High heels vs character-believability and respect

[dragonbird]

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.

Not at that height. Heels of that height will impact on the wearer's posture from a health perspective, but I think you would need to be up to at least 4" before you get the "sexy" look.
@Jimmy_Qu - I just compared to some online stores, and would agree on 2.5", which puts it right on the edge of "Low" and "High"

 

[goopit]

I can accept the "it's not practical for her lifestyle" arguments against Ciri wearing these, but not the "sexy" arguments.

they look pretty damn high to me as high to me.
anyway even if Ciri has them at the beginning and replaces them during the game. I'd totally accept that since she probably just had a lifestyle change.

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.

I think it's a gamedesign kind of thing. Geralt wouldn't be able to do like the video above also he has(or used to have) a specialized rig to be able to draw his weapon effectively. He also has the advantage of magic so nobody can catch him off guard.

I do prefer the old W1 design where you had a silver sword on the back and your steel to the side even the animations of drawing them were more realistic.

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

uhh

....it doesn't really, they're great regardless.

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.

Triss did have high heels in W2 they just weren't very noticeable. like I said, I don't think they have a reason they just forgot. They've been designing a lot of sorceresses lately and they just forgot to not put heels on this one.

 

[Vigilance.492]

uhh

Triss did have high heels in W2 they just weren't very noticeable. like I said, I don't think they have a reason they just forgot. They've been designing a lot of sorceresses lately and they just forgot to not put heels on this one.

Oh, re-reading that I can see what you mean.. But I didn't mean the heels, I meant the characters.

Eh, Triss's heels in TW2 were not what I'd classify as proper "High Heels". It was more-so just like a raised shoe, the kind that someone would wear if they wanted to give their height a little boost but didn't want the uncomfortable nature of a segmented shoe - aka High Heels. Whereas Ciri/Yen/Triss, all of their new designs have what I would call "proper" high heels, although quite chunky ones (Which unless I'm mistaken chunky heels are slightly easier to move about in because they've got more surface area, but it's still not something someone wears for the movement Ciri would assuredly be doing).

Regardless, we shall just wait and see. As I've said, I'm not really phased either way CDPR swing, there's far worse things in the game for my brain to have to "get over" (Alchemy, Yen etc) then worrying about the realistic nature of my companions shoes as they run about - but that's just me and my preferences, each to their own.

 

[Jobbert.907]

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.

I read somewhere, I think in the artbook, that Letho is supposed to look like the polar opposite of Geralt. Bald vs. long hair, beefed up vs. slim, etc. And they certainly succeeded.

When TW3 was announced, I remember reading that CDPR was gonna give the main characters a bit more of a grand design, make them really stand out. And I think that's cool. They can be a bit more out there, as long as it doesn't go the way something like Dragon Age goes, with the big-ass swords and huge plate armor. And CDPR doesn't, so far as we have seen. Ciri wearing high heels really isn't gonna break my suspension of disbelief, just like Letho's muscles didn't, even though both, when you try to rationalize it, are probably pretty illogical.

All in all, I think it's a matter of artistic licence. And God forbid, give CDPR some. Although the Witcher has high amounts of realism, it's still a fantasy game, not 'Medieval: The Simulator'.

 

[EliHarel]

@Jobbert
I prefer the heels to be shortened, and still very much liked your post. Nicely written. Even if I still want to have her footwear altered slightly, you bring the debate to the right proportion.

 

[freakie1one]

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.

Sorry about turning the male form into a sex object; my masculinistic ways got the better of me. I was actually going to post a picture of myself overlaid on Geralt since my chest to waist ratio is about the same... but I figured that would be a bit ostentatious so I found some random picture instead .

 

[Maliciouswoot.47]

I almost wish CDProjekt had just given her a boob plate... Then at least folks would have something better to complain about than high heeled boots.

 

[goopit]

I almost wish CDProjekt had just given her a boob plate... Then at least folks would have something better to complain about than high heeled boots.

both are a death sentence

 

[Degs29]

Considering Geralt is wearing armor vs. this guy wearing nothing I'd say his dimensions aren't too out of proportion:

Sure, if Geralt's wearing a corset maybe. And how the heck did you come up with that pic so fast? You posted that 5 minutes after mine! Did you have that handy, ready to go or something?

 

[goopit]

Sure, if Geralt's wearing a corset maybe. And how the heck did you come up with that pic so fast? You posted that 5 minutes after mine! Did you have that handy, ready to go or something?

you mean you don't have a collections of shirtless men on your desktop? get with the times!

 

[Blothulfur]

Don't mind high heels on Sorceresses, their magic and teleportation means they don't have to think about trudging around, running or maneuvering, but on a swordswoman yeah the heels might need to be shortened a bit.

