Conspiracy theories on the handling of Triss.
This topic should belong in this thread
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/thre...and-the-inconsistency-of-our-romance-s-choice
but since I wanted to make a poll I had to create another for it.
It concerns reasons why the Triss romance felt incomplete and inconsistent. Given the devs history of great narrative, there has to be something fishy going on: I present to you some theories as to what might have happened and ask that you decide which one is, in your opinion, the cause for this or suggest one of your own.
Be aware that this is intended as jest. It is not my intention to offend anyone and if any of this has any correlation to reality then it is only by the most unlikely of coincidences.
Never hurts to mention again that this is not to be taken seriously, but then again, just as Mulder said, “the truth is out there.”
My dark side prefers Theory 3 to be the case, although I hope for theory 1 to be true.
Also please excuse any grammar mistakes in it, I wrote it during work breaks today and couldn't proofread it that much.
Theory 1: CDPR needed to keep their reputation as one who listens to their fans.
Apart from making great games, CDPR is considered one of the best companies because they actually listen to their fans and make changes accordingly.
However, upon finishing W3, they found themselves with a game that, apart from minor nuances, was nearly perfect. That was well and good for metacritic, scores, sales, stuff like that. But, what about their rep? Surely correcting the candle lighting and loot dilemma was going to earn them some points, but they needed something grand, something to match the epicness of the world in W3.
There were several meetings and no result was achieved. The game had to be delayed several times; they couldn’t release their game in such a perfect state. Finally the quest designer for the “crimsom avenger” came up with a plan.
“What if remove all the Triss content past the lighthouse and change it with the one that happens if you go for Yen’s route,” he said. “That will make people bond with Triss, and then miss her dearly”.
That caught many stares and the man continued.
“Later we can just restore it and we announce that we heard their pleas and after putting a LOT of money and effort, we have altered the game to accommodate our fans. After that they will surely finance our brothel.”
Besides not quite understanding that last part, everybody was ecstatic. Big smiles all around, that was the perfect solution.
“Not so fast,” said the ever-watchful QA guy in the corner. “We can’t make it too obvious; let’s leave the epilogue and at least the scene in the fountain.”
And so the matter was decided.
Theory 2: The author made them do it.
It is no secret that the original author of the novels is not that fond of the games. A non-negotiable condition on licensing the witcher 3 was that Geralt would romance his “true love” from the books and Triss arc would be finished on Novigrad and she would leave for good after that.
Discouraged by this restriction, yet determined to make the best of what little game time they had, the devs stopped whatever they were doing and all contributed to make the best experience possible. They were very happy with the results. Yet as they continued working and they couldn’t include any more Triss, sadness filled their hearts.
Such was the despair that tears fell from their eyes and ended up frying the keyboards they were using. Thus the game ended up being delayed several times as they waited for replacements.
One night though, the CEO received a strange call from the author. It was revealed the later had been on “friendly terms” with the model who had posed as Triss for playboy’s magazine. He explained that the model was pissed because she wouldn’t get any work this time around and the author wanted them to act as mediators in the conflict.
Confused by this events, and true to Geralt methods, before accepting the quest the CEO questioned the man motives. After all the author had been the one to push Triss out of the game in the first place.
The man finally confessed the reasons why he didn’t like the games. He hated the fact that millions of players had been able to develop "fake" feelings for “his” Triss after the rose scene. And even worse, many of them might have fa...ed during the bath sequence. His jealously was the whole reason he had never made Geralt and Triss hook up for real in the books, he couldn’t even bring himself to share her with his own character.
The CEO understood his plight and dwelt on the matter, trying to find a solution. Finally he imparted his worldly wisdom upon the desperate man. “You can’t have her both ways, if you want to access to some real good cosplay for yourself in RL, then you have to accept that players will have to enjoy her virtually. You do end up winning in the end though.”
And so the author finally lifted the ban. However, it was so late in the development process that only very few scenes made their way in. And so the model ended up having a lot more work, given how the fans had been left very Triss hungry. The CEO wondered if it had been her plan all along, but conspiracies within conspiracies are just too meta for this topic.
Theory 3: A disgruntled writer planned his revenge.
The lead writer of W2 fell in love with his character, Triss Merigold. It just couldn’t be helped. So he set out to find a girl who looked like her in RL.
After a long search he found one in a bar whose resemblance was striking. The writer of course proceeded to pick her up, using the game as an ice breaker. The girl in question was flattered that her virtual alter ego had such nice qualities. Not a man to waste opportunities, the man invited her home so they could play the game together.
