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I'd not really call it sexist per say, and it's still probably the most well-written thing in the game, but parts of the Bloody Baron quest kinda annoyed me. After working many years in the psychiatry field, I've seen so many situations where the drunk man gently caress up his family only to feel sorry for himself. He will then show some semblance of remorse, giving the family hope once again yet failling into the same old pattern again. Especially the "whoa, I gotta collect my family again and get them back to me, I just realized now after I've mistreated them to hell and back that I actually kinda like them". Ugh... I'm the first person to say that people deserve second chances but I've seen this pattern repeat itself so drat often that I kinda wish you could just say to both his wife and dauhter that... get away for crying out loud, or prevent the baron from getting to them or whatever. I know that you can make the quest end badly for the baron but I wish they'd have given the player the agency to resolve that quest by just keeping them apart from each other. I mean, you can chastize the baron through pretty much all of his quest so it just seems like it would make sense. It's a testament to the writing in that quest though that it provoked that kind of reaction from me, but yeah... I wish there had been an additional "gently caress you Baron" way to resolve that.
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Apr 29, 2016 21:14
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I loved the quest but it was kind of crying out for a maybe she stopped loving you when you murdered her friend and fed his body to the dogs response
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Apr 29, 2016 21:29
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WhiskeyWhiskers posted:On the other hand Yen has a hunchback and Triss has a horrifically burned chest and they're both elderly women. Did Yen actually have a hunchback, or was that just Geralt projecting his thoughts on Sorceresses at the time?
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Apr 29, 2016 21:30
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Geralt is doing Baron a favor only to find more about Ciri. You can make Geralt make it very clear to Baron how much he despises him. Being forced to work with bad guys is kind of this franchise's thing. Both W1 and W2 had you make a choice between Bigot Brigade and Elven ISIS (only W1 had the option to go full neutral in the end). Franz von Dada fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Apr 29, 2016 |
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Apr 29, 2016 21:32
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I've played through the game 3 or 4 times now and I'm not sure if there's one of these moments where you go out on a witcher contract and face a dilemma like the cat school dude in the quest where wolf and cat play. Do a job, don't get payed, people try to blatantly murder you to save money Ok, the one with the foglet I guess, but nothing that could get really ugly where you have to follow through with your threats.
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Apr 29, 2016 22:13
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Arcsquad12 posted:Did Yen actually have a hunchback, or was that just Geralt projecting his thoughts on Sorceresses at the time? Yeah there's a flashback in the books of her Dad disowning her because of it.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:01
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drat. Was it like a right-angle kinda thing? Or just a baby spinal bump?
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Apr 29, 2016 23:02
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Geralt notices her uneven shoulder and deduces from there. Rule of thumb when it comes to sorceresses: they were too ugly to marry off, so they went to Aretuza and gradually fixed their appearance with magic and potions. Hence Geralt mentions something to the effect of "ugly eyes". In fact, after some googling quote:"Unlike priestesses and druidesses, who only unwillingly took ugly or crippled girls, sorcerers took anyone who showed evidence of a predisposition. If the child passed the first years of training, magic entered into the equation - straightening and evening out legs, repairing bones which had badly knitted, patching harelips, removing scars, birthmarks and pox scars. The young sorceress would become attractive because the prestige of her profession demanded it. The result was pseudo-pretty women with the angry and cold eyes of ugly girls. Girls who couldn't forget their ugliness had been covered by the mask of magic only for the prestige of their profession." Respectively sorcerers go for wizened look.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:17
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So basically magical types male and female are some of the most bitter miserable people in the world made into master politicians with godlike power and what's left of the world's scientific knowledge  foltest did aretuza emhyr knew
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Apr 29, 2016 23:27
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Franz von Dada posted:Geralt is doing Baron a favor only to find more about Ciri. You can make Geralt make it very clear to Baron how much he despises him. I feel like W1 really got it it right in books style of Geralt neutrality. It always ends up harder on Geralt personally as usually both sides end up hating him and the outcome is more often than not objectively worse for everyone involved. Despite all the talk of the lesser evil, Geralt totally can't deal with the concept. There is a silver lining of sorts however, his infamy spreads enough that people just go "Eh, gently caress this dumb motherfucker, best not push him too far it always ends in some horrific bloodbath." Strategic Tea posted:So basically magical types male and female are some of the most bitter miserable people in the world made into master politicians with godlike power and what's left of the world's scientific knowledge Well, not all of them were ugly or deformed before learning how to influence their looks. He just sort of had a moment of insight when looking at Yennefer that he is staring in cold and bitter eyes of a hunchback. And yes, mages are their world's intellectual elite. Sekenr fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Apr 29, 2016 |
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Apr 29, 2016 23:42
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In the newest Witcher book what the sorcerers do is so hosed up that it makes Philippa look like a saint.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:45
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Sekenr posted:his infamy spreads enough that people just go "Eh, gently caress this dumb motherfucker, best not push him too far it always ends in some horrific bloodbath." Something I wish this game had more of are instances where Geralt can talk himself out of fights through intimidation. I don't know how your average nordling can look at him and go "Yes, my three drunken friends and I can take this man who kills archgriffins for a living."
