The Triss content and the inconsistency of our romance's choice

[bigmaccy]

I finished W3 and then devoured the books. My opinion changed only slightly:

I liked Yen a lot more after reading the books, but YMMV with her.
I disliked both endings more after reading the books. Mostly because there was too much left unsaid or they went a little contrary to what was setup in the books.
I noticed the lack of interaction between Geralt and his best friends in act 3 more after reading the books. Yes, Geralt doesn't like to talk much, but his friends often pick his brain on their travels.

So not a huge change, really. I have different opinions of certain characters and "got" some of the book references I shrugged at before but other than that everyone's pretty much on point with their comments.

thanks for the clarity, but you read them after the game ? i was more thinking about someone who knows the books and played the game because of them ive picked up the books to see what all the fuss is about..

anyway this feels like way more than a game to me, something that im emotionally invested in cant be considered a game can it ?

 

[hawkeyesforever]

thanks for the clarity, but you read them after the game ? i was more thinking about someone who knows the books and played the game because of them ive picked up the books to see what all the fuss is about..

anyway this feels like way more than a game to me, something that im emotionally invested in cant be considered a game can it ?

I feel the same way. Didn't think I'd get so emotionally invested, but after spending 60 hours to beat the game (even though I skipped a ton of side quests), choosing a love interest, etc, it really does make one emotionally invested in the outcome solely due to amount of time spent on working towards the outcome.

I finished the game and found myself pretty emotionally spent when it was all over. I'm sure I'll do a 2nd playthrough here soon and change things up though to see what happens although I have my doubts that romancing Yen will turn out any better than romancing Triss did for me, even though it seems like Yen has a lot more content.

 

[Zeroscape]

@bigmaccy

I don't see what difference it would've made in which order you absorb the material.
I was planning on doing another playthrough now that I have read the books and making some different choices, but I don't think that will impact my impressions of the game itself. I may get more enjoyment out of certain dialogue sequences but it doesn't really change any shortcomings of the game.

As for emotional investment, I had the same issue at the end of Mass Effect 3. Though the ending there was a lot more gutting than anything in Witcher 3. I'd have wished for a more comprehensive epilogue in Witcher 3, where we get another chance to touch base with Geralt's best friends + love but it could've also been a lot worse.

 

[bigmaccy]

@bigmaccy

I don't see what difference it would've made in which order you absorb the material.
I was planning on doing another playthrough now that I have read the books and making some different choices, but I don't think that will impact my impressions of the game itself. I may get more enjoyment out of certain dialogue sequences but it doesn't really change any shortcomings of the game.

As for emotional investment, I had the same issue at the end of Mass Effect 3. Though the ending there was a lot more gutting than anything in Witcher 3. I'd have wished for a more comprehensive epilogue in Witcher 3, where we get another chance to touch base with Geralt's best friends + love but it could've also been a lot worse.

i agree was more interest than anything else, i guess i was thinking along the lines of reading the green mile vs watching the green mile, like ppl love the Lotr books and hate the films and yes mass effect 3 crushed me under its foot, its like reading a really well written book or a damn good movie. although i havnt seen a movie that moved me as much as the witcher did in the span of my 120hrs

 

[DaWitcher]

The fuck are you on about? I've never said that. Please quote any of my posts that gave you the idea that I think "my" ending is more valid than "yours". Because that's total bullshit.

Sure, I do see some choices as being closer to the canon than others, but that's just my opinion and I never presented it as anything else than my opinion. I don't care if you make other choices in TW3 than me. Why would I?

I already told you why I don't like it when people say "my" Geralt and the ending has nothing to do with it. You can either take my explanation at face-value or not, but what you're doing now is just completely ignoring my explanation and trying to find some hidden ulterior motive behind what I said, which simply isn't there.

Let keep the thread civil please. We can all agree to disagree that there are differences of opinion. However, this thread was created to address the inconsistencies with how Triss was treated in the game specifically related to content and acknowledgement of her relationship with Geralt of the player chooses her.

Moving on, this is a game and users over time build loyalty to the dev and the characters. An RPG allows users to make choices that affects how the game progress. W3 choices for Triss romance, content and interactions had no impact on how the storyline went. If everything about Triss is removed the game will have the same outcome and that's the issue.

Triss character was developed from W1 to W3 if the developer intended to sideline her as an important fan loved character then the game should have been called Witcher Yen and Ciri Reunion with Geralt not W3.

Even content and allowing player decisions to matter. Showing cause and effect folk that the whole idea about RPG, every decision has an impact.