Their relationship was very passionate and for a while, the man felt like he was in heaven. Yet as it often happens, the tides of love can be capricious and the girl ended up leaving him for another man.
Adding salt to the wound, he had found out later that the girl in question had used her resemblance to the in-game character to seduce his new quarry.
Devastated, the man planned his revenge. The girl herself have might have been out of his reach for good, yet the pride she had on her likeness to the game character was a weakness he could exploit.
And exploit it he would. He would have her be alone at the start of the game, he would destroy the rose of remembrance, he would destroy her home and her way of life. He would make her be tortured, force her to work on the most menial task he could think of.
Yes, he would give her hope, some glint that all might not be lost and then crush it by having Geralt dump her right after that, forcing her to leave the game for good. That would teach her.
Not content enough, he had her return for more, adding some scenes where the woman who would take Geralt away from her would destroy her bed and why not, kiss him in front of her, so she would finally realize the error of her ways.
The man was not a fool however, and knew that something like this would never pass through his colleagues. Yet he would not be deterred, he concocted a plan that would ensure he paid a heavy price. He would have to betray many. But he didn't care. There was nothing in his mind but a thirst for retribution.
He had told all his co-workers about the girl he had picked him, and all had shared his joy, some even envying him silently for such a stroke of luck. And when he had been left alone, he had been too proud to admit he had been the one dumped. Instead, he had explained that even though the girl had been wonderful, she could never be Triss and so he had had to leave her. His colleagues shared his sentiment and took his words for truth.
That deception helped his mission, when he explained that he felt bad for leaving the girl and so he wanted to atone by giving her one beautiful parting wish. He would make the greatest Triss story ever, and even though left alone, the girl would find comfort in it.
His pals were moved to tears by such dedication and, their clouded muddled by emotions, they accepted eagerly his idea that he should handle all this by himself, in secret, as not to spoil the surprise for her.
Needless to say once they voiceovers stared coming and they had to be put into the game, his plans started to be compromised. He covered at first by ordering the ones about the nice scenes he had planned. Once the more controversial material arrived, he explained it was all part of his plan for a big pay off. They trusted him of course, after all he had been responsible for the great story in the previous game.
After all the voiceovers had arrived, the deception was off. His colleagues’ fury knew no bounds and they fired him on the spot, even threatened to sue but couldn’t as they didn’t want this situation to become public.
The game had to be delayed several times while they tried to figure out what to do with the whole situation. Eventually they were able to salvage something; they ordered a few new voice-overs and patched some things. They were not satisfied entirely with the results, but there was no more time, the game could be delayed no longer.
The man was left with no love, no friends, no work. Yet found comfort in the knowledge that his plan had worked and the rest of the team would not manage to recover fully from what he had done. Yes, the girl would see her alter ego humiliated and her life would be crushed.
Days passed while he waited for a angry call from her. Or better yet, a visit, so he could see her crushed with his own eyes and tell her it had all been her fault. That sole reunion, that need to see her destroyed, was all he had left, and he clung to it desperately.
One morning, a week after the game had launched, he woke up and felt a strange aroma that was familiar but he couldn't quite place. He opened his eyes and saw a figure in black. It was her! Only she wasn't. Her hair had lost the bands and had been dyed raven black, curls all around. Her eyes too, were different, she wore purple contact lenses.
"Good try moron," she said with a smug smile and threw the game box on top of him. And she was gone. Only her scent remained, a smell he finally recognized. Lilac and gooseberries.
The man hit rock bottom then. He truly had nothing left, vengeance taken away from him. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream at the world. But deep down he knew, he was aware it had all been his fault.
It is said that when you reach the bottom, you can only go up. And he realized that as he held the game box. In his darkest hour, he remembered what was important. And felt hope, a faint hope that his once called friends might have been able to undo his terrible act.
And he played, and rushed to what he knew were the important parts. The hope grew, his saw his mischief turned into great scenes, and at the docks, those three words had been added. His heart was filled with joy. He wanted to congratulate his ex-colleagues, for they had indeed done the impossible.
Yet that would come later, it was time to see the rest. And so he kept playing. For hours and hours he kept going. Then despair overtook him once more. For indeed his actions had been too thorough, his deception discovered too late.
Even the brief parts that he saw seemed lost amongst a sea of oblivion , inconsequential. By the time credits rolled, he was in tears. And he screamed. He screamed until his throat went dry and then some more. His mind lost all sense of sanity. His heart gave out, unable to take it anymore.
His body was never found, and no one ever managed to live in his former house for more than a few weeks. Those who tried swore they saw a strange shadow in the night. A sobbing, sad voice coming out of it. Uttering only three words.
