The Triss content and the inconsistency of our romance's choice

[Jou05]

What's surprising for me here is that the Triss content should, reasonably, be a center-stage of the saga? Was Triss just a placeholder to the developers until Yennefer's arrival? The Rose of Remembrance dying and the BIG REVEAL that Triss was hiding Yennefer from Geralt seems to have been something they expected to have a bigger effect than it did. However, the majority of gamers seem pretty willing to forgive that action. The Witcher games were the gateway drug to much of the English speaking world for the Witchverse. You'd think they'd have more faith in their own product and one of the big things of said product is the Triss/Geralt relationship.

It certainly seems like Triss was just a placeholder for Yen and exploited for marketing purposes

I also expected some real conflict between Triss, Yen and Geralt but sadly its all brushed aside
There is a shocking lack of interactions between these three

 

[AdamSnow]

...

I just noticed that my article on Gameblog to make noise here ^^ For those who wondered if Gameblog is a "blog", the answer is: yes and no.
Gameblog is a professional site like IGN but offers an alternative for players to be heard and participate in the website: Creating blogs and articles which, once they are seen many times appear the weekend on the site's home page. These items are also annexed by google which is a good way to reach more players (so try to get the article link to a lot of people to raise the number of visits for it to be broadcast this weekend on the home page ). Try to create an account on Gameblog and also on the article, click "J'aime" on the bottom of this article. I think it also has an effect on the diffusion on the site's home page.

I started by doing an article and I'm trying to make contact with the staff of gameblog to ask to relay the information in an official article on the site and why not twitter (I've already done with another game and it worked). I can not promise anything but one of the staff members of Gameblog has been in contact recently with Damien Monnier, a Senior Game Designer in CD Projekt Red (it seems to me that it is French ^^) and I can perhaps ask if he can pass the message to him. I'll try to get in contact with them.

Otherwise, for the sex scene with Triss in the trailer that is not in the game, I did some research and finally, I do not think this scene is in the lighthouse but rather in a room. Just see the background of this scene :

one notices the presence of a "wooden partition" to separate the bathroom of the room(I do not think that's something to put in a lighthouse... ^^). There are some in the house of Triss in Novigrad, in the chamber of Yennefer on Skellige and in some rooms at Kaer Morhen (at the beginning of the adventure but at the end, no).

What makes me sincerely think that this scene takes place in a room.
And in this scene :

When we look at lighting, soft light seen (candle?) come from one side to the other side (The belly of Triss), another light source much more intense (a chimney fire?) comes from the across the wooden partition (the patterns of shadows are reflected on Triss). I think this scene was removed from Kaer Morhen (which we see in the open air like the ocean but it can also be the valley around Kaer Morhen at night with a light fog ...). I'm voting for the content that has been deleted!

Great job! and Thank you.

 

[msanx]

It certainly seems like Triss was just a placeholder for Yen and exploited for marketing purposes

I also expected some real conflict between Triss, Yen and Geralt but sadly its all brushed aside
There is a shocking lack of interactions between these three

See, that is what i didn't want to happen, that Triss was just playing the lead female until Yen comes along, i didn't believe that leading up to the games release because the trailers, interviews etc all treated Triss in a good way, yet now it is easy to claim it was just for marketing purposes, i mean there wasn't much interaction between Triss and Yen, instead we get Yen getting angry at Geralt and throwing the bed out talking about how he slept with Triss, and hell you don't even get an option to say "i like Triss" or "Triss was there for me", instead the closest thing you get to say is "i told you, i lost my memory", and then that is it. Talk about being brushed aside.

 

[Gerudon]

I think there was just one good scene with Triss missing. It didn't even need to be a sex scene, just a scene with her that acknowledged the relationship a little bit more. If you played the story like me, you basically saw her last at the lighthouse and did ALL the Skellige stuff after that for some 30+ real time hours of playtime before she just appears back at Kaer Morhen having hardly any interaction with Geralt at all.

So yeah, at least one scene more in that context would have been necessary, I think.

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

Was Triss just a placeholder to the developers until Yennefer's arrival?

Sadly, it does feel like this is the case sometimes. I too expected her to be more central. She's not a side chick and she deserves better than what she got. She played a huge role in Geralt's life. A turbulent time when he couldn't remember who he was or anything else in his life. She was there for him and she helped him to regain his memory at her own personal cost. She could have had him all for herself forever. She decided that she would see if their love was strong enough for that test. I say that shows real selflessness and maturity.

 

[wright1978]

I think there was just one good scene with Triss missing. It didn't even need to be a sex scene, just a scene with her that acknowledged the relationship a little bit more. If you played the story like me, you basically saw her last at the lighthouse and did ALL the Skellige stuff after that for some 30+ real time hours of playtime before she just appears back at Kaer Morhen having hardly any interaction with Geralt at all.

So yeah, at least one scene more in that context would have been necessary, I think.

One more scene would help but it wouldn't necessarily solve the seeming lack of any reactivity or ability to reflect the choice of Triss. Dijksta and Phillippa finally when you put her straight are the only characters who appear aware they are in a relationship. I think ideally the first half of Kaer Morhen needs a re-working but that's not going to happen. Fingers crossed an expansion can provide meaty content for her and a bit of world recognition of the relationship.

