Why was the sabbath so tame and why was it changed?

[Scryar]

Why was the sabbath so tame and why was it changed?

After hearing there was a sabbath organized by the three creepiest creatures in the Witcher world I was really surprised and disappointed that we got something that really reminded me of a garden party I visited last year (minus the crones scene)
Looking over last years leaked documents, it was supposed to be different. Imo more suitable considering it's a celebration for the crones and the general tone of the Witcher world.

An extract from the leaked documents regarding the bald mountain story part




How it looks in the game:


So why was it changed? The original concept is imo much closer to what I expect from a sabbath in the Witcher world. Looking through most of the leaked stuff, there are barely any other changes, except for this.

 

[CTPhipps]

Ehhhh,

Given this involves the whole MURDER OF CHILDREN, I don't really want to focus on the sex going on.

I want to focus on the murder of the Ladies of the Woods.

Hate them SO much.

Ditto Vesemir's murder being avenged.

 

[Gerudon]

Because having normal people standing around is probably easier to do, than having them have sex in different poses.

 

[CTPhipps]

Because having normal people standing around is probably easier to do, than having them have sex in different poses.

I confess, on a purely random note, I'm not sure what they did with 15 hours and forty five minutes of sex footage which didn't go in the game.

 

[BiggusD1]

lame party

 

[Gerudon]

I confess, on a purely random note, I'm not sure what they did with 15 hours and forty five minutes of sex footage which didn't go in the game.

Who knows, how they come up with that number. Does that mean only the actual footage or does that include the time to make it, including all the takes and so on?

But it seems they cut at lot of stuff out of the game, including at least one scene with Triss as well.

 

[Folkrom]

I confess, on a purely random note, I'm not sure what they did with 15 hours and forty five minutes of sex footage which didn't go in the game.

its gone into their personal stash? ;P

 

[Toyen]

I too was surprised that there was actually not much going on during the Sabbath.

The ladies were cooking below the tree some heads and Imlerith was just sitting there not having any fun. Considering the amount of succubi there were, it made no sense for him to just sit there.
We walked in on Phillipa in W2 having some bdsm fun with Cynthia, why couldn´t we walk in on Imlerith having an orgy? : D

 

[Krull32]

i was suprised too....i was ready for disgusting stuff from the ladies of the woods and nothing happened. Normal Party....

@Scryar
Thx.
To bad we did only see the "light" version...

 

[inanimate_object]

Those notes on the conception of the scene sounds fantastic! It would have been a really awesome creepy atmosphere. Wonder if they got gun-shy. Their notes absolutely fit in with how we were led to perceive the crones and the revolting culture around them.

 

[Scryar]

Ehhhh,

Given this involves the whole MURDER OF CHILDREN, I don't really want to focus on the sex going on.

I want to focus on the murder of the Ladies of the Woods.

Hate them SO much.

Ditto Vesemir's murder being avenged.

I don't see your point. Making the whole sabbath like originally planned wouldn't change that we still can kill the crones.
It would just create a much creepier atmosphere than this garden-festivity and show us even more how spoiled the crones are.

Additionally it wasn't only the sex removed:
There was also supposed to be:
- people jumping from a cliff (ritual suicide)
- shouts of crazy women jumping into their death
- ritual chanting
- people throwing things into the fire
- people dancing around the fire
- women walking with a dance step into their death

instead we got a cheerful celebration and are just told that the crones invite people to them to probably do excactly what they orignally wanted to show us. I really like the "show, don't tell " attitude of CDP in comparison to other developers and it's a shame they decided to not do this with the sabbath.
The whole scene just felt lame, sanitized and tamed. I wish they would have kept the original concept.
Generally the whole sabath seems like a missed opportunity. They could have done so much more than just this "normal" celebration, the short cutscene and the fight wih the crones and Imlerith just sitting on the throne with some succubus around him.
The crones could have invited other creppy witchess/monsters to their "party". CDP could have shown us the weirdest creatures and make the whole section really remarkable. But sadly they didn't.

 

[inanimate_object]

I don't see your point. Making the whole sabbath like originally planned wouldn't change that we still can kill the crones.
It would just create a much creepier atmosphere than this garden-festivity and show us even more how spoiled the crones are.