"Forgive me, Triss."
This topic should belong in this thread
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/thre...and-the-inconsistency-of-our-romance-s-choice
but since I wanted to make a poll I had to create another for it.
It concerns reasons why the Triss romance felt incomplete and inconsistent. Given the devs history of great narrative, there has to be something fishy going on: I present to you some theories as to what might have happened and ask that you decide which one is, in your opinion, the cause for this or suggest one of your own.
Be aware that this is intended as jest. It is not my intention to offend anyone and if any of this has any correlation to reality then it is only by the most unlikely of coincidences.
Never hurts to mention again that this is not to be taken seriously, but then again, just as Mulder said, “the truth is out there.”
My dark side prefers Theory 3 to be the case, although I hope for theory 1 to be true.
Also please excuse any grammar mistakes in it, I wrote it during work breaks today and couldn't proofread it that much.
Theory 1: CDPR needed to keep their reputation as one who listens to their fans.
Apart from making great games, CDPR is considered one of the best companies because they actually listen to their fans and make changes accordingly.
However, upon finishing W3, they found themselves with a game that, apart from minor nuances, was nearly perfect. That was well and good for metacritic, scores, sales, stuff like that. But, what about their rep? Surely correcting the candle lighting and loot dilemma was going to earn them some points, but they needed something grand, something to match the epicness of the world in W3.
There were several meetings and no result was achieved. The game had to be delayed several times; they couldn’t release their game in such a perfect state. Finally the quest designer for the “crimsom avenger” came up with a plan.
“What if remove all the Triss content past the lighthouse and change it with the one that happens if you go for Yen’s route,” he said. “That will make people bond with Triss, and then miss her dearly”.
That caught many stares and the man continued.
“Later we can just restore it and we announce that we heard their pleas and after putting a LOT of money and effort, we have altered the game to accommodate our fans. After that they will surely finance our brothel.”
Besides not quite understanding that last part, everybody was ecstatic. Big smiles all around, that was the perfect solution.
“Not so fast,” said the ever-watchful QA guy in the corner. “We can’t make it too obvious; let’s leave the epilogue and at least the scene in the fountain.”
And so the matter was decided.
Theory 2: The author made them do it.
It is no secret that the original author of the novels is not that fond of the games. A non-negotiable condition on licensing the witcher 3 was that Geralt would romance his “true love” from the books and Triss arc would be finished on Novigrad and she would leave for good after that.
Discouraged by this restriction, yet determined to make the best of what little game time they had, the devs stopped whatever they were doing and all contributed to make the best experience possible. They were very happy with the results. Yet as they continued working and they couldn’t include any more Triss, sadness filled their hearts.
Such was the despair that tears fell from their eyes and ended up frying the keyboards they were using. Thus the game ended up being delayed several times as they waited for replacements.
One night though, the CEO received a strange call from the author. It was revealed the later had been on “friendly terms” with the model who had posed as Triss for playboy’s magazine. He explained that the model was pissed because she wouldn’t get any work this time around and the author wanted them to act as mediators in the conflict.
Confused by this events, and true to Geralt methods, before accepting the quest the CEO questioned the man motives. After all the author had been the one to push Triss out of the game in the first place.
The man finally confessed the reasons why he didn’t like the games. He hated the fact that millions of players had been able to develop "fake" feelings for “his” Triss after the rose scene. And even worse, many of them might have fa...ed during the bath sequence. His jealously was the whole reason he had never made Geralt and Triss hook up for real in the books, he couldn’t even bring himself to share her with his own character.
The CEO understood his plight and dwelt on the matter, trying to find a solution. Finally he imparted his worldly wisdom upon the desperate man. “You can’t have her both ways, if you want to access to some real good cosplay for yourself in RL, then you have to accept that players will have to enjoy her virtually. You do end up winning in the end though.”
And so the author finally lifted the ban. However, it was so late in the development process that only very few scenes made their way in. And so the model ended up having a lot more work, given how the fans had been left very Triss hungry. The CEO wondered if it had been her plan all along, but conspiracies within conspiracies are just too meta for this topic.
Theory 3: A disgruntled writer planned his revenge.
The lead writer of W2 fell in love with his character, Triss Merigold. It just couldn’t be helped. So he set out to find a girl who looked like her in RL.
After a long search he found one in a bar whose resemblance was striking. The writer of course proceeded to pick her up, using the game as an ice breaker. The girl in question was flattered that her virtual alter ego had such nice qualities. Not a man to waste opportunities, the man invited her home so they could play the game together.
Their relationship was very passionate and for a while, the man felt like he was in heaven. Yet as it often happens, the tides of love can be capricious and the girl ended up leaving him for another man.
