The Witcher: Sixteen Hours of Love

[Fox12]

Is the point of this that sex in games is icky and people need to be more prudish and live by other people's values or is this just a joke to enjoy in passing as I'm enjoying it now?

A romantic relationship is an incredibly fast way to establish intimacy. He wasn't technically wrong. Portal had to stew that relationship for quite some time.

I think that they were saying that we need to be prudish, and live by other peoples value systems. Grey and Cory are both pretty infamous for hating sex, which is why Critical Miss never deals with it.

This is, of course, a ridiculous attitude. Sex is the best, most expedient way to show a relationship between two characters when you don't understand how human interaction works. I know that I never would have cared about Agro, from Shadow of the Colossus, if they hadn't included that intimate scene where Wander dry humps his leg.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

You know what'd be neat? A build up romance where the final stage isn't sex. Instead they just sit down and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out in general.

*cough* Persona 4 *cough*

At least The Witcher 2's scenes relating to Triss were more tasteful and believable than most other games that tried to handle sex.

Hopefully CDProjekt will continue and make them less pander-y as time goes on

 

[Darth_Payn]

[sees Chell and the Companion Cude in bed together] Hellooooooo, Rule 34...

 

[Erttheking]

You know what'd be neat? A build up romance where the final stage isn't sex. Instead they just sit down and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out in general.

*cough* Persona 4 *cough*

At least The Witcher 2's scenes relating to Triss were more tasteful and believable than most other games that tried to handle sex.

Hopefully CDProjekt will continue and make them less pander-y as time goes on

This is...possibly...true. My friends and I have always had a long debate over "You spent a LONG time with X" was supposed to mean. I like to think it was just cuddling because I'm a sap like that.

Still, you do have a point in at least they don't show the sex.

 

[kannibus]

Sixteen hours?!

I'm gonna be brutally honest with myself here and say that anything beyond sixteen seconds is pushing it...

Or better yet sexteen seconds...

BA DUM TISH!

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Makes sense if you're talking about someone new to the series. Any one familiar with the Witcher knows the characters well enough to understand the motivation without gratuitous T&A. You can also definitely do it better but I give them leeway.

This is...possibly...true. My friends and I have always had a long debate over "You spent a LONG time with X" was supposed to mean. I like to think it was just cuddling because I'm a sap like that.

Still, you do have a point in at least they don't show the sex.

Not showing has very little to do with the implication, IMO.

What do two teenagers obviously romantically interested in each other do that might take a long time? Ohhh, now I get it, unless they use a lot of time for build up, it's most likely going to be a quite short time.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I never quite understood the big to do about sex in video games. People have sex. Sex is awesome. In a more fantasy oriented world without all the distractions we have now, I would think people would be having even MORE sex. So is it really that strange to just depict it as it is? I'd rather see a game depicting casual sex than sex as some kind of grand achievement for fulfilling all the 'romance' dialogue options leading up to it.

Enough with the sexual taboo already.

 

[Bedinsis]

Is that Henrik Johanneson a real person?

 

[Sanunes]

You know what'd be neat? A build up romance where the final stage isn't sex. Instead they just sit down and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out in general.

That is how at least the "romance" with Josephine in Dragon Age: Inquisition finished, which of course there people who are "outraged" about it because they didn't get to see digital skin.

 

[Mangue Surfer]

Showing people making sweet love down by the fire sell me the idea there's something going on between them.
So, the polemic is?

 

[Erttheking]

You know what'd be neat? A build up romance where the final stage isn't sex. Instead they just sit down and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out in general.

That is how at least the "romance" with Josephine in Dragon Age: Inquisition finished, which of course there people who are "outraged" about it because they didn't get to see digital skin.

Interesting. When I finally get through the first two dragon age games and play Inquisition, I'll see if this Josephine doesn't mind hooking up with a female Quanari mage.

 

[klaynexas3]

You know what'd be neat? A build up romance where the final stage isn't sex. Instead they just sit down and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out in general.

