The Witcher 2

About the books in English, I may have been mistaken. Here is a list of links for the books from a poster on the Witcher site. I have NOT checked out each link... but have fun.

Okay for all you cool cats who want to buy the Witcher books online but don't where, this is for you!
Note that some of the books aren't listed on the first page of the search. Also don't enter the witcher into the search bar, enter the book name!
The obvious place to go is Amazon or ebay but for those cool cats like me who don't really like Amazon or ebay then follow these links. Add some yourself if you like!
These are also for the last wish, if you're looking for the Blood elves try within these stores as well, but I think it will be a will while before they really get in stock.
Lastly all of these are in English sorry if you are native to Germany or somewhere else with your own language, I tried!

The Last Wish:
Australian, and some New Zealand stores:
http://www.collinsbo...y=title&x=0&y=0,
http://www.dymocks.c...rtial&Nty=1&N=0
http://www.booktopia...0&submit=search
http://www.angusrobe....au/b2c/init.do
http://www.gleebooks...514&from=search

American, maybe you'd like to buy here if Canadian as well:
http://www.powells.c...st+wish&x=0&y=0
http://search.barnes...D=The+last+wish
http://www.abebooks....st+wish&x=0&y=0

The UK:
http://www.whsmith.c...q=The+last+wish
http://www.foyles.co...Fd&CID=&x=0&y=0
http://bookshop.blac....x=0&Submit.y=0
http://www.countrybo...i-bin/search.pl

Okay it's getting harder to find any others just be on the lookout, Google for online bookstores and look there also and who knows it maybe as simple as that. Hope this helps!!!!

I hate it. It doesn't know what it wants to be. I can't call it an RPG when there are barely any spells and such limited stats and upgrades and stuff, and the combat is mindless hack n slash action. But it doesn't work as an action hack n slash either because the combat just isn't fun enough, and all the boring quests just dull the whole thing down. So to me it's neither one thing nor the other and it fails at both.

If I am going to play an RPG, I want a proper RPG with different classes and proper stats and gear and rare items, and if I want to play as a mage, I have a hundred spells to choose from not just 6 crappy 'signs'. And if I am going to play an action hack n slash game, I want stuff like combos, and combat that is actually balanced so that it's not tediously difficult at first and then so easy I can play with my eyes closed.

Modern game designers have just lost it imo. They used to have it down to a fine art, but it's like an ancient lost knowledge now. Most of these big companies don't give a crap about their games, they have no passion for what they are making and they don't care if it's good, they just care that it sells. The most recent Dragon Age tells you everything you need to know about modern gaming. Mass production with absolute minimum costs and effort, and plop out some mindless game every 12 months, and as long as it has flashy graphics and plenty of gore, the average dumbass modern gamer will rush out to buy it.

You know that the "RP" in "RPG" doesn't stand for "mountains of stats and OCD inspired gear hunting" right?

If your only definition is that you are playing a role, then you could call the majority of games an RPG, even games like Crysis or Fifa Soccer etc. The fact is, it used to be generally acknowledged that when a game was called an RPG, it was one which had all those key elements and lots of depth. The fact that you even defend these companies just shows how screwed modern gaming is. Modern gamers don't care enough, and the game development companies are exploiting this gleefully.

I'm not against having some simple games, I grew up playing games called "Beat 'em ups" after all. I used to play Outrun, Golden Axe, Bomberman, Streetfighter 2, Doom, etc. But at least I had the choice back then to play different types of game. Games like Planescape Torment that had a book full of story, or the original Rainbow 6 where you had to play it so carefully, if you took one bullet you were dead, etc. Those days are dying, if not already dead.

What bugs the most, is that there are NO proper old style RPG's anymore. If some people are happy with "Action RPG's" that's fine, but now there is nothing else. The Gothic, Elder Scrolls, Two Worlds, and now Witcher games, are all action-RPG's. Our last hope was the Dragon Age series and look at what happened to that. Also for what it's worth, what I want from an RPG is far from OCD. The best I've ever played was EverQuest where you could go weeks without getting a new item. But when you did you knew the name of it because it was legendary. It is the modern way which inundates you with gear from every corpse, in every barrel, and behind every bush, it never used to be like that. And the stats were not a big deal for that matter too. Mostly you would choose them when you started your character and then never looked at them again. Some games gave you another point to spend when you levelled up but that was about it. But at least that was SOMETHING for me to think about. Nowdays you don't have to think about anything. These games practically play themselves, and if I'm going to play some auto pilot hack 'n slash, then at least give me one that goes all out.