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Apr 29, 2016 23:49
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Well, on the other hand at the end of the books he's killed not by some inhumanly skilled swordfighter but by a random peasant with pitchfork.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:52
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Franz von Dada posted:Geralt is doing Baron a favor only to find more about Ciri. You can make Geralt make it very clear to Baron how much he despises him. Well geralt didn't have much of a choice to be neutral in Witcher 2. He was a wanted fugitive kept safe only by Roche. Siding with iorveth just damned him further and sticking with Roche can get you implicated in the murder of yet another king. There was no way out of the situation where geralt could just leave things alone. He explains as much to triss at the elven baths, that he'd be hunted without mercy if he ran. Roche and iorveth were his only options to clear his name, so he was stuck with them.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:54
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Palpek posted:Well, on the other hand at the end of the books he's killed not by some inhumanly skilled swordfighter but by a random peasant with pitchfork. Woof, I bet Geralt could never live that one down...
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Apr 29, 2016 23:56
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The pitchfork story is also the little detail that makes a difference with the Cat school witcher. If you don't know the books it doesn't really matter that the Cat dude got jumped by a guy with a pitchfork but when you know Geralt's story you can tell that he's way more understanding for the dude after hearing that. Geralt even comments that 'it's a very dangerous weapon in close-quarters' and pauses as if he's remembering that situation. I couldn't kill him after that.
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Apr 30, 2016 00:04
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I was going to let him go if he just killed the people that screwed him, but then he slaughtered the whole village and then I was like, "Nah dude, I'm gonna kill you."
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Apr 30, 2016 00:06
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Aren't sorcereresses unnaturally beautiful because they basically glamour themselves with magic? Maybe Yen and Triss secretly have a Melisandre thing going on  JaucheCharly posted:I've played through the game 3 or 4 times now and I'm not sure if there's one of these moments where you go out on a witcher contract and face a dilemma like the cat school dude in the quest where wolf and cat play. Do a job, don't get payed, people try to blatantly murder you to save money Ok, the one with the foglet I guess, but nothing that could get really ugly where you have to follow through with your threats. I did one recently where I had to kill an Aracha and when I got back to the guy he was pissed because it had already killed his brother and he wasn't gonna pay up. Telling him you risked your life gets him to though, although you also have the option to say you're not gonna beg and just leave. Unrelated but I wish there was more useful things to spend money on in this. All I do is craft Witcher gear so my money is purely for repairing things and buying recipes/ingredients that I need, but that's not all that expensive to do. I never even negotiate on Witcher contracts because money is no object for me.
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Apr 30, 2016 00:19
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It's straight cosmetic surgery if they can do it, glamour is sort of emergency - one of Vilgefortz's circle lost her entire lower jaw in magical accident, and maintains one to look normal.