 

[Gerudon]

One more scene would help but it wouldn't necessarily solve the seeming lack of any reactivity or ability to reflect the choice of Triss. Dijksta and Phillippa finally when you put her straight are the only characters who appear aware they are in a relationship. I think ideally the first half of Kaer Morhen needs a re-working but that's not going to happen. Fingers crossed an expansion can provide meaty content for her and a bit of world recognition of the relationship.

Yeah, more would always be better, but ONE more scene would have been realistically possible and maybe there even was a scene intended to be at that point in Kaer Morhen, as the bits from the trailer might indicate. having all kinds of people react to it and half the chapter reworked...yeah, that will never happen. I also wouldn't put my hopes too high, that an expansion will do a lot here. An expansion would be directed towards as many players as possible, not only to Triss fans.

 

[Pescador7]

@wright1978

I really liked your "explanation" of Geralt's romance life. Everything makes sense and sounds like something that would actually fit in the game

What's surprising for me here is that the Triss content should, reasonably, be a center-stage of the saga? Was Triss just a placeholder to the developers until Yennefer's arrival? The Rose of Remembrance dying and the BIG REVEAL that Triss was hiding Yennefer from Geralt seems to have been something they expected to have a bigger effect than it did. However, the majority of gamers seem pretty willing to forgive that action. The Witcher games were the gateway drug to much of the English speaking world for the Witchverse. You'd think they'd have more faith in their own product and one of the big things of said product is the Triss/Geralt relationship.

Nobody talking about Yennefer (or Ciri) to Geralt is something I can't understand.

Sure, Triss never told Geralt about her. But neither did Dandelion, Zoltan, Vesemir (although he never had a chance), or Foltest, who was kinda close to Geralt (or at least spent a bunch of time with him as Foltest's bodyguard) and knew who Ciri was.

Is it one plothole or there's some actual explanation somewhere in the games? Or do we have to make up an explanation?

 

[Kasi1978]

Woha, not at the Forum for a few days and the Votes are almost double as high as before, great Job!

The Merigold Army is growing! Keep it up and we can conquer the Empire of Nilfguard! :unworthy:

 

[msanx]

Woha, not at the Forum for a few days and the Votes are almost double as high as before, great Job!

The Merigold Army is growing! Keep it up and we can conquer the Empire of Nilfguard! :unworthy:

Yeah so far we have only conquered Kovir.

 

[Madoga]

Woha, not at the Forum for a few days and the Votes are almost double as high as before, great Job!

The Merigold Army is growing! Keep it up and we can conquer the Empire of Nilfguard! :unworthy:

We should hire Dijkstra (pretty much the only character that acknowledges Triss) for that. He also seemed quite effective.

Yeah, more would always be better, but ONE more scene would have been realistically possible and maybe there even was a scene intended to be at that point in Kaer Morhen, as the bits from the trailer might indicate. having all kinds of people react to it and half the chapter reworked...yeah, that will never happen. I also wouldn't put my hopes too high, that an expansion will do a lot here. An expansion would be directed towards as many players as possible, not only to Triss fans.

There are a great many things that would have been realistic. Add a line here, a reaction there - they could've realistically made a great many small changes that would've made a world of difference. Sadly enough, for whatever reason, this didn't happen and now we're in the situation we're in.
So I don't think we should shoot down our own ideas for realism's sake before they even reach CDPR. We should give them as many (constructive and good) ideas as possible and let them decide what's realistic and what's not. The more ideas the merrier!

 

[Brian6666]

Nobody talking about Yennefer (or Ciri) to Geralt is something I can't understand.

Sure, Triss never told Geralt about her. But neither did Dandelion, Zoltan, Vesemir (although he never had a chance), or Foltest, who was kinda close to Geralt (or at least spent a bunch of time with him as Foltest's bodyguard) and knew who Ciri was.

Is it one plothole or there's some actual explanation somewhere in the games? Or do we have to make up an explanation?

I'm pretty sure Triss mentions Yennefer in both TW 1 and TW2, the whole memory loss is often talked about, and Triss is helping Geralt to recover it. Even Dandelion mentions her, and she appears in Geralt flashbacks throughout the second game. Letho also talks very detailed about her in the end. Ciri on the other hand is never mentioned, at least I don't remember.

EDIT: Maybe Triss doesn't mention Yen by name but she implies that things may be different once Geralt regains his memory, I only played TW1 once, but TW2 I played 4 times, it's killing me now that I can't remember about this, definitely got to replay both games soon.

EDIT 2: Triss definitely mentions Yeneffer by name in TW2, at the bath beneath the elven ruins after the rose of Rememberance scene she says that she will follow Geralt to the end of the world to save Yennefer and that she owes her that.

 

[msanx]

I'm pretty sure Triss mentions Yennefer in both TW 1 and TW2, the whole memory loss is often talked about, and Triss is helping Geralt to recover it. Even Dandelion mentions her, and she appears in Geralt flashbacks throughout the second game. Letho also talks very detailed about her in the end. Ciri on the other hand is never mentioned, at least I don't remember.

