The Witcher Megathread - Games

enhanced edition is pretty sweet

In all 3 of my playthroughs of the game, I've never seen this area. Was this included in the EE patch? [t]http://filesmelt.com/dl/witcher2_2012-04-23_00-20-15-53.png[/t] [t]http://filesmelt.com/dl/witcher2_2012-04-23_00-22-38-55.png[/t] [t]http://filesmelt.com/dl/witcher2_2012-04-23_00-27-48-42.png[/t] [t]http://filesmelt.com/dl/witcher2_2012-04-23_00-30-37-60.png[/t]

Always been there. The first witcher has suceded in pissing me off again. Chapter 2 sucks ass. It seems as if I'm completely stuck because both people I need to talk to tell me to go away.

[QUOTE=TheWhiteFox1;35679425]For people who didn't pursue the same path as myself though, what happens when you [sp]abandon the Kingslayer for Triss[/sp]?[/QUOTE] [sp]I'm guessing you are talking about the part in chapter 1 where you find the Rose of remembrance and Triss tells you it isn't really your job to find the Kingslayer. If I'm right you can either tell her you will keep searching for Letho or that once your memories are restored you leave. If you decide on the latter you still have "2 days" before Triss can make the spell, in that time you finish the chapter as normal.[/sp]

[QUOTE=PotatoArmada;35679275]Dark mode feels slightly easier than hard for me. You may die quicker but you also do more damage to enemies. On hard, nekkers died in about 4-6 hits whereas in dark mode I can kill them in 2-3.[/QUOTE] Yeah you can think of Dark Mode as a kind of "realism" mode, because you'll deal much more damage but also die much quicker. So you really need to be on the ball with your blocks, quen, etc. Some people even say its easier, because you can generally end conflict faster assuming you can avoid taking damage. Anyways, best part about EE is that it seems like they really expanded the third chapter. Which is great, because it is such an interesting location and yet you spend hardly ANY time there before the end of the game rolls. Still haven't got there - just arrived at Flotsam on Dark Mode. Going to go with the Iorveth's path this time around, never did it before. I hear Vergen is a much better place than than Roache's camp. And yeah, [sp]Letho[/sp] was really easy for me too at the end of chapter 1 - because I used the same technique :v: AKA I had a shit tonne of resetable snare traps, so I just placed them on the ground and laughed as he ran into them. Snare traps are amazing, deal good damage, reusable, you can have dozens. Great for dealing with hard bosses/enemies in close quarters where you can lure them into you. [editline]23rd April 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Schmaaa;35677804]I've been tempted to get this game for a while, but I've heard that the combat is ridiculously hard (as in bullshit) and that it has mediocre RPG aspects. Is this true?[/QUOTE] It has pretty great RPG aspects. No skill system, but there's several pretty involved skill trees you put points into on level up, crafting systems, special oils/ointments you apply to your weapons against certain creature types, alchemy, etc. The big thing between this and other wRPG's is that it has a loot system very simlar to how many jRPG's work - in that, it's not a huge focus on finidng phat loot, as generally when you can craft/find better armors, you will stick with that armor for a large chunk of the game till you find another one in a later act. There's a loot element, but almost all loot will be crafting related, potions, or money. Armors/weapons are things that are planned purchases, finds, or crafts that you only do a few times during the game. The difficulty isn't that brutal, especially since launch. There's now a tutorial, a practice arena, and a few easier combat mechanics and some rebalancing (i.e. you used to be able to not block without any vigor, a very limited regenerating resource, but now you can and take a small amount of damage instead). The main thing with it being so difficult was that the prolouge was VERY hard, due to it throwing you in situations with lots of enemies that are well defended/shielded, and you are generally pretty easy to fall over and die. Add this in with the fact that there was hardly any tutorial at all, and you were in a situation where you tried to learn the game mechanics in a reasonably difficult situation. If you knew how to play though, it wasn't that bad - and act 1 through 3 were signifigantly easier to get a hand on sans some boss fights. Personally the only major bad part I don't like about this game is that the story is really hard to get into without prior knowledge of the universe. Characters will speak about complex situations using jargon you've never heard about and characters you have no connection to. It isn't required plot info, but it just sucks to want to get into the universe but not being able to, due to the jargon wall. So I reccomend you read a wiki on the universe before playing the game, it will make the story much more understandable and relatable. The other thing I didn't like was the fact that they make it really easy for you to hate humans and just want them all dead. While it's pretty much a part of the story and makes sense, its slightly unbelivable that every single townsperson in any civilization will entirely consist of drunk babbling fat-ass pesants that talk/act like they have IQ's lower than 50. The first witcher had this "problem" too for me. I just don't buy the whole, "Everyone who isn't a sorcerer or a witcher or a dwarf is a corruptable douchebag fat slob". It's really hard for me to immerse myself in towns/situations when I'm trying to defend my clients... who are enitrely consisting of degenerate slobs. I guess you could say I'm just not a fan of the peasant-midevil steriotype. And when the game literally has only that steriotype for all non-important human characters, and has the same voice actor for all of them, it gets me to just not give a shit about the actually really cool situations and places you go to.

