I have only ever played it in pieces, at friends houses and whatnot, but I've played Bloodlines alot and really enjoyed it. Plus, WhiteWolf's Vampire setting (both Masquerade and Requiem) are amazing and I really enjoy their line of games so I am definetely going to try this out. Go me. :-P

Used to play this way back when, and it is indeed very Diablo-like, both how it controls, the amount of hack'n'slash vs dialogue, collection of loot, and so on. The game even has a Town Portal like ability.
Not that it's not fun though. It doesn't hold a candle to Bloodlines if you're into RPGs, but if you love hack'n'slash action-fests like Diablo, you'll very much enjoy this game.
As far as I remember, the game had only one feature that made it fairly unique: It had a Storyteller mode, where one person controlled the adventure, could spawn enemies and loot, possess characters to talk and so on, with up to three players experiencing the world. It was limited by very difficult level-building (it uses tools similar to Half-Life) and only 4 players total, but could be fun with the right group. And this was before NWN of course.

I had the original patched to 1.1. A long time ago I was playing it again & everything was working fine till I got to one point in a dungeon & saved. When I restored that save the next day, *none* of my characters had any gear. I'm not even sure what dungeon it was, I just remember assassins & that I hadn't made it to the modern age yet.

It's different :-). This game is good as vampire-love story filled with a lot of similar enemies and lot of christoph's monologues. BUT for me this game has very good atmosphere in first part taken in medieval times. (that part for me is better than bloodlines ) but that second (modern) is worse :-).

I wish the MMPRPG that is being worked in the same mold would be in ancient, Dark Ages, or Middle Ages time frames or a new SP game would do so. The storyline got quite twisted, complicated, and too many obtuse bloodlines were made by modern times. Alas, methinks I am a minority.

I played bits and pieces of this game back when it came out, and attempted a full run after purchasing it here on GOG.com a few months ago.

To be honest, I was disappointed by it -- I was ok with it being a hack 'n slash game and "light" on the story component, but the gameplay was just extremely monotonous to me. I felt like I was doing the same thing over and over, just in different locations. And I think the reason for this is the lack of a deep progression system, in terms of skills as well as equipment. That is where other hack 'n slash games, like Diablo (since that title has been mentioned a few times in this thread), shine and how they make you want to just keep going and going and going...

And there's very little that makes up for that lack of "feeling rewarded for your actions", too, *because* the story is such a minor component and the characters are kinda bland. So in my opinion, Bloodlines is actually the better of the two Vampire games, thanks to its story and characters -- because, against all its faults, its shortcomings and its many, many bugs, that game delivered an engaging story with a great cast of characters, and that in it itself made the game very rewarding for me, and allowed me to ignore its not so impressive components.

I used to play with a friend online and it was just like a pen and paper rpg that i was walking around and my friend put in scenarios and my character interacted with the scenario he put up for me i loved it reallyfelled if i was sitting on the table with pen paper dice and chips. too bad it was sometimes a bit cluncy for the dm and i had to wait till he was done with the setup of the scenario.

i have, mastered this and the pen and paper game.

in order for you to fully benefit from this game (which is multiplayer.)
it requires a group of people, one playing the Storyteller, who hosts the room (and does not play a character.)

let me just say, what you have seen of the game isnt even 1% of its capability.

check out my multiplayer post up top.