I played through ME2 with a new character although I had 3 personal saves from ME1 because I WANTED to know how the devs think ME1 should have played out / what decisions they assumed. I will do the same with TW2 I think and then explore what a savegame from TW1 will change (if any)..............I certainly had no troubles and didn't feel it's unfair if you start with a low-lvl character and no resources as opposed to an imported characters with a little more starting gear.And btw, no new player will feel "cheated" since he doesn't know what he missed in TW1 and - if need be - can download some savegame for sure.RobeN said:It would be optional for sure.But on the other hand even if... there will be many places with other players savegamesRobeN said:Like it's now for ME2.
Actually I would encourage the former. I like this "starting from scratch" scenario and getting mightier and mightier until one day you kick ass. I really hope they can reutilize that though it will be hard to find a good explanation for that logic-wise. But I guess some things will have to be preset and already given this timemothra said:
Perhaps now he already knows every sign and doesn't have to find each one again. Another possibility would be making Geralt an expert right from the bat but simply allowing him to get even more powerful. Like simply lifting a characters level limit around 20 levels or so
I'm sure geralt will start out with signs and stances, in some interview they hinted that the new level system will give more immediate benefits to your powers, I don't know what they mean but they said there will be no stamina+3 talents. since geralt already got all his stamina/strength/endurance/intelligence maxed out from TW1. I'm sure it will be more offensive stuff like special moves or special power/sword combos.......will be interesting to see once they start talking about it...
Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I just signed up, and this is one of the things about TW2 that intrigues me the most! I am very curious to know just how many points it will keep track of in the imported character. Is it just the final decision of which side you choose to help, or if you stay neutral? or will it keep track of what you did with Abigail, for instance? I am dying to know. From a technical standpoint, I don't see how the new engine should change things. They are binary markers in the story, did you save X or let them die? did you side with X or Y faction? etc. these things are not dependent on engine in the slightest. One of my very favourite series of games of all time, Quest for Glory, a hybrid Adventure/RPG, imported spells, stats, skills, items (though not ALL the items, just important ones) etc. over a series of 5 games. It was somewhat limited in that while there were technically multiple endings, there were no repercussions in subsequent games from them since they were really just alternate ways of achieving the same goal... EXCEPT for that if you continually chose 'good' solutions, (spared lives when possible etc.) you unlocked a hidden character class, the Paladin, so it did track more than just a list of stats and stuff you had on you. You could do this across 5 games and most relevantly here, 3 completely different engines. The first and second games were 16 colour text parsers, the final game had 3D rendered full colour graphics with a point and click interface (extremely primitive but still 3D) you can see screenshots of the different engines here: http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/showthread.php?t=19425 The engines were hugely different, but you could import a character from 1 or 2 (both the same engine) directly into 5, and that was in the 90's. Also of note, Quest for Glory kept all skills you had spent building up the previous game, they just kept raising the cap they could reach, so it was a continuous development. In the first game, the cap on all skills was 100, in game 5, it was raised to 500. if you started without an imported character in 5, the numbers were somewhere around 325 for each skill you chose as a starting value, but with an imported character, more than likely you had at least a few skills at 400. so yeah, this can definitely be done, it already has been. For people who have not played through before, I would imagine they will default to the 'neutral' path for the major decisions. That way you have an equal distance to go if you wanted to side with or against non-humans. I am not sure how they might handle some decisions which could lead in character deaths, however. Possibly just leave them vague, not mentioned, or assume 'alive unless otherwise stated via import' or something. Shouldn't be too much of a hurdle, either way.
From a technical standpoint, I don't see how the new engine should change things. They are binary markers in the story, did you save X or let them die? did you side with X or Y faction? etc. these things are not dependent on engine in the slightest. One of my very favourite series of games of all time, Quest for Glory, a hybrid Adventure/RPG, imported spells, stats, skills, items (though not ALL the items, just important ones) etc. over a series of 5 games. It was somewhat limited in that while there were technically multiple endings, there were no repercussions in subsequent games from them since they were really just alternate ways of achieving the same goal... EXCEPT for that if you continually chose 'good' solutions, (spared lives when possible etc.) you unlocked a hidden character class, the Paladin, so it did track more than just a list of stats and stuff you had on you. You could do this across 5 games and most relevantly here, 3 completely different engines. The first and second games were 16 colour text parsers, the final game had 3D rendered full colour graphics with a point and click interface (extremely primitive but still 3D) you can see screenshots of the different engines here: http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/showthread.php?t=19425 The engines were hugely different, but you could import a character from 1 or 2 (both the same engine) directly into 5, and that was in the 90's. Also of note, Quest for Glory kept all skills you had spent building up the previous game, they just kept raising the cap they could reach, so it was a continuous development. In the first game, the cap on all skills was 100, in game 5, it was raised to 500. if you started without an imported character in 5, the numbers were somewhere around 325 for each skill you chose as a starting value, but with an imported character, more than likely you had at least a few skills at 400. so yeah, this can definitely be done, it already has been. For people who have not played through before, I would imagine they will default to the 'neutral' path for the major decisions. That way you have an equal distance to go if you wanted to side with or against non-humans. I am not sure how they might handle some decisions which could lead in character deaths, however. Possibly just leave them vague, not mentioned, or assume 'alive unless otherwise stated via import' or something. Shouldn't be too much of a hurdle, either way.
since this plays in a different part of the kingdom (or many new places) they don't have to worry about minor decisions, like the House Of Night Fight for example. My guess is (since they did not know if TW1 would be an success and that they will maybe export the character to TW2) that they will take stance and loveinterest, elves-neutral-human or triss-neutral-shani and just aknowledge it. even if I did side with the elves, maybe I will change my mind in TW2 if they are just too much to take. I don't know if they even can track if you saved Abigail or DeVries or whoever.