Except that's pretty much how humanity is and was, and that's without Sapkowski's take. The Witcher isn't reflective of a tolerant society, nor should it be. It's essentially the beginning of renaissance, and people were pretty much self absorbed assholes back then. Now add Sapkowski's sense of social clime on top and CDPR's take is pretty damn accurate. Secondly not everyone is a jackass, but most are, and that includes nonhumans. The people that survive is Sapkowski's world do so because they've found a niche, whether by accident or design. Most of the people who got their station by design are not nice people, nor can they afford to be.

[QUOTE=27X;35687487]Except that's pretty much how humanity is and was, and that's without Sapkowski's take. The Witcher is reflective of a tolerant society, nor should it be. It's essentially the beginning of renaissance, and people were pretty much self absorbed assholes back then. Now add Sapkowski's sense of social clime on top and CDPR's take is pretty damn accurate. Secondly not everyone is a jackass, but most are, and that includes nonhumans. The people that survive is Sapkowski's world do so because they've found a niche, whether by accident or design. Most of the people who got their by design are not nice people, nor can they afford to be.[/QUOTE] I get that and I appreciate that attitude for it, but the problem I have with the witcher (either in the games, or in the books, which I have never read so I can't speak for them) is that they apply the same stereotype to every non-important character or townsfolk. I'm pretty sure every human that isn't an evil villian or on Geralts side is depected as a drunk fat stupid moron, and it's just a silly thing that makes the world a little less belivable, and the storyline much less sympathetic. Why don't we see more people like dandelion in the general populace? Where are the introverts in the crowds and the people who ARE trying to make their little corner of hell a little better? And none of that would be nearly as noticable if it wasn't for the fact that they recycle almost every human NPC looks/voice/personality wise. The population in these games feels less like a population and more like a group of peasants that are better dead than living. I'm okay with them trying to convey the idea that the majority of the populace is struggling, slobbish and wanting to be in a better position. It's the fact that they do ONLY that as the portrayal of the humans, the fact that it is like that despite the humans "winning" and "being the best", the fact that the stupid drunk slob happens to be the steriotype personality for all the people in these destitute situations, and the fact that they recycle NPC's, animations, voices, and personality for the whole game that follows this stereotype.

Stennis is a massive cunt. It's like the game wants me to lynch him. [editline]23rd April 2012[/editline] I don't even care if he poisoned Saskia or not.

I agree that most likely all completely unimportant NPCs are portrayed as stereotypes, but for example the vendors are usually unique and have their own personalities.

guys, did they optimize the game with the EE

Yes.

[QUOTE=KorJax;35688696]I get that and I appreciate that attitude for it, but the problem I have with the witcher (either in the games, or in the books, which I have never read so I can't speak for them) is that they apply the same stereotype to every non-important character or townsfolk. I'm pretty sure every human that isn't an evil villian or on Geralts side is depected as a drunk fat stupid moron, and it's just a silly thing that makes the world a little less belivable, and the storyline much less sympathetic. Why don't we see more people like dandelion in the general populace? Where are the introverts in the crowds and the people who ARE trying to make their little corner of hell a little better? And none of that would be nearly as noticable if it wasn't for the fact that they recycle almost every human NPC looks/voice/personality wise. The population in these games feels less like a population and more like a group of peasants that are better dead than living. I'm okay with them trying to convey the idea that the majority of the populace is struggling, slobbish and wanting to be in a better position. It's the fact that they do ONLY that as the portrayal of the humans, the fact that it is like that despite the humans "winning" and "being the best", the fact that the stupid drunk slob happens to be the steriotype personality for all the people in these destitute situations, and the fact that they recycle NPC's, animations, voices, and personality for the whole game that follows this stereotype.[/QUOTE] You make it sound like you've only gotten to Flotsam. I love the aspects of the characters in Witcher. It has a very realistic aesthetic to it and that's what matters. In the beginning and closer to the end, you spend a lot of your time with important models of society. You are with high-class people who are not only bred to be beautiful, but [i]have[/i] to be beautiful. Sorceresses are in high demand because with magic they can make people beautiful. Geralt fell in love with Yennefer who was a sorceress, but before she was that she was a hunchback. She had to become beautiful due to her stature in society, and that's how it goes. When you look at painted pictures of people in the 1600s and prior, they all look like fat slobs (and even then the painters are paid to make them look dashing). The diet of what the people back then ate, especially with the amounts of alcoholic beverages that they consumed [i]did[/i] make them fat. They had no acne creams and the like and so their faces were usually broke out with scars from gruesome amounts of acne. There's been far worse things that the people of those times had been involved in too, and that's mostly because they lived in a time where they didn't have vaccinations and the like. That's why I absolutely love the depictions. The people are Flotsam are greasy fat slobs; not by choice but because the environment that they live in creates that illusion. They have nothing to live for and practically live off of beer. King Hensalt and his army are fattened because they live fighting wars and their diets probably consist of nothing but alcohol too.