Additionally it wasn't only the sex removed:
There was also supposed to be:
- people jumping from a cliff (ritual suicide)
- shouts of crazy women jumping into their death
- ritual chanting
- people throwing things into the fire
- people dancing around the fire
- women walking with a dance step into their death

instead we got a cheerful celebration and are just told that the crones invite people to them to probably do excactly what they orignally wanted to show us. I really like the "show, don't tell " attitude of CDP in comparison to other developers and it's a shame they decided to not this with the sabbath.
The whole scene just felt lame, sanitized and tamed. I wished they would have kept the original concept.
Generally the whole sabath seems like a missed opportunity. They could have done so much more than just this "normal" celebration, the short cutscene and the fight wih the crones and Imlerith just sitting on the throne with some succubus around him.
The crones could have invited other creppy witchees/monsters to their "party". CDP could have shown us the weirdest creatures and make the whole section really remarkable. But sadly they didn't.

Agreed. It didn't feel like this dark cult. It felt like a christmas holiday for peasants. Surely the Crones were built up as something much darker and sickly. Hell, they wore necklaces of peoples ears! And then the Sabbath is a bunch of people standing around campfires and lining up for soup? What? I thought this part of the story was a chance to get really weird and dark. Instead it was peasant Easter.

 

[CTPhipps]

Agreed. It didn't feel like this dark cult. It felt like a christmas holiday for peasants. Surely the Crones were built up as something much darker and sickly. Hell, they wore necklaces of peoples ears! And then the Sabbath is a bunch of people standing around campfires and lining up for soup? What? I thought this part of the story was a chance to get really weird and dark. Instead it was peasant Easter.

Is there a contradiction @inanimate_object?

The Crones are horrifying, terrible, and evil monsters but the peasantry are their victims. I don't know why they should be participating in whatever depravities the Ladies of the Wood are up to.

I thought it was kind of scary and unsettling the festival WAS as unnerving as it was.

It's like Christmas or Halloween, fun for the whole family, and people are being EATEN in the V.I.P lounge just a hundred yards away.

 

[Imkor]

I was expecting some sort of crazy gathering with strange folk creatures . Looks like Imlerith was the only one invited.

 

[Scryar]

Ehhhh,

Given this involves the whole MURDER OF CHILDREN, I don't really want to focus on the sex going on.

I want to focus on the murder of the Ladies of the Woods.

Hate them SO much.

Ditto Vesemir's murder being avenged.

Is there a contradiction @inanimate_object ?

The Crones are horrifying, terrible, and evil monsters but the peasantry are their victims. I don't know why they should be participating in whatever depravities the Ladies of the Wood are up to.

They are participating anyway to satisfy the crones. They cut their ears off as a payment and sacrifice their children. I don't see why they wouldn't participate in blood rituals and mass suicides if the crones demand it. This isn't any uncommon behavior regarding cults and the peasants are no innocent victims.

 

[Toyen]

Or I was at least expecting to see what the crones will do to the people who are said to go up every year and then return all happy and changed and nothing. Nobody appeared although I think (I might be wrong here) that when I was trying to make Ciri one of the chosen ones, I think somebody mentioned that someone already went up there and she was the last to go this year.

But I´m not sure.

Anyways, nobody was up there. Just Imlerith and Succubi. Maybe the crones ate them but then the villagers were lying.

 

[Eruvadhor]

Why was it censored?

Why was the rest of the game censored in this department?

Probably because of pressure from various special interest groups that would otherwise lambast them for sex in the games.

Although...they appear to be lambasting them anyway:hmm:

 

[TudorAdrian]

Or I was at least expecting to see what the crones will do to the people who are said to go up every year and then return all happy and changed and nothing. Nobody appeared although I think (I might be wrong here) that when I was trying to make Ciri one of the chosen ones, I think somebody mentioned that someone already went up there and she was the last to go this year.

But I´m not sure.

Anyways, nobody was up there. Just Imlerith and Succubi. Maybe the crones ate them but then the villagers were lying.

Hmmm, maybe their memories were lost as a consequence of them coming in contact with Imlerith (Wild Hunt) pretty much like what happened to Geralt and his amnesia..?? Who knows..missed plot opportunity anyway.

Also I fully agree with people here...they shouldn't have tamed the sabbath...it would have went down in the history of gaming had they stayed true to the concept.

 

[Toyen]

I´m really sad that we won´t probably find out what the motive was.

The crones would not make someone happy for no reason. They needed them for something.

 

[Lightice]

While an orgy would have made sense at the setting, I see no reason why there should be ritual suicides or anything of the sort. If that sort of thing happened every year in this setting, Velen would quickly end up severely underpopulated. I got the impression that the celebration at the root of the mountain was supposed to be relatively wholesome, since the participants are common, simple peasants who worship the Crones, but never personally partake in any overtly evil activities.

As for the youths that the Crones take in, I assumed that they ended up in the cooking pot and that the ones to return were actually the Crones themselves wearing illusionary glamour.