story choices and how they could repair arguments

+
HI,

I wanted to post a topic regarding the story of Witcher 4. Yes I did post it before under story but i felt it was getting drowned out a bit there in between other messages and I really wanted to discuss this.

since the trailer went up, there have been huge online discussions and arguments about W4. And I fear this will increase and divide people much more for the moment first gameplay footage will come out and more gets known about the game. And to be honest, both sides on the arguments are understandable, given from what perspective they come.

specifically over the trial of the grasses being capable to do for Ciri as a woman, being friendly lorewise etc etc. Therefor I wanted to post a suggestion that I would think is a compromise people on both sides of the debate.

here is a proposition now that could satisfy both ends of the debate and a compromise, and in the end save a lot of remaining players who would have left if they don't see the game they want:

Since a lot of the game is supposedly based upon choice and effect: how about in the beginning of the game you get to chose with ciri if she wants to take the trials of the grasses or not?

Consequences of not taking them: a much more magic based playstyle with a lot more side content involving teamwork with Geralt for specific monsters. she is less of a tank due to not having mutations and you'd have to play her more strategically with her magic abilities. This would be the lore friendly option. Yes I admit i am on this side of the lore because I'm no fan of having Ciri taking the trials of the grasses. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to discuss it in a civil way. It also would make sense to have more interaction with geralt in this one, because in this his wishes of not continuing the trials on anyone anymore would be respected and this would result in a better relationship with Geralt.

Choice 2: take the trials while not censoring out the morality impact of experimenting on children needing to be done in order to reach a breakthough to make it more safe for women to pass it. it is a part of the lore that is key to understanding how witchers are seen by the rest of the world around them. They are a necessary evil. It also adds to the gravitas of the decision to become a witcher deliberatly for Ciri in contrary to Geralt being forced to be one as a child. Become your fullon witcher with a much more melee focused build. Geralt is not completely gone but is less present overall since she needs him less. And maybe also because of conflict about her taking the trials disregardless of how he feels about them. Plus if you take a side branch off in a quest (a short one preferably) there is a chance of ciri dieing during the trials. Have her make an option of which witcher school she chooses. And one being a very bad choice due to their poor research capabilities and result in death during the trials.

Of course the overarching story for both core choices would remain the same. No-I'm not asking to redesign the entire game...But a lot of side branching quests would open up. also with different paths to take depending on your core choice of taking the trials or not.
I think a solution like this would be a good compromise satisfying both ends of the debate, place the focus really on player choice, and add a lot of replay ability. And in the end add a lot more happy customers.

This is of course a very rough Idea but you folks should get the gist. It's definitly also up for tweaking. but the main gest is to give the both sides some of what they want. After all this is a game about agency and player choice. Plus CDPR had already been saying they would be doubling down on the player's agency when compared to W3. They wanted to make this game the most ambitious.

So why not start with the core choice of all choices? A: become a more lore friendly Ciri and be the magical proginy as in the books, but don't take the trials of the grasses. Or B: become youf own favorite witcher with trials and consequences at all.
 
Or hear me out.

Why doesn’t everyone just back off and let CDPR whose staff made the last three Witcher games and who actually have the experience and know how to make the game, do what they’re good at and respect their creative choices?

Please stop with these sad suggestions and trust the team @ Project Red and their process.

All these keyboard warriors suddenly emerging that have become such experts in game development.
 
If the main plot (or at least a good chunk) of The Witcher 4 is about "Ciri following the path to become a Witcher", I assume that offering to players the choice to not become a witcher could literaly screw the main plot of the game :(

It would be like if in The Witcher 3 let player the choice to not search Ciri... The main quest would end even before starting :D

PS : And Ciri surviving the trial of the grasses isn't really against the lore, knowing there is nothing in the books which indicate that females can't...
 
Or hear me out.

Why doesn’t everyone just back off and let CDPR whose staff made the last three Witcher games and who actually have the experience and know how to make the game, do what they’re good at and respect their creative choices?

Please stop with these sad suggestions and trust the team @ Project Red and their process.

All these keyboard warriors suddenly emerging that have become such experts in game development.

we are all entitled to our opinions. You can have yours and I can have mine. keep it civil.

If the main plot (or at least a good chunk) of The Witcher 4 is about "Ciri following the path to become a Witcher", I assume that offering to players the choice to not become a witcher could literaly screw the main plot of the game :(

It would be like if in The Witcher 3 let player the choice to not search Ciri... The main quest would end even before starting :D

PS : And Ciri surviving the trial of the grasses isn't really against the lore, knowing there is nothing in the books which indicate that females can't...

I don't think it would be screwing over any plotline at all. In contrary, it would actually add things to it and make it more interesting. It would add a lot variety and replayability. You could go for the one main choice or the other. It would be just adding another option that would satisfy a large amount of players that simply never saw Ciri as a witcher. In the end it doesn't interfer with the main story . You can still have your same bosses, tweaks on story events, none of that would really change that much.

I'm not saying that women can't or can pass the trial of the grasses. I'm not here to discuss if they can or cannot. I am saying that there is a huge discussion going on about that online and if CDPR decides to lock out about 50% of the player base who are more fanatic about the books where Ciri never passes them, it would be a poor financial move to make. And that discussion is going to get much, much heavier the more we are going to get closer to the game coming out. And it's one that is easily avoided by giving players the choice to opt out of that and still play a good game. and player agency was a big selling point of the game in the director's interviews. So why not stick to that promise?

Ciri being chased by Geralt is a main theme of the books, so nobody had a problem doing that in game. So that did not need too much fixing. It's never been a point of discussion and divisivness.
 
Everyone is allowed to have an opinion here (provided it breaks no rules), and nobody is allowed to tell anyone otherwise.

You don't have to like others' opinions, but you do have to let them have and express them.

A post and a quoting of it removed.
 
Top Bottom