@whiteelk: Ok cool, gog it is. How do i burn a CD of the game for later?

@vodoochile

I don´t know how you could manage it to write two long posts about RPG and not using the word "Story" not even for one time. Gothic, Elder Scroll and Witcher are action-RPGs and call Everquest your best RPG? *wow*

Sure, its all a matter of taste. But Witcher II is far away from beeing a bad game. Its not a perfekt, but a very good RPG with a great story. Its like reading a book and i´m the protagonist. I have the feeling that i conduct the story, that my desicions and answers matter something. So...fantastic Rolepaying.

@voodoochile123: Lol, your rants are funny. But I am not sure you would recognize an RPG if it hit you in the head. Yes, witcher 2 has a needlessly complicated combat system that is not fun enough to warrant as much complication, but the game is a true RPG never the less. It still has levels, you can still improve your character in different ways (have to replay to try other combinations), and you still hunt for better gear through the game. At the same time, the story is great and decisions you get to make affect the world in a real way. It is a true roleplaying game, and there are only a few like it (including Witcher 1).

The mainstream definition of RPG has shifted, and that's what he's railing about. I have friends who've mentioned this.

http://www.shadowdawngenesis.com/devblog/?p=603 for one example.

Ironically, with regards to Rainbow Six being mentioned - Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is exactly like that. R6: Vegas 2 is a little more casual but you still can't take much in the way of hits. What this has to do with RPGs though, who knows.

Quoting Lantros,

reply 31

"Story"

Story helps, but I think the story in games is always inferior to a good book or even a good film. When it comes to games, I want gameplay, and that's what I'm talking about. As for story in a game, if you only care about that and don't care so much about gameplay, then adventure games are the place to be.

Quoting Lantros,

reply 31

Everquest your best RPG? *wow*

Have you even played it?

Quoting TorinReborn,

reply 32

@voodoochile123: Lol, your rants are funny. But I am not sure you would recognize an RPG if it hit you in the head. Yes, witcher 2 has a needlessly complicated combat system

Back at you. My rant about the combat is not that it's too complicated, it's that it's too simple. If you find The Witcher complicated, I dread to think how you would handle a party based RPG like Icewind Dale or something.

Quoting Savyg,

reply 33

The mainstream definition of RPG has shifted, and that's what he's railing about. I have friends who've mentioned this.

I'll read that soon. For what it's worth, I don't care much about the definition all that much, as I never buy anything without researching it thoroughly anyway. What does bug me though is that there just aren't any good true old school RPG's anymore. They are all simplified for the modern gamer and all just glorified hack n slashers. I want ones with riddles, where fire creatures resist fire magic, where magic creatures are immune to damage unless you have a magical weapon, where you can be poisoned and diseased, where people are expected to know what dexterity and constitution means, etc.. But you just don't get them like that anymore. The only one I'm even vaguely interested in, is Skyrim, and even that is just an action game.

Quoting Savyg,

reply 33

IIronically, with regards to Rainbow Six being mentioned - Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is exactly like that. R6: Vegas 2 is a little more casual but you still can't take much in the way of hits. What this has to do with RPGs though, who knows.

Vegas 2 is as dumb as it gets. They removed the planning stages completely, and no more multiple entrances and squad switching. You have a radar showing you where all the enemies are before you reach them, so there are no surprises. You can be shot with a machine gun, step behind a wall for a few seconds, and your health completely regenerates. It's just gaming for the Gears of War generation. If I want a tough shooter, luckily I have Arma 2, but games like that are out there on their own these days. For every game like that, there are 50 mindless shooters and zombie bashers.

