Creator of Witcher backpedals about "gamers are dumb" quote (and talks about games' impact on books) - Polidicks

[img]http://static.polityka.pl/_resource/res/path/9d/d0/9dd01015-2e20-4194-b8ea-6e39367d99e4_900x[/img] [quote] Marcin Zwierzchowski in Polityka magazine's interview with Andrzej Sapkowski asked the writer about bywords proclaimed on Wrocław's fantasy convent, such as "I don't know a lot of people who play video games, since I usually hang around inteligent men", and a thesis that video games has hurt the sales of his books. AS specified that he meant an image loss, not a monetary one. [quote] "Several publishers has placed game graphics on covers on my books. Many readers had therefore classified my books as game related novelizations - books written with game as a base. There is plenty of such creations on the market of SF and fantasy books. Seeing a game picture on the cover, many fans had assumed that the games were first. And serious SF fans contempt such books and don't buy them, because - primo - they are unoriginal and secondary. Secundo - they are completely irrelevant for people who don't play games. And there are plenty of such people. (...) It wasn't nice for me on the conventions, when fans picked up my books, looked on the covers, and put them down with contempt. [i]Game related.[/i] Games don't interest us, we would rather buy something original, a new Abercrombie, Aaronovitch or Tregillis." [/quote][/quote] Also the part from the interview that I think interests you the most: [quote] [b] According to the quotes from Polcon, you were quoted as saying "I know few people who played this. I usually hang around inteligent men". I think those words caused the most uproar. [/b] (...) All I will say is that it was a convent, and the convent performances happen in accordance with the [i]show must go on[/i] rule, and that a lot of things passes there, including jokes that are far from exquisite. You do a lot there to make the audience have fun. And back then then the audience had great laughs. And if someone is upset about this, why does he come there? To catch sensation and make trouble out of nothing? I don't know why do I even bother to explain this, I wont convince anyone, an incurable disease, known to medicine as chronic and complete lack of humor, is taking a toll in here. (...) I will also add, [i]last not least[/i], that it is an absolute and irrefutable fact that I don't know anyone who plays games. That's the truth. And you cant shout over the truth. [/quote] Also the reporter asked him if the games didn't help his sales at least a little bit: [quote]"Well, the logic tells that the games has helped the books as much as the books had helped the games, an exact measure and calculating amount of sugar in sugar is pointless. Although with the eyes of my soul I see the readers trying the games more often rather then gamers trying the books. I will also allow myself to point out that my books had been published in 23 countries. Do you think that the bosses of publishing houses when selecting authors are guided by video games and events on the game market? Because I don't think so. I wouldn't want however to cause an impression that there is some kind of an antagonism between me and the games. The troubles that I've had and I have because of the games, the trouble that I had - as I hope - explained in the answer to the first question, are by no means the game's fault. Bah, paradoxically it was nothing else but the high quality of the graphic material that caused my publishers to choose those graphics for the covers. Finally - I am not jealous of the game's undeniable success, I'm far from that. I'm also not concerned that the game will be, as you've said, on top, that it will cover and overshadow me. Because that's simply impossible. It's my "book witcher" that's the only real and original, all adaptations are just more or less successful adaptations, and carry all the faults of an adaptation. There is only one original witcher. The mine. And nothing will take him away from me." [/quote] Sources in polish (including the full interview): [url]http://www.cdaction.pl/news-46792/sapkowski-nie-ma-problemu-z-grami-o-wiedzminie.html[/url] [url]http://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kultura/1676902,1,sapkowski-nie-mam-klopotu-z-gra-wiedzmin-ale-prawdziwy-wiedzmin-jest-tylko-jeden-i-pochodzi-z-ksiazek.read[/url]

I think people shit on this guy too much.

[QUOTE=SuperDuprKyle;51108471]I think people shit on this guy too much.[/QUOTE] When you act as pretentious as he did, what did he expect?

I kind of get where he's coming from, if he's not just [I]bullshitting to save his rep.[/I] You're talking in front of a crowd, trying to keep them happy, so you talk a little shit. They expect you to, it's just courtesy, you don't know people are taking you seriously. Then you talk a lot of shit. Soon you're somehow suggesting you're the hardest motherfucker to ever roll and everyone else is a motherfucking trick, and that's how you end up being a stone cold thug straight out of Compton, y'know what I'm saying?

