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Staticneuron

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,187
The books aren't diverse at all, far as I know.

I think the main reason you don't see diversity in the game is that it's made by a bunch of white polish people, from source material with white polish characters, and racial diversity was probably not on their mind at all. I know this sounds very weird to Americans, but Poland was, and remains, almost completely white.

Not that CDPR is a bastion of progressive values, of course. But considering the prominence of characters of various races in Cyberpunk 2077, I'd argue that their omission from Witcher 3 can be better explained by ignorance and thoughtlessness rather than active racism.

No, I would say those are works of Japanese culture inspired by works of black culture. I am not erasing either one, I am giving both cultures their due.

You are the one insisting that because there are now foreigners involved in the creation of things labelled "The Witcher", that work no longer belongs to Polish culture.



Like you (or someone earlier) said, the author made no specific mention of skin tones in his work. If an exclusively Polish development studio interpreted that work through their culturally Polish lens, which could include a very homogeneous skin colour given the demographic make-up of Poland, why is that considered less valid than Netflix interpreting their version through an American lens?

That you keep referring to reverse racism just strengthens the idea that you're viewing this through a very American lens of colour-coded races. Believe it or not, there are places in the world that don't share the same race issues on the same level. Despite its homogeneous skin colour, Poland deals with cultural and ethnic conflict within light-skinned people. That is the frame they used when designing their interpretation of the game.

The way you keep brushing all of that under 'white' and 'reverse racism' just smacks of being grossly insensitive.

Like I said in a post earlier, I really don't care or mind if Netflix does their American interpretation of the Witcher with an American frame of mind, revolving around American concepts. If they want to have their spin on it, that's great. But insisting that the culture of origin is somehow wrong for not fitting into your shoe, is just culturally insensitive.

And like I also said before, you don't hear this same shit regarding Japanese games ever. You don't hear this about Bollywood, or about Chinese films either.

This thread is very opinionated I can tell. I agree with these posts. Sometimes it is out of sight, out of mind, instead of a malicious focus. That being said as a person of color, I found that our purchasing power often goes ignored with some projects and countries. I feel that if POC choose carefully and make it known "why" they did or did not purchase a particular title, more attention would be paid to inclusion and the reasons why certain representation is ignored.
 

robhans

Banned
Jun 27, 2019
47
As a guy from Poland, I can say this - Show is hated in Poland because of "black elfs", most popular meme from this show is "Driads from Brooklyn". You go on any polish movie site, forum, facebook etc. You will have hard time to find something that isin't racist or positive. Most popular opinions are that show wipe a butt with books and that diversity attack polish culture.
So take a guess why game made by bunch of polish people about polish books isin't diverse. Also add that they take funding from gov that after saying "LGBT is a attack on polish family, make poland gay free" get additional 5% in the poll and And wins election by like 30%.
 

Sei

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,718
LA
They're both interpretations of the same material, but both come from totally different financial situations.

The Netflix show already had a big potential fanbase, even before they picked a single actor. There was an expectation from the show runners to make a TV show for a broad audience.

The original Witcher game was a tiny game from an unknown studio with almost all Polish fanbase. If you've seen the NoClip documentary, they never expected the series to be as successful as it was. They created a cast of characters that closely represented their own homogenized culture, and those characters carried on as the franchise grew in popularity.

I don't know how you could compare the two situations.

Now, if they do the same with Cyberpunk, then it's obvious what the issues are.
 

Papercuts

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,037
Not to start a flamewar, but I just wanted to give you props. I've been trying to say this about TW3 for years and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who notices it. (Not to say that y'all are horrible people for liking the game/series, but come on.)

You're not the only person with a moronic take, congratulations!
 

MajesticSoup

Banned
Feb 22, 2019
1,935
I'd give the game a pass. Source material and all..

What was more troubling is that the entire voice acting cast was white.
 
Jun 26, 2018
3,829
people complaining about PoC in the series make me just want to post this:

c7m0pslj5n741.jpg

This is perfect
 

Deleted member 56306

User-requested account closure
Banned
Apr 26, 2019
2,383
I'm trying to understand how people are getting so caught up on the idea that maybe TW3 is just a bit of a white male fantasy? I really enjoyed the game but it was very male-gazey, Geralt was the sexiest mother fucker around and you were pined after by ladies like all the time and are one of the most important people in the world. Like.... I dunno man, it doesn't feel like that crazy of a thought. Also I think a "huge part" is different than the "only" reason a thing might be popular.
 
