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[FunkMiller]

So, in other words:

"We dumbed this shit down so we could get as big an audience/subscriber base as possible, because money trumps creativity every single fucking time. We need the morons to watch, so all of us 'producers' can buy new sports cars."

Clowns.

I hope everyone involved at the executive level in this show never works again.

 

[Trunx81]

This was the mindset for the last seasons of Game of Thrones, right? "We had a highly successfull show with complicated narrative - let´s cut it down for the dumb americans, to get even more viewers".

 

[Hendrick's]

I liked the old thread title.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Witcher 3 has been and still is lauded for it's writing, but sure, ok. Dumb Americans.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

2,066 Americans were asked to locate Ukraine on the map:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/07/the-less-americans-know-about-ukraines-location-the-more-they-want-u-s-to-intervene/

Well, she said it best:

 

[Lunarorbit]

Is this what happens when our nerdy stuff gets co-opted?

Just kidding. Stupid fucks like this have been ruining IP for 20 years.

 

[Drizzlehell]

So in essence they just think that westerners are too stupid to get it.

Class act.

 

[Operations66]

As long as you believe that the country was and is run by "neo-Nazis", they will continue to succeed and further destroy the nation from the inside. The US and rest of the western world are under influence of COMMUNISTS, not nazis. And they, decade by decade, change the state of these nations for worse. It's subversion, a long term process that is ongoing since the end of the WWII.
So guys, stop thinking that Hitler is the only bad guy, because Lenin and Stalin were even worse. Would love to see the US education system talk about this a bit.

Our "ruling elite" operates much more like Nazis than communists. Yes, eventually they want to impose a communistic system on the people, but their structure is literally fascism - government and corporations united to oppress the people. Remember Naziism is also a socialist movement.

 

[Lunarorbit]

I like how in the first season there was so much going on that it was confusing. They listed several countries and different groups were fighting; kinda like GOT in the beginning where they were throwing so much info at you you had to watch the show twice or read online.

Remember Lost? Same thing. ABC realized this and leaned heavily into webisodes and games on their website. It was revolutionary in the early 2000s.

Have these producers and writers been asleep the last 20 years? True fans get involved in the show, say how baller the series is, and then casuals jump on the hype.

Casuals will become hardcore watchers/fans if you don't insult the audience. How does this keep getting fucked up? Just plain greed I imagine

 

[xiskza]

These righters really want shows to fail dont they... embarassing to even admit it

 

[Mossybrew]

Nah, it’s just a bad adaptation that got worse with every season. The games are a much better adaptation of those books and its not even close

Yep. I haven't even watched the latest season, instead I started a re-read of the books.

 

[Umbasaborne]

Yep. I haven't even watched the latest season, instead I started a re-read of the books.

I got one episode in before I said fuck this, and booted up the witcher 3

 

[hyperbertha]

Boy, that speaks volumes about the contempt these people have for their audience.... "They're all idiots so let's dumb this shit down so even monkeys can understand the plot."

I mean, he's right. Look at the kind of crap that's successful. There's nothing wrong with what he said.

 

[hyperbertha]

So, in other words:

"We dumbed this shit down so we could get as big an audience/subscriber base as possible, because money trumps creativity every single fucking time. We need the morons to watch, so all of us 'producers' can buy new sports cars."

Clowns.

I hope everyone involved at the executive level in this show never works again.

But.. this is the kind of mindset that has created most successes of recent times. It's all about setpieces. I mean look at Avengers and ff16 ffs. Dumb down with wow factor = mainstream audience = success.

 

[Atrus]

Is that why there’s a subplot where Dandelion falls in love with and has sex with Radovid? Too many dumb dumbs in America not able to understand the serial womanizer and blood thirsty tyrant as distinct archetypes so they had to jump in bed together?

 

[Timberwolf25]

Is that why there’s a subplot where Dandelion falls in love with and has sex with Radovid? Too many dumb dumbs in America not able to understand the serial womanizer and blood thirsty tyrant as distinct archetypes so they had to jump in bed together?

Netflix gotta fill those checkboxes prevalent in a lot of stuff that they fund unfortunately.

 

[Fbh]

Really? Whith those production values and talent?
This show is more in the league with the likes of Xena: Warrior Princess or that Hercules series from around the same time, at least the first season, which is the only one i saw.
Maybe the other seasons are dramatically improved, but i don't think i'll give ot another shot. It's jus B-tier, or worse.

