Political correctness in the Witcher 3

[vivaxardas2015]

You people are all blind or something...

Saskia's armor had nothing to do with her losing the fight vs Henselt on Roche's path. The final blow was delivered to her face, not her chest. Her armor had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the battle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvY803k-j54
Pay attention to her at 7:07 - she is holding her left cheek.

Yes, you are right. And what was the point again? My thought was that her outfit was due to fan service. Well, it is possible to believe that it was bravado. Sometimes Celtic warriors went into fight naked in order to intimidate their enemies. But given that Saskia is a very pretty girl, with a very appealing upper part of her body (as well as a lower part) I somehow doubt that it was the reason for CDPR to show her gorgeous cleavage. But it may be just my dirty mind talking, and it was done purely for bravado purposes. Who knows? But in NML in TW3 such bravado cleavage will look ridiculous.

 

[Oloroar]

My thought was that her outfit was due to fan service.

I agree. Sorry if my intentions were misunderstood - I am not disputing that her armor design incorporated fan service, I simply wanted to set the record straight as to what really happened during her duel with Henselt.

You know how it is, being the number one fan of a character has it's duties.

But given that Saskia is a very pretty girl, with a very appealing upper part of her body (as well as a lower part)

The mid section isn't too bad either.

 

[Cs__sz__r]

It's either been awhile, or I just never noticed Saskia's cleavage before.

 

[vivaxardas2015]

It's either been awhile, or I just never noticed Saskia's cleavage before.

It is an indication of a purity of your soul. When I saw Saskia for the first time, the main question was whether I would be able to explore her anatomy in depth, so to speak. But, unfortunately, we did not get further than the peasant dream, and Philippa scene, which was kind of disappointing. Though given that she turned out to be a dragon, and her body mass is probably conserved in any form, we got spared from a real bad crushing injury. So Saskia is here just to be admired.

 

[Cs__sz__r]

Purity of my soul? Lol. My soul is garbage. />

If you were to enter the mind of The Cs

 

[Oloroar]

So Saskia is here just to be admired.

I have to be honest, I am glad it remained that way. Turning her into some cheap one time encounter like the Succubus or the whores would have been a great injustice. It simply isn't Saskia.

Similarly, I am glad that Sile brushes aside Geralt's advances, for the same reasons.

her body mass is probably conserved in any form

The chairs she sits on and the bed she lies on must be made out of pure reinforced titanium...

 

[username_2093396]

You people are all blind or something...

Saskia's armor had nothing to do with her losing the fight vs Henselt on Roche's path. The final blow was delivered to her face, not her chest. Her armor had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the battle.

It looked to me like Henselt sliced upwards right through the unprotected area (starting at her chest and going all the way up her throat to her face).

But anyway, if you agree that Saskia leaving her armor open during combat was mainly fan-service then you've got no argument with me

 

[AserPik]

Political correctness? Define that please, we all live in different countries, thus there are different standards!

 

[username_2093396]

Political correctness? Define that please, we all live in different countries, thus there are different standards!

I've always understood it to mean avoiding topics or ways of saying things which might offend someone (like saying "child with disabilities" instead of "disabled child" because supposedly the second one is insulting due to labeling the child). It usually comes across as a little fake to me, like sometimes people are worried about offending people with things where I can't understand what would be offensive about it.

I'm generally not offended by anything unless it was the person's intention to be insulting, and I think in general it makes sense to be polite to people, but I don't think people should be discouraged from addressing difficult issues which might potentially be offensive. As long as it is handled in a serious mature way, I think it can add a lot of depth to the story.

That's what the first two games have done, so I voted to keep the same approach for TW3.

 

[prince_of_nothing]

The question is: why said homosexuality is mocked in ASoID universe, and not in DA or ME?

Apart from personal beliefs or attempts at PC/anti-PC, why would author decide on one or the other?

Martin drew heavily from history for his books, plus as one poster said, his World is very fleshed out and dystopian in nature..

Homosexuality is an abnormality, so it's not unusual that it would be mocked in such a setting, or even outright persecuted..

 

[prince_of_nothing]

I was thinking more about the reasons why certain negative (at least from modern point of view) attitudes came to be in the first place. I mean, the ancients didn't see anything wrong about homosexuality. The Greeks considered is as something normal, even Romans did not see anything shameful in it (at least as long as one was the penetrating side

). Then came the Middle Ages, on which the Witcher's universe is based, and homosexuality become something abhorrent. What has changed? What was the reason homosexuality was accepted at one time, and detested at the other?

Sorry but this is nonsense. Homosexuality has never been viewed as normal in the same way that heterosexuality has been, in either Ancient Greece or Rome.....or in any high civilization for that matter.

In Ancient Greece, it was very frowned upon for adult men to have sexual relations with each other, since one of them would have to assume the feminine role which was a big no no during that time. Also, homosexual relationships were not encouraged because eventually you were expected to marry and have children.