 

[msanx]

anyway this feels like way more than a game to me, something that im emotionally invested in cant be considered a game can it ?

This game and the trilogy in general had some very believable and realistic (at realistic as it gets in a Witcher game) characters and the facial expressions were done extremely well. I think lots and lots of players were emotionally invested, i was and i was playing the game and making decisions like i would in real life. Even if this was a game, the storyline and the characters felt more real than what you can get in a lot of movies, tv shows and even books (of course that is a matter of opinion).

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

I think the expansions will have to feature significant voice acting. I think trying to charge for DLC and then doing half baked cheap stuff isn't something i see CD Prokekt red doing as they were so cautious about actually starting to charge for DLC. So see no reason why they couldn't get her voice actresses back for expansion work. Not expectant but hopeful.

I think they keep the voice actors on a sort of retainer or something until they are fully done with the post-development process. If someone's voice actor takes another job and moves away and they can't get them back to fix a corrupted voice file, that would be quite, ahem, bad. I am confident her voice actress is still available. It's just of a matter of them wanting to do fix it. They fully have the capacity to, they just need the desire to.

One small tweak that wouldn't need any dialogue would be the awful Yen kiss. Have her awkwardly hug Geralt and follow it up with Triss and Geralt kissing or hugging more passionately. Also change the codex so she comes at Geralt's request not Yen's if romanced.

After some of the discussion yesterday, I am actually warming to having Yen kiss Geralt. It works perfectly for the Yen-romance. For the Triss-romance they should just add some "fallout". Have Triss and Geralt or Yen and Triss or all three of them say something on the matter. I think it would be okay if they left it in but only if something came of it afterward.

And for me it wasnt boring. It was awesome! But this game is not all about the Wild Hunt. Its also about personal problems which includes the Triss or Yen choice.

Well said. The main story is good but it isn't all there is. Geralt's personal life should have had a bigger focus. You're laying down tracks for how the rest of his life is going to play out & these elements are incredibly important. Should have been been a bigger facet of the game and the romances especially.

Thank god i found this post and forum (by the way, just made this account), i was searching non-stop (in google) for a dlc with triss and somehow i happened to cross this forum/post.

Welcome :welcome: You're among friends here.

By the way after writing this, and i could write alot more just don't have the motivation to, i feel like someone lift a weight off my chest.

Same for me. Coming here and just talking about it helps. But it seems that we all share your views and disappointments. I was actually okay that she wasn't right there with you in the early sections but I didn't really know they had broken up. And when you do finally meet her, you never get a concrete explanation as to what happened. Although I've written several longer posts about what I think could have potentially happened. Really all just speculation though. And then of course, her being relegated to the background

Well, Yen is that kind of women... some people like that, some don't. Personally, I don't.

That's my thinking. It really is all personal preference. How can some people claim that Yennefer is flat out the better choice? It's all personal preference. I personally don't like Yen's type-A, dominant personality. As a romance choice. I still think she's a good character and I like her interactions with the other characters and to some extent Geralt too. But I just don't personally like her on the romance side of things. That's kind of why I get confused when people say they flat-out don't like Triss. She's a cool character, she's passionate and thoughtful and caring. I guess some people just don't like nice characters or something. :X

True. And its not even a bad thing. Its her character and its nice. But i never felt that i have one situation were i can payback the threatment... When Lambert ask about Triss, my answer would be "Im still banging her".. just to see yens face and feel satisfied xD

Better have a grave dug for yourself. :lol: Or put on your floaties for another swim. XD

So.. to light up the mood.. the most greatest scene for me in the entire game of the witcher 3:

Yes, a million times yes. Best moment in the damn game. My emotions were at an all time low after she still walked away. And then they rebounded even higher than before when he said "Geralt. I'm serious. Turn around!". :wub:

 

[hawkeyesforever]

This game and the trilogy in general had some very believable and realistic (at realistic as it gets in a Witcher game) characters and the facial expressions were done extremely well. I think lots and lots of players were emotionally invested, i was and i was playing the game and making decisions like i would in real life. Even if this was a game, the storyline and the characters felt more real than what you can get in a lot of movies, tv shows and even books (of course that is a matter of opinion).

I think what you said is the hallmark of a great RPG game. It makes you feel as if you are Geralt, even though you know someone else wrote the story. The best RPG's make you feel like you're the one in charge of the story, and you're not watching the game being told the story. It was the same way for me with the Mass Effect Trilogy, I felt connected to the characters and felt emotionally invested in what happened to them. Thankfully the ending of this game offered a lot more than the ME3 one did but that's a completely different topic.

