It's more a reflection of a situation. I think it would be odd if there weren't problems when the lead writer of a project was changed, or of a game series. Especially of a game that had by many accounts a troubled and long development.
I don't mean to suggest that anyone in particular is at fault. TW2 had it's own issues as well, not on this magnitude but still.
Well I can appreciate the frank honesty of your post instead of the arrogance I've seen from so many developers with their games "Cough" Mass Effect 3 artistic integrity "cough" despite the fact your post is like being slammed with a sledgehammer.
Two things then.
1) By your posts I suppose the team, especially the writers, are well aware of the problems that plague the game on the political side of things and in the main story? Just curios if it's something that's being discussed there.
2) Here's a list of what I would consider reasonable fixes to the problems of TW3. Political or not. Also a list of "Enhanced Edition and beyond fixes"
Some things like Letho being betrayed by Emhyr, who is renowned for keeping his word, Dijkstra becoming an utter idiot and Geralt's role in the assassination are too much too ask for as an easy fix but there are other things that are.
Short Term, Easy Fixes.
Throw Journal Entries added in the game automatically or at specific points, picking up certain books explain to us:
- How Emhyr is losing the war in detail and why is Radovid a tactical genius. We never see anything to showcase that.
- What happened to Anais and how Roche plans to resolve the issue of succession in Temeria.
- How does Dijkstra wins the war. ( He lacks Roche and his guerrilas and he doesn't have Radovid's tactical genius ) and how he even plans to take over Redania ( should be explained before we do Reasons of State ).
- What happened to the Order of the Flaming Rose and Siegfried. ( Preferably that most of the Order joined the Witch Hunters with Siegfried leading a small cadre of faithful knights loyal the original values of the Order )
- Why does Emhyr invade Skellige if he's losing the war on the continent, since it makes no military sense ( I can't think of any really good reason behind this decision and how to justify it in a way that doesn't make Emhyr an imbecile ).
- How Triss and Geralt broke up and what did Geralt do in the six months after Loc Muine. How did he even meet up with Vesemir and what happened to Vesemir, Lambert and Eskel between TW1 and TW3.
- Actual impact of Novigrad when you murder Radovid.
These may not seem like a lot but would add a very good deal of nuance to the story.
Long Term/Enhanced Edition fixes.
Obviously many of these are too much, actually scratch that way too much but then again I view it as wishlist then anything else.
- Everything that I listed in short term fixes but with actual dialogue exchanges in the game such as Geralt and Vesemir talking about how they met or Geralt and Zoltan chatting about the aftermath of Vergen etc. Better dialogue with Radovid where you can openly challenge him on the Witch Hunts. More dialogue with Emhyr, or if that's not possible ( due to the difficulty of getting Charles Dance ) then with Voorhis and Vattier du Rideaux who should be in the game.
- Have the assassination of Radovid take place directly after Deadly Plot. Deadly Plot has this beautiful set up in terms of convincing Geralt to finally take a stand. to FINALLY man the fuck up and do something for the world...and then nothing happens for hours, dozens even, until you get Phillipa. My point is that you should get an altered quest if you did Deadly Plot where you can kill Radovid, but if you don't do it then you get another chance where you can do it after you rescue Phillipa. If you kill Radovid then you just walk away, if you don't then things happen almost the same as they do...well with the exception of the conclusion.
- In line with my previous point remove that dumb choice where you either break Dijkstra's leg or you tell him about the political situation in the Empire, instead always getting the option to assassinate Radovid here, regardless of what you did after Deadly Plot. Phillipa is one of the most powerful mages in the north and she sits there while Dijkstra makes empty threats? He has no way of stopping her and he should know this. Instead give us a better conversation between Phillipa and Dijkstra where she gets involved in the assassination mission.
- Remove even the option of telling Dijkstra about Emhyr's situation and don't have him betray Roche. It's just stupid, can't be justified in any way. Instead Dijkstra's fate should be decided somewhere else, and certainly not 2 minutes after you just helped kill Radovid. You should have a final conversation with all of them where they reveal on what they plan on doing: Thaler and Roche planning on returning to Temeria to retake it from Nilfgaard while Dijkstra plans on using the time he has with the truce to stabilize Redania following Radovid's death while also preparing for inevitable continuation of the war.
- Have the option for Geralt to personally strike the final blow against Radovid. Not Phillipa. Also give us the option of walking back in the warehouse to hell Roche and co. that Phillipa knows everything after she gives us the ring. This should change the final scene with Radovid.
- Series of Quests involving Vattier du Rideaux that revolve around weakening but not destroying completely the political opposition of Nilfgaard in various ways in Act 2 and Act 3. Reasoning behind Geralt intervening is that the opposition wants to kill Emhyr and Ciri and put one more suitable on the throne, more suitable for them anyway.
