Triss Merigold (all spoilers)

[aleister_l]

Some people think that she's important just because she's a love interest.In TW1 she's definitely more important than in other two games,but her role is still pretty minimal.She's important in the prologue and act 3 and barely present(or not present at all)in other acts.Characters like Alvin,Shani,Yaevinn,Siegfrid,Kalkstein ect have just as big if not bigger role.In TW2 Triss spends more then half of the game captured.And in TW3 she has almost the same amount of screentime and importance as Keira Metz.

In tw2 I was much more interested in capturing Letho because he kidnaped Triss than because he killed Foltest (even though I liked Foltest)

 

[EndlessSpace]

Hahahah No are you serious, they were never as important, they were means to an end of finding Triss - Which was the main goal of the entire game!

You can't say they were more important than the main goal, that makes no sense.

Finding Triss was never a main goal. The story of Witcher 2 was about Geralt trying to clear his name.
Triss getting caprured was just a subplot. You can even choose to not save Triss, althought you know she is improsoned and could be tortured and killed. (you see what Radovid did to Phillipa right before you make the Triss/Saskia choice)

 

[C0bR]

Main goal of TW2 was finding Triss? TW2 is a romance game? Now I have seen it all.

Being disappointed at Triss being pushed to the side (as much as a secondary character can be pushed to the side) is solely a fault of the people with obviously false expectations. If you are unable to take in all three games as one whole instead of just looking at three separate parts, then it's completly your own wrongdoing.

In fact if screentime does not matter (it does) then Yennefer was probably more important for TW2 than Triss, as the whole story is framed by Geralt getting back his memories of her. Of course things fly over people's heads...

Well since we're on a rant, let me get this one out of my system. For me, the big disappointment in this game is that everything about the story seems designed to pander to new customers and book readers whilst completely marginalising those of us who made CDPR what they are today. Without us buying the previous two games, they'd still be some tiny little outfit scraping out a living somewhere in Poland - if they were still in business at all. To then treat us as if nothing we'd done prior was important was outrageous.

I wanted my choices to count. I wanted how I'd played the game in the previous two games to mean something and I start up the game and find everything I'd done before was of no consequence and that I'm being forced in to decisions I did not make, would not make, and do not want to make, i.e. a friggin Yen romance when I have precisely zero interest in that. I've said before and I'll say it again, those of us who played the previous games and made choices involving Triss were hugely disrespected by CDPR and it pisses me off no end.

The worst part about this is I believe they still don't get this. They think it's some kind of Teenage Triss crush when it's not, it's about completing our own personal stories. That's what Role Playing games are meant to be about. Allowing the player to craft their own story within the world setting presented to us. I'm really not hopeful that we'll see anything other than the most minor changes made because everything about this game says "screw you, you're having Yen whether you like it or not".

Now this is just pure pettiness. CDPR are where they are because of people who love the franchise, not because of people who love Triss exclusively.

 

[FarrySquall]

Finding Triss was never a main goal. The story of Witcher 2 was about Geralt trying to clear his name.
Triss getting caprured was just a subplot. You can even choose to not save Triss, althought you know she is improsoned and could be tortured and killed. (you see what Radovid did to Phillipa right before you make the Triss/Saskia choice)

-Clear Geralt name is the main plot in Act 1
-Save Triss or pursue Letho is the main plot in other Act

Player choice: Geralt doesn't even care about clear his name, now that Dandelion, Zoltan, Triss know about that and he remember Yennefer; He want to go find Yen immediately. The only thing prevent him is Letho kidnap Triss, then Geralt need to find her

Main goal of TW2 was finding Triss? TW2 is a romance game? Now I have seen it all.

Being disappointed at Triss being pushed to the side (as much as a secondary character can be pushed to the side) is solely a fault of the people with obviously false expectations. If you are unable to take in all three games as one whole instead of just looking at three separate parts, then it's completly your own wrongdoing.

In fact if screentime does not matter (it does) then Yennefer was probably more important for TW2 than Triss, as the whole story is framed by Geralt getting back his memories of her. Of course things fly over people's heads...

Geralt save his friend/lover. Hell why he even care about some Witcher go around killing king while his friend in danger ?