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Apr 30, 2016 00:33
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I still can't get over how W1 was released, an unknown Polish studio which only previous record was selling shady CDs decided to make a game based on a local writer, contracted a rather crappy engine from Atari (same that was used for NWN 1 if I'm not mistaken) and somehow delivered. I remember Chris Avellone saying grim predictions on some event about the future of CRPGs how they will have to be "smaller in scale with tighter plot", gaming media previews skeptical but trying to not be overly vicious considering the dry-spell and than it is the opposite of Avellone predictions, it was rather long (about 40 hours), fully-voice overed - rather novel for CRPGs at the time, well-done mocap animations, fun plot, good PR decisions like no DRM on principle and enhanced edition for free and everything just clicked.Ginette Reno posted:Aren't sorcereresses unnaturally beautiful because they basically glamour themselves with magic? Maybe Yen and Triss secretly have a Melisandre thing going on Its magical cosmetics, like rare dragon glands or some poo poo, magical spells and the rest is secret/unknown, a lot of jealousy going on but supposedly transformation is real. Like modern cosmetic surgery except its surgery + magic. Likely completely fake but there is no way to know. Sekenr fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 00:43
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Palpek posted:The pitchfork story is also the little detail that makes a difference with the Cat school witcher. If you don't know the books it doesn't really matter that the Cat dude got jumped by a guy with a pitchfork but when you know Geralt's story you can tell that he's way more understanding for the dude after hearing that. Geralt even comments that 'it's a very dangerous weapon in close-quarters' and pauses as if he's remembering that situation. I couldn't kill him after that. I agree, Geralt is definitely understanding of someone's reasons for murdering every man, woman and child in a village. It's not like his entire thing is defending the innocent and bringing justice to evil scum or anything.
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Apr 30, 2016 00:55
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A not surprising number of people I've talked ot about the Witcher have admitted to only have grabbed the games because they heard it had nudity in it, becuase nudity in games is still fairly rare. Though they all were amazed at how good the game was. I always figured that magic would turn its user into an idealized image of themselves. If you thought that you would be a gorgeous woman, you'd turn into one, or into a wise old man.
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Apr 30, 2016 00:56
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Ginette Reno posted:
Depending on how obsessively you collect and sell things to the right vendors, but if you craft all the endgame stuff and buy all the liquor needed for the superior potions it'll run through a heap of coin. Then the runemaster hits and you'll need about 30-40K to buff him up completely (and he still charges you for runes!) Of course, I crafted masterlevel sets of all schools, and did a separate superior wolf armor set so I could swap to the mastercraft mid-final battle. SirSamVimes posted:I agree, Geralt is definitely understanding of someone's reasons for murdering every man, woman and child in a village. It's not like his entire thing is defending the innocent and bringing justice to evil scum or anything. OAquinas fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 00:56
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l33t b4c0n posted:Just curious, but I feel like I missed the part where the tree spirit actually spells out that the kids are going to get eaten and it will save them if you free it. I know it's insinuated that the kids are pretty hosed and the hags aren't to be trusted, but roleplaying as Geralt, I never felt like I could justify siding with the spirit as it's such an unknown evil. As much as Geralt would like to help everyone, I also feel like he's smart enough to know he can't release an ancient evil on the chance that it might be slightly less evil than the Crones. Im pretty sure the tree tells you that the kids will die if you dont help. And the hags complain they cant eat them if you do it. And the stories about children following the candy road only to be eaten. And the big pot in the basement. I think you need to take the whole hansel and grettel story on face value with this one. And does Geralt actually know the tree is evil? The way i went about it, the tree was far more honest than the hags, and as it stood, the tree hadnt actually done anything bad (i pretty much let every monster go unless they have actually done wrong). And by releasing the tree he was certain of saving the innocent kids, which to me would put the evil tree as more trust worthy and less evil. I guess i saw the Evil Tree as more of an aspect of nature, where as the Hags were evil.
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Apr 30, 2016 05:21
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I came upon the Spirit Tree right after the Cursed Tower quest where I got tricked by a ghost woman and accidentally released a horrible monstrosity into the world. So after that I was like "never making that mistake again" and killed the tree.