 

[msanx]

I think what you said is the hallmark of a great RPG game. It makes you feel as if you are Geralt, even though you know someone else wrote the story. The best RPG's make you feel like you're the one in charge of the story, and you're not watching the game being told the story. It was the same way for me with the Mass Effect Trilogy, I felt connected to the characters and felt emotionally invested in what happened to them. Thankfully the ending of this game offered a lot more than the ME3 one did but that's a completely different topic.

That is what makes a great RPG game, when you have a strong narrative and believable characters, then you can start to treat them like you would to people in real life, for example someone like Geralt, i generally believe that most players will try to get the best for that character (especially when we are playing as him), whether that means a happy ending or not is up to them. The story may of been written by other people but while we play the game, we influence that story and strive to achieve a desirable outcome, and of course when you are connected to the characters (such as Ciri, Triss, Yen etc) then you want what is best for them and the opposite for characters that threaten your favourite characters.

This of course is why we hold CDPR in such a high regard, because they put the time and effort into the story and the characters so that when we buy the game and play through it, we feel connected to what is happening in front of us - this is also why this thread is so popular because a lot of people felt connected to Triss (amongst other characters as well).

 

[hawkeyesforever]

@msanx - Exactly. Many people were emotionally invested and connected to Triss, along with the other characters. Triss's absence after the lighthouse just seems to be the most glaring. Hopefully more DLC will come for later on in the game to offer more closure for us for Triss, along with the other characters we're emotionally invested with.

 

[Riddlin]

The more we discuss it the more I think the story was intended to be one way: Yen romance, Ciri dies and the world burns. As a result Geralt retires and gets the hell outta Dodge!

Oh I am sure they had all the options on a whiteboard with lines connecting decisions with all kinds of cause and effect results...then, way late, someone asked, 'but, what IF the player chooses Triss?' At that point silence fell through the room only to finally be broken by the book loyalists(and I don't mean that negatively at ALL) who shook their collective heads and in the end conceded that should probably be a real option.

So, being late in the planning process they put a static Triss on the boat in Skelliga and she had very little else to do the rest of the way.

I mean look at the facts, she shows up in Kaer Morhen, but not because Geralt asked her to but 'thanks to Yen for asking' (at least that was the way it was done with the Yen romancing option). In my first play-through I chose Yen(I know...) and Triss was portrayed as cold and straightforward. From my reading in this thread, it seems there may only be ONE way she is 'acted' or portrayed, regardless if she is the love interest or not. That just doesn't seem right to me...

But I also think there are places(and I have posted the ideas several times) where she could make her presence known AND it would be dramatically appropriate for her(or Yen for that matter) to do it.

Some of the arguments against it, those who say well if its a problem then just take her out all together...thats not the point. The fact is we don't know how we would feel if Triss got on the boat after Geralt declares his love for her and she is just gone only to be mentioned in the static ending VO. We don't know how this would have gone over for us because thats not how they did it!

They chose to put a dry, empty and loveless Triss in the ending acts...how could they have thought, in ANY wild sense of their imagination, that the reactions this thread is bringing to light WOULDN'T have been the case?

The truth is, it is EASILY fixable and it wouldn't 'break' the over all main story plot! For those that ask, "well, if a 'fix' doesn't change anything whats the point of wasting time on it?" To those folks I can only say...for the mood of the story. If Geralt is going into the final battle of his life and he has the love of his life with him trying to save his daughter, the one being he might love more than anyone else...to have that, even if it were a cut scene with a couple of dialog choices, the player would FEEL it I thinks. Seems Yen gives Geralt a supportive speech somewhere in there...would be nice if Triss would be able to do that kind of thing too.

 

[Hazevamp]

the game remains the same regardless of who you choose, the game defaults to the world state of yen. having played though with both love interests. i was stunned at how it seemed as if i was with yen even though i chose triss, i also think that book readers have a different vision on the game than us that haven't read the books, i'm more than 100% sure that had i read the books the game would be a very different landscape to look at..

ill leave this here as an interesting read http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-06-ever-wondered-what-the-author-of-the-witcher-books-thinks-about-the-games

"Maybe it's time to set the matters straight," he went on. "'The Witcher' is a well made video game, its success is well deserved and the creators deserve all the splendour and honour due. But in no way can it be considered to be an 'alternative version', nor a 'sequel' to the witcher Geralt stories. Because this can only be told by Geralt's creator. A certain Andrzej Sapkowski."