Roche/Ioverth is Geralt's friend, not Anais/Saskia. So it make sense to me Geralt should save Triss in Act 3

]

Well that may happen, and i know a few that did that....but the point is because the Yen romance arc feels a bit more 'default' they may go for that especially if they did Skellige before the now or never quest......the problem is that a lot of characters are relegated and made to feel redundant.....Triss should be a major character (fourth main character) but the content states otherwise, Ciri didn't really have much interactions with people like Yen/Triss, Avallach was more important towards the end than the likes of Yen and Triss (from what i saw), Fringilla says like two lines in the entire game, Iorveth and Saskia are nowehere to be found, Djikstra goes crazy after killing Radovid just to force the player into a 'difficult' choice and Eredin was the main villian? come on, Lambert's jokes were more threatening than Eredin was (just my opinion of course). Either way the character development isn't that great and newcomers are less likely to choose Triss (not all but i suspect the majority) because they want to get the most out of the story and the inconsistencies disrupt that when choosing Triss.

Anger

I want the fix for all character nowwwwwwwwww

 

[saladin1701]

It's a simple question that can be asked: Why was The Witcher 2 so successful? Was it it's performance heavy graphics? Was it it's combat system? Was it the strong supporting cast involving Zoltan, Iorveth, Roche, Ves, Saskia, Sile and Phillipa? Or was it Geralt's returning memories of Yennefer? No, none of these were the reason for that game's success. The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told. That's what made that game so successful and by extension, that's what made this Trilogy so successful. There wouldn't even be a third game if not for that story leading to the success.

You didn't see Ves or Sasskia or Sile or Phillipa (all of whom it could be argued, are as sexy as Triss) or even Yennefer appearing in playboy or have racy photoshoots for calendars being made, it was Triss because she was the super-sexy love of the protagonist's life. To then toss that away in an attempt to pander to book readers makes no sense at all. This game is commercially successful. Imagine how much more commercially successful it could have been if it had recaptured the magic of TW2's storyline? This is a great game but its story is a muddled mess that leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[FarrySquall]

It's a simple question that can be asked: Why was The Witcher 2 so successful? Was it it's performance heavy graphics? Was it it's combat system? Was it the strong supporting cast involving Zoltan, Iorveth, Roche, Triss, Saskia, Sile and Phillipa? Or was it Geralt's returning memories of Yennefer? No, none of these were the reason for that game's success. The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told. That's what made that game so successful and by extension, that's what made this Trilogy so successful. There wouldn't even be a third game if not for that story leading to the success.

You didn't see Sasskia or Sile or Phillipa or even Yennefer appearing in playboy or have racy photoshoots for calendars being made, it was Triss because she was the super-sexy love of the protagonist's life. To then toss that away in an attempt to pander to book readers makes no sense at all. This game is commercially successful. Imagine how much more commercially successful it could have been if it had recaptured the magic of TW2's storyline? This is a great game but its story is a muddled mess that leaves a lot to be desired.

Hmm, i don't know what to say about this one, maybe true, maybe not

 

[wright1978]

I wanted my choices to count. I wanted how I'd played the game in the previous two games to mean something and I start up the game and find everything I'd done before was of no consequence and that I'm being forced in to decisions I did not make, would not make, and do not want to make, i.e. a friggin Yen romance when I have precisely zero interest in that. I've said before and I'll say it again, those of us who played the previous games and made choices involving Triss were hugely disrespected by CDPR and it pisses me off no end.

The worst part about this is I believe they still don't get this. They think it's some kind of Teenage Triss crush when it's not, it's about completing our own personal stories. That's what Role Playing games are meant to be about. Allowing the player to craft their own story within the world setting presented to us. I'm really not hopeful that we'll see anything other than the most minor changes made because everything about this game says "screw you, you're having Yen whether you like it or not".

Given the low level of import from TW1 to the TW2 to be honest i expected something similar with TW3. Don't think it's realistic to call it being disrespected, they are the developers and they have every right to move the story along as they wish between games. I wouldn't mind if they adopted a deeper import system but its not something they've been a central claim as far as i'm aware.

Personally i'm optimistic that the changes they envision will improve the Triss romance experience. I suppose that feeling depends on your state of view of the current romance is. I think the first half is excellent(in hindsight i very much enjoyed re-establishing the love after they moved the story forward via the breakup) but thereafter there's only scraps of good material and an decent epilogue. With some reactivity and additional dialogue i think the whole piece can hold together much better and more on a par with the Yen execution.

 

[EndlessSpace]

-Clear Geralt name is the main plot in Act 1
-Save Triss or pursue Letho is the main plot in other Act

Player choice: Geralt doesn't even care about clear his name, now that Dandelion, Zoltan, Triss know about that and he remember Yennefer; He want to go find Yen immediately. The only thing prevent him is Letho kidnap Triss, then Geralt need to find her

I disagree. I can't imagine CDP intended that saving Triss is the main goal or even a important goal if they gave us the choice to not save her at all in 2/4 cases.
Clearing his name happens automatically when you find Letho, no matter the choices.
I would say the main goals of the games are to find the Kingslayer and clear his name+ regaining his memory to find out what happened with Yennefer.
Saving Triss is a minor matter and mostly serves as a opportunity to find out about the assassinations.
Didn't you ask yourself why Geralt doesn't really care that much about Triss when he saves her, instead just want's to know how she is involved in the whole mess with the lodge and assassinations?

