ImperialCreed says:

Er, is the linky to the PDF broken?

I feel quite annoyed about this, it seems like a patent admission that they did a half-arsed job the first time round, sold it to you at full price anyway and now want you to shell out again for the experience that by rights should have been there in the first place….

Any idea if current owners will be offered some form of free upgrade?

February 18th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Jonathan says:

Is this actually a proper release or will just be an uber patch/add-on?

Still haven’t bought it yet because I’m waiting for a decent translation so either way I’ll probably get it.

But seriously the dialogue can’t be as bad as Pathologic can it?

February 18th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

feffrey says:

I have the UK version and I was incredible surprised at how much better it is compared to the US version. I had figured that thy would have only cut the “adult” content for the US version, but was surprised by how much else was cut or screwed up.
Will they update the UK version as well?
The only problem I ever had with the game was the somewhat long loading times, around 45 seconds, but I never thought it was excessive.
I am guessing that they might do a discount for people who have boughten Witcher the first time and can send in a proof of purchase.
For UT2004 If you could send them a page of the game manual from UT2003, or a receipt of UT2003 they would send you a $10 off coupon for UT2004.

February 18th, 2008 at 6:32 pm

ImperialCreed says:

@suibhne: I suppose I should temper my annoyance somewhat – I did like the Witcher a bit, it felt shiny and slick and different, but the more I played it the more shoddy it started to feel. Perhaps the devs are manning up and trying to fix things and that’s good, but if they’re asking for full price again I think that’s a bit rich. Of course, we just don’t know yet.

EDIT: Aha, a download eh? Free perhaps, or for a few quid? I was wrong then. That seems more appealing.

February 18th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

Yhancik says:

About re-releases, Firefly is going to make a new version of Stronghold Crusader, subtly named Stronghold Crusader Extreme.
The update is less spectacular than The Witcher’s one, but still sounds exciting (to me). Especially the 10000 units battles :D

February 18th, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Richard says:

(shelves playthrough until it’s done)

February 18th, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Turin Turambar says:

Last year’s most divisive RPG?

Everyone loved it except you. :P

February 18th, 2008 at 7:15 pm

Pidesco says:

Brilliantly awesome!

February 18th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Homunculus says:

Crivens. Now that’s an unprecedented taking to heart of criticisms with an appropriate response, and very welcome news. If only all developers with rough diamond games had the wherewithal to mimic this behaviour.

February 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

Ghiest says:

Glad I held off buying this now :)

Most people who played it that I know, quite liked the game so I will probably pick up 2.0 version.

February 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

elias says:

The Escapist is reporting that it will be free to download for current owners. Which leads me to think they are doing it to hopefully get more sales from those who shied away because of what they read in reviews.

February 18th, 2008 at 7:52 pm

Ravenger says:

I’ve completed the game (or at least played through it once – there are many decision points in the game that have a large effect on the story) and I loved it. Not sure about the new version really, as on the one hand I’d love to have all the extra stuff, like the soundtrack (even though you can copy the oggs out of the game anyway) and making of dvd, but on the other I’ve already paid once for the game, and don’t really feel like paying out again for a more ‘finished’ version.

It’s good the extra content will be downloadable, but will the new english script and dialogue be downloadable too? The script and dialogue were probably my major bugbear with the game. The acting was wooden in places, and there were some dodgily translated bits. The inventory also was a bit of a nightmare to use.

It’s still one of my favourite RPGs of recent years though, despite any flaws, and a totally enthralling experience to play.

February 18th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

Alex says:

Really loved this game. The biggest complaint for me were those horrendous load- and savetimes.

Anyway – the game made me buy the recently published first English translated book of Geralt stories, “The Last Wish” – only read a few pages, but it seems pretty great.

February 18th, 2008 at 8:19 pm

Homunculus says:

Witcherier.

February 18th, 2008 at 8:34 pm

Hypocee says:

If they get everything right this time, it would be the last major version and therefore the Witcherierest!

February 18th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

KingMob says:

I don’t suppose they could make this really compelling for me and release it on Steam?