It is related to RPG's, because it's a trend that is happening to games in general, not just RPG's. It has happened to shooters, to RPG's, and also to RTS's. Look at Forged Alliance and compare it with Supreme Commander 2. Or even games like World in Conflict where you don't even have base building anymore, you just control a handful of units now. MMO's? Look at WoW compared to Ultima Online, and now everything else has gone the same way WoW went and games like UO just don't even exist any more. There are only a few genres left that aren't completely dumb now, TBS seems to be ok, and flight sims, there are only even a few of those left now, sadly one being HAWX, but at least there is DCS.

As I read somewhere recently, there is no "middle class" left in gaming now. It's all huge mainstream Call of Duty type games , and tiny independent World of Goo type games, and very little in between. So if you are the kind of person that likes the big mainstream games, then it's happy days for you. But if like me you want more than just flashy graphics, then you are screwed.

p.s. I'm gone now. I'll leave you all with this:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/7126490

Yes, i´ve played everquest for a while. Nice MMO, but not really a RPG (like all MMOs) in my taste. (C´mon you can´t feel heroic, if you kill an evil, evil monster, take a rest from your epic fight and while resting you watch another heroe kills the same f***ing monster again and again and again... ) But i don´t wanna argue with you. You don´t like Witcher II?! Fair enough...

Epic troll this voodoo dude. He puts up another rant and then says in the end he is gone. LOL, got to love people that are never wrong... they always make me laugh.

Quoting voodoochile123,

reply 29

If your only definition is that you are playing a role, then you could call the majority of games an RPG, even games like Crysis or Fifa Soccer etc. The fact is, it used to be generally acknowledged that when a game was called an RPG, it was one which had all those key elements and lots of depth. The fact that you even defend these companies just shows how screwed modern gaming is. Modern gamers don't care enough, and the game development companies are exploiting this gleefully.

On the contrary. Modern gamers have more options then ever before, and they are pretty clear on what they want. The generally acknowledged nature of an RPG is that you take a role and play a story as the character. Things like stats are only constructs created to allow that to happen and not the point of the game.

What bugs the most, is that there are NO proper old style RPG's anymore. If some people are happy with "Action RPG's" that's fine, but now there is nothing else. The Gothic, Elder Scrolls, Two Worlds, and now Witcher games, are all action-RPG's. Our last hope was the Dragon Age series and look at what happened to that. Also for what it's worth, what I want from an RPG is far from OCD. The best I've ever played was EverQuest where you could go weeks without getting a new item. But when you did you knew the name of it because it was legendary. It is the modern way which inundates you with gear from every corpse, in every barrel, and behind every bush, it never used to be like that. And the stats were not a big deal for that matter too. Mostly you would choose them when you started your character and then never looked at them again. Some games gave you another point to spend when you levelled up but that was about it. But at least that was SOMETHING for me to think about. Nowdays you don't have to think about anything. These games practically play themselves, and if I'm going to play some auto pilot hack 'n slash, then at least give me one that goes all out.

I'm not sure how you can compain about lack of old school RPGs and praise Everquest in the same sentence. Everquest isn't an RPG at all (once you get to the endgame, which is clearly what you're talking about), it's a grindfest for loot. That's the problem with old school RPGs: they had lots of otherwise pointless grinding for levels and gear that only OCD types ever found fun. The rest of us want to play the story, not repeat the same boring fight over and over and over and over and over and over until we get the 0.01% drop and get to level 9000.

Maybe you should check out Disgaea 4. That's got all the elements you want.

I hate old school RPGs (the dungeon crawlers) and I love Witcher (both the books and the games). Why? Because RPG genre is one of the most sterile, rigid and mouldy of them all - class stereotypes, and repetetive, repetetive, repetetive pointles combat, unimaginative storilines (find artefact A to stop wizard B from destroying the world. Meh)

Why is RPG combat pointless? Because it has no lasting consequences. Most injuries can be healed with silly potions right in the middle of the combat, and even death does not last (resurrection spell). Real combat, is brutal, fast affair with huge consequences (death or crippling for life). RPG basically degraded combat to a predictive, repetetive and boring drill.

In Sapkowski books, combat is not a meaningless prop for the genre, but always a conclussion and a climax of an interesting story. People die and are lost forever, hard choices must be made, and even the main hero Geralt gets crippled by the mage Vilgefrotz in a duel and has problems with his knee ever since.