All these fantasy shows we've gotten in the last 5 years are clearly a response to the success of Game of Thrones, with everyone wanting a piece of the pie.
The Witcher in particular was a clear case of a big company wanting to replicate something popular without understanding what made it good to begin with.
It was like: "yeah baby we got all the stuff you like: darker tone, violence, politics, sex and nudity, you name it. What's that? Good writing, production values, casting and acting? I've no idea what you are talking about"

It's like modern open world games "taking inspiration from BotW" and then they just slap a glider on the Ubisoft formula

 

[Dodo123]

Our "ruling elite" operates much more like Nazis than communists. Yes, eventually they want to impose a communistic system on the people, but their structure is literally fascism - government and corporations united to oppress the people. Remember Naziism is also a socialist movement.

Thank you for the answer
Yes, so probably the best take on it would be that the system and their ways have evolved. They took stuff from all sides to create something new. Nevertheless, it is still not good for us...

 

[Operations66]

Thank you for the answer
Yes, so probably the best take on it would be that the system and their ways have evolved. They took stuff from all sides to create something new. Nevertheless, it is still not good for us...

Nazis and communists are just rival criminal gangs. They're both tyrannical. Whatever we call them, they hate us and want us enslaved. And they want us dumbed down and stupid so we can't resist. But there's hope because we rejected the shitty Witcher show, so we're not terminally dumb yet.

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[delfrickintree]

Our "ruling elite" operates much more like Nazis than communists. Yes, eventually they want to impose a communistic system on the people, but their structure is literally fascism - government and corporations united to oppress the people. Remember Naziism is also a socialist movement.

Global Socialists instead of national

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

I liked the old thread title.

What was it?

 

[TheInfamousKira]

What a perfect vertical slice and encapsulation overall of everything gaming/media related since roughly 2014.

 

[Urban]

yeah thats why S1 jumped between 2-3 timelines and everybody, their mothers and book readers were confused but still liked the season!

what a lame excuse

 

[GloveSlap]

Why should the show be targeting those people in the first place when the Witcher name is more well-known among an older age group with more spending power, this excuse just makes the whole thing even more stupid lol

You see that a lot these days. Alienate your core audience to try to appeal to people that were never going to watch. Ironically, one of their best chances to capture casuals was to generate hype among the more hardcore fans and grow that through word of mouth.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Not saying a large proportion of the American TV-watching audience isn't thick as pig shit (they are).... but this is just shitty writers blaming their audience for their shitty writing.

There's simplifying plot points and there's just plain old complete fucking deviation away from the source material. The Witcher TV series did the latter. This producer is trying to misdirect by pretending the gripes everyone had with the show was the simplification of plot points from the book, when in reality what folks shat on was how they deviated entirely, replacing top-tier writing from Sapowski with fucking amateur-grade fan-fiction parading as a script.

 

[Hendrick's]

What was it?

Something about stupid Americans and dumb kids.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Baginski continued, saying simplifications of plot points are just as painful for writers as it is for viewers but oversimplifications to an otherwise nuanced and complex topic are often “necessary” so that a show can reach a larger audience.

I get the logic, but given the reception isn’t it obvious this approach was a mistake?

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Everyone is a gaslighter these days.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I get the logic, but given the reception isn’t it obvious this approach was a mistake?

It's mistakes that people have been continuously pointing out since the first season and they just leaned harder and harder as the seasons went on. They "fixed" it until it broke and now nobody wants to play with it anymore.

Writing was on the wall for a long time and Cavill's departure just solidifies why everyone who loves the series has just given up caring at this point. I hope they figure it out, but I doubt they will.

 

[Warablo]

Had the most dedicated actor and you end up pushing him out.

 

[DeepEnigma]

ProTip: It's not the TikTok kiddies watching The Witcher. Well, that should NOT have been your target audience. They are literal scroll monkeys with shallow attention spans.

 

[Auto_aim1]

Pacing was totally off in the first two seasons. How do you expect people who have never played the games or read the books to remember so many things when the story and characters aren't fleshed out well. Stuff goes by so fast in the show. However, I liked season 1 because that Yennefer actress was FIRE.

I think with Season 3 they tried to fix their mistakes. That desert episode with Ciri was so good. I think the viewers finally have some sort of emotional connection with Geralt and Ciri now.

Sadly next season will have a new actor for Geralt so the show is fucked.

 

[Timberwolf25]

Unless they already started shooting, I wouldn't be surprised if S4 got cancelled.

 

[Edellus]

Masterclass in "How to insult everyone's intelligence at the same time. Specially your target audience".

 

[Adeptus]

I have no problem with simplification. It is obviosu that movie/show adaptations omits elements of oroginal works, because it is impossible to adapt everything, it would be too long, and yes, complicated. But I hate when adaption omits important elements of original work... and insert in their in their place new ones, invented by show crew. It is not simplification, it is deformation.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Lost interest in the show with the second season. Didn't bother with the third.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Going by the viewership news it doesn't seem like their brilliant strategy worked.