Nov 3, 2017
1,641
Is this the part where we endlessly praise another Hollywood show whose idea of diversity is literally just 80% white, 19% black, and 1% 'other'
 

hanshen

Member
Jun 24, 2018
3,866
Chicago, IL
I'm trying to understand how people are getting so caught up on the idea that maybe TW3 is just a bit of a white male fantasy? I really enjoyed the game but it was very male-gazey, Geralt was the sexiest mother fucker around and you were pined after by ladies like all the time and are one of the most important people in the world. Like.... I dunno man, it doesn't feel like that crazy of a thought. Also I think a "huge part" is different than the "only" reason a thing might be popular.

The only thing that really bothered me is Ves's design. It is really unnecessary.
 

Deleted member 56306

User-requested account closure
Banned
Apr 26, 2019
2,383
The only thing that really bothered me is Ves's design. It is really unnecessary.

Why does Ciri have heels and is there a reason we can always see her bra? Ves is bad too. I get that all the sorceresses are hot but did we need them to always just be showing off their cleavage? Pretty much every woman in the game has the same conventionally attractive body type. The only brown person I saw in the base game was a fucking goat lady towards the very end. The camera really loves ass shots.

I really enjoyed the game, and the actual writing of the women was really well handled - but there are some... Interesting things in there as well.
 

HK-47

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,595
Why does Ciri have heels and is there a reason we can always see her bra? Ves is bad too. I get that all the sorceresses are hot but did we need them to always just be showing off their cleavage? Pretty much every woman in the game has the same conventionally attractive body type. The only brown person I saw in the base game was a fucking goat lady towards the very end. The camera really loves ass shots.

I really enjoyed the game, and the actual writing of the women was really well handled - but there are some... Interesting things in there as well.
The male gaze is in full effect throughout the games, and much of the time it isn't necessary. Leave it for the romance or seduction scenes.
 

Deleted member 46493

User requested account closure
Banned
Aug 7, 2018
5,231
This is reductive but it might just be that American Netflix cares about diversity (in their own way of course), and a Polish game developer doesn't. This kind of stuff isn't really a thing in Eastern Europe yet the way it is here, unfortunately.
 

ItchyTasty

Member
Feb 3, 2019
5,907
Why does Ciri have heels and is there a reason we can always see her bra? Ves is bad too. I get that all the sorceresses are hot but did we need them to always just be showing off their cleavage? Pretty much every woman in the game has the same conventionally attractive body type. The only brown person I saw in the base game was a fucking goat lady towards the very end. The camera really loves ass shots.

I really enjoyed the game, and the actual writing of the women was really well handled - but there are some... Interesting things in there as well.
Also Keira Metz' cleavage is so deep that she almost flashes her nipples every time she's on screen.
 

Kuosi

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,366
Finland
Why does Ciri have heels and is there a reason we can always see her bra? Ves is bad too. I get that all the sorceresses are hot but did we need them to always just be showing off their cleavage? Pretty much every woman in the game has the same conventionally attractive body type. The only brown person I saw in the base game was a fucking goat lady towards the very end. The camera really loves ass shots.

I really enjoyed the game, and the actual writing of the women was really well handled - but there are some... Interesting things in there as well.
The sorcerers are vary faithful to the book characters in design, be it for the good or bad
 

Imran

Member
Oct 24, 2017
6,592
Witcher trilogy and the books are amazingly diverse. You have humans, elves, gnomes, dwarfes, godlings, dryads, intelligent dragons..
And both deal with racism very well, through this allegory, even if they do not feature different human ethnicities and skin colors (until HoS). Why? Because they are made by Poles, and Poland was a country stuck behind iron curtain that also happens to be nearly completely homogenous and Poles do not have a guilty conscience over african slavery to feel the need to include africans (or asians, or eskymos). "Write what you know". Of course, now that they know some americans will call them racist because of it, I am sure they learned that lesson.
OOH I get to link this article I wrote once about how people claiming this bullshit is wrong, ignorant, and surprisingly offensive!

 

Iucidium

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,046
1. Geralt's story is over
2. They're not going to change the race of the characters that they've created. The games are just as iconic, maybe even more so than the show honestly, at this point. Plenty of people got into Witcher with the games, this isn't a Game of Thrones situation where the TV show is what everyone thinks of as the default, and the TV show already clearly takes a lot from the games
3. The people they used to make W3 deserve credit and recognition since they are the ones who got the Witcher series international recognition with W3. They don't deserve to be swept under the rug and replaced. Denise Gough is every bit as iconic as Yen as Anya is. They both perfectly bring her to life and both deserve accolades. Ditto for Cavill and Cockle with Geralt.
Oh, I've watched the show and haven't played Witcher 3 yet...fuck.
 

