The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt [2014]

[Malcador]

Moor**** would have sued by now, though he'd have to do it to Sapkowksi, no ?

[HoonDing]

He stopped caring about it.

[Nonek]

Isn't Elric himself based off of Kullervo from the Kalavela? I apologise if i'm mangling your fair language Finnish forum members, or have misremembered.

[Keyrock]

I just operate under the assumption that everything is based on something else.  Practically every single archetype and storyline has been done before (hundreds of times in most cases).  So, the whole "Simpsons did it" thing means nothing to me.

[HoonDing]

That was Túrin Turambar.

 

Moor**** mentions in that thread how he spawned an entire genre, pretty hilarious. Good writer and delightfully cantankerous and self-important at times.

[Nonek]

I would agree that the gentleman is a very talented writer (minus his latest books on Elric,) but I doubt the gentleman would admit to taking anything from old Mr Tolkien, as I remember he was rather dismissive of the old fellow. Epic Pooh was the phrase he used I believe. I'm pretty sure he has admitted that Kullervo was his inspiration, though many people argue that that Finnish hero inspired Sigurd Fafnirsbane, and thus Turin Turambar.

[HoonDing]

Tolkien's Turin comes from Kullervo.

 

This is what Moor**** wrote

 

 

 

By now I suspect there are so many borrowings from so many places that Elric -- along with the work which influenced me -- is unconsciously imitated, sometimes through a second or third version. This is now a fully-fledged genre obeying the laws of a genre.
when I started it was not a genre, but had a few authors with a certain amount in common -- Conan set in a mythical pulp past, LOTR in 'Middle Earth' and so on. I think I must have been the first or one of the first to discard rationalisation. The book which I liked best, Anderson's The Broken Sword, was set in early Christian Europe. Most of my borrowings were sort of pre-genre or from miscellaneous genres and mythologies. I borrowed Elric from Zenith the Albino, as I've frequently mentioned, while the drugs and the 'White Wolf' could have come from a dozen sources. It's how you put them together in the end that's the main thing. I happened to start writing the stuff just at the point of the romantic revival getting started, ten or twenty years before there were many -- if any -- writers of my age doing it. Just before me was Fritz Leiber, whom I still admire more than most and was a much better writer than me. Just after me came M. John Harrison, who was also a better writer. What I brought, I think, was a kind of energy, brevity and speed of narration which, in my view, is a virtue, too. What amazes me, working as I am on a number of my early books at present, is how my writing improved from one story to the next! Leiber and Harrison started out as much more careful writers than me.

[Nonek]

From Sexton Blake?

 

I'm sure i've read an interview somewhere where he admitted to basing Elric directly on Kullervo, certainly we see the resemblance in The Dreaming City. I'll look around, though I may be misremembering as it was probably a few decades ago.

 

Edit: Must re-read some Poul Anderson and Fritz Leiber.

 

2nd Edit: Apparently it was neither, the gentleman was simply making an anti Conan.

 

http://www.multiverse.org/fora/showthread.php?t=4235

 

3rd and last Edit: Found a rather hilarious comparison list:

 

Elric of Melnibone:

Rightful emperor of Melnibone, and thus most powerful individual in all the Young Kingdoms.
Elven.
Albino.
Weakling who needs to sustain himself with either drugs or stolen souls.
Mightiest mage in all of the young kingdoms.
Worshipper of the chaos gods.
Frequently stupid.
Bound symbiotically to a soul eating sentient sword.
One aspect of the champion eternal, a multiversal hero.
His people have ruled the world for ten millenia.
Rides Dragons and sometimes even weirder craft.
Has few friends or acquaintances, mainly Dyvim and Moonglum.

Geralt of Rivia:

Orphaned child without family or fortune.
Human.
White haired and cat eyed due to witcher mutations.
Superhuman, immune to disease and the ravages of time.
Knows a few witcher tricks, the signs.
Agnostic, with a certain distaste for fate.
Clever, know his craft like the back of his hand.
Bear two mundane sword, one silver and one steel.
Is not sure whether fate exists, certainly does not like to think of himself as a pawn of it.
Witchers are few and rapidly dying out, at their height they were reviled freaks.
Rides a horse that he calls Roach.
Has many friends.
 

Edited November 29, 2013 by Nonek

[licketysplit]

The Witcher is postmodern fantasy, very much about twisting conventional tropes. There's really nothing else I've read that's like it. Found this article.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-19-the-witcher-3-what-is-a-next-gen-rpg

[HoonDing]

Elric of Melnibone:

 

Rightful emperor of Melnibone, and thus most powerful individual in all the Young Kingdoms.