---------- Updated at 11:26 AM ----------

It's a simple question that can be asked: Why was The Witcher 2 so successful? Was it it's performance heavy graphics? Was it it's combat system? Was it the strong supporting cast involving Zoltan, Iorveth, Roche, Ves, Saskia, Sile and Phillipa? Or was it Geralt's returning memories of Yennefer? No, none of these were the reason for that game's success. The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told. That's what made that game so successful and by extension, that's what made this Trilogy so successful. There wouldn't even be a third game if not for that story leading to the success.

.

That'S the biggest bullshit I have ever read on this forum.

 

[wichat]

It's a simple question that can be asked: Why was The Witcher 2 so successful? Was it it's performance heavy graphics? Was it it's combat system? Was it the strong supporting cast involving Zoltan, Iorveth, Roche, Ves, Saskia, Sile and Phillipa? Or was it Geralt's returning memories of Yennefer? No, none of these were the reason for that game's success. The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told. That's what made that game so successful and by extension, that's what made this Trilogy so successful. There wouldn't even be a third game if not for that story leading to the success.

You didn't see Ves or Sasskia or Sile or Phillipa (all of whom it could be argued, are as sexy as Triss) or even Yennefer appearing in playboy or have racy photoshoots for calendars being made, it was Triss because she was the super-sexy love of the protagonist's life. To then toss that away in an attempt to pander to book readers makes no sense at all. This game is commercially successful. Imagine how much more commercially successful it could have been if it had recaptured the magic of TW2's storyline? This is a great game but its story is a muddled mess that leaves a lot to be desired.

Oh, really?... Poor CDPR Art concept Team!... Do they really desrve this low opinion?

So, basiclly, after this post, we should believe that eight years of work of 200 people only valid to create an erotic myth? ... Pure conceptual maturity ...

I'm always shocked how easily one can lose his own credibility

 

[Scryar]

The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told.

No offense, but

 

[saladin1701]

Given the low level of import from TW1 to the TW2 to be honest i expected something similar with TW3. Don't think it's realistic to call it being disrespected, they are the developers and they have every right to move the story along as they wish between games. I wouldn't mind if they adopted a deeper import system but its not something they've been a central claim as far as i'm aware.

Personally i'm optimistic that the changes they envision will improve the Triss romance experience. I suppose that feeling depends on your state of view of the current romance is. I think the first half is excellent(in hindsight i very much enjoyed re-establishing the love after they moved the story forward via the breakup) but thereafter there's only scraps of good material and an decent epilogue. With some reactivity and additional dialogue i think the whole piece can hold together much better and more on a par with the Yen execution.

Perhaps that's too strong a word in terms of the trilogy but certainly not when it comes to TW3 alone where your choices are ignored. The writers treat the player like an imbecile by invalidating their choices without the player's consent. As I've said, the writing in this game is a mess. Romances that aren't romances, lack of characterisation for new characters, enemies that are both Elves and Wraiths simultaneously (yes I know TW2 explains this but that's not help if you've never played it), and snow storms that need to be defeated with a sword. The writing in the game is comically bad in places, stunningly good in others. You have story lines like The Bloody Baron and then an ending that is only marginally less idiotic than Mass Effect 3's Blue/Green/Red choices.

The writers do an incredibly good job in places making you feel sympathy and understanding towards a brutish wife beater then completely fail to explain how Ciri is going to defeat a snow storm or why the En Elle's home world is dying, especially as when you arrive, it's a place of beauty as commented on by Geralt. The romance issues are a symptom, not the cause and if ever a game was in need of an enhanced edition that cleaned up the mess the release version is, it's this one.

 

[FarrySquall]

I disagree. I can't imagine CDP intended that saving Triss is the main goal or even a important goal if they gave us the choice to not save her at all in 2/4 cases.
Clearing his name happens automatically when you find Letho, no matter the choices.
I would say the main goals of the games are to find the Kingslayer and clear his name+ regaining his memory to find out what happened with Yennefer.
Saving Triss is a minor matter and mostly serves as a opportunity to find out about the assassinations.
Didn't you ask yourself why Geralt doesn't really care that much about Triss when he saves her, instead just want's to know how she is involved in the whole mess with the lodge and assassinations?