I think Ciri is mentioned by Geralt after one of his flashbacks in the second game.

 

[Sammygm]

I'm pretty sure Triss mentions Yennefer in both TW 1 and TW2, the whole memory loss is often talked about, and Triss is helping Geralt to recover it. Even Dandelion mentions her, and she appears in Geralt flashbacks throughout the second game. Letho also talks very detailed about her in the end. Ciri on the other hand is never mentioned, at least I don't remember.

Just playing through TW2 again (I'm currently at the Kaedweni camp). Ciri gets mentioned a couple of times. First by Vernon, and then the flashback Geralt has when giving Triss the Rose of Remembrance. Yen's also heavily mentioned in the Rose of Remembrance flashback, about them two being sent to the Isle of Avalach by Ciri.

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

One more scene would help but it wouldn't necessarily solve the seeming lack of any reactivity or ability to reflect the choice of Triss. Dijksta and Phillippa finally when you put her straight are the only characters who appear aware they are in a relationship. I think ideally the first half of Kaer Morhen needs a re-working but that's not going to happen. Fingers crossed an expansion can provide meaty content for her and a bit of world recognition of the relationship.

I agree but couldn't another scene or two go a long way towards making it feel more complete? The reactivity of the world definitely needs a reworking for sure but I think that less likely than them just tacking on another scene or two. Or a quest. Addition is easy, changing what is already there is difficult.

So I don't think we should shoot down our own ideas for realism's sake before they even reach CDPR. We should give them as many (constructive and good) ideas as possible and let them decide what's realistic and what's not. The more ideas the merrier!

I admit change is difficult but we can't really say what is feasible, what ideas they have (if any), if/how they're working on it. So yeah, just keep throwing ideas out there and let them worry about the how. Like I've said before, if there's anyone that can get it done, it's us, right here on this page.

Woha, not at the Forum for a few days and the Votes are almost double as high as before, great Job!

The Merigold Army is growing!

Yup I've taken it upon myself to ensure this thread doesn't die. Trying to keep the conversation up.

Keep it up and we can conquer the Empire of Nilfguard!

Nilfgaard not Nilfguard.

---------- Updated at 01:19 AM ----------

I also am working on a dialogue between Yen and Geralt about Triss and the fact that they're (Yen and Geralt) broken up. Harder than I thought. Making me feel bad for Yennefer. This would have been an emotional scene between them for sure. Too bad they didn't take the opportunity. It's also tough because Yen is harder to write for - I don't have as much source material and I'm not about to go read the books now. :X I'll post it when I am done though.

 

[KobaallT]

Harder than I thought. Making me feel bad for Yennefer.

At my first playthrough where i chose Triss, the actual lines at the end of the last wish quest also made me feel a bit bad about Yenn. It is difficult to make en "easy break up" between Geralt and Yenn.
But at this moment i thought about finding Triss at Kaer Morhen, i was really disapointed to see that the "Triss's part of the game" was already passed.

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

If they actually talked about the two of them being broken up, the why, do you guys think she would be sad about it? She keeps up a tough exterior - even in the game where you turn her down she seems sad for about 5 seconds but very quickly puts the mask back on and she is kind of short with Geralt again. Finding it hard to capture exactly how Yennefer would behave in such a situation. And no, I don't think kicking him into the portal is the only option. They're both adults and should be able to discuss it. I think the portal thing was in keeping with her character but I think there were better, more emotional ways that scene could've panned out. :X

 

[FarrySquall]

If they actually talked about the two of them being broken up, the why, do you guys think she would be sad about it? She keeps up a tough exterior - even in the game where you turn her down she seems sad for about 5 seconds but very quickly puts the mask back on and she is kind of short with Geralt again. Finding it hard to capture exactly how Yennefer would behave in such a situation. And no, I don't think kicking him into the portal is the only option. They're both adults and should be able to discuss it. I think the portal thing was in keeping with her character but I think there were better, more emotional ways that scene could've panned out. :X

From what i remember there are two people mention/ask about relationship between Geralt. Yen and Triss:
-Lambeart ask Geralt about Yen, you have a option to tell him: we are not couple anymore
-Ending: converstation with Emhyr
+G : i have someone waiting
+E: Triss Merigold, don't worry i won't ...(don't remember )

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

It is difficult to make en "easy break up" between Geralt and Yenn.

I agree. I think if they actually were to split for good, it would be a very intense scene. There's too much history between them for it to just be "magic's gone" all of the sudden like that. :X

 

[msanx]

At my first playthrough where i chose Triss, the actual lines at the end of the last wish quest also made me feel a bit bad about Yenn. It is difficult to make en "easy break up" between Geralt and Yenn.
But at this moment i thought about finding Triss at Kaer Morhen, i was really disapointed to see that the "Triss's part of the game" was already passed.

Yeah the game doesn't make it easy to reject Yen, but kind of makes it easy to let Triss go on that boat unless you want to romance her.