I think this is at least partly true. They were only really screwed over on bloodlines in the sense that the publisher got tired waiting for this game that showed no sign of ever being finished so Troika were given an (admittedly tight) deadline. They have admitted their "kitchen sink" design and their commitment to perfectionism contributed to the long development time and ironically lead to a far from perfect release.

Wesp5/Spahl's patches would be more accurately called mods, since their inclusion alters and "re-balances" gameplay decisions, stats, and NPC/PC abilities assigned by designers. A number of people take umbrage with that.

Wesp5 has a separate bug-fix-only version of his patch, but if you're going that route, I think it's better to use Tessera's VtMB True Patch Gold, a pretty comprehensive bug-fix package that tries to clean up the code and restore content cut via time/budget constraints according to the surest spirit of Troika's original design paradigm. That's what I use and it makes my Bloodlines experience a blast.

Added bonus is a fixed .exe which removes DRM, like with either a disc copy or a purchase from a place like Direct2Drive (now Gamefly) where I bought my digital copy.

I'd not heard of that patch, thanks! I'll remember to try it out the next time I play bloodlines.

It gets less "press" than Wesp5 in the Vampire community. Probably because Wesp5 keeps releasing new versions and new content, whereas the "True Gold Patch" is pretty much done with no new versions forthcoming. The two also have an ongoing rivalry that I'm not particularly interested in, but the patch's stellar quality speaks for itself.

I recommend it to every VtMB fan.

Bloodlines only has a CD check for DRM but i really don't count that as DRM. though some people might.

Well I for one did buy it on DotEmu.

*points and laughs at the head bangers*

Is the retail release still selling for silly money second hand?

Have never bought a digital game from Amazon... DRM? (I know the retail didn't have any, but am not sure about Amazon's policies)

http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Masquerade-Bloodlines-Online-Game/dp/B00D6K43VS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373494826&sr=8-2&keywords=vampire+bloodlines

True. However, I've found it problematic finding no-CD check .exe versions of "vampire.exe" out there that work, since the game's earliest days. Since about 2000 I've always done full installs of games with a no-cd crack to spare both my discs and the endless nuisance of disc-swapping (as a user with a legit bought copy). So VtMB was often a bit of a thorn since cracks on GameCopyWorld and similar places often didn't work.

However, the one included in the True Gold Patch definitely works.

True it does indeed work i won't argue that its nice to have.
25 to 50 used on ebay saw one on amazon new from japan almost 300. Also does the Dotemu version work right out of the box nothing else needed?

It's a Steam code. It was frustrating for me, as I have the disc version, and could get it to run on older versions of Ubuntu under Wine, but on Ubutu 12.04, it doesn't work. The steam version works fine under Wine under current versions of Linux, and I bought it (again), I just wish I didn't have to rebuy it to play it, but whatever fixes are in the Steam version has never trickled down to the retail copies a lot of people own.

As mentioned above, U.S. gamers can buy it via digital download for 19.99 from Amazon. The retail version works out of the box with only a tweak to the compatibility settings of the shortcut (run as admin, xp mode, and if you want the game logos to play , a couple of check boxes on the same screen) (this is running it on 64 bit windows 7). In my experience... most games require this. I can't answer for certain, but I don't think DotEmu (or any other provider) does anything other than give you the retail game wrapped up digitally. The only questions are, did they patch it and did they add DRM. The official patch is widely available if needed.
Bah! I looked all over that page because it said online code, but it also said it was backed up in your amazon games... bummer.

Me too.

I hope they get to include Wesp's patch too, but if that's one of the problems they could just highlight it as a highly recommended mod that wasn't legally allowed to patch the game installer.

Nice. I'm gonna check out that patch next time I play Bloodlines. I recently reinstalled the game from my disc but I could not get the no-cd patch that I've used before to work in Windows 7. I don't want to repurchase the game from Steam just to be able to play it without the disc.

It is fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxfdJUOi0Nw#t=39s

I would rather them just include it as a recommended mod. Because wesp always recommends a clean install when installing his patch even the hotfixs most of the time. Due to issues that could happen when overwriting a patch.
I need to finish that game thanks for reminding me.