[QUOTE=69105;35689487]You make it sound like you've only gotten to Flotsam. I love the aspects of the characters in Witcher. It has a very realistic aesthetic to it and that's what matters. In the beginning and closer to the end, you spend a lot of your time with important models of society. You are with high-class people who are not only bred to be beautiful, but [i]have[/i] to be beautiful. Sorceresses are in high demand because with magic they can make people beautiful. Geralt fell in love with Yennefer who was a sorceress, but before she was that she was a hunchback. She had to become beautiful due to her stature in society, and that's how it goes. When you look at painted pictures of people in the 1600s and prior, they all look like fat slobs (and even then the painters are paid to make them look dashing). The diet of what the people back then ate, especially with the amounts of alcoholic beverages that they consumed [i]did[/i] make them fat. They had no acne creams and the like and so their faces were usually broke out with scars from gruesome amounts of acne. There's been far worse things that the people of those times had been involved in too, and that's mostly because they lived in a time where they didn't have vaccinations and the like. That's why I absolutely love the depictions. The people are Flotsam are greasy fat slobs; not by choice but because the environment that they live in creates that illusion. They have nothing to live for and practically live off of beer. King Hensalt and his army are fattened because they live fighting wars and their diets probably consist of nothing but alcohol too.[/QUOTE] get on skype or smth I need to talk to you

I have been spending the last week trying to download the game from GOG. I try to leave it on over night but when I wake up it's either crashed with no error message or I get a checksum error. It's always after about 1 GB and it's getting very annoying.

[QUOTE=Gunner th;35682002]Always been there. The first witcher has suceded in pissing me off again. Chapter 2 sucks ass. It seems as if I'm completely stuck because both people I need to talk to tell me to go away.[/QUOTE] Chapter 2 really is pretty bad I remember entirely forgetting what was even going on still it just gets better after that. Just found out about the 10% experience bonus if you destroy 10 different training dummies and I am in Flotsam so I can only get 8 now there are not any more until Chapter 3.

