High heels vs character-believability and respect

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Thanks for the picture, freakie. Now I feel greeaaat about my body. God damned male sexism.

Screw this. I'm going to wolf down some more pringles.
 
Have you seen Geralt's waist-to-chest ratio? That's not very realistic either, but I'm not going to make a thread about it.

There already is one. :p

But I'll just leave these here:

 
More simply.. It's only optical effect regarding how clothing looks.. the chest piece is prolonged and together with the chanmail under it gives this "grizzly" effect :D
 
My 2 cents about the topic.

First. If we have 15 page threads complaining some characters' boots it just goes to show how much CDPR is doing right with the game. That you need to go so far to find something to complain about.

Secondly. It's a fantasy RPG, does everything need to be so believable? If we go that road I could argue that Letho was an unrealistic or even laughable character because of his build. In no way could he have so much muscle mass, and to keep that kind of muscle mass (even with steroids) he would need to eat like 10 meals a day and train like crazy but in The Witcher 2 he ran around forests with the Scoia'tael eating roots and mushrooms. Besides with that kind of mass there's no way he could do any agile witcher style sword fighting. I would argue that after running a mile or two he'd have a stroke because his heart just couldn't bump more blood into that huge body of his.

So yeah. Complaining about Ciri's heels is pretty stupid to begin with.
 
My 2 cents about the topic.

First. If we have 15 page threads complaining some characters' boots it just goes to show how much CDPR is doing right with the game. That you need to go so far to find something to complain about.

Secondly. It's a fantasy RPG, does everything need to be so believable? If we go that road I could argue that Letho was an unrealistic or even laughable character because of his build. In no way could he have so much muscle mass, and to keep that kind of muscle mass (even with steroids) he would need to eat like 10 meals a day and train like crazy but in The Witcher 2 he ran around forests with the Scoia'tael eating roots and mushrooms. Besides with that kind of mass there's no way he could do any agile witcher style sword fighting. I would argue that after running a mile or two he'd have a stroke because his heart just couldn't bump more blood into that huge body of his.

So yeah. Complaining about Ciri's heels is pretty stupid to begin with.

Letho's a witcher(mutations magic hello?) it's explained/implied why he's like that. I don't care if it's not realistic since it's fantasy. What I care about is if it contributes to her character or not. What does Ciri having high heels tell me? that she's impractical and she'd rather look pretty than get killed.

We were promised a mature story and art direction and character design play a major role in that.
 
Letho's a witcher(mutations magic hello?) it's explained/implied why he's like that.
No it really doesn't make sense even if we include mutations and magic. The whole purpose of the mutations and magic were to make witchers as agile, fast and strong as possible (and btw, huge muscle mass does not equal strength) and having that kind of build kind of defeats the purpose. It will just make you big, slow and heavy.

What I care about is if it contributes to her character or not. What does Ciri having high heels tell me? that she's impractical and she'd rather look pretty than get killed.
Again, I could use the same argument with Letho. What does Letho having huge muscles tell me? That he'd rather look like a bodybuilder even if it meant that he would suck at being a witcher. And would probably die of stroke or get slashed by a monster because of his build..
 
If I remember correctly Letho's brutish appearance was one of the reasons Philippa mistook him for a dimwitted thug, and thought she could manipulate him easily.

I think it also fooled the player just as well. When I first saw him I also thought that this was just a rather mindless tool.
 
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No it really doesn't make sense even if we include mutations and magic. The whole purpose of the mutations and magic were to make witchers as agile, fast and strong as possible (and btw, huge muscle mass does not equal strength) and having that kind of build kind of defeats the purpose. It will just make you big, slow and heavy.

Again, I could use the same argument with Letho. What does Letho having huge muscles tell me? That he'd rather look like a bodybuilder even if it meant that he would suck at being a witcher. And would probably die of stroke or get slashed by a monster because of his build..

