Role of women NPCS in game

Story & Setting
#1

Hello everyone, i just registered mainly to voice an opinion or concern and maybe post a bit more here and there. im really expectant about what this game has to offer and the “Skald” features sound great.
I only hope the eating and survival elements are not hard or intrussive to manage. When i play a game my least concern is to keep my character well fed all the time.

Moving on then,

How will the developers aproach the characterization of Female NPCS? My main concern and deal breaker is when games push nothing more than sexualization either graphically or not explicitly via dialogue all the time. A game guilty of this is the Witcher franchise in wich almost all female Npcs suffer all kinds of abuse simply because it seems to be a fad in medieval games and gaming in general.

I want to see Female Npcs have more depth, self esteem, character and less generic innuendo dialogue padding and prostitutes everywhere. Not that i ask to shy away from said themes but keep a wholesome balance as much as possible. Life is grander than what some inmature writers make it out to be.

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#2

Self esteem? Do you know what time period we’re talking about? Maybe the nobles.

The real past wasn’t what anyone would call “wholesome” 0_o

That being said, realism also means over-sexualiztion won’t be a thing. But I wouldn’t expect them to not be honest about our actual history for the most part. They’ve said sex will be in the game, but only in places that make sense. Whatever that means:P

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#3

I fully agree to this Flamberge! I also want to have a good conversation before laying with a female NPC!
I don’t care about the size of the breasts as long as I can dispute about various things (after having s.x) but in general I think that The Witcher was historicaly not accurate in terms how they pictured women. But i guess it was never their intention also…? Well Im curious what the Devs have to say… :wink:

#4

Main female characters in that series are witches, in that time line those women gained political power through magical ability. Of course they aren’t like historical womenXD

Why would politically powerful people be anything like our medieval women?0_0

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#5

I think I can chip in to this thread a bit.

I am not entirely sure what exactly you are asking for, but I have tested some quest where women played their part.
I can say that each has her own character and story (talking about quest NPCs of course, not every NPC will be completely unique).
There definitely wont be as much stereotypes as in other games (though I cannot say there wont be any as I have not tested everything), but more like down to earth women.

Cannot really guarantee that, it would depend on what you call a good conversation.

Edit:
I am also inviting our designer @KarChee, maybe he will want to contribute too (or maybe not).

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#6

Even if there are stereotypes, it should be remembered that they exist because they are shorthand for common types.

… but stereotypes can shift with society - as can the “acceptability” of certain representations. My opinion is that this should where possible favour historical record (witness Chaucer for a typical mediaeval flavour, rather than modern PC bull).

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#7

If i had to summarize what im talking about it would be more partiality from the writers and less bias between the genders.

That is to say to direct the script writer(s) when they stray too much because of gender bias. Especially if they are men.

I know hystorical accuracy is the main sellpoint of the game but theres no reason to go the extra mile to prove at every chance that presents itself how women had it rough 24/7 back then. Since its a game the developers themselves have the option to choose which slice of the time and situations they want to portray. Like i said games can do much more than just showcase whose above and whose below and life is grander than a collection of stereotypes.

#8

That would be dishonesty. Showing what actually happened doesn’t equate to characters being stereotypes.

And there’s no reason to pretend it didn’t happen, not if accuracy is a goal. Which it has been since the beginning, years ago.

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#9

Who says women had it hard 24/7 in history? That is mostly by comparison to modern pampered living (spoiler that applies to everyone), and from a particular perspective.

Men and women shared roles, according to their natural abilities. Poor people had simple lives, rich had more opportunities to indulge in luxuries. Both were prone to diseases.

If you mean murder and rape… well sometimes the men got murdered, women raped. Not too sure that I see that as a ‘harder’ life for women. Neither are positive, but you can come back from even horrible abuse. Death - not so much.

