4003

Easily fixed (for me, anyway). Go into your game directory (the one containing witcher3.exe) and remove any DLL files that were placed there when you installed the last batch of DLC. GOG support thread.

That does make a lot of sense. The treasure hunt quests for witcher gear are objectively overlevelled in the journal (IIRC, the journal level is about 5 or 6 higher than the character level required to use the gear), so I can see it being due to a simple display bug.

4004

I liked this article a lot. Not too snarky, but not dull. Rather than dipping into rhetorical traps, the author chose to illustrate his argument with personal stories. His reasons for liking The Witcher 3’s unique cultural flavor is a lot more convincing than any of the other arguments I’ve seen.

4005

Yeah, others have made a similar argument.

A lot of folks (often, seemingly white Americans) are under some kind of mistaken impression that race defines cultural identity.

4006

Others have made the same argument, but I don’t think they were as convincing.

4007

It’s an important perspective that I think a lot of folks, specifically Americans, need to start trying to grasp.

In their attempt to be racially sensitive, a lot of these folks are demonstrating profound ethnocentricity. A lot of it focuses on the mistaken notion that any white person is basically the same as a white American… but this is, of course, absurd.

And I think it’s good that folks are standing up for CD Projekt Red here, and pointing out that it’s kind of crazy (and perhaps unintentionally insulting) to criticize them for making a game which presents their culture, when there are seemingly zero other portrayals of polish culture in the entire industry.

4008

Something is weird with my character, I’ve noticed. I was, even just a few days ago, hitting level 18 and slotting my sixth alchemy skill with some +150 VIT greater mutagens, and getting +780 or so VIT for each thanks to an alchemy skill I had some points into, and I noticed at the time I had about 120% sign bonus (Enhanced Griffon set plus a set of 3 blue skills with a +10% mutagen giving me a total of +52% or so, again a bit more thanks to the mutagen skill I have) and about 6k vitality, closing in on 6.4k I think.

So I have been noticing when I put a Yrden trap down, the enemies seem to just… freeze rather than be slowed down. Further, I’ve been noticing enemies hitting quite a bit easier than previous, though I’m now level 22 so maybe that was part of it - though I’ve fought enemies that were level 24 or so and it was really getting pretty easy.

That’s when last night I saw my character stats for the first time since moving things around at level 18 (there is an awkward 4 levels before you can do anything with your skills so I never ventured into that screen). Since I had hit 22, I was going to equip a skill in the newly opened skill slot in the lower right, and I saw my sign bonus was over 500%. And, on top of that mystery, I have almost 14k health. Now, I have never used any cheats or mods (hell I keep forgetting to even check box the new DLC from last week and this week) so I don’t know what could be causing this, but it sort of sucks as I’m able to just cake walk through everything, making things like hunting for new and better gear and crafting new upgraded bombs and stuff kind of… redundant. :(

4009

What a great game this is (currently lvl 10, scrambling around in Velen)! A crowning achievement for a developer with such unlikely origins (read this excellent Eurogamer article by Robert Purchese if you haven’t already). Their design ideal, starting with Witcher 1, seems to have been “let’s do everything better than everybody else”, and, with Witcher 3, they might have accomplished exactly that!

One minor detail I love about this game is to observe the townsfolk doing actual, plausible work. Wonder what the inhabitants of White Orchard do? Well, they collect fruit in the orchard, dummy! Likewise, I see them collecting berries, working in the quarry, etc. etc… So cool! I remember Skyrim/Oblivion doing great things with giving townsfolk names and an actual daily routine, but I don’t remember them being nearly as sophisticated when it came to modelling/presenting their daily work. I cannot help but wonder about how far developers can push this over the next couple of years.

Some random questions:
What’s the deal with upgradable equipment? Do I have to worry about irretrievably selling stuff that could have been upgraded later on? Or is the base upgradable equipment always craftable to begin with? My inventory is starting to clutter up, because I dare not sell some things (Viper gear, first Silver sword, etc…)
Likewise, is it safe to sell all books and letters after you have read them? Or are there instances where you need them to advance a certain quest? I wish the game would tell me!
What does it mean if an item is a “master” item or a “relic”? Is that just an indication of rarity, or something else?

Last, a quest related thing:

Ghosts of the Past

So I decided not to fight Letho at the end of Witcher 2 because I basically thought he’s an honest professional who just did his job. Plus, he took care of Yen. In a way, I regarded him as an equal, so I didn’t see any reason why I should hold a grudge against him. In Witcher 3, I was shocked to seem him so downbeat, on the run, and awfully looking. I don’t know if it was intentional by CD Project, but he looked really sick in that quest line. I surprised myself by really caring about him and hoping that we’ll meet again at Kaer Morhen… I am so glad I pursued this quest, even though it was far below my level and started on completely different terms.