- Preferably remove the Letho side quest as it really hurts Emhyr as a character who always keeps his word and instead involve him here through the entire quest chain or at the very least partially with the option of recruiting him for Kaer Morhen after doing some of the quests in the chain. Could perhaps use much of the existing quest, minus the ending encounter, as a start before Vattier reveals that it's all a public ploy that Emhyr needs to engage in so that he can dispel "rumors" that Nilfgaard was behind the assassinations. Anyway just don't have Emhyr betray Letho really.
- Related to my points fate of war should depend on the assassination of Radovid and on dealing with the opposition. Several options:
1) If Radovid is alive and opposition is intact then Roche, Thaler, Ves and Dijkstra try and kill Radovid but fail and are executed while in Nilfgaard the political elite turn on Emhyr and in the ensuing power vacuum Radovid is able to crush Nilfgaard and liberate large tracks of the North, but NOT all. Lyria or Temeria's former protectorates should remain under Nilfgaardian control as Voorhis is able to finally rally his armies as the new Emperor.
2) If Radovid is alive but the opposition weakened then Emhyr is able to crush the remaining political elite and Nilfgaard and then turn on Radovid. Dijkstra dies trying to kill Radovid but Roche, Thaler and Ves survive and manage to convince Emhyr to make Temeria a vassal in exchange for the guerrilla standing down. Emhyr agrees and manages to win the war but at a staggering price in terms of casualties for Nilfgaard.
3) If Radovid is dead but the opposition intact then Emhyr has the time with the temporary truce with Dijkstra to crush the domestic opposition but is unable to conquer Redania as Dijkstra manages to place himself firmly as ruler and strengthen the defenses on the Pontar. An uneasy ceasefire takes hold. For now. Temeria becomes a vassal of Nilfgaard.
4) If Radovid is dead and the opposition weakened then after the temporary truce ends Emhyr is able to continue his invasion after easily sweeping away the remnants of the political elite. Dijkstra fails to stabilize Redania after Radovid's death in time to able to resist Nilfgaard and it all falls under the rule of Emhyr, with the exception of Temeria which still becomes a vassal.
- Somewhat related to my points so far, but not necessarily. Ciri should always meet Emhyr as the scene is one of the best moments between Geralt and Ciri, but the decision on whether or not Ciri becomes empress should not be related to this meeting. Instead add a lengthy, optional, conversation between Geralt and Ciri similar to the one with Alvin in TW1 about what people with great power should do with it and about the role of a witcher in society. This should impact her decision somewhat but so should the war. With her leaning in favor or against becoming Empress depending on your decisions in the conversation but also on the outcome of the war. Have this dialogue reflected on both Witcher and Empress endings.
- Remove the scene where Geralt lies to Emhyr about Ciri in the Empress ending, and instead of replace it with a scene where Geralt tells Emhyr Ciri has no intention of becoming a ruler with Emhyr grudgingly accepting that and telling a surprised Geralt he never had any intention of forcing someone on a throne they don't want, as wishing to rule is necessary to be able to do it well. If Getting Charles Dance is not possible then just remove the scene and add more dialogue between Ciri and Geralt where this is reflected and also have it mentioned that Emhyr will pretend that Ciri is dead for her own sake.
- Related to all my previous political points and with regards with Ciri then If Radovid wins then she doesn't become Empress, if Nilfgaard barely wins after a brutal war or enters a Cold War with Dijkstra's Redania then she is less willing to become the successor of a brutal Emperor then she is if Nilfgaard wins more easily but she will still do so if Geralt convinced her that she would do more good as a ruler.
- Dialogue with Voorhis after meeting Emhyr to ask for aid at Kaer Morhen where he explains it would be close to impossible for Nilfgaard to aid anyway as Radovid's forces are too entrenched on the border. Also have Voorhis suggest Geralt recruit Letho as an alternative.
- Improved role for Letho at Kaer Morhen. He's literally the only person alive as a full witcher who fought the Wild Hunt and remembers everything. he should provide good insight into how you should properly fight them even if some, though not everyone, distrusts him. This is instead of his current role where he just spouts one liners....it's a major insult to the best character you've ever created to reduce him to that role.
- Better battle at Kaer Morhen with the fate of certain allies determined by how many people you brought: Lambert, Eskel along with perhaps Keira and Hjalmar's friends dying depending on how many allies you brought. Better gameplay overall instead of just "roll to X and then flip switch/close portal". Better companion AI and more damage on them, regardless of difficulty.
- Either bring Lambert and Eskel, along with Letho and Keira if available, in the final battle against the hunt or provide good explanations as to why they won't help because as it stands there is none, especially for Lambert and Eskel.
- Better handling of Eredin and the Wild Hunt. better final battle with more allies and more gameplay besides 2 running scenes to the bosses and a lot of cinematics. Especially handle Ciri taking on the White Frost moments after you kill Eredin better.
Again I view much this is list as a fantasy of mine, but I do consider at least some of the points reasonable ( like a quest chain involving dealing with the opposition, or at least ONE quest ). Of course actual writers should be able to implement this far better then suggested here by a random guy on the forum.