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Apr 30, 2016 05:37
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Anyone use any of the SweetFX or Reshade presets that are on nexus? If so, know of any good ones that don't give too much of an FPS hit? This game is gorgeous by itself, I just want to see if I can make it look even better.
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Apr 30, 2016 06:21
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SirSamVimes posted:I agree, Geralt is definitely understanding of someone's reasons for murdering every man, woman and child in a village. It's not like his entire thing is defending the innocent and bringing justice to evil scum or anything. Palpek fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 08:17
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Meskhenet posted:And does Geralt actually know the tree is evil? Well the tree is killing the villagers in that town because it's possessing animals and driving them crazy. The Hags are terrible too though. I think the right choice is probably to help the spirit because it saves the kids although at the cost of the Baron and his wife. Though I guess you could argue that now two evils are loose in the world instead of just the Crones. I dunno, tough choice.
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Apr 30, 2016 08:18
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SirSamVimes posted:I agree, Geralt is definitely understanding of someone's reasons for murdering every man, woman and child in a village. It's not like his entire thing is defending the innocent and bringing justice to evil scum or anything. Are you trying to say Geralt has never massacred a village?
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Apr 30, 2016 08:18
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Ginette Reno posted:Well the tree is killing the villagers in that town because it's possessing animals and driving them crazy. The Hags are terrible too though. The problem is that while the Crones are evil they still bring a sense of order to these forgotten lands. They're terrible cannibals of course but they also protect locals from monsters and help them in the times of war where the alternative is getting your village burned to the ground. The tree spirit is just chaotic evil that kills because it can, there's no negotiating with it, it won't protect nobody from anything even for its own profit, it's just pure destruction so bringing it onto the land definitely leaves it even worse off than under the Crones.
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Apr 30, 2016 08:25
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Palpek posted:If Baron's wife is your concern then there's the third option where you release the tree spirit before you even meet the Crones and then she will survive. I did this, and both the kids and all of Downwarren died. I have no idea how that happened, but maybe that third option got fixed/changed?
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Apr 30, 2016 08:38
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Isn't the tree spirit causing people to have nightmares and basically sleepwalk off to the tree just to get killed by her beasts? Keira mentions something about it and there are corpses around the tree.
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Apr 30, 2016 08:42
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I just killed the tree, because I wouldn't think Geralt would jeopardise his search for Ciri on the off-chance that the tree would actually save the kids.
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Apr 30, 2016 09:00
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The Lone Badger posted:Are you trying to say Geralt has never massacred a village? Does mowing down a murderous mob count?
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Apr 30, 2016 09:40
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I killed the tree because saving some kids for me is a poo poo quest reward. I'm no predator.
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Apr 30, 2016 11:08
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Meskhenet posted:And does Geralt actually know the tree is evil? In his inner monologue cutscene after you "rescue" the baron's wife, Geralt mentions the tree spirit being the greater evil.
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Apr 30, 2016 12:50
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I never fot the inpression the tree was evil. It says itself that the deaths were unintended and just apart of nature. The crones are super evil in so many ways that I thought a disembodied voice coming from a giant tumor was more reasonable. I mean poo poo the crones are into some dark stuff. Possessing a woman to talk through some tapestry? Thats bad voodoo
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Apr 30, 2016 13:03
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Roman Reigns posted:In his inner monologue cutscene after you "rescue" the baron's wife, Geralt mentions the tree spirit being the greater evil.
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Apr 30, 2016 13:16
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Sylphosaurus posted:Doesn't that speech change if you help the tree instead? I always took if as Geralt justifying his choice for himself, not that he is some kind of omnipresent narrator. Sorry, should have specified. He calls it the greater evil if you take the save tree path.
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Apr 30, 2016 13:20
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Roman Reigns posted:Sorry, should have specified. He calls it the greater evil if you take the save tree path. Well, it still hasnt really done much since i released it  so its all good. (watch some dlc come out.....)
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Apr 30, 2016 14:28
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