February 18th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Ridicule Swarm says:

Great to hear it. Haven’t played more than the demo yet (ah, the busy life), but this definitely gives me something to look forward too.

There are too few good RPGs nowadays. I miss Planescape Torment.

February 18th, 2008 at 9:47 pm

Janek says:

That’s good news. I’m quite enjoying my current playthrough with the “fixed” subtitles and original Polish voiceovers, plus the loading times aren’t that bad with patch 1.2.

So yeah. Aces.

February 18th, 2008 at 11:21 pm

McCool says:

Wow, I played the demo and hated it, always thought this game was awfully overated.

But I love this move by them, the admittance that they messed it up and trying again..if they go good on their promises, I’ll almost certainly buy the thing this time round!

February 18th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

The_B says:

I never found the demo that complelling either, which did in fact slightly perplex me when it came to the criticism of Alec’s review.

But indeed, I am all for the second chance. If indeed the promised is fufilled then count me among the ranks more than willing to give it another go.

February 19th, 2008 at 2:22 am

Chiablo says:

I noticed a few horrible lines of dialog in the english version. There is a section where you are doing some investigation (Sherlock Holmes style) and the detective you are working with has regular lines of dialog… but every so often, his voice noticeably changes in volume and tone. It’s clear that at some time during late development, they changed the story that required them to re-record dialog, and they either had a different actor or different recording company do it.

Other than that, I didn’t have any real problem with the dialog in the game.

February 19th, 2008 at 3:33 am

Shawny D says:

Hmm….I’m really liking the Witcher, and this is why I love indie devs. Gotta love the fact that they aren’t just releasing a booster pack to try and cash in, rather offering it up as a download, great news indeed.

February 19th, 2008 at 7:26 am

malkav11 says:

Re: the detective – something happens later on that might explain that. Depending on whether it’s particular lines at random from the moment you meet him, or whether it changes later. I myself didn’t notice a great deal of discrepancy, but I wasn’t extraordinarily impressed with the voice acting and tended to skip it once I’d read the text.

February 19th, 2008 at 8:01 am

MeestaNob! says:

The demo wasn’t quite the life altering experience people were eluding to upon release, with simple (and perhaps dull) combat, performance issues, plus the somewhat bizarre dialogue, but the story seemed very promising. This resulted in me waiting for a much cheaper bargain bin version in a few years time.

This new event will cause me to buy the updated version when it appears.

Seriously, this is a ripping act of generosity and common sense by CD Projekt and I can only applaud them for it.

The game is certainly not BAD, and this will improve it significantly. Bless their cotton socks, they can count on my cash when this comes out.

BTW, this is a great opportunity to beat the Steam ROCKS drum once again: Clearly this is a situation where an auto update would be unbelievably useful. I don’t know who the publisher of the Witcher is but perhaps they could sort something out with Valve. That said, I’d rather a box and fancy manual in this situation (plus whatever other goodies they can throw in) as its an RPG and needs those things, so perhaps Steam integration upon install from DVD would be an ideal solution.

600K +1 for Witcher customers total

February 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am

Stick says:

[Apologies if this is out of place. I never took part in previous discussions, but it's been nagging at me.]

One more thing… the “unchecked misogyny”. Yeah, not going to argue about the Babe Pokemon mechanic. It’s just…

—– SPOILERS GALORE —-

… was I the only one more bothered about the main wooable females (pretty cool ladies, both of them) going completely irrational as soon as there was a kid in the picture?

And then there’s Bloodlines, with its “all female NPCs are bisexual” motif.

And all those Bioware games with a female lead NPC prone to going evil and needing to be rescued from herself by virile male PC. (Okay, “all those” mean “the two”.)

And WoW with its Stripper Esthetic.

And… so on and on and on.

The Witcher’s collectable nekkid pictures? More blatant than the usual fare, for sure. It just bothers me that a game that beats the crap out of almost everyone else’s “choices have consequences” gets handwaved because of something fairly superficial. When the game actually is a lot more than a covergirl and formula 3b.

Yeah, they brought it on themselves. The slagging still seems out of proportion and out of perspective to me.