4010

It’s one of those “oh, duh” points I hear but don’t really absorb until it’s presented effectively. For me, speaking from the heart is more effective than speaking from the culture war firing line, where it’s usually awkward and discordant.

4011

Did you read the previous critical article on this issue?

As an actual Slavic person, who was born and grew up in Poland, I feel that I should chime in here.

4012

Ya, that’s kind of weird. I had forgotten that he said he was born and grew up in Poland.

I’m curious as to how long he actually lived in Poland, given that he seemed to be somewhat unaware of polish cultural keystones, to the point of literally denying some of their very existence (such as suggesting that polish/slavic mythology literally is not a thing and doesn’t exist, whereas it clearly does). Or merely the combination of Polish and Slavic together as though they were the same thing, when the Poles have a clearly distinct culture and heritage compared to other Slavic groups in eastern Europe.

Honestly, the original piece has a pretty distinct “American” tone to it. It seems based largely on ignorance, as it repeatedly says, “The Witcher can’t be based on Polish and Slavic mythology, because that doesn’t exist!”

So yea, kind of weird if the guy is actually Polish… Although if he were born there and then moved to America at a young age, it could potentially make sense. But then it kind of detracts from his claim of authority as a Polish person.

Ultimately though, it’s all kind of a silly distraction. You know why? Because none of that shit matters. The game is a masterpiece.

4013

Yeah, I’ll take The Witcher 3 as-is over not at all. :)

I think this kind of critical look at gaming in general is good for the art and industry. As video games have moved out of the “kids stuff” toy box and into mainstream entertainment, I welcome a more hard look at what’s going on.

4014

Basically, the progression from trash to best is:
normal -> masterwork(blue) -> Magic Item (yellow) -> Relic(Brown)
The chief difference tends to be more inherent bonuses on the weapons, and more weapon slots for insertion of runes.

Then there is witcher gear, which is generally the best stuff you can get, and is green.

One thing regarding selling stuff… if you sell stuff to a merchant, I believe that they ALWAYS have that stuff in their inventory then, forever… I experimented with this a bit, and it did seem like even after a very long time, merchants would still have those things in their inventory that I sold them.

So, this lets you potentially use them as permanent storage, as long as you can remember who you sell stuff to (and they don’t die or something). It will cost you a good deal to get the stuff back, since it generally costs you 10x as much to buy it back, but eventually in the game money is no object, so whatever.

That being said, I have not found any upgrades for the original witcher stuff, or the viper stuff, beyond upgrading the Kaer Morhen armor to Warrior gear early on.

The main things that I’ve seen are needed to upgrade to later versions are the Witcher gear sets, the Feline, Griffin, and Bear armor and weapons. But even in those cases, even if you somehow broke down a piece of armor or weapon in those sets, you can always just make it again.

Regarding the spoiler you inserted there, I felt the same way. The voice acting on that character seemed a bit weird to me, but otherwise, I liked it a lot.

Yeah, I’ll take The Witcher 3 as-is over not at all. :)

I think this kind of critical look at gaming in general is good for the art and industry. As video games have moved out of the “kids stuff” toy box and into mainstream entertainment, I welcome a more hard look at what’s going on.

Yeah, it doesn’t hurt to look at it from a critical perspective. Although, like criticism of many art forms, sometimes it seems like some of it is just criticism for criticism’s sake, if you know what I mean. Like, “I’m gonna say this edgy thing, because I’m super enlightened.” When, sometimes, it’s more the case that they kind of missed the point of what they’re criticizing.

4015

I think some of the growing pains come from how most of us critics and consumers are still “kids.” Some well-meaning 30 year-old throws out an awkward and emotional analysis (frankly, just not very effective). Then everyone gets defensive as if we’re talking about petty console wars.

4016

That was excellent.

4017

1.05 patch is out in GOG Galaxy.

4018

So yesterday I finished the Pyres of Novigrad quest (without running into the bug, fortunately) and it awarded no XP, but it was so worth playing.

Pyres of Novigrad quest spoilers

[spoiler]The way the backstory with Triss is implied through looks, glances and sighs, the tone of Geralt’s voice in some places betraying his feelings for Triss, that bittersweet, awkward moment when they’re sitting together waiting for the rats to leave, the dialog they have in that exact moment, and Triss’ acknowledgment that she actually took advantage of Geralt’s amnesia to have a romance with him… it’s brilliant. So authentic and human and awesome.

I was set on going with Yennefer as a romance option in this playthrough, but really, I’m so torn. CDPR is awesome.[/spoiler]

4019

That’s EXCELLENT news. It’s all I wanted, really. Woot!

4020

It’s on Steam as well.

4021

Come on PS4.

4022

It’s reportedly out for PS4 too.