Why i feel sidequest-ing is immersion breaking(some spoilers)

[dimbismp]

Why i feel sidequest-ing is immersion breaking(some spoilers)

Hi all
First of all,TW3 ,and the trilogy in general,is absolutely great.Well done CDPR!!!

So,to get on topic,i believe that he side missions in the game are mostly really well done and are also introduced well.However,i believe that if we actually role-play Geralt,there is absolutely no reason to deal with all these sidequests(bigger or smaller) during this epic quest to find and protect Ciri.I mean,there is almost always a sense of urgency,as the Wild Hunt create an imminent threat.Why would Geralt leave his main mission to help even a dear friend,let alone take on a contract.

At the beggining,he is at Yen's trail.The matter is not that urgent,so he can do some side quests for coin.
Then,up until he finds Ciri,there is absolutely no reason to do anything else other than search for her.I mean,we players know that she is probablu allright,but Geralt certainly doesn't.While he plays Gwent,or takes a contract,or even tries to help Djikstra for example,Ciri might be in severe danger.At this point of the story,this is literally a race between the WH and Geralt to find Ciri,so there shouldn't be any time spent on useless activities.

Finally,up until the ending,there is a sense of urgency to find and destroy the WH,in a "hunt or be hunted" kind of scenario.So again,you get what i mean...

After all this,the credits roll,and you are unable to take secondary quests.So,if you roleplay as Geralt,you can't actually do any secondary quests at all(you can do witcher contracts though after the ending).

Ofc this is my opinion!
So,do you agree?Disagree?Discuss!

 

[moonknightgog]

Hi all
First of all,TW3 ,and the trilogy in general,is absolutely great.Well done CDPR!!!

So,to get on topic,i believe that he side missions in the game are mostly really well done and are also introduced well.However,i believe that if we actually role-play Geralt,there is absolutely no reason to deal with all these sidequests(bigger or smaller) during this epic quest to find and protect Ciri.I mean,there is almost always a sense of urgency,as the Wild Hunt create an imminent threat.Why would Geralt leave his main mission to help even a dear friend,let alone take on a contract.

At the beggining,he is at Yen's trail.The matter is not that urgent,so he can do some side quests for coin.
Then,up until he finds Ciri,there is absolutely no reason to do anything else other than search for her.I mean,we players know that she is probablu allright,but Geralt certainly doesn't.While he plays Gwent,or takes a contract,or even tries to help Djikstra for example,Ciri might be in severe danger.At this point of the story,this is literally a race between the WH and Geralt to find Ciri,so there shouldn't be any time spent on useless activities.

Finally,up until the ending,there is a sense of urgency to find and destroy the WH,in a "hunt or be hunted" kind of scenario.So again,you get what i mean...

After all this,the credits roll,and you are unable to take secondary quests.So,if you roleplay as Geralt,you can't actually do any secondary quests at all(you can do witcher contracts though after the ending).

Ofc this is my opinion!
So,do you agree?Disagree?Discuss!

YEah, while I agree with you (and that's the same reason why I can't even imagine how the expansion woudl be handled, because they have really no room in the main quest - in my first run I even ignored most of the Skellige sidequest because the main quest left me no pause), the exactly point of side quest is...well, a secondary content, a distraction from the main quest, basically.

 

[dimbismp]

YEah, while I agree with you (and that's the same reason why I can't even imagine how the expansion woudl be handled, because they have really no room in the main quest - in my first run I even ignored most of the Skellige sidequest because the main quest left me no pause), the exactly point of side quest is...well, a secondary content, a distraction from the main quest, basically.

