Damn it, Toby!

[teakay]

No, self, you do not, in fact, need Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. You don't even really want it. The amount of dying a player who's actually good at that kind of game does would leave you in tears. This is what the Let's Play is for (or at least part of what it's for in this case): all the pretty (for a given value of pretty) with none of the stress or, for that matter, the expense.

And when do you think you're going to have time to play it, huh? Look at what you're already juggling. Also, take a good long look at Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment and Neverwinter Nights, moldering away to this day.

And think of all the bugs!

Stick to Sims, when you have time. Give those Sims names like Heather and Alistair if you must (doesn't Camarilla sound like a nice and froofy name for a girl?), turn those Sims into Simly vampires if you must, but step away from the Steam website (and what if it asplodes at some point after you plunk down those twenty bucks, huh? Where'll you be then?).

At least give it a month, self. Then we'll see if we can discuss things in civilized fashion.

Comments

[liam-sensei.livejournal.com]

See this is the exact reason why I never got into computer/video games in the first place; I get squished too easily in every game I play. It took a mass orc melee in Icewind Dale to ultimately sit me down and tell me I should save my time and hard disc space on something more constructive, though that's just my handicap.

*ears perk up* Hmmm so you've played a little VtM: Bloodlines I see. How much do you know about that universe (<--Is a veteran of VtM LARP and Tabletop)

[tobykikami.livejournal.com]

I think I'm more comfortable with things like turn-based combat where enemies file onto the battle screen and I pick out commands somewhat at my leisure and there is beating each other up in orderly fashion, instead of the hack-slash-jump-dodge-run stuff. It seems to give me more breathing room. But then, I haven't had much experience with the latter, and I haven't played any RPGs in a while, so there is a small chance I may be pleasantly surprised. The hope, it plagues me.

I haven't actually played any of Bloodlines per se, just read/watched the "Let's Play" videos and annotated screencaps of a couple of other people playing through (which, alas, only seems to have made me crave taking the options they didn't). So I have something like the basics from there, and I've looked up other bits and pieces on Wikipedia etc.

Speaking of which, may I take the opportunity to say your Malkavian L crossovers are nifty keen? Elaboration forthcoming in the near future (knock wood).

[liam-sensei.livejournal.com]

I think I would do better with stuff like that too. I played a little of FFX (like a couple scenes) and I could possibly get used to something like that.

Why thank you! It's gotten me going through my old VtM materials (before they dismantled the universe, a la Spellplague). It started as a plot bunny I exercised on DN Contest and haven't gotten around to adding anything else to it. One of the things on my post-Calculated Risks to do list

[tobykikami.livejournal.com]

Another "dead" setting sounds right up my alley. I imagine myself scouring the web for old sourcebooks, which will then get friendly with my old FR sourcebooks and breed unbalanced vampire drow. No promises.

May as well say this all in one place, so elaboration ahoy:

I love the humor, from the random guy with Pookums the poodle to "then again he should have been just plain buried" to the shinigami vampire-spotting game to the whole stunt with the would-be summoners.

And, Malkavian L himself. The Malkavians that appear in Bloodlines gave me a bit more context for this and I like how you fit him in with what I know of that. I'm also intrigued by the possibilities of the recasting of his relationship with Watari and all the backstory that would be in the extra eighty-odd years.

I was a little bit taken aback by the daytime body double explanation (which would seem to mean that in this 'verse a bunch of excellent scenes like the tennis match and pickpocketing Misa weren't really L after all) but still, a pretty good save given that they don't make sunblock strong enough for that. Though now I'm wondering where he gets those body doubles from. Does he clone B? XD

After a reread, I'm also wondering about the particulars of the Death Note's interaction with vampires. What if, for example, the user specified something like immolation? Would every entry with a vampire involved default to the five-minute staking? I'm terribly interested to see more of how these two systems would work together.

[liam-sensei.livejournal.com]

Believe me that can happen very very easily. Let's just say Vhaeraunite drow and the Sabbat do have a lot of things in common which was one thing that made me really like the Vhaeraunites. My signature character in college was Louis St. Vincent, a Toreador antitribu, obnoxious British rock start and serial killer. I had an idea of putting him with the Cormanthor drow but that never happened though Louis is the original inspiration for Fielder from HH. Fielder is a lot less sophisticated, though his name does come from Louis' backstory: Louis is from Sheffield and Fielder was his nickname in London.

The old sourcebooks should not be that hard to find if you look online. They're out of print obviously but a lot of people still have them (I'd guess mostly because of how quickly they folded the universe).

VtM just lends itself to dark humor, especially how the guidebooks are written. The tone of even the rule descriptions is very snarky (Health Level: Dead- Tag em, bag em, notify next of kin)

I though making L a Malkavian was just too appropriate. Probably the best resource on Malkavians is Clanbook: Malkavian, where they have one Malkavian in there who is also an obsessive researcher but as a hematologist. The relationship with Watari is slowly getting brainstormed and I might play with some backstory of those two in the early 1900's or something.

The daytime body double explanation was pretty much the only way I could get away with those few scenes of him being outside during daylight as VtM is very restrictive with that one rule (and sparkling is not an option XD). I know it is kind of a bummer for scenes like that, though it was a necessary evil.

Things like how L gets his body doubles and the rules regarding vampires and the Death Note will all unfold gradually, likely in the next chapter of Rules whenever I get around to writing it. Actually this little convo is making my gears turn for that plot a little more, hmmm.

[mad-troll.livejournal.com]

ARGH!
Lure you into the Pit of Despair Character's Death Despair or leave things be?
Thiss choice, it tornsss usss!

(but no, really: if you care about character survival, White Wolf is so Not Your Thing)

Also, uhm, Camarilla as girl name? Only if you don't plan her to run into anyone aquainted with Spanish History. Or language. :D

[tobykikami.livejournal.com]

At least, it sounds froofy to my untrained ear. Kind of like "Camille" but fancified. Maybe I could put her in a family that all has names like Chlamydia and Torquemada, boost my Sim-torment ratio some. XD

I haven't gamed for a while, so I'm tormented by the idea that I've subconsciously developed a more laid-back attitude to Game Over screens. I don't want to realize anew, twenty dollars later, that that's not the case (and it being Steam, I can't even try to fob it off on my siblings).

[kazokuhouou.livejournal.com]

Or make one of your Sims Batman, whatever. :)

[tobykikami.livejournal.com]

I'll probably kick myself in five minutes for being obtuse but sorry, I don't quite follow?

[kazokuhouou.livejournal.com]

Well, you mentioned that if you must, turn your Sims into vampires, and I couldn't help throw that in. (It's a Zero Punctuation reference.)

[tobykikami.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see, that's why I didn't get it.