys around to continue the P&P side of things.
Honestly, I would just but them as well and just make them White Wolf. It's not like there's an actual company around...

I think the licensing talk is more about video games.

I've been thinking along those lines as well. It seems like the logical thing to do. That Facebook post doesn't really confirm or deny anything though - we just need to wait for an official statement from Onyx Path.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
The main three lines are probably better in the old World of Darkness (Awakening might be better than Ascension), but all the minor lines are superior in the new WoD. If game lines like Vigil and The Lost get nixed then this was a bad deal. Old World of Darkness is not strictly better and it would be a shame to see things left to die in order to consolidate two different universes.
 

Anim

Member
The main three lines are probably better in the old World of Darkness (Awakening might be better than Ascension), but all the minor lines are superior in the new WoD. If game lines like Vigil and The Lost get nixed then this was a bad deal. Old World of Darkness is not strictly better and it would be a shame to see things left to die in order to consolidate two different universes.

I wouldn't say that they're objectively better - they're very different games after all. Each of the core three games in nWoD is radically different in tone from their oWoD counterparts. Even Vampire, which at first glance seems similar, takes a more personal and moody approach in nWoD (which is vaguely in line with VtM 2nd edition, but then Revised happened and everyone was Blade). Requiem 2nd edition takes it even further by finally introducing worthwhile antagonists for vampires. I guess it's just a matter of preference - you either like the modular approach (nWoD) or a linear one with heavy reliance on metaplot (oWoD).
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
I wouldn't say that they're objectively better - they're very different games after all. Each of the core three games in nWoD is radically different in tone from their oWoD counterparts. Even Vampire, which at first glance seems similar, takes a more personal and moody approach in nWoD (which is vaguely in line with VtM 2nd edition, but then Revised happened and everyone was Blade). Requiem 2nd edition takes it even further by finally introducing worthwhile antagonists for vampires. I guess it's just a matter of preference - you either like the modular approach (nWoD) or a linear one with heavy reliance on metaplot (oWoD).

Thats my opinion. There was nothing objective about it.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
I'm curious, is there any reason (other than potential confusion and maybe licensing issues with the oWoD) that prevents using, say, old VtM, and not necessarily having that tie/conflict with the nWoD?

Obviously going back on the nWoD for everything is, in the long run, likely bad for a variety of reasons, but would a single throwback to utilize nostalgia from VtM be all that bad?
 
Screw all this RPG noise
not really, hook that Obsidian shit to my veins.

What I really want out of this is a CK2 style grand strategy set in the WoD. A truly global exploration of the factionalism and intrigue leading up to Gehenna, something more localised dealing with the Tribes, it's perfect for this kind of setting.

Hell yea!!
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
If you are gonna do grand strategy, you should do Dark Ages: Vampire. Go for the real deal vampire politicking and backstabbing.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
I'm curious, is there any reason (other than potential confusion and maybe licensing issues with the oWoD) that prevents using, say, old VtM, and not necessarily having that tie/conflict with the nWoD?

Obviously going back on the nWoD for everything is, in the long run, likely bad for a variety of reasons, but would a single throwback to utilize nostalgia from VtM be all that bad?

What do you mean? It seems like Paradox is only really interested in using old WoD for video games. They are seperate settings in every respect.
 
I listen to Vampire TM Bloodlines OST almost every single week

This puts me in a mood to throw money at my monitor on a very regular basis.

...Just putting that out there
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
What do you mean? It seems like Paradox is only really interested in using old WoD for video games. They are seperate settings in every respect.

Hmm...I wasn't necessarily seeing 'only' the oWoD in the press release, more like hyping up the 3 'big' brand names that people might recognize, especially from a video games perspective w/ VtM:B.

Nothing to say they couldn't be thinking of ideas for nWoD at the same time, unless I missed a relevant snippet/tweet/etc.?
 
Good, CCP was doing fuck all with it.

Now give me some Obsidian Changeling games please.

Or a Demon: The Fallen game.

What was old World of Darkness

Vampire the Masquerade
Werewolf: The Apocalypse

and what else?


Demon: The Fallen
Changeling: The Dreaming
Mummy: The Curse
Wraith: The Oblvion
Promethean: The Created (err maybe not this one?)
Mage: The Ascension
Hunter: The Reckoning
 
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