I doubt they hate it, mostly because as loose as the lore is in BL2, I don't think the Chinese Room has any more familiarity with VtM than flipping through the core book a few times.

The part where I picked up a fucking healing potion next to non-interactive blood packs gave me an aneurysm

Well, by the time of LotR, Sauron was once mighty, currently physically impotent, capable of nothing constructive or creative and entirely reliant on fear and an army of brain-washed followers to hold on to power. Nah, I'd say this tracks pretty well.

Gotta figure out how to move, comfort, and inspire. Thus far I haven't been able to herd my table of cats in that direction. 😄