[QUOTE]I don't know why do I even bother to explain this, I wont convince anyone, an incurable disease, known to medicine as chronic and complete lack of humor, is taking a toll in here[/QUOTE] "Joke's on you, I was just pretending to be retarded"

I think "I only hang around intelligent men" could very well have been a humorous jab. It'd depend on his tone in the interview, really.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;51108517]I think "I only hang around intelligent men" could very well have been a humorous jab. It'd depend on his tone in the interview, really.[/QUOTE] If it was, he should have apologized and stated his real opinion sooner, instead of letting the hole dig itself. I'm all for humor and those kinds of jab, but it's still kinda mean and it left a lot of people upset and saddened.

[QUOTE=Loadingue;51108523]If it was, he should have apologized and stated his real opinion sooner, instead of letting the hole dig itself. I'm all for humor and those kinds of jab, but it's still kinda mean and it left a lot of people upset and saddened.[/QUOTE] The Witcher is not really a series for people with thin skin. :v:

Idk man, as far as I've witnessed Polish humor, this seems pretty in-line.

[QUOTE=Loadingue;51108507]"Joke's on you, I was just pretending to be retarded"[/QUOTE] Since you're from Belgium I doubt you even heard him say it - he probably said it in Polish, and obviously sarcasm is often lost when put into text. I don't know whether it was a jab or an inane comment either, but I'd assume he was basically just talking shit (which was also what I thought when I first heard his comments). On a different note - obviously the games have probably sold more books for him than vice versa, but at the same time he did create the universe that has (partly) made the games popular, so while it's not what he meant or said, I'd probably say he's helped sell a lot of copies of the games.

When you make an interview you need to be careful how you phrase your answers. The answers he gave really came off as arrogant and very insulting to people who enjoy their hobby. At least he acknowledges it, rather than to ignore the negative feedback by people about his answers.

[QUOTE=Loadingue;51108507]"Joke's on you, I was just pretending to be retarded"[/QUOTE] To be fair, his panel was strongly sarcastic. The way it was presented in non-polish articles was just some raw quotes with no mention of the tone of the whole thing. I talked more about this in the original thread. [QUOTE=Grenadiac;51108517]I think "I only hang around intelligent men" could very well have been a humorous jab. It'd depend on his tone in the interview, really.[/QUOTE] Yeah, this.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;51108517]I think "I only hang around intelligent men" could very well have been a humorous jab. It'd depend on his tone in the interview, really.[/QUOTE] I don't know about that I mean a lot of his quotes in this article still come off as pretty pretentious, he still won't directly acknowledge that the game has helped out the sale of his books.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;51108517]I think "I only hang around intelligent men" could very well have been a humorous jab. It'd depend on his tone in the interview, really.[/QUOTE] It was comment that had a sarcastic tone that and it didn't translate very well into text. But everything else aside on how the books made the game famous was on point.

sarcasm doesn't translate very well, I'd imagine maybe people should just be a little less quick on the trigger

sarcasm and a translated language in text will never carry tone or humor as well as it would in person shame everyone shit on him the last thread after what he was presumed to have said because "the books are just okay anyway"

Folks shouldn't be so quick to judge imo, i mean after some random quote comes out you have people automatically denigrating his entire life's work like :what:

[QUOTE=Antimuffin;51108588]When you make an interview you need to be careful how you phrase your answers. The answers he gave really came off as arrogant and very insulting to people who enjoy their hobby. At least he acknowledges it, rather than to ignore the negative feedback by people about his answers.[/QUOTE] his answer probably came off as humorous in polish. the translation of his remarks was really stiff.

[QUOTE=Mining Bill;51108669]Folks shouldn't be so quick to judge imo, i mean after some random quote comes out you have people automatically denigrating his entire life's work like :what:[/QUOTE]Maybe gamers really are soft and dumb What do you expect from a bunch of NERDS

[QUOTE=TheHydra;51108692]his answer probably came off as humorous in polish.[/QUOTE] no, not really, at least not entirely that's what I would think too, but trust me on that that guy is just kind of a douche

Well, I don't disagree...

I think people are taking this way too personally and seriously.