I feel like Letho didn't choose his appearance ("Everyone starts treating me like I'm a big oaf, I mean I can't change how I look") maybe it's a sideffect of the mutations also he isn't a very good witcher either,it's certainly implied that he wasn't. I mean Leo Bonhart wasn't built to fight witchers but he was still able to fuck up a lot of them Letho might have had a handicap but was still good despite that.

It might also contribute to how Letho wants to be an assassin instead of a witcher since his body is more suited to that.

High heels however...
 
I feel like Letho didn't choose his appearance ("Everyone starts treating me like I'm a big oaf, I mean I can't change how I look") maybe it's a sideffect of the mutations also he isn't a very good witcher either,it's certainly implied that he wasn't. I mean Leo Bonhart wasn't built to fight witchers but he was still able to fuck up a lot of them Letho might have had a handicap but was still good despite that.

It might also contribute to how Letho wants to be an assassin instead of a witcher since his body is more suited to that.

High heels however...
Well even though the mutagens and magic might explain how Letho ended up looking the way he is, logic would still dictate that maintaining his physique you'd need a daily stimulus on the muscles and plenty of food and not running around in the woods with elfs and eating roots. Also, I'd say that Letho's physique makes him an even poorer assassin. I mean he's not exactly someone who I would describe as "inconspicuous". I mean in the Foltest murder scene it was pretty obvious that there was a huuuuge motherf*cker behind the hood/frock.

My theory is that CDPR made him look like he is because they wanted an intimidating badass mofo and they sure succeeded that with Letho. If they wanted to make Ciri more feminine looking or something with the heels I have no problem with that.
 
Well even though the mutagens and magic might explain how Letho ended up looking the way he is, logic would still dictate that maintaining his physique you'd need a daily stimulus on the muscles and plenty of food and not running around in the woods with elfs and eating roots. Also, I'd say that Letho's physique makes him an even poorer assassin. I mean he's not exactly someone who I would describe as "inconspicuous". I mean in the Foltest murder scene it was pretty obvious that there was a huuuuge motherf*cker behind the hood/frock.

My theory is that CDPR made him look like he is because they wanted an intimidating badass mofo and they sure succeeded that with Letho. If they wanted to make Ciri more feminine looking or something with the heels I have no problem with that.

well you could argue the loose clothes made hid all of his muscle and Foltest and Geralt didn't notice or maybe they assumed he was some fat dude with fat arms. You wouldn't exactly be observant of assassins after a motherfucking dragon almost eats you. How much time did Geralt spend in W2? 2 weeks? a month? who knows what Letho ate then maybe he's been eating deer. We never see Geralt eat anything.

You could argue that Letho's appearance would make him a poor assassin but he managed to fool everyone with it, the same could be said for Djkstra. I'm sure Letho's appearance is a good marketing ploy making him a "badass mofo" but it's deeper than that. It contributes something to his character that's for damn certain.

Ciri on the other hand seems like it's just a marketing ploy of "sexyass chick" but we could be wrong maybe Ciri is just playing a ditzy girl! and she actually has unique high heeled sword style! I would accept something like Ciri trying to be feminine(since maybe she hasn't been in danger for a long time) and Geralt telling her to get new boots(since she's a swordsman)
 
Of all the things making Ciri "sexy", it's not the heels. Nor is that the case for any of the female characters.

We saw in TW2 how the women looked sexy without heels. So IMO it has to be some kind of stylistic change, or some other reason, because it's certainly not just "to make them sexier", because people like Triss & Ciri already look pretty damn dashing even if you don't look anywhere near the feet.

But then again, that's information only CDPR has, and they aren't willing to share. So I'm just going to wait and see what happens - just like I had my little whinge about Yenn but now I'm content to just sit and wait. If that's the "look" CDPR want (Whatever the issue may be - Heels, Triss, Yenn, Geralt - eye/hair color - whatever), then I'll throw in my 2 cents complaint and if it stays as is I'll just have to learn to accept it or be annoyed by it and hope for mods eventually.
 
Of all the things making Ciri "sexy", it's not the heels. Nor is that the case for any of the female characters.