At some point even the main story itself put aside this sense of urgency...I am ofc talking about the Novigrad quest.Without wanting to spoil anything,you had to find person A,to help you find person B,to help you find person C,who might have known where Ciri is(in fact he didn't).I am getting off topic though...
What i am trying to say is that every moment you lose playing gwent or hunting nekkers or helping Zoltan,the WH gets closer and closer to Ciri.Think about it.Maybe CDPR should have had some time consequences.For example,if you don't find Ciri as quickly as you should have,maybe then the WH has already captured her(and you have to inflitrate theirnplace and get her back).And maybe if you do too much sidequests,Ciri dies for example(and the rest of the game you try to avenge her)
I know it is harsh,but his is how i would have done it

 

[mbaker51591]

Lol Geralt need crowns and Witchers are greedy. Like hell Geralt would accept any contract like the pan contract if there are crowns and gwent.

Yes side quest also breaks the immersion due it makes you outlvl the main quest, haggling the monster contract doesn't gives you much more option, you cannot killed some quest giver if they not paid you correctly but there are some quest Geralt is an A-hole force the quest giver give you all his crown and etc

 

[whiplash27]

Well, I remember reading before the game coming out that skipping side quests would have story consequences and such. I assume this just never got implemented into the game. The only major side quests are the ones dealing with your friends.

It would have been neat if there were more things that were time based or something. Giving the player only a limited amount of time to do side stuff before they need to refocus on the main quest. Depending on which side content you chose to do, it can have an impact on how things play out in the world. I kind of feel like that was what CDPR made it seem like how it was supposed to work back in the earlier days of development.

Of course then again, one of the trailers made it seem like the WH was going around burning down villages and stabbing random dudes in the back, but that didn't happen all that much either.

 

[dragonbird]

On my third playthrough, I did:
- Secondary quests that were for friends. Geralt's justification: For his friends. My justification: To get the endings I wanted, to get everyone at Kaer Morhen.
- A lot of contracts. Geralt's justification: He needed the money. My justification: I needed the XP.
- Scavenger Hunts for my preferred gear. Geralt's justification: He wanted the gear. My justification: Same.
- People and monsters who attacked me as I was going from one place to the next. I avoided fast travel as much as possible,

It was a fairly balanced playthrough, I did just enough contracts to keep it that way, and it worked for immersion.

Oh, and I didn't do Cabaret. Geralt's justification: I don't have time for this shit, I need to get to Skellige. My justification: Boring quest.

 

[pithikos]

On my third playthrough, I did:
- Secondary quests that were for friends. Geralt's justification: For his friends. My justification: To get the endings I wanted, to get everyone at Kaer Morhen.
- A lot of contracts. Geralt's justification: He needed the money. My justification: I needed the XP.
- Scavenger Hunts for my preferred gear. Geralt's justification: He wanted the gear. My justification: Same.
- People and monsters who attacked me as I was going from one place to the next. I avoided fast travel as much as possible,

It was a fairly balanced playthrough, I did just enough contracts to keep it that way, and it worked for immersion.

Oh, and I didn't do Cabaret. Geralt's justification: I don't have time for this shit, I need to get to Skellige. My justification: Boring quest.

come on Cabaret is a pretty funny quest, maybe a bit boring the second time but it unlocks the quest Carnal Sins which is awesome.

---------- Updated at 11:20 AM ----------
As far as the topic I
Totally disagree. The secondary quests of witcher 3 are the best I ve ever played in similar games. They set the bar pretty high for secondary quests in rpgs. And lots of them have direct effects on the main storyline and the wolrd of the game. I really dont get how you find them breaking the immersion, I find them adding to the immersion. And the silly short ones (like the frying pan) are just a nice distraction while they also add more life to a an already very impressive world.

 

[BaneSixEcho]

The plot gives you a natural place to take somewhat of a break and do a lot of the side quests, and that is directly after the Ugly Baby quest. It's at this point that you're tasked with finding allies to defend Kaer Morhen. To me, this gives Geralt leave to go out into the world to do just that, and what better way to find allies than to complete contracts and sidequests.

This is based on hindsight, mind you. I haven't started a second playthrough yet to see if it holds true.