February 19th, 2008 at 9:38 am

Stick says:

Heh. Well, non-coyly repeating hearsay: night elves’ dance emotes. (Nevermind the chaimail bikini dress code.)

February 19th, 2008 at 9:55 am

Sire404 says:

This is great news. It will certainly push it from being a bit crappy with great potential into a truly great game.

February 19th, 2008 at 11:35 am

James T says:

This game is already excellent, and this announcement therefore awesome. Unfortunately, it must be a bit of a bitch for those who already own it (unless they get the polished version gratis, but, yeah, not much chance of that if they’re gonna relabel it). Fortunately, I hadn’t bought it yet, and I’ll definitely be holding off until this comes out.

Although the translation/dialogue work was a bit rubbish (and patently inferior to the original, judging by the comparisons I’ve seen), it didn’t actually stop me from enjoying this; but then, I tend to use an unseemly amount of imagination when gaming. I’ve got to stop nodding politely to friendly NPCs with the mouse… “Well met, Witcher!” “Oh, isn’t that nice.”

February 19th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

James T says:

*groan* I -did- notice that the patch is coming out for free, but my edit failed! Oh well.

Regarding ‘misogyny’… The ‘cards’ were a very tacky element, and probably put off even more female gamers than the Dungeons & Dragons racial makeup did (LET’S BE HONEST, GIRLFRIENDS etc), but as terribly misjudged as they were, they don’t actually imply contempt for women. That said, fair enough if people’s distaste for it puts them off, but they’re missing out on a great game behind that brief cheesecake trapping, so…

(Actually, I wish they’d done desktop-sized pinups, if they had to do it at all — there’s no room for a budding Frank Frazetta on a little card-size canvas! Do it right, CDP!)

As for the story itself, Geralt’s relentless (overwhelmingly optional, btw) womanising is no more misogyny than the exploits of my more promiscuous female friends are misandry — it’s not like he’s deceiving anyone (unless you pick deceitful dialogue, but I can’t think of any offhand, and, er, that dialogue-tree probably won’t get him laid anyway). And Shani/Triss/Abigail/Adda (among others) are actually pretty likeable, memorable characters, guiding the protagonist in his task; if CDP hate the ladies so much, they’re spending an unusual amount of time building them up. There’s some recriminations about ‘OMG NUDEY CHARACTER MODELS’!, but considering these models are of dryads and wild vampires, and that much more hideous male and female beasties go similarly and also-explicably nude (yes, the Drowned Dead have their cocks out — just buy the red ribbon talisman so they run away in fear, teehee), I think it’s a bit prissy to only go on about the OMG NUDEY MODELS which look a bit nice.

(Yahtzee’s article was heap of bollocks, btw. Shame the literacy of Escapist commenters is down around a monkey’s ankles, or quite a good chat could’ve resulted.)

February 19th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

James T says:

I assume you’re not talking to me, my little beary chum…

Witcherier.

Wiedzmin 2: WiedzMAX!

edit: Hey, that’s Polish Youtube! Neat!

Teehee, ‘filmy wideo’.

edit again: Hey, that “brand manager”’s a looker. Those Poles get all the genes…

edit again: Well, okay, the head programmer didn’t. Maybe he’s Lithuanian.

February 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

dhex says:

If your going to bandy a word about at least know what it means FFS. Certainly there are some misogynistic NPCs in the game (not the Player), but I’d hardly say the game is misogynistic within itself.

turning female characters into a card collecting game dances a little too close to that line for my tastes. i do enjoy much of the rest of the game (1.2 patch) but that whole mechanic really dampened my enjoyment. especially since they did work the dating sim – or “boffing sim” if you will – into the story fairly well. it’s just so fucking juvenile.

that and almost no one owns a blouse that isn’t totally bodice-tastic.

February 19th, 2008 at 3:15 pm

JamesG says:

(Now with added G for clarity’s sake. Stupid common name.)

