Kaftan Barlast

But too many chefs can spoil the soup.

The lack of resolution and plethora of loose ends plays a big part in my opinion that the end was anticlimactic. I cant say, I havent read any of the gehenna material. Vampire: Dark Ages, forgot about that one. Id love the idea of an epic tale stretching from the days of ancient Summeria to the modern nights. It would take one hell of a designer to pull it together in a credible fashion though since the normal "hack tingz til youz get strongah and can kill da big boss" approach would be impossible. Well, not a designer actually, more a publisher that would be willing to go out on a limb for a game that would probably be far too complex for the regular DnD numbnuts. But on the other hands, the modern nights is where its at. Its what the original idea was about and where the core of VtMs soul and appeal lies. Thats the whole beauty of VR, a whole new world that isnt clogged with ten years worth of garbage addons that did more harm than good. A fresh start with limitless possibilities(no idiotic metaplot for game devs to adhere to). VR is a fresh restart that IMO holds everything that made Vt; great but in a purified form. I know Justin Achilli has been talking about this for years(ever since the ancient days of 1998 when I was a neonate on the old old WW boards) and I think its good he finally got what he wanted.

There cant be a direct sequel because WW has already detailed what happens later(up until the end of the WoD, right? havent read em myself) in the Gehenna novels and since Troika have to make their stories canon with the WW metaplot = no sequel. Of course they could make a prequel(hah) or a game set in the Vampire: Requiem setting.

What kind of game is it? Ive played the old c64 Gauntlet but I dont think theyll just rehash that concept.

That was most likely due to the influence of Caine. I, and most other people(especially those with no experience of V:tM PnP), would have liked for loose ends like that to be properly and thoroughly explained by the end of the game. The "jack and mysterious cabdriver" scene raised more questions than it answered and it seemed like a huge setup for a sequel which is really bad since there wont be one. And regarding disciplines, it would have been extremely difficult to implement the PnP ones correctly into the game. Not to mention alot of them would have been completely unusable like most levels of Animalism

Why would we want to chat with her? give us a designer to sink our fangs into.

It can be lots of fun becasue alot of companies have it switched on without knowing it, so all you have to do to get access to their network is park your car outside their office and switch on your laptop.

Another thing about the canon of the WoD, I just read the Anarch chapter of "Guide to the Camarilla" and there is a canon version of LA described there that definently does not match up with Bloodlines version. Not a single official WW character matches(even if IMO BLs version is better). So Troika are allowed to do that, but they are not allowed to alter the gehenna novels crap. gah. Or Im completely wrong about this "WWs official canon forced BLs anticlimactic endings so they matched the Gehenna Novels" thing, and Troika designers thought it was really neat to end the game that way without tying up the ends(what caused the dead to rise from the graveyards for an example? must have been something extremely powerful)

Well, I was lucky enough to get one for christmas. Its very very tricky to get used to and the hand-to-eye coordination gets to work real hard. This is the first doodoo I made with the OEM paint program. The only brush I could get a grasp on was charcoal but I couldnt really get it to do what I wanted so I just played around. Looks very artclass at age 15

Noone actually makes things from scratch in PS do they? Its made for editing/modifying graphic images, not drawing them. And Pros probably use tablets. I just got one and its tricky getting used to but the differance from a mouse can be measured in lightyears.

10 is way to much, the goat has only been spared maybe 3-4 times. And its usually a fireproof-impregnated wooden frame, Mkreku.

(given my big spiler warnig in the title, I dont think its really necessary to bother with the blackout) I naturally played a survivalist rouge hellbent on gaining as much power and influence I possibly could -vampires are after all, not very nice people. So of course I played humble servant with LaCroix(but did join the anarchs because everyone needs allies) until I could get what I wanted, although curiosity and "everyone says I shouldnt open the box so of course ill open it"(worked in KoTOR) played their partys in the decision. But instead I found myself effectively robbed of everything I had struggled for by a couple of kilos of C4. If Id been the first victim of an awakening Antediluvian(or methuselah) I wouldnt have minded so much but this was just pure and utter anticlimax that wasnt made better by the "Teh cabbi driver was Caine..hiii hii, yUO n00b!!" so I played all the other endings and found that all were equally non-satisfying and most of all lacked closure. The last you saw of your character was usually when you left LaCroixs office and that was the end of a character youd poured hours and hours into.

