Two issues; QTE and SEX

[Kalfear]

Kalfear - you were ranting about how the game would be watered down blah blah blah, when the *only* difference in regards to sex is the cards. hence, it was natural to assume you were talking about their omission from 2, especially considering the OP was ranting about the cards. It sounded like you were agreeing with him. If you watch the assorted preview material you will see there is a woman who propositions Geralt for sex, there are hookers, and he has a sex scene with Triss etc. So it's all definitely still there. And I think you are putting too much emphasis on protesters for game changes, personally. I think it has more to do with appealing to a wider audience than anything. if you can get a rating that will allow you to sell to more people, a lot of companies will take that route. CDProjekt RED has said they aren't doing this, however. They have said something to the effect that they are confident that the stuff that got censored in the previous game (in the US) will be allowed for the second, and they are pleased by this fact.

Well 1st off we have drastically different opinions on what a rant is 2nd off, sorry but I seen franchises I LOVED torn apart in the past by these "special interest" groups. Much like many (not all but many) "special interest groups" (AKA vocal minorities) in real life try to bully and intimidate political figures into doing and changing stuff that serve their interests alone, so is the same for games.My old Gold Box Games that were market leaders listened to "special interest groups" and changed their product and SSI ended up going bankrupt over it. That was 20 years ago and the same crap still happening today with titles like Mass Effect 2 (ME1 was my favorite game of all time, ME2 is unplayable for me) and now with my 2nd favorite franchise Dragon Age!So sorry, I dont think I give them to much credit or power, these people live to ruin things others love. Changing them and degrading them to suit their own personal political agendas (be it womens lib, same sex, nudity, violence, what ever). These are games, and if the main character is a male (or female) slut, then so be it, I dont want any special interest group changing that!If you (gasp) see a boob when in a love sceen (or even not), I dont want some special interest group changing that.If there is fighting in game (violence) I dont want some special interest group changing that!Im all for changes that make products better and help them evolve, Im not in favor now (or ever) of giving into special interest groups with their own political agendas!And I sTILL have said squat about the cards!Now THATS a rant!

 

[username_2090832]

Tell me which groups protested the games, and quotes from the devs or publishers saying they made changes for that reason, not just assumptions that because some people were upset that HAD to be the reason, and I'll believe you. Until then I think you're jumping at ghosts, correlation does not equal causation. Just because there were protests does not automatically make them the cause of any changes. I know Mass Effect had some people (well, just a talking head on Fox News, really. ONE person) in a snit over the sex. But that wasn't someone representing a minority group, it was just one woman. Even *Jack Thompson* of all people defended the game, and the person who made the complaint admitted she had complained without seeing the game, and once someone played the game with her watching, she took it back. And then Dragon Age cranked the sex up to 11 compared to Mass Effect, you could have a foursome if you played you cards right, and had guy-on-guy in addition to guy-on-girl or girl-on-girl, so I really don't think Bioware payed her much heed. They could have easily removed that bit at the last minute if they really were concerned about it, especially since there is a non-sex option to the whole situation that could lead to a foursome, anyway.Look. I know there are prudes who yell and scream about things, I remember the Moral Majority, and the Hot Coffee fiasco. (though as I recall that had more to do with the rating of the game than the fact that it was in there at all) But they very often don't get their way, ESPECIALLY if the company being targeted is not American. As evidenced by the censoring of The Witcher in the US but not elsewhere, Americans have a pretty prudish view of sex compared to the rest of the world. But that was the ratings board, not protesters. Just because one company may have caved doesn't mean they all will, nor does it mean all changes can be attributed to complaints, maybe they just wanted to go in another direction all on their own. Game companies in general are well aware of the assorted 'concerns' that are raised, about violence, sex etc. in games, even if they have never been the specific target. And yet, there are a whole lot of incredibly gory games out there, and some games with sex, much of it a LOT more graphic than anything that has ever appeared in The Witcher or any of Bioware's games. (see: God of War III) ETA: while I have not played Mass Effect 2 (just 1) I have spent sometime researching the changes, about all I had heard about it was that it had stripped away RPG elements. I figured I may have missed something, though. but nope...the changes do not seem to be anything that could in any way be tied to protests or complaints, at least not complaints of a "moral" nature. They could perhaps be seen as playing to the lowest common denominator by making it more simple, but... They seem to be mostly game mechanics. Except for when it comes to romance, the one area that if it were changed due to moral complaints, that would be it. In fact, it seems to be the opposite of caving to the prudes demands. They have expanded the romance options to allow a true lesbian relationship, not just the sorta halfway lesbian relationship in the first, and there are in general many more romance options, even opportunities for inter-species relationships besides Asari. While some of the cutscenes are rather tame, others are pretty racy. no nudity, but there wasn't any beyond brief side boob in the first, anyway. This is looking more and more like a company deciding to appeal to a wider audience by simplifying gameplay. misguided, possibly, but it's all Bioware's doing as far as I can see.

