The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

Sebmojo · 2011-05-24T16:32:23.000Z

Paul_cze:

Hmmm. Now that is just strange. Well I damn hope it is not just console port.

Why not? I think Witcher 2 on consoles would work brilliantly and could make them stacks of cash. God knows they deserve the money.

THough I guess that means it’s not ‘Awesome New Project: The Exciting’, so there’s that disappointment.

MattKeil · 2011-05-24T16:32:36.000Z

Seems odd to use a euphemism in a rowdy soldier’s fight/drinking song.

Dave Weinstein:

It’s as if words had near synonyms.

Ahhh, screw that. The dialog is clearly boned.

Okay, smartass, you explain the usage of one versus the other in Witcher world. Why are rowdy soldiers singing “plough 'em all” before a battle while Geralt says “fuck you” to Roche in the interrogation? Are the soldiers trying to not offend anyone?

Equisilus · 2011-05-24T16:41:57.000Z

I think it just sounds odd to us because, unlike frak, it’s a word that’s already familiar to most of us but not in that context (necessarily). “Frak”, on the other hand, is so similar while being otherwise meaningless, we can accept it easily. BSG did an awesome job on that one.

But yeah, TW2 has made me want to take up farming. Saskatchewan was always my favourite province, with the wide, open fields…

MattKeil · 2011-05-24T16:44:12.000Z

Nah, I can easily accept it as a replacement for “fuck,” but I just don’t understand when it’s used as opposed to “fuck.” The word “fuck” doesn’t exist in BSG, so this isn’t an issue.

Sir_Digby · 2011-05-24T16:53:55.000Z

Well, I think it’s not necessarily a lesser insult than “fuck” unless you are viewing it from your Anglo-Saxonic perspective; that said, in my native language (Portuguese) there is a direct synonym for “fuck” meaning the same thing but there are probably a thousand other expletives which sound (and can have a) mild meaning but mean exactly the same thing, curiously a lot of them related to farming or mining, and they aren’t considered milder but simply uncommon. :D

MattKeil · 2011-05-24T16:56:29.000Z

So my confusion might be entirely due to being a native English speaker, then.

Sir_Digby · 2011-05-24T17:10:45.000Z

MattKeil:

So my confusion might be entirely due to being a native English speaker, then.

Or simply misinterpreting; from the mighty wiki “Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others are created to mislead”, so using ploughing isn’t necessarily a “mild” version of “fucking” but simply an amusing one. Again, could be a cultural thing, remember that both the author as well as the game plot writer are Polish and some cultural habits (namely the comedic value of certain expressions) are lost in translation.

Tom_Ohle · 2011-05-24T17:12:06.000Z

Volbard:

My eyes do sort of glaze over when they start talking about the various kings and factions. I really can’t keep track of all the extraneous people and what their goals and motivations are. Nilfgaard seems to come up a lot, and I gather they had a war with someone, but I can’t remember if that was in the last game or if it’s just something from the books.

Happily, all that stuff seems to just be a backdrop the game’s story and really has nothing to do with Geralt’s motivations. So far the quests have been pretty easy to understand, and I know why I’m going places and what I want to do there. The complicated backstory adds to the richness of the world, and as long as I’m not required to understand it, I’m happy to just nod and wander off whenever someone starts going on about king whatever and his deceitful nephew.

Read the Journal :). Explains most of the characters.

MattKeil · 2011-05-24T17:22:43.000Z

Sir Digby:

Or simply misinterpreting; from the mighty wiki “Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others are created to mislead”, so using ploughing isn’t necessarily a “mild” version of “fucking” but simply an amusing one.

That still doesn’t quite work, since I doubt Geralt was trying to be lighthearted or amusing when he told Iorveth that he was being ploughed by someone before and now he’s being ploughed by someone else.

Again, could be a cultural thing, remember that both the author as well as the game plot writer are Polish and some cultural habits (namely the comedic value of certain expressions) are lost in translation.

This seems the most likely explanation.

roguefrog · 2011-05-24T17:23:27.000Z

I just took Plough as popular vernacular in the setting. Not like fucking and ploughing are mutually exclusive.

Nikolaj · 2011-05-24T17:25:24.000Z

Sir Digby:

Or simply misinterpreting; from the mighty wiki “Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others are created to mislead”, so using ploughing isn’t necessarily a “mild” version of “fucking” but simply an amusing one. Again, could be a cultural thing, remember that both the author as well as the game plot writer are Polish and some cultural habits (namely the comedic value of certain expressions) are lost in translation.

I’ve definitely heard the word being used like this before. I think maybe in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I’m not sure.

Sir_Digby · 2011-05-24T17:42:16.000Z

Nikolaj:

I’ve definitely heard the word being used like this before. I think maybe in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I’m not sure.

Here’s a ton of them:

http://www.uta.fi/FAST/GC/sex-scat.html

Angrycoder · 2011-05-24T17:47:03.000Z

PapaSmurf:

King Foltest: Adventures in Slaying Bitches (literally)

Actually, King Foltest: Sister Fucker would be more appropriate.

MattKeil · 2011-05-24T17:52:59.000Z

That hardly makes him unique among royalty, of course.

rei · 2011-05-24T21:08:56.000Z

Hawkeye Fierce:

Steam version starts up quickly, too.

D2D version takes 40+ seconds on SSD, i7 930, 24GB RAM, HD6970.

rei · 2011-05-24T21:09:43.000Z

The Condition:

Why? The writing and setting of the Witcher is vastly better than anything of the Ultima.

Well it was my first RPG and just familiarity with the source material (and backstory of all the previous Ultima games) vs not having read the Witcher novels.

TimJames · 2011-05-24T21:28:56.000Z

Remember that alpha preview video where Geralt blasted a barrel with aard and the NPCs reacted to it? “I kind of miss those barrels.”

It looks like it’s from Chapter 2. I can’t seem to find it in the game. Did they wimp out and cut it? I really haven’t seen a lot of dynamic reaction. Just canned stuff as Geralt approaches, unfortunately.

Joe_M · 2011-05-24T21:37:45.000Z

Naeblis:

In that sense i think the people who has read the books will understand and love the game more than the rest.

This may be why I find myself intensely bored with the game. I spent the prologue not understanding half of what they were talking about with the rapid-fire references to factions, cities or people that I only vaguely remember (if at all) making the plot irritating to follow. Pair that with a rough UI and frankly uninteresting companions and I’m finding this a tedious slog. At least it’s pretty, I guess, though I’m only partway through the second chapter and I’m still holding out hope the game will win me over.

roguefrog · 2011-05-24T21:52:14.000Z

Tim James:

Remember that alpha preview video where Geralt blasted a barrel with aard and the NPCs reacted to it? “I kind of miss those barrels.”

It looks like it’s from Chapter 2. I can’t seem to find it in the game. Did they wimp out and cut it? I really haven’t seen a lot of dynamic reaction. Just canned stuff as Geralt approaches, unfortunately.

Yeah, also they still have The Witcher 1 combat in that video.

Razgon · 2011-05-24T22:23:58.000Z

Tim James:

Remember that alpha preview video where Geralt blasted a barrel with aard and the NPCs reacted to it? “I kind of miss those barrels.”

It looks like it’s from Chapter 2. I can’t seem to find it in the game. Did they wimp out and cut it? I really haven’t seen a lot of dynamic reaction. Just canned stuff as Geralt approaches, unfortunately.

That part is in there…