I dont think anyone understood what I was actually trying to convey, so Ill make one last attempt to be absolutely clear and concise: 1. An anticlimax is a always a bad thing that should be avoided at all costs, if it isnt bad, it isnt an anticlimax. It is of course down to personal opinion if the end of Bl was an anticlimax or not. 2. It is a bad thing when a game developer has to downcompromise the games story due to the metaplot (only the metaplot that is, NOT the setting, maintaining the settings integrity is always important. I also do not belive the metaplot is an integral part of the setting) of the PnP game.

I think its a mistake to enforce canon on products that are beyond the original "medium"(be it a pnp game, a film, whatever) and directed at people that have never and probably never will play or care about what goes on in the original medium. No computer gamer that isnt familiar with WWs games and metaplot is going to go out and buy the Gehenna novels anyway. Especially now when theyve moved on to V:tR, who cares what happens in the old WoD? -but most of all this is because Im against the concept of an enforced metaplot (one that isnt optional) because it restricts the creative freedom and can be seriously detrimental to the game. The "work fine in books" is a little dumb, I agree. An anticlimax is a bad thing no matter where it occurs. Your PnP example isnt very good either IMO because a good GM should never just "Youre dead. go home, well call when we've started a new chronicle. Bye!" The end of something should be equally dramatic(prefferably more) as the events that led to it. Of course they're only guidelines, noone said otherwise. But theyre very good and true guidelines.

Sorry, I was overcome by fanatical idealism. What were you saying?

I had to cheat past Ming Xiao. One full can of gas only did about 15% of damage on her anyway and the katana only did about 0.5% damage. Id love a game that had the option to not engage in combat at all.

You know what? I think he may be right. Falling pinecones kill more people than terrorism every day, its just not very widely known or written about. I have two giant pinecones in my kitchen right now. I am afraid, please help me. I dont know what to do. Would someone please send help. Thankyou.

-Drill in the woods? I dont get it, theres no oil in trees? Except maple syrup. I like maple syrup, Dlck. -Yes but theres oil in the ground below the trees, George. -But what happens to the maple syrup then? -It has to go away with the trees so we can drill for oil. -I heard you can make booze out of trees, Dlck. -Uhm, well. yeah but thats the stuff they use in antifreeze, youre not supposed to drink it. But thats beside the point, George, just sign the goddamn contract! -You're not? Damn we used to party on that **** all the time in college when we couldnt get enough coke. -Just...sign..the...document... -Have you tried coke, Dlck? Its great but dad made me give it up, I hate dad. -Thats it, Ill just get the CIA to forge your signature. edit: had to modify Mr. Cheneys first name due to the obscenity.

The charred remains As I have understood it, the concept of a christmas goat is a completely Swedish idea that never really made it abroad. Anyway this particular goat is the giant straw one that is built on a square in gefle every christmas and most every year is torched in an illegal but highly traditional way going back 40 years. Anyway, they torched it again. Great fun. No christmas is ever complete without the burning of the goat.

As you know i have a huge beef with the brutally anticlimactic way in which Bloodlines abruptly ends without any form of satisfactory closure or tying up the loose ends. Well, well, well. I guess the designers at Troika just neglected to read that part of the sourcebook didnt they? I wish they had, I really do. and heres another bit of advice that all designers should take notice of

Read around some hardware site forums where people really know what theyre talking about. GCs are one of those things where the fine things really make a differance(for instance some cheaper models being reflashable or overclockable to function just aswell as the topoftheline model)

What this "canon with WWs metaplot" did was limit the freedom for the Troika devs to craft the story they wanted to do(atleast the one Im hoping they wanted to do). Basicly they could forget doing anything exciting for the end like waking up an antediluvian(what the entire story hinted would happen) and raising mayhem in LA because it wouldnt fit in with WWs metaplot.

I can forgive bugs, long load times and poor performance, but I can NOT forgive an anticlimactic ending. ...some people say WW ****** Troika by demanding Bloodlines to be canon with their ridiculous Gehenna metaplot so I have yet to hire any contract killers to venerate my frustration.

Since it was revealed that the amazing mystery concept art was done in CorelPaint, Ive been thinking about getting a pad and fiddle around a bit myself. The thing is that Im not doing anything remotely professional or otherwise(modwork) that would really motivate the purchase. But I am a painter and I thought it might be a good thing to practise on. What do you think? Anyone here except the Obsidian artists thats using one and is willing to share some words of wisdom?

bouncy bouncy wedding.