V5 hate thread

I see absolutely zero valid reasons for the gross simplification and unification crusade that is the essence of V5 - like, V20 was already pretty much perfect as it is, a rich and refined portrayal of the many layers and aspects of Cainite society... Why the need for all this ruination and replacement with a sorry simulacrum of what we used to have? The old World of Darkness was uncannily captivating, I think the big part of its success, especially with the classic Vampire the Masquerade RPG is how chillingly realistic it seemed, so much that at times it could hardly be considered escapism - more like a reminder of the many less-than-pleasant things that occur in this reality: the ruthlessnesss, the violence, the loss, the decadence, the disillusionment... And indeed, WoD/VtM have a lot to do with the very world we live in, the creators of this setting, for one reason or another hinted numerous times towards the very real and palpable darkness that may inhabit our realm side by side with us, here and now. I wrote an extensive analysis about it (especially in relation to Bloodlines and Redemption, both of which, as we know, are based on classic VtM) on the previous forums, you can still take a look at the archived copies here or here (this is a slightly newer version with more links and fixed typos). I looked at several connections to the real life events & the mystical symbology used in these games. All I can say is that these connections reveal something quite disturbing that few minds are willing to accept...

As for why they felt all this had to be ruined, I think I have an idea - to me, this is yet another attempt to sabotage what's left of the old counter-culture, to eliminate it via the seed of conflict and suppression - because someone at the top would really benefit from hiding all the sickness & darkness this world is full of, in order to merrily transition the naive populace into the Brave New World, where there's no place for the brutal & honest exposure of its imperfections... I think we all know this is the part of the game nowadays, unfortunately. Although the fact that we learned to recognize these tricks that are being played on us over the recent years brings a glimmer of consolation.

Interestingly, while searching for VtM/WoD documentation on ye olde eMule network, I came across V5 PDF aptly named so that it reflects its precise nature. The very opposite of what it's supposed to offer on the surface.

Indeed, when I first looked at that filename I thought someone's going a bit overboard with their frustration... It could be that the 'Nazi' label was actually an attempt to discredit any legitimate criticism of V5, as by itself it's nothing more than a historically overused scapegoat concept that only causes more inflammation than it cures, making all this name-calling go in circles, making it difficult to see why the conflict happened in the first place. I certainly agree that any criticism of the new edition should have a solid evidential ground to it, and I think there's more than enough of it to form a concise and sensible expression why we dislike it.

For me V5 is a mixed bunch
Good ideas thrown with bad ones
Like, simplyfing the disciplines? Not exactly bad. How they handled it? No way.
Or the lore. Second Inquisition? Nice. Evolution of the factions? Meh....

In any case, it's really weird to see people criticize the V5 by playing the 'Antifa' card. One'd think this is something that the fans of V5 themselves are engaging in, given all the unpleasant neo-leftist vibes surrounding most of them. I used to think that the 'neo-nazi edition' label was given ironically, to point towards the hypocritical "book-burning" censorship policies V5 is involved in, turning the creators into thought & opinion "nazis" themselves. But turns out it was a direct reaction towards certain content?! Something's very strange here... But perhaps the old community's antifascist trigger buttons were acting up as well, as seen with that person. Either that, or someone really wanted to perpetuate all the name-calling and derail the legitimate critique of V5 into this fascist-antifascist brawl like I said... Now that I heard Caedia's story, I'm quite positive that this 'troublesome' user was the one who named the PDF I was talking about.

Nazi this, Nazi that... So much noise over the fancy uniforms, and no one remembers Eisenhower's death camps and Churchill's bombing of Dresden. To say nothing of what Stalin did to the innocent German and his own citizens... It's always like this - everyone's busy making war and pointing fingers, and nobody pays attention to the real atrocities... It was such a costly misdirection even back then.

I've never been much fond of any military stuff, but yes... those German uniforms are work of pure art, there's no other way around it! Whoever designed those outfits was nothing short of genuis.

The moon landing... Most probably fictional, although I get your point