So when playing witcher, I don't miss stupid goblin hordes, wizards with silly hats and other stereotypes. What stereotypes prevail are used creatively and with a liberal dose of self-satire.

Patch 2.0. Whee. I would still rather go off myself than finish this Kayran quest.

Excuse me, may I ask?

I purchased TW:EE last year just after E:WOM came out and I decided I wouldn't be playing *that* for some time. I enjoyed TW:EE for about most of Act 1, then I had to put it down, because while I cherished the character and the story, 2 things (and 2 things only) bugged me: 1. the so-called adult themes or content, and 2. the combat. Ad 1: I found the so-called adult content purile. I am 42, have wife and kids, have done and continue to do my share of asskicking and f*cking in real life, and imagine that 14-year-olds imagine "adult"ness to be the way it was portrayed there. No, I thought Dragon Age to be more adult than TW was. Ad 2: I couldn't stand left-clicking anymore. I would have cherished something ... else. Even more Diablo for chrissakes. So... In only this regard, would you believe that TW2 is better for me than TW1:EE, or is it more of the same (but somehow better)? Thank you

The combat in The Witcher 2 is a lot more action oriented, you have to dodge, parry, flank and combine heavy attacks with light attacks. In theory it is much better than in the first game. The implementation however was dreadful in the release version. It has gotten better with patches, not sure about the last few, but at times it could still be annoying at how aiming, or lack there of, and motion in general worked.

As for the nudity, that's not gone anywhere, you won't see any more cards, but you will see very detailed nude models in a few scenes. It may seem purile, but it's more or less what's to be expected from an adaptation of The Witcher books. As for the rest of the mature content, it doesn't go into "killing your foster son" territory, but it does go down some very dark paths.

My biggest peeve with The Witcher 2 was how they implemented motion. For once I would like to climb down a rock by just walking over it, instead of having to find the correct spot and pressing the use key, something that you can't do in combat. Also the inventory is a crime against humanity.

Quoting onomastikon,

reply 40

Ad 1: I found the so-called adult content purile.

I was thinking the same but after some time I've noticed that the 'adult' content can be skipped in most cases. But I found the scene in the underground pool beautifull. Of course it's quite absurd - the self-undress spell - what a waste of magic energy:)

I think they did a better job on the "adult" stuff in TW2. It's still there, but in reduced quantity and isn't as ridiculous as just collecting cards.

Steams handling of the game has been a joke. I launched the game a few days ago only to find out they've converted it to a new system and I had to redownload 8 gigs or something. And the patch process didn't work, so now I have to download another 15 gigs.

****, if any of my other games were handled this badly I'd need a new hobby.

(Obviously I wouldn't be this mad if it'd used the normal auto-update system. It only decides to tell you if you actually want to play the game...SIGH.)

Yeah the combination of Steam's handling of files and CDPR using and then quickly removing DRM made things kind of a mess. I've heard Valve's adding delta patching to Steam at some point which will really help.

Quoting Tridus,

reply 45

Yeah the combination of Steam's handling of files and CDPR using and then quickly removing DRM made things kind of a mess. I've heard Valve's adding delta patching to Steam at some point which will really help.

They did. This conversion is supposedly the last time anyone'll have to download huge files with Witcher 2.

Supposedly. I don't actually believe it.

Well, I loved both the first and the second Witcher games.

Quoting Savyg,

reply 44

Steams handling of the game has been a joke. I launched the game a few days ago only to find out they've converted it to a new system and I had to redownload 8 gigs or something. And the patch process didn't work, so now I have to download another 15 gigs.

****, if any of my other games were handled this badly I'd need a new hobby.

(Obviously I wouldn't be this mad if it'd used the normal auto-update system. It only decides to tell you if you actually want to play the game...SIGH.)

This is why I bought a boxed version of W2 and never had similar problems.

Quoting TorinReborn,

reply 48

This is why I bought a boxed version of W2 and never had similar problems.

This is the only time I wish I had. I've never had this bad an experience with any other title on any download service.

Remember to thank CDPR for adding Securom to the Steam version deliberately to push sales on GOG (which happens to be owned by the same company), and then removing it two weeks later. That was the cause of half of these problems. Very poor decision making on their part.

The Forums Are Now Closed!

The content will remain as a historical reference, thank you.