Really? It would be a great if it was official. Can you share the link? Not that I don't believe you, but I want to be sure that this is not just gossip from the community.
If I was an illiterate, ignorant thug, If I saw someone writing down strange signs on the ground, exactly because I don't know what's going on and don't know what that "strange light" is, I'd think twice before stepping on it. Fear of the unknown is natural, it's the basic reaction of every life form in the animal reign.
Walking straight on a "strange light" cast by someone you addressed to as "freak" some seconds before isn't believable at all and it's not a mistake a thug would do (Remember the "Sodd off you freak!" line?).
It would be normal if he rushed head down towards Geralt with ineffective or predictable slashes: that is a plausible mistake, not walking into something menacing and unknown.
At that distance even my blind grandmother would see that coming.
I don't want enemies not making mistakes, I want them to do plausible mistakes, just as I said before.
The success ratio of that maneuver in the demos has been ridiculously high, its animation is clunky and unpolished and it has proven to be the evading move-to-go for practically every attack. What I want to say is that, in order to allow variation, strategic depth and the use of side pirouettes, there should be some limitations on backdash properties. In fact, who would care to perform side pirouettes or other dodges if the backdash itself will do the trick 100% of the time?
Sorry but I can't offer you a link, i've seen way too many articles and interviews, pretty much all of them actually. The easy thing is well known in the forums already, and has been said many times by different CDPR people, other users can confirm this. The comment about advanced new AI features for enemies not being implemented in the E3 build yet was made only once as far as I know, in a video interview with Damien Monnier, E3 or any other event after that. I could be remembering wrong, but thats where I think I heard it, I think he got excited telling the interviewer the interesting things enemies would be able to do in TW3 and then added that it wasnt implemented on the demo yet but it was coming.
The interpretation of how a bandit thinks can go several ways actually, that one you make is valid, but to me one of those thugs that literally doesnt give a F and tries to push his way around whatever comes at him is also plausible and believable. If we were dealing with your type A of Thugs, I think they woudnt even fight Geralt in the first place. For example to me it'd be much more important that they get seriously scared when Geralt uses Igni the first time, rather than the obscure Yrden. But anyway, point is, I think its not a straight up error that some dudes wouldnt care about Yrden and its symbols, I can totally believe and understand bandits what would still go up front, its perfectly fitting. Now if ALL of them are like that, and all human soldiers even, that'd break immersion definitely.
Hey with grass and different bumps/levels in terrain and distractions of combat and watching Geralt, I could see how one of those guys might miss the symbols, or some of them in order to get its a circle, especially the ones closer to them, but thats just my perspective
Yeah I get what you mean with the backdash, but to me in some examples Geralt was very close to being hit, to the point the player likely was unsure if it would avoid damage or not. The animation is indeed clunky and unpolished, I think most people can agree.
I'm just not seeing it too OP vs the other moves yet, we have limited footage unfortunately, and in easy. One thing that definitely makes it "better" than other dodge moves and the go-to panic maneuver, is the simple fact that it takes you backwards, and not sideways or forward, that alone, because of what direction it is, aside from the animation or speed, is naturally going to make it more "safe". However, Im just neutral on this, I think the footage is too little and not representative of common combat, in some places it looks too good, in others its almost not enough, so, I dont know.