 

[Garrison72]

Kalfear, TW2 will not be toned down in content, I'm sure of it. CD Projekt will make the game for adults, not kids, or not to be politically correct. No worries.

 

[prfprf]

Hi there! All of you CD RED guys, did a great job. I think, TW2 is the best PC game ever.I have a modest suggestion: given that despite the warnings about the contents of the game, thousands of youngsters are going to play the game, ON BEHALF OF THEIR POOR PARENTS, I have a small (but logical) request: please construct an option at the start up menu, WHICH WILL TURN OFF THE SEX-SCENES!!! PLEASE!!! It is really a disadvantage for your beautiful game to lack such an option! You like it sexy? No, problem, let it be. But, please, give us (and especially our children) the possibility to CHOOSE! Thank you so very much for your time, and please, have my request under serious consideration.With honour, Porfyrios Alexander, GREECE.

 

[Flash]

At this point nobody will confirm nor deny if such option can be included but we already know that CDPR is aiming for mature audience and PEGI 18. Turning off sex scene kind of contradicts the whole idea of the game and its relation to the books. Besides, I always wonder why sex is considered a bigger evil than murdering people, drugs, etc. Not to mention that sex in games never shows full frontal nudity.

 

[Corylea.723]

Besides, I always wonder why sex is considered a bigger evil than murdering people, drugs, etc. Not to mention that sex in games never shows full frontal nudity.

The game is not for children. If you knowingly let your child play a game that is rated "Mature" or "Over 18" (or whatever the rating is in your country), then the responsibility for what that child sees lies with you, not with the developer.In The Witcher 1, the player can see severed heads rolling across the ground, can see Geralt hamstring a man, then slit his throat, can see Geralt stand on a man's chest, plunging his sword straight down into the length of his body. Personally, I'd worry about what seeing things like THAT were doing to my child's tender mind, rather than worrying about the sight of people making love.

 

[secondchildren]

Hi there! All of you CD RED guys, did a great job. I think, TW2 is the best PC game ever.I have a modest suggestion: given that despite the warnings about the contents of the game, thousands of youngsters are going to play the game, ON BEHALF OF THEIR POOR PARENTS, I have a small (but logical) request: please construct an option at the start up menu, WHICH WILL TURN OFF THE SEX-SCENES!!! PLEASE!!! It is really a disadvantage for your beautiful game to lack such an option! You like it sexy? No, problem, let it be. But, please, give us (and especially our children) the possibility to CHOOSE! Thank you so very much for your time, and please, have my request under serious consideration.With honour, Porfyrios Alexander, GREECE.

Why don't you let children play something else? like rabbids or Mickey Mouse, Looney toons or whatever? And just in case, why don't you forbid'em to watch the tv too?

 

[Demut]

As already mentioned: You fear for your children because of sex scenes but gore is OK with you? Oh and by the way, when did parents start to hand their responsibility to the government, asking them to censor “inappropriate” content? Long story short: I think it’s a troll.