[QUOTE=69105;35689487]You make it sound like you've only gotten to Flotsam. I love the aspects of the characters in Witcher. It has a very realistic aesthetic to it and that's what matters. In the beginning and closer to the end, you spend a lot of your time with important models of society. You are with high-class people who are not only bred to be beautiful, but [i]have[/i] to be beautiful. Sorceresses are in high demand because with magic they can make people beautiful. Geralt fell in love with Yennefer who was a sorceress, but before she was that she was a hunchback. She had to become beautiful due to her stature in society, and that's how it goes. When you look at painted pictures of people in the 1600s and prior, they all look like fat slobs (and even then the painters are paid to make them look dashing). The diet of what the people back then ate, especially with the amounts of alcoholic beverages that they consumed [i]did[/i] make them fat. They had no acne creams and the like and so their faces were usually broke out with scars from gruesome amounts of acne. There's been far worse things that the people of those times had been involved in too, and that's mostly because they lived in a time where they didn't have vaccinations and the like. That's why I absolutely love the depictions. The people are Flotsam are greasy fat slobs; not by choice but because the environment that they live in creates that illusion. They have nothing to live for and practically live off of beer. King Hensalt and his army are fattened because they live fighting wars and their diets probably consist of nothing but alcohol too.[/QUOTE] I know that, but the problem is the high society crap feels like forced bull when how the fat dumb slobs in "Flotsam" are portrayed exactly like the fat dumb slobs in Henselt's camp, which is protrayed like fat dumb slobs in the entirity of Vizima in Witcher 1 (with only slight variations of class when you went to the upperclass district... which ended up looking almost exactly like the lowerclass district), etc. They use the same stereotype for every towns-person NPC in the game, for every town/settlement/guard, and even use every same voice actor/face. It's a little boring, and not to mention unbelivable. I'd be all for this portrayal you described as long as it felt like it was belivable. Instead they decided to take the "We're a group of powerful empires that ousted more advanced ones, thanks to our dedicated population almost entirely consisting of dumb fat drunk slobs, humans are so unlikeable!" route. It's like the whole of the northern kingdoms are a joke that I want to get totally slaughtered by Nilfguard and the elves, not because of the political spectrum but because of the fact that their populace is really unlikeable and unbelivable. What I want to feel, is that the Northern Kingdoms are questionable in their rule (the political spectrum of Witcher 2 nails this spot on IMO), and then the population itself in these kingdoms is possible to empathize with, so I feel questionable (but understanding) in supporting terrorist elves, and feel uneasy about the Nilfguard presence. Instead I could give a flying fuck about humans which are universally portrayed to be dumbasses being ruled by asscracks. The only one that is not portrayed as this, ironically enough, is Nilfguard! Which makes me [I]want[/I] them to invade, because hey - maybe their population isn't so retarded, unbelievable and unlikeable. And the elves? Kill every last human, go ahead. Oh not because you were repressed by them and I support your cause, do it because there's hardly a single human portrayed that is worth anything to society/intelligence/etc, ON TOP of the fact that the government basically segregated and went to war with you. According to Witcher, all humans (rulers and commoners) are universally dicks with almost no intelligence. The only exception is anyone involved in Geralt's circle of allies/friends. There's really no middle ground for me, despite the game setting up choices and plotlines and dialog assuming there is. Either you side with the fat dumb drunk slobs that you cant empathize with at all, or you side with people that at least make sense.

I'm not the kind of guy that argues with "read the books and then you'll understand" but if you read the books you'd understand. They're not taking some lame formula that they made and taking the cheap way out: the game follows practically word-for-word what the books say in terms of the lore, localization and characters. I haven't noticed there being too many similar faces. You never really get a chance to even look save for talking moments.

[QUOTE=KorJax;35690082]I know that, but the problem is the high society crap feels like forced bull when how the fat dumb slobs in "Flotsam" are portrayed exactly like the fat dumb slobs in Henselt's camp, which is protrayed like fat dumb slobs in the entirity of Vizima in Witcher 1 (with only slight variations of class when you went to the upperclass district... which ended up looking almost exactly like the lowerclass district), etc. They use the same stereotype for every towns-person NPC in the game, for every town/settlement/guard, and even use every same voice actor/face. It's a little boring, and not to mention unbelivable. I'd be all for this portrayal you described as long as it felt like it was belivable. Instead they decided to take the "We're a group of powerful empires that ousted more advanced ones, thanks to our dedicated population almost entirely consisting of dumb fat drunk slobs, humans are so unlikeable!" route. It's like the whole of the northern kingdoms are a joke that I want to get totally slaughtered by Nilfguard and the elves, not because of the political spectrum but because of the fact that their populace is really unlikeable and unbelivable. What I want to feel, is that the Northern Kingdoms are questionable in their rule (the political spectrum of Witcher 2 nails this spot on IMO), and then the population itself in these kingdoms is possible to empathize with, so I feel questionable (but understanding) in supporting terrorist elves, and feel uneasy about the Nilfguard presence. Instead I could give a flying fuck about humans which are universally portrayed to be dumbasses being ruled by asscracks. The only one that is not portrayed as this, ironically enough, is Nilfguard! Which makes me [I]want[/I] them to invade, because hey - maybe their population isn't so retarded, unbelievable and unlikeable. And the elves? Kill every last human, go ahead. Oh not because you were repressed by them and I support your cause, do it because there's hardly a single human portrayed that is worth anything to society/intelligence/etc, ON TOP of the fact that the government basically segregated and went to war with you. According to Witcher, all humans (rulers and commoners) are universally dicks with almost no intelligence. The only exception is anyone involved in Geralt's circle of allies/friends. There's really no middle ground for me, despite the game setting up choices and plotlines and dialog assuming there is. Either you side with the fat dumb drunk slobs that you cant empathize with at all, or you side with people that at least make sense.[/QUOTE] Haha, oh wow. Let me just make something clear, the general populace, both in ficitonal worlds and strangely enough in the real world, are stupid. This is not intelectual elitism or pompousness talking, there are reasons for it. The first being what is the point of a useless farmer with no entertainment beyond drinking being smart? In his closed off little village, what is the use of it and how would he even develop this intelligence with so few books or literate people around? The next applies to the current day too, complex ideas are difficult to translate en-masse so they are generally lost on the public. Talking points are popular because simple ideas spread better, but if you know anything about a subject you know it cannot be expressed in all it's completeness in a single sentence. It is far too difficult to teach everyone about everything and most people never want to, so only those with the will to learn do so and they discuss it while it becomes a competition on who can keep everyone happy in a democratic process rather than who has the legitimately best policy. Lastly, the few who do rise out of this mess, the ones who do want to be different, are apparently not seen by you. The introverts are around in town but they are not the boisterous ones in the tavern all day, so you don't notice them. The ones who want to fight a cause are often afflicted with the syndrome expressed best in the Emperor's new clothes, they don't know if everyone else feels the same way or not. They may like the elves, but they don't know how many other people do too and as the status quo is hate, hate will be expressed more commonly. The ones with a legitimate interest in learning rise out of the slums and find a place fitting of this intelligence, such as with Dandelion, Loredo and anyone else who can rise above. They are main characters not because they were randomly picked, but because they have something to say.

