Jonric: In terms of an introduction, how would you summarize Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines for our readers? What kind of game is it, when and where will it take place, and whatyou're your primary high-level design and conceptual goals?

Leonard Boyarsky: Bloodlines takes place in a gothic punk/World of Darkness version of Los Angeles. We're faithfully bringing White Wolf's World of Darkness to the computer RPG, in all aspects, from the setting and tone to the character stat system, to the way the Vampire's supernatural powers (called disciplines) feel. While embracing the action elements afforded to us by using Valve's technology, this game is still a Troika RPG with complex dialogue trees, rich character development, deep quests, plus non-linear, open-ended gameplay that allows the player to create their character any way they want from any of seven different Vampire clans.

We are also focusing on multiple solutions to quests depending on what type of character they choose to play. For instance, a player can choose to fight a guard, sneak past him, talk his way past him, dominate his way past him, or overpower him and drain his blood. We're truly blending the two genres - for instance, even though your character can go around firing his gun like a first-person shooter, his accuracy is determined by his ranged combat ability.