let's say for argument that W3 was based in Kovir. Would you expect to see Saskia there? So Saskia is off in Upper Aderin and not in Valen. This is why they can honestly get around to not including her. Same for the others. I ran into a Scoia'tael unit so they exist. But you just had a major war here. They most likely left the area as neither Nilfgaard nor Radovid are their friends. And why appear where there are tens of thousands of soldiers?
Basically the map is for a limited area and that limited area would not include most of the characters that were in W1 or W2. Iorveth is in Aderin so he really shouldn't be here anyway.
I'm squarely in the "bring back Iorveth/Saskia" camp, but I think this is a fine rebuttal. Vergen is quite a bit eastwards like I said in a different post, so for us to expect them within the area of Witcher 2 makes little sense. Saskia would have her hands full fending of Nilfgaard in the Pontar Valley.
No the problem is that many of these W2 decisions really don't matter. And some that might have mattered have been altered to fit the story. I'm talking about Henselt. Either Roche killed him or he died in the war. But he's dead. It doesn't matter in that the real impact was Kedewin was taken over to make Radovid even stronger. He needed to be to be able to have a chance against Nilfgaard.
You need to view it this way. Your previous choices did matter AT THAT TIME and place. But the world continues and things change. The area that W3 covers is not the whole world either. Many choices might impact Upper Aderin but that isn't int he game. It's just like W1 to W2. In W1 you can sleep with Triss or not. But by W2 the game starts with you two having sex. It then lets you decide if it's just that or more.
To me I don't see why many of W2's choices should even matter. I don't think anyone has actually answered that question.
Despite the valid geography argument, I do have an answer to why many of W2's choices SHOULD matter: My first and most important reason: because that would be AWESOME! I never expected them to turn up in the game we have, but I still think there's definite potential by for them by extending the geography towards Vergen in an expansion.
The second argument: Our actions in W2 COULD have mattered. Just because CDPR chose to retcon our choices, doesn't mean that they didn't matter Goodmongo. Wether or not they SHOULD have been altered to fit the story, is exactly the debetable point of this thread and shouldn't be taken for granted.
I'd like to remind you that the Northern Kingdoms did fine in two previous wars without a single kingdom needing to absorb the rest. In fact, Redenia fighting Kaedwin would have weakened these two kingdoms more than them just immidiatly allying together! What the hell happened that Kaedwin be such a push-over? Did Radovid fart hard enough in the general direction of Henselt that he choked on a chicken bone and that all of Kaedwin immidiatly surrendered? What? If Kaedwin was still healthy enough to be worth annexation, then their would have been resistance against Redenian rule. If it hadn't, than what was the point? That Nilfgaard has such an easy time invading in all the civil chaos, is proof enough that the North isn't that easily unified. Kaedwin wouldn't have surrendered to Radovid if it had still been worth conquering. Granted, their might have been a good reason, but all we're getting right now is "and Redenia conquered Kaedwin and it couldn't have been easier... moving on."
Admit it. It smacks of lazy writing and disrespect of established lore. Forgetting about a single character is more understandable than just dismissing an entire nation.
In fact, our W2 decisions WOULD have had a MAJOR impact on the war. With Prince Stennis alive, Aedirn could have been unified enough to resist. With Anais in the hands of John Natalis, Temeria could have been organized enough to fight back. With Saskia defeated, Henselt might have become a more powerful force than Radovid and without the defeat of Saskia, Vergen's Scoia'Teal geurillia's could have been a major impediment in any push north. Ask Napoleon or Hitler how dangerous militia in the rear can be.
Alternatively, we could have killed Stennis, murdered Henselt and leave Temeria in civil war. Massive difference.
This is why W2 choices could matter. Whether they should matter is up for debate and I don't think you actually gave a reason why they shouldn't.
Yes of course, too much work, but CDPR are awesome and asking them literally expand the Witcher 3 towards that, is exactly what we're doing.
I'm not even asking that our choices be respected. Wether or not we made sure the Pontar valley is independant during our playthroughs of W2, can also be made irrelevant by Nilfgaard's invasion. Regardless of whether Saskia was defeated earlier or not, she could still be there fighting against Nilfgaard for the continuation/creation of her state. What we did earlier or if we broke the mind control, could be handled in just a few lines of dialogue.
But for the love of god give us our favorite characters back. ;-) I want to see Iorveth and Saskia again!