Just cancel this shitshow and blacklist everyone involved with it plz. It's a perfect example of everything currently wrong with Hollywood.

 

[TwinB242]

The first part of this season was such a dull, uninteresting mess. I can't even muster up the resolve to watch part 2.

 

[Bernardougf]

Boy, that speaks volumes about the contempt these people have for their audience.... "They're all idiots so let's dumb this shit down so even monkeys can understand the plot."

Is more like.. we are stupid as shit so lets pretend "they" are stupid and we are doing stupid for them

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

r/thewitcher has started to ban negative opinions on the show. They basically wrote that if you're not happy with the show walk a way. It's funny that showrunners/producers shit on all of the fanbase, even the ones that didn't read the books or played the games. So walk a way I did from this subreddit.

I thought I will pitch my two cents on gaf, since I know I won't get banned here .

Played all of The Witcher games 1-3, watched a Polish series (I'm Polish so... Easy peasy), read most, not all of the books. Still planing to in near future to read through all of them.

As of the show, didn't like the direction it took at all. But I was sticking with it because Henry Cavill was a such good choice. And S1 monster of the week scenes. Didn't like how they portrayed mages and sorceress at all- they seemed gimped as fuck, weak even. Then it all fell apart and didn't like the weird mess of jumping plot line.

My best guess for what would be the best way to handle this show:

Season 1 - monster of the week style + light introduction to the characters. Mostly focused on Geralt and monster hunting, without BS or political agenda. Maybe make it a little longer than 8 episodes or so.

Similar style to Supernatural S1 - it was basically all about monster hunting, keeping the budget low - fun started around S2 or so. They kept it simple and it worked- it could go the same way for The Witcher.

Since Season 2 world build but keep it grounded, establish the size of the world even. Stick to the source material. Smooth sailing from then on out I guess.

Let Henry pitch in, talk not argue, no agenda. Just get the Crew which would be passionate about a project.

Unfortunately this is not the reality.

Won't be watching Season 4 even if they managed to produce it. It's a sinking ship without original lead. With "we will do it better than source material" and "everyone who does not like it what we do is toxic and should be banned" mentality.

It would be funny for them to actually release the S4 with "their vision" and fail - since all of us, Witcher fans already jumped ship.

I'm curious what they would write on Twitter or X (whatever it is called now...) - probably some other stuff about negativity or boycotting or smth since the wouldn't acknowledge there were issues with their writing and the show itself if it would be officially cancelled.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Shit like this is why I want SAG, WGA, and the execs to all join a circular firing squad. Let these fuckers all burn in their own incompetence, and stop molesting the franchises I love.

 

[Josemayuste]

What a load of:

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

Let's see them try this shit with eastern audiences (ie china)

 

[adamosmaki]

How the f***k those people manage to screw the Witcher project into the ground is beyond me. The have ( sorry HAD) a protagonist that loved the source material and they have 8 books and 3 great games to take material from yet somehow with every new season they are burying it to the ground

 

[jason10mm]

The first part of this season was such a dull, uninteresting mess. I can't even muster up the resolve to watch part 2.

Ive not finished part 2 yet but it does hew closer to the books and is vastly improved for it.

How they fucked up setting all the players in motion, establishing the stakes, and giving us a sense of the geography at play....sheesh. SO much time wasted on the elves, fringella, and just petty shit with Jaskier and the Rendania guy. Yen looked great in the slinky dress though, too bad the show is so prude.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Ive not finished part 2 yet but it does hew closer to the books and is vastly improved for it.

How they fucked up setting all the players in motion, establishing the stakes, and giving us a sense of the geography at play....sheesh. SO much time wasted on the elves, fringella, and just petty shit with Jaskier and the Rendania guy. Yen looked great in the slinky dress though, too bad the show is so prude.

Because those story lines ticked important boxes for the writers, strong female wronged by men, strong female POC wronged by men and same sex couple struggles. To hell with it’s importance on the overall story!

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

The dumbing down and simplification of the adaption to TV is literally what’s kept me from watching it. So the joke’s on them; thinking it’d get more people to watch. Had the exact opposite effect, and literally the show is widely considered to be not very good. Which I’m sure is the opposite of what the intention was at the outset, but nevertheless it’s too late to turn things around, wait 10 years then do a reboot with more competent writers. And next time, go all in on making a deep, intricate, immersive show. Don’t treat your audience like they’re too stupid to understand the material. That was their first mistake.

 

[Fuz]

wait 10 years then do a reboot with more competent writers

But no Cavill.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Had the most dedicated actor and you end up pushing him out.

its ok, superman is doing 40k now, until amazon fs it up.