 

[Dermax]

I'm loathe to dive into arguments that people have really strong feelings about, but I just wanted to bring up a point. Historically, high heels were worn by both men and women, both as a fashion statement and an aid to riding. The heels that Ciri is wearing aren't stillettos, just high, chunky heels. By point of comparison, if you look at the boots of pretty much any "Cavalier" from the English Civil War you'll see that Ciri's heels aren't that out of the realm of plausibility.

Cavaliers

Among my other historical recreations, I (as a male) have worn Cavalier boots with a three inch heel. I could ride, I could walk, I could run, and I could fence. And that's me wearing them on the occasional weekend. If I wore them day in and out for my whole life, I can only imagine it would be easier still. Regardless of the reason why CDPR put Ciri in high heels, it has a historical precedence and is not as limiting to maneuvering as one would think.

 

[goopit]

I'm loathe to dive into arguments that people have really strong feelings about, but I just wanted to bring up a point. Historically, high heels were worn by both men and women, both as a fashion statement and an aid to riding. The heels that Ciri is wearing aren't stillettos, just high, chunky heels. By point of comparison, if you look at the boots of pretty much any "Cavalier" from the English Civil War you'll see that Ciri's heels aren't that out of the realm of plausibility.

Cavaliers

Among my other historical recreations, I (as a male) have worn Cavalier boots with a three inch heel. I could ride, I could walk, I could run, and I could fence. And that's me wearing them on the occasional weekend. If I wore them day in and out for my whole life, I can only imagine it would be easier still. Regardless of the reason why CDPR put Ciri in high heels, it has a historical precedence and is not as limiting to maneuvering as one would think.

What kind of heels do you wear? a picture would be nice. Are they closed heels similar to the picture you showed? What kind of fencing do you do?

most of the pictures I see on google of cavalier boots are like the picture above not like Ciri's boots. I was trying to find an actual horse rider actually wearing high heels(like Ciri's) on a horse and I can't find any,which leads me to think that they aren't practical/common.

 

[Dermax]

Alas I don't have the specific boots that I wore anymore for a picture, otherwise I'd take one. They were something like THIS, only with a higher heel. I had to have them custom made in Poland. They ran around $500. If you want to see real cavalier boots you'll have to look at paintings, I'd recommend Van Dyke. For example. It's extremely rare to find a modern replica of cavalier boots, due to price. Modern "cavalier" boots have little to nothing in common with "real" ones, particularly the ren-fest, museum replica-esque brands that are all over.

In regards to the "fencing" it's the WMA version, not the Olympic "line fencing". So, in a field, move any direction, lunge, cut, etc. Capo Ferro, to be precise, was what I studied. In fairness to the "anti-heel" crowd, I eventually switched to two-inch heels which I still wear, but the three inchers were practical when I used them.

 

[goopit]

In regards to the "fencing" it's the WMA version, not the Olympic "line fencing". So, in a field, move any direction, lunge, cut, etc. Capo Ferro, to be precise, was what I studied. In fairness to the "anti-heel" crowd, I eventually switched to two-inch heels which I still wear, but the three inchers were practical when I used them.

How did they help you exactly?

 

[Dermax]

I wouldn't say that either pair really helped or hurt me more than any other. I wore them because I was portraying a Cavalier and that's what they wore. If I could pick throughout history I'd want to fight in flat soled shoes with hobnails, ride in Hessian boots, and run in tennis shoes. So it's not that Cavalier boots - or Ciri's boots for that matter - give any real benefit. I was more saying that people have worn, ridden, and fought in high heels - even when their lives depended on it. There are more to heels historically than just the "sexual" aspect.

 

[PolyaSchoenfeld]

Not at that height. Heels of that height will impact on the wearer's posture from a health perspective, but I think you would need to be up to at least 4" before you get the "sexy" look.
@Jimmy_Qu - I just compared to some online stores, and would agree on 2.5", which puts it right on the edge of "Low" and "High"

I think it's about 4'' because it's roughly equal to the distance between her chin and tip of her nose.
On topic, I agree that these heels should be lowered, but would also love to see her with a more feminine outfit )

 

[Iggy456]

When did Tumblr get here? I mean can we talk about shit that actually matters like combat or underwater combat or anything that's not dumb like this?

 

[GuyNwah]

When did Tumblr get here? I mean can we talk about shit that actually matters like combat or underwater combat or I anything that's not dumb like this?

There are plenty of threads for "shit that actually matters." This thread is for people who feel strongly that shoes matter in defining a character.

Anyway, my feeling is still that you wear what you're accustomed to. Ciri was a flashy dresser when she was with the Rats, who also wore high heels of some form; that much is uncontradicted canon. For her to be depicted as having kept that fancy is neither implausible nor disrespectful.

 

[soldiergeralt]

heh people always frame their valid arguments in terrible ways. sexism argument in a fantasy videogame is just silly. fantasy is a haven for tropes. pcking out "sexist" tropes while disregarding the rest just makes one seem disingenuous and attention seeking.

would be better if topic restarted and he focus more on the believability aspect. because i agree, high heel would be detrimental to sword combat and maneuvering.