@stick

Okay, that makes sense. Indeed, it is difficult to judge the overall tone of a game without playing it, and I’m not going to go ahead and do a Fox news vs. Mass Effect. The cards alone are a concern, but obviously the game should be judged as a whole. Perhaps I’ll check out the (updated?) demo, especially now the developers seem to have addressed most other concerns.

February 19th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Zuffox says:

About a month since I bought the crap, and now this?

Certainly, it can’t repair the mediocre game that The Witcher was.

February 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

kadayi says:

@Dhex

Juvenile perhaps (it’s not essential to the plot to bed any girl you meet), but it’s not misogynistic, is my point. It’s an inaccurate word that implies something that isn’t really there. There is no hatred of Women going on from the players viewpoint. There is a degree of mistrust and hatred towards Witches and Witchers though, but the same distrust is equally applied to the Humanoids (and vice versa).

James T

I was referring to the people who posted before you. I think we are in shared agreement about the game and a number of issues.

February 19th, 2008 at 6:50 pm

Okami says:

I guess that everybody here who’s appalled at drawn pictures of naked women and calls that misogynistic has never ever watched porn…

February 19th, 2008 at 10:49 pm

Kadayi says:

Nice deletion of my post there. Nothing at the wiki impacts upon the dictionary definition of misogyny, not that wiki is a reliable source of information save in the most broad manner. Fact of the matter is though, the word doesn’t accurately apply to the Witcher. To reiterate what I said in a previous post, that there are ‘evil’ characters in a game does not make the game ‘evil’.

February 20th, 2008 at 12:37 am

Kadayi says:

If your going to take a stance, defend your position with an argument. Throwing up a link to a wiki page doesn’t cut the mustard in any circles (gentlemanly or not). If a game contains characters who are misogynists, or racists, or any other kind of ‘ist’, does that necessarily make that game a platform for those views unless the game inherently supports that position? I mean did you feel that at the end of the Witcher that there was a clear right or wrong path in terms of how you could progress in the same way as there are clearly good and evil choices in Fable or Mass Effect? Discourse away.

@Hypocee

I don’t hate anyone (it’s a word used far too lightly by most people) and I certainly don’t think the RPS guys are ’silly video reviewers’ (This has become one of my daily stopping points). But I’m not some blind fanboy who’s going to nod in agreement like a Churchill at every utterance as if it’s the word of god carved in stone.

February 20th, 2008 at 12:58 am

Chiablo says:

Regarding the cards…

My wife watched me play it for a while… her words:

“If I lived in the middle ages and knew he couldn’t get me pregnant, I’d do him too.”

February 20th, 2008 at 1:41 am

Stromko says:

My two cents are that the “nudie cards” are a bit unfortunate, they can turn off ‘cerebral’ people who believe that such things turn the game into a cheap “guilty pleasure”, when actually it’s a very capable RPG with a very different, alternative narrative and setting.

The cards aren’t really that interesting, censored or no, obviously a google search can pull things up that are far more scandalous. One could even just search for something like ‘the witcher deck’ and get the whole shebang without the work, so that they aren’t purchasing and installing The Witcher itself just to get to the slightly pervy bits.

Illustrated nipples and buttocks are not the best reason to buy it, by far, and getting that out of the way can help justify the purchase if what you really want is the story and gameplay.

My point is, I hope that anyone looking for a good RPG can get past this issue anyway that they have to, and get a chance to try out the game in question. It’s good, and I’m looking forward to the polished version.

February 20th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

kadayi says:

John

The definition of the word simply is, there is nothing conservative about it, just as Mauve is a colour, and 6 is a number. The Witcher can be considered all kinds of juvenile smut, but it doesn’t fit that definition, regardless of how one tries to shove it through the letterbox. I mean would you label Fable or Mass Effect as misogynistic?

February 20th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Dinger says:

Someone open up a hydrant around here and hose these folks down. KG’s use of “misogyny” was brachylogic, not wrong. On the other hand, his spelling of “semetic” for “semitic” and Walker’s “nudey” for “nudie” are just wrong, not artistic. And Kadayi’s implication that academics refer to dictionaries as authorities makes as much sense as saying that professional journalists like to open with a dictionary citation. If they’ve got that one in their bag of tricks, they’re not pros.