I put myself in Geralt's thinking:
-Does he need to clear his name ? Nope, just want to get out of prison, but Roche help him, so to pay the debt Geralt help Roche find Letho. He also promise to get Letho in elven bath for Roche, then they part way (no clear name needed)
-Why he pursue Letho ?
+My Geralt care for his friends first, other stuff second. Since Letho kidnap Triss now Geralt want to find her and make sure she safe.
+In Ioverth path, Phillipa try to make Geralt help her, but he say Triss might be in danger so he need to rescue Triss (player's choice)
+Geralt get lucky because Letho also know about Yennefer (if Letho said he know Yen in Act 1 - don't remember - then thing get interesting )

This is MY canon. I understand it may contrast with many other canon


Knew saladin post will cause a storm here

 

[Sephira]

Wait, let's think about this. Saving Triss is also an important goal in TW2, not the main one but one of them. Think about it as Geralt from the games and/or from the books, saving a friend is important too. You as a player have to choose to do it, not to do it, or giving enough help to save this character. The way you do it (or you don't) influences the epilogue.

It's a simple question that can be asked: Why was The Witcher 2 so successful? Was it it's performance heavy graphics? Was it it's combat system? Was it the strong supporting cast involving Zoltan, Iorveth, Roche, Ves, Saskia, Sile and Phillipa? Or was it Geralt's returning memories of Yennefer? No, none of these were the reason for that game's success. The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told. That's what made that game so successful and by extension, that's what made this Trilogy so successful. There wouldn't even be a third game if not for that story leading to the success.

You didn't see Ves or Sasskia or Sile or Phillipa (all of whom it could be argued, are as sexy as Triss) or even Yennefer appearing in playboy or have racy photoshoots for calendars being made, it was Triss because she was the super-sexy love of the protagonist's life. To then toss that away in an attempt to pander to book readers makes no sense at all. This game is commercially successful. Imagine how much more commercially successful it could have been if it had recaptured the magic of TW2's storyline? This is a great game but its story is a muddled mess that leaves a lot to be desired.

No offense but... replay the games, both W1 and W2. It's like your post is degrading other people's work for the sake of creating an herotic myth... this is just wrong... imho.

 

[wichat]

I put myself in Geralt's thinking:
-Does he need to clear his name ? Nope, just want to get out of prison,..

Absolutly agree... why the hell would he clear his reputarion if his contracts and profession only depends of his reputation?..

Wait? What am I saying?

 

[saladin1701]

Oh, really?... Poor CDPR Art concept Team!... Do they really desrve this low opinion?

So, basiclly, after this post, we should believe that eight years of work of 200 people only valid to create an erotic myth? ... Pure conceptual maturity ...

I'm always shocked how easily one can lose his own credibility

Perhaps you should learn to read. I said it was the love story, not the eroticism accompanying the release of the game. The eroticism is only a consequence of the character being so iconic. It it was purely about titillation then we'd have had other characters having erotic photo shoots. It's not the fact that the Triss Calendar shows a naked girl, it's the fact they chose Triss rather than going with a Calendar that eroticized a variety of the characters. You have Vess running around a battlefield with her shirt open, you have Sorceresses galore flashing cleavage around the screen, but they weren't chosen because it was marketability of Triss as Geralt's love interest, not Triss an object of lust as you suggest. In fact Triss was the most modestly dressed of any of the female characters in that game.

I have been quite persistent in my views since first coming to these forums. It never been about Triss nor the Triss romance, it has always been about continuity of writing and the amount of plot holes created as a result of the marginalisation of Triss. It's always annoyed me that the game was so heavily stand alone rather than allowing new players to be introduced to the characters through better characterisation. Better writing would have alleviated the problems associated never having played either of the last two games. They didn't have to completely ignore player's choices and create the mess they did.

 

[wichat]

Perhaps you should learn to read. I said it was the love story, not the eroticism accompanying the release of the game. The eroticism is only a consequence of the character being so iconic. It it was purely about titillation then we'd have had other characters having erotic photo shoots. It's not the fact that the Triss Calendar shows a naked girl, it's the fact they chose Triss rather than going with a Calendar that eroticized a variety of the characters. You have Vess running around a battlefield with her shirt open, you have Sorceresses galore flashing cleavage around the screen, but they weren't chosen because it was marketing Triss as Geralt's love interest, not Triss an object of lust as you suggest.

Yep I did.... And it seems I not the only one who interprete your post that way

You didn't see Ves or Sasskia or Sile or Phillipa (all of whom it could be argued, are as sexy as Triss) or even Yennefer appearing in playboy or have racy photoshoots for calendars being made, it was Triss because she was the super-sexy love of the protagonist's life.

Weak memories?