 

[prfprf]

OK guys, I can see I caused a small earthquake, but let us see the FACTS. First of all, I don't have children of my own. If I had I assure you that I 'd rather had them going for a walk in the park, or reading a book, or discussing with me. NO TV, NO PC, NO WITCHER AT ALL!!! That's how my idea begun: the other time (some several months ago), I entered an Internet Cafe to dl a driver for my plotter. It was about the time that pupils return to their home from school. A bunch of maybe 7,8 children, aged about 10 (!!!) entered the Cafe (such things happen everywhere in daily basis, so don't be surprised "why the hell were they allowed to enter the Cafe"), going directly to a PC loaded with TW#1. One of them (their ...leader) played, the others commented. I am a sociologist, so unwillingly I started to watch this peculiar ...team. I was impressed that they didn't comment the bloody scenes (to me, because they had somehow "accepted" the fact that fighting for a cause cannot be bloodless). But, during the "sex scenes", dear God, their comments made my face (cd) red! I stopped concerning about my dl and tried to discuss with them, pretending I was enthusiastic about the game. Well, at my PROFESSIONAL and very RESPONSIBLE opinion, these very scenes let a deep mark in their hearts...I, thereafter, bought the game to study it. Well, aesthetically I liked it. Very genuine, nice graphics, good and fast action. Now, morally speaking, as the story flaws, one can roughly "understand" that the bloodshed is somewhat "necessary" in order for the domain principles to be restored: order, peace, dignity. [NOTICE THAT Butching and Slaughtering is totally inhuman, totally unjustified to me. What I'm saying is: given the fact that our society has long ago turned (by the ...Great Minds who rule the Nations) to be a jungle (literally), the average human being, man, woman or child, can say to themselves: "blood is freedom's stain" and ...clear their conscious!!! (which method of ...clarification, they have been taught by the... Great Minds who rule the Media)] .On the other hand there's a big questionmark about the sex scenes (BECAUSE, SEX IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN VIOLENCE). The hero turn to be a sexually starving subject and one can wonder: "what the goodness, he is fighting for a purpose or f****ng for a purpose?"It is scientifically proven that a child is eager to imitate the sexual prototypes than the violent ones. Statistically, 4 to 1 children will "cultivate" inside them the sexual messages than the violent ones. In simple terms: 4 out of 5 children playing a sexual+violent game, will seek in one way or another to "act" in their real lives according to the sexual images the have stored in their minds and only 1 out of 5 will seek to "act" violently (again according to the violent themes they stored in their minds). And these facts are the result of a very long observation by many fellow scientists around the world.The majority of the PC players (about 65%) are children 9-14 years old (statistically proven). And given the aforementioned FACTS, I cannot see why my proposal (very politely expressed) is not a reasonable one... Anyhow, I thank you all for the oportunity to discuss this matter. Good night and have a nice sleep.P.S: "I'd love to change the world, but I don't know what to do, so I'm leaving it up to you..." Alvin Lee. Different times, different ideas, different games....

 

[Garrison72]

Dear CD Projekt:I have a child and want to expose him to sex, violence, busty polish women, naughty cards, political intrigue, warring philosophical ideals, decapitation, severing of limbs, prostitutes, drugs, and carnivorous plants. And I want it all to be in the American version. I know you won't let me down.

 

[Corylea.723]

Dear CD Projekt:I have a child and want to expose him to sex, violence, busty polish women, naughty cards, political intrigue, warring philosophical ideals, decapitation, severing of limbs, prostitutes, drugs, and carnivorous plants. And I want it all to be in the American version. I know you won't let me down.

LOVE it!Here, take an oren for that.

 

[Demut]

And given the aforementioned FACTS, I cannot see why my proposal (very politely expressed) is not a reasonable one...

Because the game is made for adults and not for children. If parents don’t want their child to see certain things in a video game, they don’t allow the child to play it. End of the story.

Here, take an oren for that.

Oh? They finally fixed it?

 

[Karasu]

The majority of the PC players (about 65%) are children 9-14 years old (statistically proven). And given the aforementioned FACTS, I cannot see why my proposal (very politely expressed) is not a reasonable one... Anyhow, I thank you all for the oportunity to discuss this matter.