About that: ccording to the CD-Action preview, it's going to be the kingdoms of Aedirn, Kaedwen and Redania.mothra said:
In theory, they could track even the smallest decision, though if they decided now that they really needed to track the status of X quest, which they didn't anticipate needing before, there may be need of a patch and you have to play through the very last save over again... but I doubt it. All your decisions are stored in your 'quest progress' so it's already saved, anyway. The packet of data needed would be quite small even if they tracked every last decision made, I'd imagine they erred on the side of caution.mothra said:
of course you could - but if they did....and like I said, I think it would be nice if you could change your alignment in TW2. switch sides so to speak. maybe it's harder to gain the Scoiatel's trust if you sided with the order but it should be possible if I think the plot justifies it or my witcher would react like this.
I somewhat doubt the faction alignment choice will matter all that much - the Scoia'tael operate as self-sufficient guerilla groups - Yaevinn's might not even have any contact with Iorveth's - and the Order went through some rather major shifts.
yep, also I guess the order could not play much into this at all ....I am more intrigued if they pick up the Alvin/Wild Hunt story somewhere. For new players' sake they could neglect it and have little story-ties to the first part. I'm not so sure about the 3way-decision for your build: Warrior/Mage/Achemist, this sounds rather harsh to have such a big decision being done so early on and was not missed in TW1.
I'm rather certain it's not a class decision you have to make at the start, but rather a natural evolution through talents. It's just that it'll be harder to max out everything than in 1, so you have to choose which path to invest in the most.
I suspect the influence will not determine your attitude to Ioverth's particular band, but to non-humans in general, and I hope that decisions like the Werewolf, or House of the Night quests will be considered under that. Are you a hard line 'all monsters must die' kinda Witcher, or a 'depends on the situation' kinda guy... In any case, I couldn't imagine them not providing the option to 'switch sides' if this band of Scoia'tael are too hardline for your tastes if you sided with them in the previous game, or, conversely, if you find yourself more sympathetic to them if you sided with the Order. I think most people befriended Siegfried in the sewers in the first game, for instance. This initially aligns you with the Order, it unlocks the Order armorer, gets Siegfried to grant you access to the docks. The Order considers you a good guy. But you can still side with the Scoia'tael after that. Come to think of it, given what little we know, I think even Yaevinn might be kinda pissed about what this new band is doing, so I really do hope you can 'switch sides'. Think about it, Yaevinn was essentially exiled from the kingdom in exchange for some limited rights for non-humans, and only if the elves remained peaceful, if you took the Scoia'tael path. Then this guy comes along murdering kings, which could put the little bit of progress Yaevinn made in jeopardy, and remove what gains they made. It was Foltest that (grudgingly) granted these rights, and they want to kill him? I hope Yaevinn is included now! (assuming you let him live) It could open up a third faction. Hell, if you sided with the Order, wasn't there a schism of sorts? there could be the 'good' Order, and 'racist bastards' Order factions.
Hell, if you sided with the Order, wasn't there a schism of sorts? there could be the 'good' Order, and 'racist bastards' Order factions.
Yeah, and those are great, but that's only the technical bonuses, of course. All sorts of engaging minor characters from the previous game will be there if you saved them, a few have quests, the public news systems will mention the effects of things you did in the first game on the galaxy, and only through having a romance in ME1 can you carry that romance through to ME3. Ashley/Liara/Kaidan only have a history or romance with you if you played the first game; otherwise, that simply didn't happen and they will treat you as a friend. People complain a bit sometimes, but I'm pretty sure that the reason they had fewer significant choices in ME2 was to limit how crazy it would be to make ME3, but I can think of a number of decisions that will no doubt come back to haunt the player. In a BIG way, probably. That's the thing about trilogies--when you're making the last one, it has to be more explosive than anything you've ever done before, and you can take as many risks as you want because it's the last.I would enjoy it if TW1 stuff carried over--but I bet they could just as easily ask the player who they sided with in the previous game in case you accidentally deleted your Order save or something. (And I did! Well, I moved overseas to go to a university and have none of my original Witcher saves.) If they make a number of choices available in the intro, complete with defaults (neutral/Triss) for those who have no idea what the choices mean; that would ensure even new players would get to see all the content. I think that's the direction the Witcher should go if they do carry content over.Tlazolteotl said:
And let me just add a great big OMG HOLY CRAP YES to this!!! Yaevinn... *is SUCH a fangirl* I liked Siegfried, but Yaevinn... *sighs*Tlazolteotl said:Come to think of it, given what little we know, I think even Yaevinn might be kinda pissed about what this new band is doing, so I really do hope you can 'switch sides'. Think about it, Yaevinn was essentially exiled from the kingdom in exchange for some limited rights for non-humans, and only if the elves remained peaceful, if you took the Scoia'tael path. Then this guy comes along murdering kings, which could put the little bit of progress Yaevinn made in jeopardy, and remove what gains they made. It was Foltest that (grudgingly) granted these rights, and they want to kill him? I hope Yaevinn is included now! (assuming you let him live) It could open up a third faction.