Raiden

Member
Nov 6, 2017
2,922
Is this the part where we endlessly praise another Hollywood show whose idea of diversity is literally just 80% white, 19% black, and 1% 'other'
Honestly it feels forced. Like they kinda say you can have some sidecharacters but the main three are staying white.

Which is okay because the books right?

A question to persons of color does it bother you a bit? Or a lot? Or don't you really care?
 
Oct 27, 2017
3,654
This is reductive but it might just be that American Netflix cares about diversity (in their own way of course), and a Polish game developer doesn't. This kind of stuff isn't really a thing in Eastern Europe yet the way it is here, unfortunately.

The first game was also made over a decade ago and even TW3 is over 4 years old at this point. I think you're comparing apples and oranges with the games vs the TV show.
 

Deleted member 56306

User-requested account closure
Banned
Apr 26, 2019
2,383
Honestly it feels forced. Like they kinda say you can have some sidecharacters but the main three are staying white.

Which is okay because the books right?

A question to persons of color does it bother you a bit? Or a lot? Or don't you really care?

Forced? That's a loaded word to me. My skin tone shouldn't be seen as strange and having to be "forced" into a show set in a fantasy universe.

I'd prefer to be on screen in roles that aren't stereotypes. For something like the Witcher show it's just nice to see representation at various levels of importance. Also Yen in the show is a British woman of Indian descent - making it two out of three being white.

Would I prefer more prominent characters being black or brown? Absolutely. But I'd also love just more multifaceted roles for black and brown people.
 
Oct 25, 2017
22,379
Not to start a flamewar, but I just wanted to give you props. I've been trying to say this about TW3 for years and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who notices it. (Not to say that y'all are horrible people for liking the game/series, but come on.)

EDIT: Damn why are people so defensive about TW3?

Sorry, but insinuating that the Witcher 3 is successful because you play a white dude and there are sexy ladies while everything else (Gameplay and characters) sucks is incredibly stupid.
 

Sabretooth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,068
India
The Witcher 3 is a straight white male game's wet dream come true and I'm convinced that's a huge reason for it's success. Because that gameplay is fucking atrocious and the characters interactions are often ridiculous and immensely cringe worthy, especially when the long cast of perfectly beautiful women *hint hint* is involved.

Oh yeah, that's why Duke Nukem Forever was a massive successful hit that's into its fifth sequel this year.
 

Elfzonder

Banned
Sep 11, 2018
22
User Banned (Permanent): Trolling regarding diversity, junior account
Oh no! Why Sekiro only have Japanese people and monsters in it? I want my white dude and dracula in my Sekiro man. That's why Nioh with my William Adams and Yasuke is better than GOTY Sekiro bull****@#$%^!&^#*!!!

/s

let devs makes games man. Not ALL games has to cater to diversity agenda. I think promoting a more authentic culture (as in Folk Polish in The Witcher vidya game and Feudal Japan in Sekiro) is OK and a balance way to consume media, as long there are still Netflix The Witcher and Nioh around (and Onimusha 3 with Jean effin' Reno and Paris) to spice up the diversity in consumer media. I know Era is a Far Left site, but as Centrist Left myself I think that's not a big issue in the Witcher games (combat gameplay is the main issue imo).
 

Rosenkrantz

Member
Jan 17, 2018
4,941
I doubt there was any malice behind CDPR's decision, fact of the matter is Eastern Europe not as racially diverse as Western Europe/North America and it will always affect devs perception of what characters they imagine in their game.

For the same reason I don't blame show's crew for squandering an opportunity to cast Slavic actor in the main cast.
 

fade

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
3,516
As much of an issue as this is the real issue is the diversity in the game design. Where are the Jordan Peeles, Alfonso Cuarons, and Sam Esmails of the game industry? This is a symptom of that lacking If we had more diverse game developers wed have more diverse games and no one would even bat an eye over the Witcher series. People are just so desperate for some fucking representation.
 

JasonV

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,967
Oh no! Why Sekiro only have Japanese people and monsters in it? I want my white dude and dracula in my Sekiro man. That's why Nioh with my William Adams and Yasuke is better than GOTY Sekiro bull****@#$%^!&^#*!!!

/s

let devs makes games man. Not ALL games has to cater to diversity agenda. I think promoting a more authentic culture (as in Folk Polish in The Witcher vidya game and Feudal Japan in Sekiro) is OK and a balance way to consume media, as long there are still Netflix The Witcher and Nioh around (and Onimusha 3 with Jean effin' Reno and Paris) to spice up the diversity in consumer media. I know Era is a Far Left site, but as Centrist Left myself I think that's not a big issue in the Witcher games (combat gameplay is the main issue imo).

Please god let this be a parody post.
 

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,199
UK
Honestly it feels forced. Like they kinda say you can have some sidecharacters but the main three are staying white.

Which is okay because the books right?

A question to persons of color does it bother you a bit? Or a lot? Or don't you really care?
Do we have to say "forced diversity" when non-white skin tones come into the fold? It's a bit annoying. I liked that as a south asian, there is an Indian actor playing as a prominent sorceress. I would love for even more diversity in the main cast as the author also doesn't particularly ascribe to white supremacist ideals, but I'll take the representation I can get.
let devs makes games man. Not ALL games has to cater to diversity agenda. I think promoting a more authentic culture (as in Folk Polish in The Witcher vidya game and Feudal Japan in Sekiro) is OK and a balance way to consume media, as long there are still Netflix The Witcher and Nioh around (and Onimusha 3 with Jean effin' Reno and Paris) to spice up the diversity in consumer media. I know Era is a Far Left site, but as Centrist Left myself I think that's not a big issue in the Witcher games (combat gameplay is the main issue imo).
Again, implying anything other than straight white males equals "diversity agenda". Like some of you just need to outright say you don't care about non-white representation. Don't bother with the dogwhistles.
 

FF Seraphim

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,737
Tokyo
Oh no! Why Sekiro only have Japanese people and monsters in it? I want my white dude and dracula in my Sekiro man. That's why Nioh with my William Adams and Yasuke is better than GOTY Sekiro bull****@#$%^!&^#*!!!

/s

let devs makes games man. Not ALL games has to cater to diversity agenda. I think promoting a more authentic culture (as in Folk Polish in The Witcher vidya game and Feudal Japan in Sekiro) is OK and a balance way to consume media, as long there are still Netflix The Witcher and Nioh around (and Onimusha 3 with Jean effin' Reno and Paris) to spice up the diversity in consumer media. I know Era is a Far Left site, but as Centrist Left myself I think that's not a big issue in the Witcher games (combat gameplay is the main issue imo).

This is a joke post right? William Adams and Yasuke were real people...
 

jipewithin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,094
Ves is bad too. I get that all the sorceresses are hot but did we need them to always just be showing off their cleavage?
Also Keira Metz' cleavage is so deep that she almost flashes her nipples every time she's on screen.
Well, yes? It's explained in the books and im pretty sure it was also mentioned in the netflix show too if im not completely mistaken. Be very prepared for the next season if W3 sorcerer outfits are bothering you.
 

Flipyap

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,489
Well, yes? It's explained in the books and im pretty sure it was also mentioned in the netflix show too if im not completely mistaken. Be very prepared for the next season if W3 sorcerer outfits are bothering you.
It's also explained in the books that Triss would never wear the kind of clothes she wears in the first and third game; and that Philippa likes to wear men's jackets.
Just because the sorceresses like to wear revealing clothes at social gatherings doesn't mean that they always have to be dressed that way. The Witcher 3 rarely puts them in situations where it's reasonable to wear their fancy gowns and flimsy tops.
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,065
I'm trying to understand how people are getting so caught up on the idea that maybe TW3 is just a bit of a white male fantasy? I really enjoyed the game but it was very male-gazey, Geralt was the sexiest mother fucker around and you were pined after by ladies like all the time and are one of the most important people in the world. Like.... I dunno man, it doesn't feel like that crazy of a thought. Also I think a "huge part" is different than the "only" reason a thing might be popular.

I loved The Witcher 3 but yeah there's a lot that bothers me about it. The best questline is about a man beating his pregnant wife and killing his unborn child...and the game uses this to focus purely on his emotional growth. The treatment of Priscilla. Elihal. People seem to overlook the more problematic stuff because it's so well-written and very compelling, but it's so excruciatingly regressive in its narrative at times.
 

H-I-M

Banned
Apr 26, 2018
1,330
As a black person living in Europe, the lack of "diversity" didn't bother me at all.
I know it's fiction, but I still consider it to take place during medieval Poland, but that's me.

I can totally see why some could be bothered by it and I'm glad Netflix took a different approach.
 

rras1994

Member
Nov 4, 2017
5,744
I loved The Witcher 3 but yeah there's a lot that bothers me about it. The best questline is about a man beating his pregnant wife and killing his unborn child...and the game uses this to focus purely on his emotional growth. The treatment of Priscilla. Elihal. People seem to overlook the more problematic stuff because it's so well-written and very compelling, but it's so excruciatingly regressive in its narrative at times.
Oh, that quest line is even worse than that for women as it turns out the pregnant women actually made a deal with the crones to abort the baby, the botchling looks very like the weird gross "baby" photos you get at Pro life stands, the woman ends up enslaved to the crones to feed children to them and the ending for the women is she either dies or turns into a monster thing which pretty much means she gets punished for having an abortion. And the game narrative with the bloody baron treats the loss of the baby as a bad thing and sad. I don't know if they did it deliberately but I think they were trying to be dark and edgy without thinking of the optics of what they were saying. I am also going to point out (as I have to I'm these threads as you get piled on for suggesting there were issues with minority representation in Witcher 3) I don't think Witcher 3 is a bad game, in fact I think it's a good game but that doesn't mean it isn't made as a white straight male power fantasy and there are areas of representation of minorities it falls flat on.
 

His Majesty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,172
Belgium
I loved The Witcher 3 but yeah there's a lot that bothers me about it. The best questline is about a man beating his pregnant wife and killing his unborn child...and the game uses this to focus purely on his emotional growth. The treatment of Priscilla. Elihal. People seem to overlook the more problematic stuff because it's so well-written and very compelling, but it's so excruciatingly regressive in its narrative at times.
Heavily disagree. The story of the Bloody Baron is not one solely focused about his emotional growth. Tamara and Anna are represented as proper characters in their own right and not just used as emotional props for the Baron. It's a story full of morally compromised individuals and presenting it as a redemption arc for a man beating his pregnant wife does the writing of this quest a huge disservice.

What is your issue with Elihal? Neither the game nor Geralt makes fun of him. As far as I remember it's a very wholesome conversation.
 
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Pandora012

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
5,496
As a black person living in Europe, the lack of "diversity" didn't bother me at all.
I know it's fiction, but I still consider it to take place during medieval Poland, but that's me.

I can totally see why some could be bothered by it and I'm glad Netflix took a different approach.
Are you saying no poc existed then?
 

Deleted member 4552

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,570
How can you talk about diversity and CDPR not being diverse without realizing that a polish game developer (a massively globally successful one at that!) is diversity itself.

Seeing Americans and British people post about that without the slightest hint of irony given your countries dominance over videogames is hilarious.

I'll be over here with Nioh and Metal Gear Solid 1 the only games I've ever heard the Irish language spoken in.
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,065
Heavily disagree. The story of the Bloody Baron is not one solely focused about his emotional growth. Tamara and Anna are represented as proper characters in their own right and not just used as emotional props for the Baron. It's a story full of morally compromised individuals and presenting it as a redemption arc for a man beating his pregnant wife does the writing of this quest a huge disservice.

What is your issue with Elihal? Neither the game nor Geralt makes fun of him. As far as I remember it's a very wholesome conversation. Unless you somehow think crossdressers shouldn't be represented in gaming but then I would disagree with that.

Honestly, I was going to respond to this but the bolded shows you're not interested in having a proper discussion so why bother? I criticised the game as regressive--putting an entire argument in my mouth that makes me the regressive one is the worst kind of bad faith. There's a huge distinction between criticising the depiction of a crossdresser (or more accurately the stilted dialoguse between him and Geralt) and not wanting a crossdresser in the game.
 

rras1994

Member
Nov 4, 2017
5,744
No, they're saying that there were no POCs in Poland at that time. And from what I've read, that's borne out by historical records.
I'm not even that well versed in Poland history and even disregarding the fact that people travelled and merchants and the like, I know Poland was invaded and occupied by the Mongols at some point. Like, that's not true.
 

His Majesty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,172
Belgium
Honestly, I was going to respond to this but the bolded shows you're not interested in having a proper discussion so why bother? I criticised the game as regressive--putting an entire argument in my mouth that makes me the regressive one is the worst kind of bad faith. There's a huge distinction between criticising the depiction of a crossdresser (or more accurately the stilted dialoguse between him and Geralt) and not wanting a crossdresser in the game.
You're right, hence why I removed said part. Still I'd like to ask you about what you find so offensive about that dialogue? Elihal is portrayed as a reasonable character, Geralt doesn't make fun of him and the game presents a very positive view about crossdressing. I just rewatched the dialogue and can't really find anything that points towards the game ridiculing crossdressing?

Elihal is given a voice, Geralt is not judgemental and his slight confusion clearly stems from the fact that he is researching Dandelion's supposed girlfriends and he comes across a man.
 
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