We saw in TW2 how the women looked sexy without heels. So IMO it has to be some kind of stylistic change, or some other reason, because it's certainly not just "to make them sexier", because people like Triss & Ciri already look pretty damn dashing even if you don't look anywhere near the feet.

Stylistic change?? It can't be about making her sexier because she's already sexy?? What kind of logic is that?

What other purpose will heels that high even have!? aside from them being sexy
 
Stylistic change?? It can't be about making her sexier because she's already sexy?? What kind of logic is that?

What other purpose will heels that high even have!? aside from them being sexy

Stylistic change can mean a vast array of different things.
However I did also say "or some other reason", it could be anything. It was just the gist of the point that it doesn't make sense to throw heels on them just to make them sexier, because it doesn't really, they're great regardless.
 
. It was just the gist of the point that it doesn't make sense to throw heels on them just to make them sexier, because it doesn't really, they're great regardless.

yes obviously no connection with heels and sexiness (sarcasm) but I think CDPR just forgot about it "well most of our women are in high heels so lets just put them on this one too" thats probably the reason

also why do you think they're great exactly??? other than them being sexy? are they great because they're horribly impractical for a swordsman?
 
I agree, what's sexy about shoes like Ciri's? The shoe itself isn't, and it's not a high enough heel to have a hugely visible effect on posture. By most definitions, it doesn't even qualify as a "high heel".
These are sexy shoes:


Wikipedia gives a definition of 2.5" (around 6cm) to qualify as "high", which would also be my experience when buying shoes. You get "High Heels", "Low Heels" and "Flats". Ciri's would be sold as "Low Heels". It's a comfortable height to wear everyday, if you're not planning to walk on a lot of rough ground, run around a lot or engage in swordfighting. I wore shoes that height at school, and if you do a quick search on "school uniform heel height" school policies tend to give limits of 4cm to 5cm typically as being "appropriate" or "sensible".

I can accept the "it's not practical for her lifestyle" arguments against Ciri wearing these, but not the "sexy" arguments.
 
Ciri's heels aren't sexy, no. How they tilt a woman's pelvis is. And they boost stature, give an air of authority. That's my impression.
 
also why do you think they're great exactly??? other than them being sexy? are they great because they're horribly impractical for a swordsman?

Are you just completely misunderstanding everything I say?

I never said they're great. I never said they're sexy. I've always been on the fence, if the heels stay, go or even just get shortened, I don't care either way, I'll be happy. I said that the girls in The Witcher are sexy WITH or WITHOUT heels. I'm actually so goddamn impartial I never even noticed Cynthia or Ves were wearing heels in TW2 (After 10 playthrough's) until you guys pointed it out a few pages a go.

Also, I personally don't find anything sexy about Heels. Whenever I've been out with family/friends, especially if I go into the City, I cringe at every girl wearing heels. 90% of them look uncomfortable and just downright ridiculous.

yes obviously no connection with heels and sexiness (sarcasm) but I think CDPR just forgot about it "well most of our women are in high heels so lets just put them on this one too" thats probably the reason

I'm just saying that sexiness is not necessarily the reason behind the heels, it could be a number of things. Varying from the very simple, "We think the character looks better designed with these" to "This is how we interpret Travelling heels" and anything in-between. Yes, Sexiness is included in that range, but I don't see why the designers would use that as their reason as they very obviously didn't need to give characters like Triss/Shani in the previous games heels to make them sexy, and the characters look fantastic even if you don't look anywhere near their feet.
 
@Dragonbird I don't get how shoes like that are considered "sexy." They just look strange to me. But then maybe footwear is one of the last places I look for sex appeal, anyway.

Also, just got a closer look at Ciri's heels, and I think those are at least 2.5"; you might be underestimating those a little.

But, right now, I'm not sure the "practical" arguments hold much water, either, cuz Ciri also has her sword on her back. Realistically speaking, I dare say that's just as impractical as them heels. And it's a more noticeable feature of Ciri's design. Is there a 16-page thread on how her back-mounted sword makes sense? Not last I've seen.
 
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