 

[KingHochmeister]

It's a simple question that can be asked: Why was The Witcher 2 so successful? Was it it's performance heavy graphics? Was it it's combat system? Was it the strong supporting cast involving Zoltan, Iorveth, Roche, Ves, Saskia, Sile and Phillipa? Or was it Geralt's returning memories of Yennefer? No, none of these were the reason for that game's success. The sole reason that game was so successful was Triss, or more precisely, the love story between Triss and Geralt that was told. That's what made that game so successful and by extension, that's what made this Trilogy so successful. There wouldn't even be a third game if not for that story leading to the success.

You didn't see Ves or Sasskia or Sile or Phillipa (all of whom it could be argued, are as sexy as Triss) or even Yennefer appearing in playboy or have racy photoshoots for calendars being made, it was Triss because she was the super-sexy love of the protagonist's life. To then toss that away in an attempt to pander to book readers makes no sense at all. This game is commercially successful. Imagine how much more commercially successful it could have been if it had recaptured the magic of TW2's storyline? This is a great game but its story is a muddled mess that leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[wright1978]

Perhaps that's too strong a word in terms of the trilogy but certainly not when it comes to TW3 alone where your choices are ignored. The writers treat the player like an imbecile by invalidating their choices without the player's consent. As I've said, the writing in this game is a mess. Romances that aren't romances, lack of characterisation for new characters, enemies that are both Elves and Wraiths simultaneously (yes I know TW2 explains this but that's not help if you've never played it), and snow storms that need to be defeated with a sword. The writing in the game is comically bad in places, stunningly good in others. You have story lines like The Bloody Baron and then an ending that is only marginally less idiotic than Mass Effect 3's Blue/Green/Red choices.

The writers do an incredibly good job in places making you feel sympathy and understanding towards a brutish wife beater then completely fail to explain how Ciri is going to defeat a snow storm or why the En Elle's home world is dying, especially as when you arrive, it's a place of beauty as commented on by Geralt. The romance issues are a symptom, not the cause and if ever a game was in need of an enhanced edition that cleaned up the mess the release version is, it's this one.

Choices have always largely been cosmetic in the witcher games and they remain that way in TW3. Triss in 2 wasn't so much a reflection on TW1 choice as a railroading of events no matter the previous choice.

Sorry can't agree with any of your criticisms about the game and the ending. Trying to compare with the basket case that was ME3 is just plain wrong imo.
My only issue is that the open world causes issues with the narrative, so whilst much better than i anticipated its still not the way i prefer my RPG's to be structured.

 

[TrissMasterRace]

Yeah, will probably get W2 some time in the future when I don't have University commitments. Apparently it's not open world, but meh.

Kinda sad how W3 will be the last one in the trilogy. I really hope they make future Witcher games.

I just got TW2 after playing TW3 (and TW1), I'm playing it and honestly I think I like it kind of better like this, it focuses on the story more.

I'm also sad how I can't look forward to more Witcher games/content with Triss-Geralt romance, maybe we can get Triss-Ciri? :rofl: just kidding lol

---------- Updated at 12:58 PM ----------

Also, I've been reading the last few pages and I'm seeing some aggression towards each other, please can we stop with the personal insults and discuss/compliment Triss nicely?

 

[wright1978]

I put myself in Geralt's thinking:
-Does he need to clear his name ? Nope, just want to get out of prison, but Roche help him, so to pay the debt Geralt help Roche find Letho. He also promise to get Letho in elven bath for Roche, then they part way (no clear name needed)
-Why he pursue Letho ?
+My Geralt care for his friends first, other stuff second. Since Letho kidnap Triss now Geralt want to find her and make sure she safe.
+In Ioverth path, Phillipa try to make Geralt help her, but he say Triss might be in danger so he need to rescue Triss (player's choice)
+Geralt get lucky because Letho also know about Yennefer (if Letho said he know Yen in Act 1 - don't remember - then thing get interesting )

This is MY canon. I understand it may contrast with many other canon

Yeah for me Geralt didn't ever feel any loyalty to Roche's cause but it was a mystery he'd got tangled up in.
When Triss in the Forest suggests they just leave Geralt's quite happy with that notion.
Unfortunately Geralt loses Triss shortly afterwards and suddenly he has to keep going, only this time the primary search is for Triss, whilst the kingslayer is a secondary if interesting concern.(others may very much view rescuing Triss as a secondary concern)
Ends up going off with Iorveth, chasing around madly for Triss and getting ever further bogged down in the politics of the region.
Hence when it comes down to the tempting offers to help Sakia/Anais etc it's quite simple he has to save Triss giving Nilfs a bloody nose is a nice bonus.