I think you're confusing homosexuality with pederasty, but even pederasty had certain rules and boundaries.

 

[GuyNwah]

Moderator: We had to close one thread for intemperate and offensive argument over homosexuality. If this continues, we will have two threads closed and more suspensions. Posts have been deleted. Do not repeat them.

 

[prince_of_nothing]

Political correctness? Define that please, we all live in different countries, thus there are different standards!

If I had to give a broad definition of political correctness, I would say that it was the adherence to popular idealogy; especially concerning hot button issues like race, gender, religion, sexual orientation etcetera..

Political correctness and human sentiment are very much intertwined, which is why it varies so much from culture to culture, time period to time period, and from person to person.

In the context of the Witcher 3, I defined political correctness as the greater or forced inclusion of females and homosexuals aka Bioware style. And throughout the debate, people started adding their own views and now we're discussing sex appeal vs utility for female armor.

Not sure what that has to do with the topic, but whatever. I just work here

 

[prince_of_nothing]

Moderator: We had to close one thread for intemperate and offensive argument over homosexuality. If this continues, we will have two threads closed and more suspensions. Posts have been deleted. Do not repeat them.

I have no idea what I said was considered offensive to homosexuals, as I merely pointed out a historical fact. So I suppose history is now offensive..

At any rate, it doesn't matter... Delete away..

 

[prince_of_nothing]

The question is: why said homosexuality is mocked in ASoID universe, and not in DA or ME?

Apart from personal beliefs or attempts at PC/anti-PC, why would author decide on one or the other?

Since my previous post was deleted, lets try this again.

The answer as several people have noted, is the intent of the author and what kind of setting he/she is trying to portray. Martin's ASoIF draws heavily from real World history for inspiration, and is also very dystopian in nature to boot..

Therefore, prejudice against homosexuals would be considered standard behavior in such a setting, because homosexuals are different from the status quo and elicit the perception of being abnormal..

In Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Bioware wanted a more inclusive Universe so they decided to make homosexuality widely accepted in their "gameverse," which is their right as the Creators of that gameverse.

 

[prince_of_nothing]

I was thinking more about the reasons why certain negative (at least from modern point of view) attitudes came to be in the first place. I mean, the ancients didn't see anything wrong about homosexuality. The Greeks considered is as something normal, even Romans did not see anything shameful in it (at least as long as one was the penetrating side

). Then came the Middle Ages, on which the Witcher's universe is based, and homosexuality become something abhorrent. What has changed? What was the reason homosexuality was accepted at one time, and detested at the other?

I think you're confusing homosexuality with pederasty darcler. Homosexuality was never viewed as something normal in Ancient Greece or Rome. In fact, relationships between adult males was severely frowned upon, as like you say, one would have to assume the feminine or passive role which was a big no no at that time.

Also, eventually a man would be expected to find a wife to marry and then continue the blood line, which would make homosexuality problematic in that respect.

 

[Cs__sz__r]

Actually it was quite normal in the Republic and the early Empire. I'm not as familiar with Greek history as Roman so I won't tread there. But as long as you were doing the giving, you were not looked down upon. The ones receiving would usually be slaves or younger men above the age of 12-13ish. Many of the Emperors also kept male concubines.

Now when Christianity started to become the majority religion, replacing the polytheism, that's when it went downhill. Condemning first the passive player by burning. By the time the classic Empire became the "Byzantine" or Eastern Roman Empire the fate was sealed. Under Justinian I reign all homosexual acts were condemned.

Edit: Sorry DB

 

[dragonbird]

The thread discussing homosexuality was locked because of the nature of certain posts. This thread was started, ostensibly on the topic of political correctness.

If it continues to be a discussion on homosexuality, and there are any further comments that could be seen as offensive or discriminatory, this thread will also be locked, and action taken to prevent further posts.

 

[wichat]

I found saskias armour ! />/>/>/>
For liberty!

this is your banner for her cause ,mr/mrs wichat person! />/>/>

Do you mean that Saskia is not a real character in the game? that she is a mental allegory of freedom in a romatic vision? on the assumption that it devised by CDPR so, why Henselt has no horns and tail and has red skin?

It seems that the search for excuses is degenerating a little absurd. Neither has anything to do with the gray, ambiguous and amoral world of The Witcher. In other games or stories they would be valid, acceptable and applauded, at The Witcher's world they lose consistency.

 

[amerilias]

Do you mean that Saskia is not a real character in the game? that she is a mental allegory of freedom in a romatic vision? on the assumption that it devised by CDPR so, why Henselt has no horns and tail and has red skin?

It seems that the search for excuses is degenerating a little absurd. Neither has anything to do with the gray, ambiguous and amoral world of The Witcher. In other games or stories they would be valid, acceptable and applauded, at The Witcher's world they lose consistency.

Nooo , all i wanted to say that her armour however not very practical could be a sign for her troops,that she is very brave and maybe skilled ,that she could be some kind of symbol for those following her.Leaders sometimes use this kind of trick.