That is how at least the "romance" with Josephine in Dragon Age: Inquisition finished, which of course there people who are "outraged" about it because they didn't get to see digital skin.

Interesting. When I finally get through the first two dragon age games and play Inquisition, I'll see if this Josephine doesn't mind hooking up with a female Quanari mage.

She doesn't, I know, I am a Quanari mage.

Also, the Hermit romance path in Persona 3, though, I guess the lead up is to her being frustrated and failing to ask you out on a date, but still, it wasn't sex.

 

[Haru17]

No amount of quotes with dubious gender politics will make the fucking companion cube even a half way decent character. Take the Valve fanboyism and go home.

 

[The Wooster]

I'm not sure that caring about the companion cube was natural to the game rather than something we as a culture provided later. Did we view the companion cube as something more special due to some personification? Sure. But it wasn't as meaningful as a full relationship with a living being would have been.

Is the point of this that sex in games is icky and people need to be more prudish and live by other people's values or is this just a joke to enjoy in passing as I'm enjoying it now?

A romantic relationship is an incredibly fast way to establish intimacy. He wasn't technically wrong. Portal had to stew that relationship for quite some time.

I think there's a difference between- `I think what he said about this is dumb` and `sex is icky and we should all be prudes`, and it's kinda weird how everyone who wasn't impressed by what the guy said is getting lumped into the second category.

It's the go-to argument whenever people think a game's precious "maturity" is under-siege from them-evil-SJW-types. It's far easier to characterize critics as prudes (for the record, we had to edit a strip about two weeks due to, and I quote, "the definition of the labia and the butt cleavage") than address criticism of a particular approach.

 

[wulf3n]

Kind of funny, though it misses the point of the quote completely.

The game isn't trying to build the relationship, it's trying to establish it, the relationship is the call to action. My guess is they want to get into the meat of the game as quickly as possible.

But really

Sex is the quickest way in which to establish the relationship and provide a justification for the player to pursue this woman ... We couldn't just tell you to go find someone you don't know or care about.

Yeah we know, it was the plot of the Witcher 2.

Why is no one making a joke about that?

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

If you liked the way the handled the sex in the first two games, chances are you'll like what they're going to do in the third. But if you didn't, than The Witcher 3 probably won't change that.

The thing is, both of those games approached sex differently enough to like one and dislike another. In first we had that silly poke-em-all card game, while the direction of sex scenes in 2nd was generally well received. So far i've seen progress and i'm cautiously hoping REDs won't drop the ball in 3rd installment.

 

[Abomination]

Geralt's a womanizer, Witchers are known to be sterile, he's got a body of marble, he loves Yennefer and has not seen her in a very long time. People have sex, they frequently do not need a very elaborate reason beyond just wanting to.

This is the "fastest" way to establish the relationship between Geralt and Yennefer without needing the player to go through Witcher 1 & 2 again.

Great move by CD Projekt red though, this is playing right into the hands of viral media because sex in games or being casual about sex will get this type of coverage and threads. The games media has been Meta'd so hard into advertising The Witcher 3 for free.

And Grey Carter has fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

 

[American Fox]

Is the title a reference to that awesome Australian ska band, Seven Seconds Of Love?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3X_QqneKcU

 

[blackrave]

You know what'd be neat? A build up romance where the final stage isn't sex. Instead they just sit down and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat, or just hang out in general.

Really? I must have been playing wrong Witcher games.
In MY version of 1&2 significant part of the game was about his relationship with Triss (and conflict of interest that resulted from it). For most part sex WAS optional.
Granted he fucked around a lot, but Geralt is well known slut after all.

P.S. As far as fidelity goes I'm pretty sure Triss is as much of a slut as Geralt. At least that's the vibe I get from her character.
P.P.S. And then there is Yennefer. Things will get interesting
P.P.P.S. Lets be honest for a moment here. Only game that truly nailed romance was Saints Row 4.