When TW3 is hailed as the gaming achievement of a generation within the gaming world, getting the same recognition from the original author (who is operating in a more respected medium) would've been the ultimate honor. Through his comments Sapkowski harshly denied the game this, and as a result some fans are a lot angrier than they would've been in any other situation. I was personally a bit disappointed back in my day of discovering the book series after finding out the author didn't like video games.

i can understand where he's coming from with his complaints though. his book covers are literally witcher 2 art [img]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51fA7fl5CwL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg[/img] there isn't even a dragon in this book

[QUOTE=JohnnyOnFlame;51108540]Idk man, as far as I've witnessed Polish humor, this seems pretty in-line.[/QUOTE] Pretty much. He's not into games, and neither are the circle of friends he has. Big Deal. He's been a guy whom pretty much states things flatly his entire life. [quote] So are we ever going to see a female witcher besides Ciri? [/quote] [quote] No one wants to see Darth Vader with tits. There's nothing new or interesting about a character like that [/quote] He's sarcastic as shit.

[QUOTE=halflambada;51108828]I think people are taking this way too personally and seriously.[/QUOTE] this people need to stop getting their panties in a knot when people jab at your favorite hobby, thin skinned folks are simply the worst

Old Polish dude knows jack shit about games or people who play them? Say it ain't so. Gamers can be sensitive as fuck. This guy didn't do anything wrong.

I think that quote is fine, but the more delusional is him thinking that the video games are far less successful than his books... which is BEYOND deluded. [quote]"Well, the logic tells that the games has helped the books as much as the books had helped the games, an exact measure and calculating amount of sugar in sugar is pointless. Although with the eyes of my soul I see the readers trying the games more often rather then gamers trying the books. I will also allow myself to point out that my books had been published in 23 countries. [B]Do you think that the bosses of publishing houses when selecting authors are guided by video games and events on the game market? Because I don't think so.[/B] I am not jealous of the game's undeniable success, I'm far from that. I'm also not concerned that the game will be, as you've said, on top, that it will cover and overshadow me. [B]Because that's simply impossible. [/B]It's my "book witcher" that's the only real and original, all adaptations are just more or less successful adaptations, and carry all the faults of an adaptation. There is only one original witcher. The mine. And nothing will take him away from me."[/quote] Just read this, all of it, because he's delusional. The games are [i]far[/i] more succesful. Most people who have actually played the witcher probably would not know that it's based on a book series. I was one of them even finishing The Witcher 2.

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;51110287]I think that quote is fine, but the more delusional is him thinking that the video games are far less successful than his books... which is BEYOND deluded. Just read this, all of it, because he's delusional. The games are [i]far[/i] more succesful. Most people who have actually played the witcher probably would not know that it's based on a book series. I was one of them even finishing The Witcher 2.[/QUOTE] I guess it depends on by what metric your measure "success" by. I'd hazard a guess and say his opinion on videogames impacts his view on this particular subject. Better to be a duke in a kingdom of intellectuals than a king in the land of low-brow peasantry (videogames). Think about it; being a decent-selling author earns you a lot more credit to your name (and possibly cash in your wallet) than being one among the hundred-odd devs of a best-selling videogame. [url=https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1535719]This video springs to mind[/url], as well as the fact that videogames are still regarded an inferior medium by mainstream culture standards. Those with low/no opinion on videogames as an art form won't consider the success of said adaptation as any form of success.

[QUOTE=God of Ashes;51109697]i can understand where he's coming from with his complaints though. his book covers are literally witcher 2 art [img]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51fA7fl5CwL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg[/img] there isn't even a dragon in this book[/QUOTE] covers are often completely out of the author's control tho [editline]26th September 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;51110287]I think that quote is fine, but the more delusional is him thinking that the video games are far less successful than his books... which is BEYOND deluded. Just read this, all of it, because he's delusional. The games are [i]far[/i] more succesful. Most people who have actually played the witcher probably would not know that it's based on a book series. I was one of them even finishing The Witcher 2.[/QUOTE] he's probably not in touch with the gaming community at all, and the witcher books are incredibly popular in poland, so it's probably more of a trouble of perception i don't know why everyone always wants to throw big words like "delusional" around- i mean you used it in your post 3 times :v:. Just let an old dude think things in his old dude style, you ain't gotta pass judgement on every little thing.