Well, this pretty much settles that debate. Andrzej's Geralt has nothing to do with game Geralt. So even mentioning the books is pointless. lol!!

As for Triss, A good pep talk on the boat in Skellige and spending some time with her at Kaer Morhan could have gone a long way. I think it was said that it seems like CDPR lost faith in their own story and tried to follow the books. Judging by the author's own words they shouldn't have bothered.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Excellent post, OP. Kudos.

I couldn't decide for one option in the poll though. I do think that Triss lacks some content in the game but I personally don't care that much because I'd never go with Triss while there is Yen available.

 

[Riddlin]

As for Triss, A good pep talk on the boat in Skellige and spending some time with her at Kaer Morhan could have gone a long way.

BAM!!! <And he drops the mic and saunters off stage!>

 

[bigmaccy]

i care so much that i stopped being a lurker and actually posted, i never did that with mass effect, although after that i never wanted to touch it again, i love cdpr writing and id just really like triss to be somewhat represented in the final acts all was fine untill you hit the funeral and then its obvious. you can talk to everyone vess and roche, even hjalmar, but no triss or yen and the game continues like that. its at that point i started to feel withdrawn from the world..

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

I still want explanation why geralt and triss act like they broke up SINCE i went on nilfgaardian camp and saved her in W2. Maybe that situation could be a result IF you chose to help Roche/ Iorveth. That could make sense since you put friend over her

Check my post here: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/40694-The-Triss-content-and-the-inconsistency-of-our-romance-s-choice?p=1746053#post1746053
I went into some detail about the reunion between Geralt and Triss. About what their dialogue hints at. Again, all conjecture.

The answer is simple: I don't think she can just teleport people over such a long distance that easily. I mean we've already seen teleportation go wrong during the Keira Metz quest, and that was just her trying to teleport Geralt across the room!

Well they did address that one. The Wild Hunt navigator, Caranthir, was messing with any other portals in the area. Hence why they got separated. But I agree with you, the teleporting stuff seems inconsistent. Sometimes it's incredibly accurate and long-ranges and can handle multiple people and sometimes it goes horribly awry with just one person. Kind of a weird thing we were never really told anything about.

With Ciri though, it seems she is able to teleport long distances and across time and space quite accurately. She takes her and Geralt from the Isle of the Mists, which is sort of an extra-dimensional Limbo-like space, all the way to Kaer Morhen. Again, they don't give us a lot of details on teleportation or how it works.

 

[Riddlin]

This is a little off topic...and I am probably gonna come off as Capt. Obvious...has it been discussed that Ciri describes having 'visited' the Cyberpunk 2077 world? I actually almost had a spit-take when she described that to Geralt

Sorry, back on topic!

 

[msanx]

This is a little off topic...and I am probably gonna come off as Capt. Obvious...has it been discussed that Ciri describes having 'visited' the Cyberpunk 2077 world? I actually almost had a spit-take when she described that to Geralt

Sorry, back on topic!

Someone actually asked CDPR that question, and they replied with "well...no comment", it was in an article, i don't know if i can find it now. Ok back on topic

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

CDPR is one of the few AAA developers left that seem to least care about fan feedback, so I really hope that Triss and friends from the past two games have a big role in the upcoming expansions. I'm at the Isle of Mist and I can't pull myself to finish it.

We've got two years of TW3 support from RED, so at least we have time on our side. Its a matter of desire from the devs and if there is enough fans that desire it.

 

[xE1NSTE1Nx2049]

Geralt's amnesia made sure we could take Geralt in any direction.

So much yes to this. The amnesia gave you the chance to make the character your own. Basically by making him a blank slate. When he gets his memories back, he is flooded with new information but your post-amneisa stuff is still there. This is the device that gives you the context for a lot of your choices.

Where can we read this?

Check my post before about the changes to the Enhanced Edition of W2. They made a commitment to perfect the game by addressing a lot of player concerns (Loc Muinne specifically) but they also added some changes that nobody was asking for. Stuff that made the game flow more smoothly and helped to tie together distant sections. They have given themselves a personal challenge to not only make a game better than what everyone else is making but to make a game that is better than what they, themselves, originally made.

---------- Updated at 03:07 AM ----------

Finally caught up from last night Some good stuff people but mainly keeping the discussion alive is what's important.

We have over 100k views and we smashed 2500 posts (2660 now). The poll also has 538 votes (85% in our favor)