It's so annoying when half the time when I save the game hasn't actually saved at all, so I have to check if the save has appeared in the load list after every save.

I heard the save issue has something to do with steam and cloud saving. If you have it enabled, it fucks up. At least that's what I heard, I didn't enabled anything and my game saves no problem.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

I'm still kinda pissed I did all that to [sp]save Saskia and didn't get to bone her.[/sp]

it's mind boggling how I am near the end of act 1 and geralt didnt bone anything yet remember witcher 1? it was the equivalent of being the fantasy commander shepard, everything jumped on your dick

I don't mind it. During the quest with Malena I thought that sparing her might net me a fuck, but I realized half-way to the waterfall that it was a trap, and I was right. So I said fuck it to the Squirrels and chased Malena towards the hospital hoping that sexual assault on a stupid bitch got through the censors.

[QUOTE=Devodiere;35719877]I don't mind it. During the quest with Malena I thought that sparing her might net me a fuck, but I realized half-way to the waterfall that it was a trap, and I was right. So I said fuck it to the Squirrels and chased Malena towards the hospital hoping that sexual assault on a stupid bitch got through the censors.[/QUOTE] I loved that mercy! geralt: no

Act 1 [sp]Letho[/sp] was hard as [i]fuck[/i] then i went and got the blasphemers set then it took another 2-3 attempts. Oh and also, i didn't realise that siding with [sp]Iorveth or Roach(sp?) changes the town when you get back, i seem to remember a riot last time, now it's all happy wonderfull fun time[/sp]

[QUOTE=Egevened;35719780]it's mind boggling how I am near the end of act 1 and geralt didnt bone anything yet remember witcher 1? it was the equivalent of being the fantasy commander shepard, everything jumped on your dick[/QUOTE] Well, you can always got to the local brothel.

[QUOTE=Marden;35719984]Well, you can always got to the local brothel.[/QUOTE] And you can bang Triss, probably one of the neatest scenes in the game..

Has CD Projekt said anything about mod tools for The Witcher 2?

I'm already running into completely new quests that I never even saw before in Act 1 on my 2nd playthrough. Such as the quest involving Fisstech that ties to Salamandra, a quest to do a fight club style fighting ring (those little minigames are the best way to get money if you are decent at them, which I'll need for my dark mode items), a quest to stop drug deals, etc. I've also noticed a little more atmosphere it seems. Were the shops in the central square before? And the animals? Not sure I remembered those being in the town. By far though my favorite thing is the fact that the lighting doesn't abruptly change from "forest lighting" to "town lighting" when you enter the town :v: That was so weird when I first played through act 1 on launch. Was also pretty great saying "Yeah fuck you" you Melena when she was first getting arrested instead of helping her and ending up in a trap :v: I think I'll kill the troll this time too. It's already been a day in the town and I've not really left it yet, made a good deal of money and gotten into some small adventures. While also acting like a dick.