11/18/2004: "Never grow old, never die"

Sorry about the lack of posts recently, I've really just haven't had anything to say. So, today was the big day. Well, actually yesterday was supposed to be the big day but it somehow got shifted to today. What am I talking about? Probably nothing any of you will care about: Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines, aka the game I've been waiting for for over year solid, got released. Now, you have to understand that I don't easily get excited about games. Oh, I look forward to certain titles coming out, but not to the degree where I soak up every iota of available press before the game is released. Nor do I normally rush with all due celerity down to the local difference engine entertainment shoppe every time a interesting title comes out. But this one...

Well, I've always been a big vampire fan (and for those who may not have noticed I am also quite fond of bats, which fits right in). Which is sort of weird since the vast majority of vampire fiction, um... to avoid puns I will say is no good. Sure, there's exceptions. Dracula is one of the best books ever. Blackula is, well... black (and actually a pretty fun flick believe it or not). But something about vampires draws me in anyway. And the draw of actually getting to be a vampire in an RPG, and RPG by my favorite production studio, Trokia Games was enough to make me excited enough to actually read the entire pen-and-paper VTM 3rd Edition Core Rules. Which doesn't mean you're going to see me poncing around the park in a very shimmery cape any time soon, although it was a seriously fun read.

Anyway, so I will mention that it took me something like an hour to get it up and running, which was slightly annoying, but since getting it working, I haven't been disappointed. I mean, I've read up extensively on the game so I basically knew what to expect (although there are some things I didn't expected to be implemented, like the Protean discipline, which is very cool) and so far it's been fairly delightful. Not perfect, mind you, but delightful nonetheless. I almost wish that I wasn't going out of town this weekend. For anyone who cares, I couldn't resist picking a Malkavian the first time through. Because the only thing better than a vampire is an insane vampire. One fun thing about playing a Malkavian in this game is that my character, having "the Sight", actually knows things I as the player don't. Which makes me very happy. Anyway I'm not setting out to review it or anything, but I thought I ought to post about it, since it's made my evening. That said, I started playing around 7:30 and it's 2:30 now and I've put down most of a bottle of shiraz so it's time to get some sleep. I am not quite the creature of the night that my Malkavian is. I'll leave with some words of inspiration by that one hardcore metal band whose name escapes me at the moment:

I'm a vampire,
I'm a vampire,
I'm afraid the light will set me on fireeeeee!