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#10

Why is a fantasy world like in the Witcher series used as an example for “medieval games” at all? Of course, when I play it, you feel like delving into an old painting, but it’s also very eclectic (a mix of elements that are based on existing clothing, armor, weapons, ships and buildings from the early 1400s til the late 1500s, so not that coherent actually). Besides the fact that at least The Witcher 3 has some concessions to modern attitudes, like making Ciri super powerful or that Skellige’s best sword fighter is a woman.

#11

I understand where the OP is coming from. He’s not saying remove the historically accurate elements in regards to the roles of women.

He’s saying that, there were ALSO women in medieval times that were strong, confident, intelligent, etc., and worthy of depth in conversation, etc., and while these women may have been FEW and far between, and maybe almost entirely limited to nobility, it’s something he’d like to have in the game (or hopes is in the game).

If I’m correct in that assessment, I can’t say I disagree with his wishes.

#12

Hi guys.

I wouldn’t worry about this. We don’t have women barbarians wielding two handed axes in our game, but that doesn’t mean our women are weak or “just a decoration”. Quite the opposite to say the truth.

There is even a full quest chain dedicated to the story of one young woman. Confident, opinionated, capable of mistakes but strongly pursuing her beliefs nevertheless. And there is nothing sexual in her relation to the main character.

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#13

Yeah pretty much that… broadness and variety, For example from what ive seen in youtube, first woman you encounter while questing to find Mr “Reeky” turns out to be a pleasure woman, imagine my surprise… while not bad, if every quest, dialogue etc goes in that general direction… well its gonna feel underwhelming to say the least.

Just my two cents.

#14

I highly doubt you can get “good conversation” (whatever that means) out of a typical uneducated peasant village woman who has traveled to largest city in area perhaps once or twice in her life and of course, doesn’t have any access to radio or newspapers* to keep up with the world. And I imagine 90% of women you meet in the game go to this category.

(* - or even postal system, for that matter - you could send mail only if you had someone to deliver the mail, so only the richest nobles could write letters to each other)

Sure, people talk, and news travel, but aside few personal quirks and an attitude, I don’t think you can make very interesting NPC’s just for the sake of that.
You certainly wouldn’t be having all-night furious debates about science or theology or politics or whatever.
A juicy gossip is would be quite on the mark though :slight_smile: and whatever applies to NPC’s job, village or family

I’d personally prefer just to have the storyline and important characters as polished and fleshed out as possible, and main effort clearly seen there, instead of ticking off some politically correct checkboxes or whatever.

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#15

I swear to god and promise that in future I will flag any Ironic statement with an “irony on /off” mark.

#16

I think there not only noble ladys who could have self esteem. At my point of view it depends of the women and the way she can or has to live.
I once readed a story about rude, self-confident and strong fish selling womens. I don’t remember the time periode, maybe Napoleon era.
Fact is, in this time womens hadn’t full rights and neverless in their known environment they could had a lot of self-assertion.
I only believe that a noble women had more self esteem compared to lower classes. But only because of her social stand and not because she knows that she can do something better than the average man. That self esteem can normaly only be achieved by doing it better.
That does not mean that a women could get political power or even hadn’t problems to get her legal rights.
I belive that also in the middle ages there was a range from shy womens to tough ones.

#17

I was referring to the disparity between then and now. I don’t think their sense of self worth is comparable to today, but of course that doesn’t mean everyone was the same.

#18

Hi everyone!

As a female, who is testing the game, so far I don´t have any concerns about NPC female characters. The game is trying to focus on realistic characters, which means that most of the female characters I have encountered so far are common, but fairly believable personalities, which are coping with everyday problems. Also the female characters in game are very well able to manage their lives and interests even in medieval world.

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#19

I am 10/10 sure OP did not even play the game(well nor did I, just saw hours of gameplay). Females are depicted properly, unlike many other games.

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#20

actually it was more likely that the peasant women had more individuality than noble women

noble women from birth were raised to become perfect wives that were used to tie families together
they were kinda a rich mans gift (bribe) to another

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