Huzzah! You love to see it! A developer that took feedback from its fanbase and made a change based on that input. After listening to the outcries from fans, Paradox Interactive has changed the preorder bonuses. Listening to the fanbase and making the changes they want is a great policy. This for sure increases my likelihood to pre-order.
What Changed
Let’s start off with the biggest part of the news. All six clans currently in the game will be available to play at launch. Keeping them as day one downloadable content originally was ludicrous. A full third of the game that was previously being kept back is now being included in the base game. Finally a game company that listens to its fans. Now all of the game’s content will be available to everyone who buys the game. It is sad that this is cause to celebrate in the modern landscape of gaming, but celebrate we will! But this begs the question, what does the deluxe and premium editions include now?
What’s New
When downloadable content began, it replaced the expansion packs of old. In order to do that, the downloadable content needs to add on to the base game. Which is exactly what Paradox Interactive has decided to do. For the deluxe edition of the game they added a cosmetic pack. That will be nostalgic for those who played the original Bloodlines. It has decorations and music from the first game for all those that miss Santa Monica. Finally the premium edition includes the day one cosmetic pack as well as an expansion pass. Over the next year this pass will give access to two new stories. Now this is what downloadable content should be. A product that actually adds onto a game, not unlocks parts of the game previously withheld from the players. But there’s still my concern about the clans Paradox Interactive did not include.
What About the Lost Clans
At the moment there has been no word on if those clans will be added to Bloodlines 2. We have now seen a roadmap for some planned additional content. Nowhere in those plans did the other clans come up. So I doubt they will ever be added. Much as it saddens me to say since there could be so much game content in playing those missing clans. See my previous post for just some quick ideas on what that could be like. More storylines, powers, and characters to fill the Seattle nights is just the start. One of the biggest selling points of the game is the unique interactions player characters will have. Throughout the complicated world the writers have created for us a players clan should matter.
Dismissing these other clans leaves a lot of potential content on the cutting room floor. Hopefully the developers weren’t forced into crunch or forced to cut too much they wanted to include. Always better to give them time to create they product they want to. But, this does leave me as a long time fan of this franchise saddened. There is always the opportunity for the modding community to fill the hole though so fear not. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
A Step in the Right Direction
Thank you Paradox Interactive for listening to your fanbase. It was a greedy move to try and keep a third of your game behind an additional paywall beyond the cost of the game. But thankfully not only was this removed but you even added more content to incentivize both preorders and upgraded additions that are actually worth purchasing. This change and with the given price points for it really shows Paradox Interactive cares for its fans and I have no doubt it will pay off in the sales of this game.