Well, I think it's simply time to understand that not all PC-games are for children, period! (works fine for movies and comic books, btw)Has nothing to do with your polite proposal, fact is, this game was always intended for a mature audience (means 18+) and not suited at all for pupils from elementary school. (yep, the 65% should just play something else... ) Asked in a different way: what would you have done, if those children would not have played a game (with more or less strong sex... come on, every museum has more nakedness!) but watched a hard core Porn or a Horror-movie? Would you then also write to the producer and ask to make it more "child" friendly, because XX% of all audience are children?At this point, you actually must ask yourself how these children could get their hands on a game like that. I think, that's the point, and all those notes, signs and warnings on a cover just cannot help, when they are ignored by parents, elder brothers, the friendly retailer and when parents do not check what their children do while they surf the internet.We also must somehow accept, we cannot make everything "safe" for children - this would not sensibilise any parent who has dropped it's responsibility to government, btw. Those idiots just would get out stronger, because they now would get just more reason not to care.I bet most parents not even know what their child reads, watches or plays and even if they do, they possibly never talk about it - and this is the true problem. Not a perhaps incidently seen sex scene will screw up a childs mind, but the parents negligence.Geez, I really wonder why there still is no child license...

 

[Flash]

It's not developers problem that parents fail when it comes to control of what their children playing.

Here, take an oren for that.

Oh? They finally fixed it?

It was never broken.

 

[danconnors]

I've tried before to suggest that sex be removed from the game. To my 60 something year old eyes it seems a pointless waste of DVD space. I buy and play the game to play the Witcher Geralt--not Leisure suit Geralt. I want to lop heads, not have.......well, you know.As for learning abouut sex I accomplished that around age 11 when I got hold of my parent's "marriage manual". and eagerly read it from cover to cover in a few hours.As has been noted you don't actually see much at all. If you want to view actual sex, between real people (not cartoon people) there are probably at least a million porno sites on the internet eager to oblige you.I'll still buy the game, hoping it will be as good as or better than the original. When the childish sex scenes play out I'll simply roll my eyes and press on to the blood spattered gore I bought the game for. On the other hand if they eliminated the gore I'd ask for my money back.

 

[Karasu]

As for learning abouut sex I accomplished that around age 11 when I got hold of my parent's "marriage manual". and eagerly read it from cover to cover in a few hours.

Ah! Didn't we all find Pa's one-hand-magazine collection one day? I still have a little tear in my eye when my daddy failed to explain "life and how it comes into the world" to me. Gosh, the old man could blush.---Aye - it is kinda interesting how people actually perceive this part of the game.

 

[Garrison72]

I've tried before to suggest that sex be removed from the game. To my 60 something year old eyes it seems a pointless waste of DVD space. I buy and play the game to play the Witcher Geralt--not Leisure suit Geralt. I want to lop heads, not have.......well, you know.As for learning abouut sex I accomplished that around age 11 when I got hold of my parent's "marriage manual". and eagerly read it from cover to cover in a few hours.As has been noted you don't actually see much at all. If you want to view actual sex, between real people (not cartoon people) there are probably at least a million porno sites on the internet eager to oblige you.I'll still buy the game, hoping it will be as good as or better than the original. When the childish sex scenes play out I'll simply roll my eyes and press on to the blood spattered gore I bought the game for. On the other hand if they eliminated the gore I'd ask for my money back.

I think you're due on the Bioware forums where this kind of vacuous argument is taken seriously.

 

[Flash]

We respect all opinions here, especially when they are stated in cultural manner.

 

[danconnors]

To Slimgrim: As opposed to the deeply intellectual, profoundly thoughtful argument you presented on the previous page???

 

[Garrison72]

To Slimgrim: As opposed to the deeply intellectual, profoundly thoughtful argument you presented on the previous page???

*Strikes Shakespearean pose*So much in life and art is needlessly trammeled upon by well intentioned censorship. Let's just let The Witcher be what it is, shall we?