Adding salt to the wound, he had found out later that the girl in question had used her resemblance to the in-game character to seduce his new quarry.
Devastated, the man planned his revenge. The girl herself have might have been out of his reach for good, yet the pride she had on her likeness to the game character was a weakness he could exploit.
And exploit it he would. He would have her be alone at the start of the game, he would destroy the rose of remembrance, he would destroy her home and her way of life. He would make her be tortured, force her to work on the most menial task he could think of.
Yes, he would give her hope, some glint that all might not be lost and then crush it by having Geralt dump her right after that, forcing her to leave the game for good. That would teach her.
Not content enough, he had her return for more, adding some scenes where the woman who would take Geralt away from her would destroy her bed and why not, kiss him in front of her, so she would finally realize the error of her ways.
The man was not a fool however, and knew that something like this would never pass through his colleagues. Yet he would not be deterred, he concocted a plan that would ensure he paid a heavy price. He would have to betray many. But he didn't care. There was nothing in his mind but a thirst for retribution.
He had told all his co-workers about the girl he had picked him, and all had shared his joy, some even envying him silently for such a stroke of luck. And when he had been left alone, he had been too proud to admit he had been the one dumped. Instead, he had explained that even though the girl had been wonderful, she could never be Triss and so he had had to leave her. His colleagues shared his sentiment and took his words for truth.
That deception helped his mission, when he explained that he felt bad for leaving the girl and so he wanted to atone by giving her one beautiful parting wish. He would make the greatest Triss story ever, and even though left alone, the girl would find comfort in it.
His pals were moved to tears by such dedication and, their clouded muddled by emotions, they accepted eagerly his idea that he should handle all this by himself, in secret, as not to spoil the surprise for her.
Needless to say once they voiceovers stared coming and they had to be put into the game, his plans started to be compromised. He covered at first by ordering the ones about the nice scenes he had planned. Once the more controversial material arrived, he explained it was all part of his plan for a big pay off. They trusted him of course, after all he had been responsible for the great story in the previous game.
After all the voiceovers had arrived, the deception was off. His colleagues’ fury knew no bounds and they fired him on the spot, even threatened to sue but couldn’t as they didn’t want this situation to become public.
The game had to be delayed several times while they tried to figure out what to do with the whole situation. Eventually they were able to salvage something; they ordered a few new voice-overs and patched some things. They were not satisfied entirely with the results, but there was no more time, the game could be delayed no longer.
The man was left with no love, no friends, no work. Yet found comfort in the knowledge that his plan had worked and the rest of the team would not manage to recover fully from what he had done. Yes, the girl would see her alter ego humiliated and her life would be crushed.
Days passed while he waited for a angry call from her. Or better yet, a visit, so he could see her crushed with his own eyes and tell her it had all been her fault. That sole reunion, that need to see her destroyed, was all he had left, and he clung to it desperately.
One morning, a week after the game had launched, he woke up and felt a strange aroma that was familiar but he couldn't quite place. He opened his eyes and saw a figure in black. It was her! Only she wasn't. Her hair had lost the bands and had been dyed raven black, curls all around. Her eyes too, were different, she wore purple contact lenses.
"Good try moron," she said with a smug smile and threw the game box on top of him. And she was gone. Only her scent remained, a smell he finally recognized. Lilac and gooseberries.
The man hit rock bottom then. He truly had nothing left, vengeance taken away from him. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream at the world. But deep down he knew, he was aware it had all been his fault.
It is said that when you reach the bottom, you can only go up. And he realized that as he held the game box. In his darkest hour, he remembered what was important. And felt hope, a faint hope that his once called friends might have been able to undo his terrible act.
And he played, and rushed to what he knew were the important parts. The hope grew, his saw his mischief turned into great scenes, and at the docks, those three words had been added. His heart was filled with joy. He wanted to congratulate his ex-colleagues, for they had indeed done the impossible.
Yet that would come later, it was time to see the rest. And so he kept playing. For hours and hours he kept going. Then despair overtook him once more. For indeed his actions had been too thorough, his deception discovered too late.
Even the brief parts that he saw seemed lost amongst a sea of oblivion , inconsequential. By the time credits rolled, he was in tears. And he screamed. He screamed until his throat went dry and then some more. His mind lost all sense of sanity. His heart gave out, unable to take it anymore.
His body was never found, and no one ever managed to live in his former house for more than a few weeks. Those who tried swore they saw a strange shadow in the night. A sobbing, sad voice coming out of it. Uttering only three words.
"Forgive me, Triss."