 

[JasonShepard]

Oh, and I didn't do Cabaret. Geralt's justification: I don't have time for this shit, I need to get to Skellige. My justification: Boring quest.

Cabaret is one of the best Novigrad quests though!
In what other side quest can you have a duel of the century with the Crimson Avenger?

 

[griever0507]

Sidequests are really your own preference. At first I find it annoying because your map is full of "?" and full of unexplored areas which attracts you to explore even you know its tiring. Then while exploring you will be doing sidequest that is near the area without even noticing it So I guess the sidequests are really part of the vast world of The Witcher 3 game but as Ive said its still your choice to do or not to do sidequests as some of them contains some lores that you can only acquire doing these sidequests.

 

[BTorville]

Well, I remember reading before the game coming out that skipping side quests would have story consequences and such. I assume this just never got implemented into the game. The only major side quests are the ones dealing with your friends.

It would have been neat if there were more things that were time based or something. Giving the player only a limited amount of time to do side stuff before they need to refocus on the main quest. Depending on which side content you chose to do, it can have an impact on how things play out in the world. I kind of feel like that was what CDPR made it seem like how it was supposed to work back in the earlier days of development.

Of course then again, one of the trailers made it seem like the WH was going around burning down villages and stabbing random dudes in the back, but that didn't happen all that much either.

The Wild Hunt burned down Heatherton, killed people and took several away as slaves. They also attacked and killed nearly everyone in Lofoten in Skellige. But that didn't happen much according to you.

---------- Updated at 01:53 PM ----------

 

[RageGT]

I explore every nook and cranny on each playthrough I run with this game. Actually, with any other RPG like Gothic or NWN or BG too. In character: My Geralt is an explorer, top tracker, top treasure and monster hunter. OOC: OCD =)
(And I still haven't found all that there is, I guess, since that on the current play through I still found things I've never seen before, questwise and not).

(PS It also happens that I love playing White Orchard and Velen. The atmosphere and all. I get really into it. I kinda get sad when there's nothing left for me to do there but also I get in the mood very fast for the new areas that I'll explore.)

(PS2) Only now, after 1100+ hrs played, I found Delores' treasure and met Boris for the first time. How did I miss them on previous runs, I dunno, trollololo...)

 

[LadyStoneheart]

Yeah, I've said before a big flaw in the story for me is that I don't feel any sense of urgency over finding Ciri. She can travel between worlds and on worlds (so why didn't she just teleport straight to Kaer Morhen once she arrived on the continent?) and when you play as her you find she's crazy OP and never really feels in danger. When Geralt finds out she's back from Emhyr, he barely looks concerned despite the nightmares he's been having .The Wild Hunt don't feel anything like the threat that Witcher 1 &2 lead you into believing. The messy timeline doesn't help either.

In some ways this is too big a game for the storyline. I ended up being much more immersed in wandering the continent killing monsters than looking for anyone because it was much more enjoyable.

 

[whitewoof]

Well, in a way these side quests break immersion, and in a way it doesn't. Geralt needed at least 1000 crowns to get to Skellige, so it was understandable that he would reluctantly help rich people like Djikstra and do a witcher contract here and there for money. Same argument, even though weak, can be used for Gwent, money. I see the problem being that this is a game world, where the concept of time and distance between areas is severely underestimated (shortened), and the need for simple human needs like eating and sleeping is overlooked. In a real world, Geralt would need to rest in every town for a day or 2 before continuing his journey, which in the mean time he would do random tasks for money. Sort of spoilers, this is in line with the books. Wild Hunt isn't the first Witcher story involving Ciri in danger and Geralt looking for her. In the books Geralt's journey takes days, weeks, months before he finds Ciri, where in the mean time he did contracts here and there, and helped his friends.

 

[FanEu]

lol its a game dude, you are taking it too seriously.

If we go by your logic most games shouldn't even have side quests since the other matters are too urgent.