Elven.

Albino.

Weakling who needs to sustain himself with either drugs or stolen souls.

Mightiest mage in all of the young kingdoms.

Worshipper of the chaos gods.

Frequently stupid.

Bound symbiotically to a soul eating sentient sword.

One aspect of the champion eternal, a multiversal hero.

His people have ruled the world for ten millenia.

Rides Dragons and sometimes even weirder craft.

Has few friends or acquaintances, mainly Dyvim and Moonglum.

 

Geralt of Rivia:

 

Orphaned child without family or fortune.

Human.

White haired and cat eyed due to witcher mutations.

Superhuman, immune to disease and the ravages of time.

Knows a few witcher tricks, the signs.

Agnostic, with a certain distaste for fate.

Clever, know his craft like the back of his hand.

Bear two mundane sword, one silver and one steel.

Is not sure whether fate exists, certainly does not like to think of himself as a pawn of it.

Witchers are few and rapidly dying out, at their height they were reviled freaks.

Rides a horse that he calls Roach.

Has many friends.

The King of the Wild Hunt is very Melnibonéan. Like Yrkoon or an evil Elric. Probably going to be the end boss of Twitcher 3 as well (considering his connection to Ciri who appears to be in the game).

Edited November 30, 2013 by Drudanae

[Keyrock]

If it wasn't for the fact that Geralt is a Witcher, and thus immune to disease, the final boss should be gonorrhea, considering how many times he, ahem, wet his whistle.

[licketysplit]

 

Elric of Melnibone:

 

Rightful emperor of Melnibone, and thus most powerful individual in all the Young Kingdoms.

Elven.

Albino.

Weakling who needs to sustain himself with either drugs or stolen souls.

Mightiest mage in all of the young kingdoms.

Worshipper of the chaos gods.

Frequently stupid.

Bound symbiotically to a soul eating sentient sword.

One aspect of the champion eternal, a multiversal hero.

His people have ruled the world for ten millenia.

Rides Dragons and sometimes even weirder craft.

Has few friends or acquaintances, mainly Dyvim and Moonglum.

 

Geralt of Rivia:

 

Orphaned child without family or fortune.

Human.

White haired and cat eyed due to witcher mutations.

Superhuman, immune to disease and the ravages of time.

Knows a few witcher tricks, the signs.

Agnostic, with a certain distaste for fate.

Clever, know his craft like the back of his hand.

Bear two mundane sword, one silver and one steel.

Is not sure whether fate exists, certainly does not like to think of himself as a pawn of it.

Witchers are few and rapidly dying out, at their height they were reviled freaks.

Rides a horse that he calls Roach.

Has many friends.

The King of the Wild Hunt is very Melnibonéan. Like Yrkoon or an evil Elric. Probably going to be the end boss of Twitcher 3 as well (considering his connection to Ciri who appears to be in the game).

 

 

So you have played it then? Always nice to get insider info. Why don't we all give money to poor Mr. Moor****, because he invented modern fantasy literature. I think. According to him anyway.

[Malcador]

Given the first two games, it is pretty clear the King is going to be the guy you have to settle something, no ?

[Keyrock]

Given the first two games, it is pretty clear the King is going to be the guy you have to settle something, no ?

Do you mean Eredin, the King of the Wild Hunt, or Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

IIRC, Moor**** bitched at Grant Morrison once for creating a character that resembled one of his creations...in a rather obvious homage bit.

 

From what I can tell, Moor**** seems to be angry at anything that could vaguely resemble his work, from a Japanese game with a sword that eats souls to The Witcher.

[licketysplit]

In both Witcher games, humans are the main antagonists, not the Wild Hunt. I doubt that will change.

[Zoraptor]

Given the first two games, it is pretty clear the King is going to be the guy you have to settle something, no ?

Given the ending to 2 settling that may involve swigging grog and a 'catch you later bro', though.

 

Probably cannot solve an extraplanar invasion that way but you never know.

[Malcador]

In both Witcher games, humans are the main antagonists, not the Wild Hunt. I doubt that will change.

Well, the first game he shows up to just mock Geralt and/or take Jacques, the second game mentions him in the flashbacks so I was expecting him to show up in some Letho-like role throughout and at the end. 

[Tagaziel]

 

Given the first two games, it is pretty clear the King is going to be the guy you have to settle something, no ?

Given the ending to 2 settling that may involve swigging grog and a 'catch you later bro', though.