But Walker’s right. This entire debate is being derailed, and the true point obscured:

What is risibly cheesy?

Is there a non-risible cheesiness, and what would that be?
*lacrimably cheesy
or
*hinnibly cheesy
?

As for the Witcher getting announced improvements: I’m not waiting for ya.

February 20th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

kadayi says:

@Dinger

Since when is Misogyny, shorthand for sexism? Hatred and contempt may go hand in hand, but they are entirely different states.

Anyway deadlines to meet…

February 20th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

Hypocee says:

Did you know a noun, in this case the action of flashing Achievement Well-Cocked cards at the player, can hold two or even more adjectives at once? ‘Strue. This specific facet of the game can be and is misogynistic, sexist, chauvinistic, degrading and contemptuous – all at the same time! Amazing.

Yahtzee was the video reviewer to whom I referred. Yes, I can call his review a review because it was a review, but you seem to have something against him. Fair enough, I supoose, as he professes to have something against you and me and the rest of the gang, but as a fellow pedant I’m not impressed by your attempted assault on his piece via the perceived misuse of a single word outside the piece. (It’s the intro joke on the site, remember: ‘This week, Yahtzee roleplays a pale, lanky misogynist.’)

It is worth noting to Witcher defenders that this whole girl card thing isn’t an automatic kill switch for me. It’s unfortunate, sure, but a small part of the game and I see it as just a horribly failed joke. As with Kieron’s music analogy I can accept lumps with good. I just don’t like it when people try to pretend problems don’t exist.

February 20th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

dhex says:

kieron: i have had it explained to me (via the intertubes) that geralt is also a sendup of various fantasy tropes. he is after all a total pussyhound who also happens to be sterile – so there’s no real consequences to his actions, and it’s exactly the sort of thing a young, frustrated adolescent male would dream up as an ideal sexual avatar.

i don’t know if i buy that, as i am totally ignorant of fantasy fiction.

i do like the game. and the relationships are generally on-topic in the game, to a certain degree (the chapter 4 sister who wants a ring is a jarring exception) so it seems doubly weird to take interesting characterizations and punctuate them with trading card follies.

then again, europeans.

February 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Janek says:

Yeah it’s pretty alright. I wouldn’t say I actively enjoyed it, but it does the job of punctuating everything else well enough.

As you say, it’s pretty simple, so you can sort of turn off your brain and enjoy the flashiness. Sort of reminiscent of KOTOR in that respect, in some ways.

February 20th, 2008 at 4:11 pm

Kadayi says:

John

Surely precision in the use of words is everything, when all there is to assess are words, no? If your refuting the very validity of a dictionary definition as an actual point of reference where in lies the common ground of language and clear communication?

The most I’ve done here is say ‘I’m not sure that’s an apt phrase’ and defended my position when challenged. If you genuinely think that’s trolling, then ban away (I suspect that’s what’s coming next….).

Kadayi

February 20th, 2008 at 7:08 pm

Cthrag Yaska says:

Played the Witcher over Christmas, thought it was entertaining if a little un-polished, but i’m looking forward to the update when it arrives.I would agree that the card collecting is sexist, but I wouldn’t go as far as labelling it as misogynistic.

CY

February 20th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

kadayi says:

@Tim

Definitely play it when the update arrives, you’ll be in for a treat. The bigger question beyond the update is really whether CD Projekt are working on a sequel, and if so how they will pull it off. The Amnesia trick isn’t going to work again, and with different endings to the Game where do you start from exactly? I suspect a bit of Baldurs gate 2 chicanery will be in order.

[Edited. Don't try to reignite the argument. Thanks - RPS]

February 21st, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Phoenix says:

I don’t want to reignite the argument, but I just don’t see the cards being such a big deal. The entire thing reminds me of oversensitive white people calling everything they see racist, while black people shrug and don’t really care.

I’m curious to hear a woman’s point of view. Is the fact that you get a memento of the sexual experiences an example of genuine woman-hating?

February 23rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm