Guaranteed the word “woke” will be thrown around left and right

    • @00L10@feddit.org
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      264 months ago

      I can’t understand hating Ciri as a chracter, but I can understand being kind of a disappointed not having Geralt as a playable character.

      If you consider it as an isolated game it doesn’t matter, but when you play three games as one character and then suddenly switch to another character it can feel kind of melancholic, in absence of a better word. Especially since now there’s a non-zero chance that they’ll kill Geralt in the new game.

      But anyway, Ciri was an interesting character and those parts in Witcher 3 where you played as her were great.

      • @njm1314@lemmy.world
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        114 months ago

        It’s not sudden at all. In fact there’s no way you can be a fan of these games and not have seen this coming. It was the very obvious Next Step.

    • @Asafum@feddit.nl
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      4 months ago

      For me it’s not that I hate ciri at all. I completely understand women’s complaint that most games have a male protagonist and they can’t relate to that. I feel the same way, I like to feel at least somewhat immersed and I can never really get that with a female protagonist. It’s not like I don’t try either, I just never end up getting into the games I have tried that are like this.

      I know it’s hard when the story is based on an individual, but I just wish more games had an option so everyone could play who they want to. I don’t hate them for this choice, it will just be another game that “isn’t for me” in the same way a hyper competitive PVP game “isn’t for me” which is fine.

      • ScrubblesOP
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        524 months ago

        I’m sorry, you’re saying you’re unable to get into a game simply because it’s a female protagonist? If it was a male you’d be fine?

        • @NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          “It’s so hard for me to imagine myself as a mutant monster killing master swordsman in a fantasy world if said mutant has a pair of tits”

          Lol

          • ScrubblesOP
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            4 months ago

            Exactly lol, it has nothing to do with some weird gender thing. It’s a role playing game. You’re playing as a role. Even in Skyrim the role you’re playing (even if you choose a white male human) is someone living in Skyrim, a fictional place fighting dragons and draugr. So I think gender is one of the smallest differences.

            God forbid you play a different perspective and see what it’s like.

            Female V in cyberpunk is one of the best gaming experiences. You feel being catcalled and hit on directly - and you beat the ever loving shit out of them for doing it.

              • ScrubblesOP
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                124 months ago

                Ha, one of the first times I saw someone playing as a woman (in third person) I asked why and he joked and said “dude why would I want to stare at a man’s ass for 60 hours?”. Not a bad argument tbh…

              • @Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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                54 months ago

                I’m convinced that anyone who feels like they need to take steps to avoid liking dicks is actually in denial that they already like dicks.

        • massive_bereavement
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          124 months ago

          I mean how could you ever sympathize with a character that doesn’t look exactly like you*?

          *(Or the ideal of yourself, because let’s be honest…)

        • @RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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          114 months ago

          I think he means he thinks women have trouble identifying to male protagonists as he has trouble identifying to female protagonists. If it was a male it’s ok because he’s a male (he can relate to).

          He’s conflating women “can’t get behind a male protagonist” with women “who want more representation” and using it as his excuse. I think most gamers don’t care, and don’t think we should always have the choice. The only people who will hate this choice is people who already wanted to hate on women to begin with.

          • ScrubblesOP
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            4 months ago

            Which to that I’d say women have been able to “get behind male protagonists” for decades now.

            I think choice is fun, for some games, but some games like the Witcher tell a specific narrative, and it makes sense that they are tailored for a specific character, and I think we all know the sort of abuse that Ciri is going to see in the world of the Witcher.

            I think of any gender has trouble “identifying” with a character of another gender that’s 100% a them issue, they need to figure out why they have such a problem with it, because that says more about them then it does game makers. (I know not you, the original person).

            Seriously all it says to me is that you’re insecure with yourself if you can’t even play a fictional fantasy game as a woman.

            • @RedWeasel@lemmy.world
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              64 months ago

              Definitely. It is probably in part cultural indoctrination teaching that women are weak & such. And they don’t want to feel weak. Many of my favorite games have women protagonists.

              Looking forward to W4.

              • ScrubblesOP
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                34 months ago

                Many games are just better IMO by choosing the female POV. Femshep >>>> Maleshep

        • @Asafum@feddit.nl
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          54 months ago

          Pretty much, yeah. Part of it is the whole “power fantasy” thing. I get, as others said, that it’s a fantasy world so how could you expect to be immersed with mutants and whatever, but that’s not the point. I don’t expect it to be a VR experience where I can’t even tell I’m not in the real world, and as others assumed no for fucks sake it has nothing to do with hating women. That’s absurd. It’s just a personal preference thing. I’m not going to write to the devs bitching or make some stupid “woke game” post, I just probably won’t play it.

          • ScrubblesOP
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            84 months ago

            You really need to look internally and analyze why you feel that way.

      • MentalEdge
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        314 months ago

        Is it really like that for you? Does the same thing happen with books, movies, TV? Should they have an “option”?

        I have absolutely no trouble immersing myself into Aloy, Lara Croft, Jesse (Control), Red (Transistor), Bayonetta, Faith (Mirror’s Edge), and others.

        Like, the character not being the same gender as me, doesn’t even register as an obstacle for inhabiting them. I’m able to mentally become them in literally the exact same way I do any other protagonist.

        Since, it’s not like I need to be the same as someone in order to see the world through their perspective.

        The opposite, the less they are like me, the greater the chance I’ll get to experience something from outside my own lived experience. And I like that.

        I’m with women in that they should have representation in games (and stories in general), but even just for myself I’m cheering this particular progression on for the sheer variety it brings.

        • @Asafum@feddit.nl
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          94 months ago

          Is it really like that for you? Does the same thing happen with books, movies, TV? Should they have an “option”?

          It is like that for me and they don’t need to have that option, that’s unrealistic to expect. You can’t choose anything in a book or movie. It just becomes something that “isn’t for me” which is fine. Not everything has to be my taste. I was simply explaining why it had nothing to do with hating ciri for some people.

          • @NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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            154 months ago

            One of the best things about art is it can help to share what others experience; it gives us an opportunity to “walk in someone else’s shoes”. I think this can lead to more empathy in a world sorely lacking in it.

          • @rooroo@feddit.org
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            54 months ago

            I don’t get you at all but fair fucks to you being civil about the matter. You got a lot of hate on here while simply stating a preference that you unfortunately share with a bunch of incel neckbeards.

            I’m the other way, interestingly. I like playing a woman as a protagonist. Not because I’ll lust over them or anything, it’s simply more enjoyable.

            • @Asafum@feddit.nl
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              24 months ago

              I appreciate that. I just see it as the typical “people love to attack others online” and I have no desire to try to insult people even if they’re telling me liking chocolate over vanilla is wrong and I’m an asshole for it lol only I know myself, and I know there’s no hatred or misogyny behind my preferences.

      • @CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works
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        34 months ago

        Many Mass Effect players reported that FemShep was the better way to play the game. Many guys play female avatars in games because the cosmetic choices are usually more interesting. This actually came up in a study on MMORPG players many years ago, and I imagine it is still true today.

    • @el_bhm@lemm.ee
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      94 months ago

      Someone that did not read the books. There are multiple points where the story shifts to Ciri. In a similar way Ragnarok shifts to Atreaus.

      • @SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip
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        24 months ago

        Currently I split my time a bit on reddit and Lemmy, but at this point I don’t even bother with their gaming communities. Lemmy is miles better in that regard imo as far as discussions go.

    • Owl
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      4 months ago

      I haven’t seen a single complaint about Ciri being the protagonist of the next witcher game andI believe it’s because she isn’t a “let’s put a woman here for the quotas” type of character.

    • ScrubblesOP
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      94 months ago

      We’re a pretty happy bubble here, which is why I’m here

    • @gift_of_gab@lemmy.world
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      44 months ago

      Really? Can you share them? I saw the post on lemmy complaining about wanting male/female options, but there’s also this article with gems such as below.

      image

      Even in the comments of that article though, is “DEI detected = Purchase rejected”.

      So the comments are out there, probably on reddit too, but they are there.

      • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        54 months ago

        That’s super reaching for straws. It’s a skin in a third party Battle Royale game. He couldn’t even bring himself to compare her to Ciri in Witcher 3.

  • @blarth@thelemmy.club
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    314 months ago

    No no you see it is because I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to Witcher lore and have memorized not only every line but every plot in the series and books, and you see, Ciri is supposed to be much [choice: less/more] powerful than this trailer makes her appear! I’m boycotting this game and recommend everyone else does too! I’m tired of them shitting on lore with woke propaganda!

    Anyway, I think that covers it.

  • @squirrel@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    294 months ago

    Add Naughty Dog’s “Intergalactic” to the pile: The protagonist is female and a PoC! The usual suspects are already frothing at the mouth and recording a bajillion outrage bait videos for their Youtube channels.

    • Crunk
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      4 months ago

      And bald! Which probably reminds some of the negative anti-wokers of their current day living situations

  • @Lauchmelder@feddit.org
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    284 months ago

    The thing is though, they don’t care about women in video games, they just care about “ugly” women in video games. as long as they can look at an hourglass shaped woman with massive curves in a skinsuit they don’t mind.

    don’t go down the rabbit hole of “fixing female characters”…

      • @valentinesmith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        104 months ago

        yes I really liked it. Even the analysis/hypothesis that it really is the moment of „not getting pandered to“ that enrages that demographic. Any moment they do not feel like the target audience they take grave offense.

    • @DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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      The thing is though, they don’t care about women in video games, they just care about “ugly” women in video games.

      Welcome to 2024, where preferring art to not be that is not ugly is despicable behavior.

      I know most left leaning people aren’t this extreme, but this really gives them a bad image and puts off a lot of people. Especially when the non extreme people jump to the defense out of the feeling that opposing extremes is the same as promoting the right.

      EDIT: Change wording for clarity.

      • @Lauchmelder@feddit.org
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        34 months ago

        You conveniently ignored the quotes around “ugly” to go on your little rant there. These people already flip their shit when the woman is a mere mortal normal looking woman and not the perfectly shaped ridiculously curvy imperfection-free woman that incels think is the gold standard of attractiveness. Point in case: Star Wars Outlaws bad, Stellar Blade good

        • @DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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          So they like their art to not be average looking, big deal. Different people have different preferences. If you prefer more average looking women, than say so and leave it at that. No need to belittle other peoples preferences or push your preferences onto others.

          • @Lauchmelder@feddit.org
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            34 months ago

            Yeah I guess we should just let people keep over analyzing the women in video games, pointing out every single imperfection, every pimple, every asymetry because thats what incels do. I’m sure the women in the real world love that behaviour 🤠 maybe you try talking to a women and see how she likes the portrayal of women in video games, and the coomers consuming said games

            • @DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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              14 months ago

              Yeah I guess we should just let people keep over analyzing the women in video games, pointing out every single imperfection, every pimple, every asymetry

              Yes, you should let other people analyze whatever they feel like analyzing.

              because thats what incels do. I’m sure the women in the real world love that behaviour 🤠

              What does that have to do with you? If they want to stay incels, that is their problem.

              • @Lauchmelder@feddit.org
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                34 months ago

                I’m not gonna keep arguing because you’re clearly not interested in thinking about how the portrayal of women in media affects societies perception of women in real life. I urge you to take my advice and talk to women 🤠

                • @DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  you’re clearly not interested in thinking about how the portrayal of women in media affects societies perception of women in real life.

                  About as much as seeing violence in games is causing real life violence? Sane people can distinguish a game from reality.

                  I urge you to take my advice and talk to women 🤠

                  Shock and horror, they don’t bring this topic up. Those that talk about political topics with me have real issues they care about.

  • @Rinn@literature.cafe
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    (Lore nerd rant ahead, tl;dr: Ciri being the protag is 100% fine and I expected it but her being a full witcher is weird)

    There’s exactly one somewhat valid complaint to be had here, and it’s that Ciri in the books explicitly didn’t go through the Trial of the Grasses (aka one of the main mutation processes that makes you a witcher or, as it often happens, just straight up kills you), so idk how they’ll justify her being able to use witcher potions and stuff now. And (also in the books) she has lost her access to magic at one point, so using witcher signs is strange too.

    I can see her wanting to take the plunge and go through with the trials, but I’m also certain that Geralt wouldn’t want that for her bc of how much it fucks you up + most of the secrets of the trials have been lost.

    I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait and see what explanation they come up with for her being a full witcher, but it better be good.

    So, from lore perspective, I have no objections to her being the protag but I don’t love her being a full witcher. I liked what they did with her gameplay sections in W3, I hoped they’d have just expanded on that gameplay idea more.

    • @Trantarius@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      84 months ago

      I agree it seems a little shoe-horned to make her a classical witcher. I hope it’s not just to give her the title, because she could easily be the protagonist, and/or have the job of being a witcher without the trial of the grasses. She was given the training and education of a witcher, and has magical powers of her own already. Receiving the trials would be a huge deal, narratively, to the characters, and to world building. I could easily see this being a fumbled corporate attempt at placating fans that wanted to see geralt, without any regard for the characters or world building. (Similar to “Rey Skywalker” having absolutely no business being a Skywalker). But that’s all speculation. If it’s treated as a major plot point, and not done just for the hell of it, it could still be good.

      • @Rinn@literature.cafe
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        44 months ago

        Yeah, exactly! I’m not married to the lore to the degree that I won’t give the devs a chance to explain how this came to be, but I’m worried it’s going to just be a cheap “well we needed to keep the signs and the potions as mechanics but Geralt is retired, fuck it, let’s say they found instructions on how to safely make more witchers in Vesemir’s cupboard somewhere.”

    • _cryptagion [he/him]
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      54 months ago

      She’s wearing a feline medallion in the trailer, so it stands to reason she’s affiliated with the School of the Cat now. She probably went through their trials. And apparently CDPR has stated she is indeed a full witcher now.

    • @greedytacothief@lemmy.world
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      34 months ago

      Yeah I’m not sure what her becoming a witcher adds to her story. She already has a lot going for her. Now if she became a badass witch like Granny weatherwax that’s the left turn I want to see.

      Ciri used headology: The bandit lies down questioning how exactly disappointed his mother will be in him when ciri gets back from the coven.

  • @TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
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    234 months ago

    I don’t understand the hate for women in video games, If the next Doom game comes out with a female protagonist I’d be going “HELL YEAH RIP ITS HEAD OFF!!!” the same way I do in Doom Eternal

    • @ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net
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      114 months ago

      From shitty YouTuber influencers.

      A guy from work constantly tells me how I should feel about a game based on a YouTuber he watches. He doesn’t play it, he just parrot that shit. Often it’s the most sexist, disgusting take.

      And most of these influencers are outright basement dwellers with pride.

      So like, they’re getting shitty takes from shitty human beings who are proud of being shitty?

      • @localhost443@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 months ago

        Yeah basically that neckbeard guy who just rages against anything that doesn’t help his fantasies of being a real man. Can’t remember the channel, want to say the fappening but it’s not that.

        E: shit I mean the quartering, have a cold and no sleep for 2 days. That’s something completely different…

    • @supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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      Don’t understand it as a rational thing, understand the hate as a cancer with its growth being juiced and accelerated by the ruling class because incels are the easiest demographic to scam into violently acting against their own interests.

      A cancerous process is by definition irrational from the perspective of the body it acts upon, the reason the cancer exists and grows is not because of a motive, desire or need but rather because the cancerous process consumes all the space and oxygen in a room at a faster rate than anything else can compete with while remaining invisible to the body as a threat.

      Toxicity towards women displaces other topics and viewpoints specifically because the men pushing those topics want to monopolize the discussion and framing and often centrist types don’t challenge that at all because of some self-perceived high ground to tolerating intolerance (not something you tend to believe in if you have experienced serious hate).

    • @cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
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      64 months ago

      Generally speaking im absolutely for a better representation of women and minorities. However, theres on criterium for it: it must fit with the lore. If the lore makes sense with a woman, go for it. If you just replace the main character with a woman, but don’t adjust the lore in a way that its clear that its an entire new storyline or so, than I’m against swapping out the main character. Inclusion shouldn’t lower the quality of a game.

      • @blarth@thelemmy.club
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        124 months ago

        Agreed.

        Ciri is a huge part of the Witcher games.

        They prepped us for her becoming a Witcher or something adjacent to it in TW3.

        There’s no conspiracy to turn you gay or trans here. It’s just a continuation of the series.

        • Schadrach
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          24 months ago

          Though talking about the lore, that had better not be regular witcher alchemy in that potion. She explicitly hasn’t had the special diet, trial of grasses or the mutations so witcher potions should basically be poison she can’t process at all.

          Canonically she’s witcher trained but not subjected to any of the mutations, but she’s also of the Elder Blood and a Source. So compared to a traditional witcher you’d expect her to be slower and weaker (because she lacks the mutations) but have greater access to magic (because she’s a Source). You’d also expect her to use most witcher tools and gadgets, but not potions (because they should just be poison to her, not having the altered gut of a witcher).

      • @Clam_Cathedral@lemmy.ml
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        84 months ago

        So maybe it’s not actually the DEI itself that makes the game bad but actually the shitty game design and writing that makes the game bad and lore suck.

      • @Knoxvomica@lemmy.ca
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        14 months ago

        So like, in this case, ciri makes perfect sense as she’s by pore, essentially the next be of kin.

  • @Harvey656@lemmy.world
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    224 months ago

    Doesn’t Geralt basically retire at the end of 3??? Of course it’s her turn to be the protag, fuck the haters.

    • Stern
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      134 months ago

      You also spend multiple chunks of the game playing as Ciri. Like what are folks expecting?

    • @metallic_z3r0@infosec.pub
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      24 months ago

      My thought was that Geralt and Ciri’s stories were over or decided, and I’m disappointed they didn’t find a way to do a Witcher story either in the future or past that enabled you to pick your own gender, appearance, Witcher school, or whatever else, maybe with creative use of the trial of the grasses or something.

      I’ll happily play as Ciri to revisit the universe and maybe some familiar characters, but I just wish they’d done something newer or more original.

  • @Sarcasmo220@lemmy.ml
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    214 months ago

    Guaranteed the word “woke” will be thrown around left and right

    More like it will be thrown from the right

  • @Paradachshund@lemmy.today
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    214 months ago

    Ciri is such a great character in the books. I hope they can get a lot of that personality into her in the game, too.

    • ScrubblesOP
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      64 months ago

      It seems like it from the trailer, but I’m nervous about the voice actress, she does sound different than 3… But I’m willing to give her a fair chance

      • Bahnd Rollard
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        14 months ago

        From the trailer, its clear that its ~15-20 year time skip, she is able to drink witcher potions so she passed the trial of grasses, and clearly has much more control of her powers.

        The trial of grasses point is where im concerned, yes she would have plot armor for a procedure that has a notriously low survival rate, plus the school of the wolf (Geralt, Vesimier and co.) destroied their old records after the events of the first game so that noone could produce more witchers.

    • @Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
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      In general English usage I think you may be right.

      In the world of “The Witcher” (which is translated from Polish) there are both male and female mages with inborn abilities. Sometimes they are called sorcerers and sorceresses, sometimes they are called mages, sometimes they are called something related to their specialisation of magic, and sometimes wise women who do magic but didn’t go to the academy are called witches.

      Witchers, however, are not mages. They are made from ordinary humans and are gene manipulated and highly trained to be monster hunters. They have some witcher powers that are related to runes, and they make potions that have side effects only they can survive thanks to their manipulated bodies. Witchers at birth do not have special potential. Though a lot of little witcher trainees die, so you could argue they are artificially selected in that way.

      Ciri is kind of neither of those, but she has special abilities related to space and time manipulation. In the new trailer it seems she drinks a witcher potion, but from what we know she never underwent the manipulation that witchers did.