 

Probably cannot solve an extraplanar invasion that way but you never know.

 

You can't reason with the Elven Nazis. The Aen Elle make Thalmor look like peaceful, reasonable guys seeking a compromise and unwilling to resort to violence.

[HoonDing]

Emhyr's not a bad guy, he just wants to save the world in his own way.

Not-Yrkoon will die for getting his dirty hands on Yennefer

 

 

Slaying some wicked Elves is the only reason left to buy the game, now that it's certain there's no Dol Blathanna (and thus no banging Findabair) and no Queen Maeve in the game.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Drudanae

[Tagaziel]

Emhyr's not a bad guy, he just wants to save the world in his own way.

 

Not-Yrkoon will die for getting his dirty hands on Yennefer

 

 

Slaying some wicked Elves is the only reason left to buy the game, now that it's certain there's no Dol Blathanna (and thus no banging Findabair) and no Queen Maeve in the game.

I was speaking about the Elves, not Emhyr. I just hope Geralt gets to share a beer or two with his old friend. 

 

Also, didn't Maeve get a fistful of armor in her face? Unless toothless rulers are your schtick, I'm not sure Geralt would be all that interested. Especially since he went AWOL on her.

[Nonek]

As far as i'm aware Eredin wants nothing from the Witcher's world, other than the secret of the Elder Blood that Ciri holds, they know that the Ice Age is coming to consume that world. I hope for this very reason that there is no mass otherworldly invasion, as that seems a rather tired plot hardly worthy of what the Witcher has created so far. Personally i'd prefer a hidden subtext of the Dearg Rhudri's hunt for Cirilla, framed by the background of the war consuming the Northern Kingdoms, wolves in the shadows if you will.

 

I wonder whether the Elder Blood is being researched by the Aen Seidhe on the Witcher's world simply because of the time dilation effect? Centuries of breeding and testing pass, but only a few days have flitted by in the riders bone strewn gardens.

 

Edit: I agree that to solve the Ciri situation there seems to be no alternative other than bearding the Wild Hunt, however there are apparently three endings, though I suspect all of them shall be tragic in some way.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Nonek

[HoonDing]

I wonder whether the Elder Blood is being researched by the Aen Seidhe on the Witcher's world simply because of the time dilation effect? Centuries of breeding and testing pass, but only a few days have flitted by in the riders bone strewn gardens.

There's an interesting parallel here with the Bene Gesserit breeding program in Dune. The Elves lost control of their Kwisatz Haderach in pretty much the same way.

 

Also, didn't Maeve get a fistful of armor in her face? Unless toothless rulers are your schtick, I'm not sure Geralt would be all that interested. Especially since he went AWOL on her.

Oh, I'm not interested in any carnal entanglements with her. She's just an interesting character and the only monarch of the Northern Kingdoms we haven't seen in game yet (well, except for queen of Kovir, but that place is not relevant to the plot of the games).

Edited November 30, 2013 by Drudanae

[Tagaziel]

Oh, I'm not interested in any carnal entanglements with her. She's just an interesting character and the only monarch of the Northern Kingdoms we haven't seen in game yet (well, except for queen of Kovir, but that place is not relevant to the plot of the games).

The point still stands, Geralt went AWOL in the middle of a guerrilla campaign after a fresh knighting. That's about as well received as taking a dump on the table during a royal feast and asking the queen to share her vestments for wiping.

 

I hope for this very reason that there is no mass otherworldly invasion

The Alder Folk probably hope that too. Too bad it's going to happen. Geralt vs. Aen Elle. Doesn't seem fair, does it?

 

Maybe he'll fight blindfolded.

 

Personally i'd prefer a hidden subtext of the Dearg Rhudri's hunt for Cirilla, framed by the background of the war consuming the Northern Kingdoms, wolves in the shadows if you will.

 

I wonder whether the Elder Blood is being researched by the Aen Seidhe on the Witcher's world simply because of the time dilation effect? Centuries of breeding and testing pass, but only a few days have flitted by in the riders bone strewn gardens.

 

Edit: I agree that to solve the Ciri situation there seems to be no alternative other than bearding the Wild Hunt, however there are apparently three endings, though I suspect all of them shall be tragic in some way.

I only want the option to side with Nilfgaard. Say what you will, but awesome Dutch Absolutist Empire is awesome and it will definitely bring an end to the internecine strife in the north.

[licketysplit]

I expect to be able to side with Nilfgard, and banish the Aen Elle. And I want to bed Phillipa. Now there's a challenge.