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JakePT posted on Reddit :
The options you're not choosing are "Go for it" and "I know what might lift your spirits". Compare that to "Calm down" and "Relax". Two things that no one will ever do if they're told to.
I think the dichotomy between to two choices communicates enough. The text for the choices isn't meant to communicate to the player how Ciri will react, they're only there to communicate what Geralt will say, and I think the cutscenes follow through on that. Geralt has the best of intentions when he says and does these things, just as the player does, but the way Ciri will react is driven by her character not Geralt or the player's intentions.
In my other comment I mentioned several characters that want to use or control Ciri in some way. Most of them have good intentions. Emhyr wants Ciri to have what's rightfully hers, the Lodge thinks Ciri will excel under their tutelage, and Avallac'h wants Ciri to save the world. Their intentions are not the point. The fact that they feel ownership or control over her life is the point. Geralt telling her to "Calm down" or "Relax" is just another voice in the cacophony of "Do this" "Do that" that Ciri is exposed to.
I think what throws people is that games just don't do this. One of the supposed tenants of good game design is that there should be a predictable response to player input. Games have long struggled with how to handle this notion when it comes to dialogue and character interaction since humans are not predictable. Players feel betrayed when an option they chose with good intentions leads to a bad outcome if the possibility of that outcome was not communicated in some way.
When it comes to Ciri the only way this could be communicated is through knowledge of Ciri as a character, and her backstory, from the books. So you have two groups of people who get the 'good' ending: People who've read the books and understand the character, and people who just naturally feel like choosing the 'good' options because of their personality or if they just figure out Ciri's personality. The people who get the bad ending often get it because they assume that Ciri needs protection, or needs to control herself.
This is not a failure on CDPRs part. Choosing those options and getting that ending is a complete and thematically rich story told from beginning to end. That it's not what the player wanted or intended is the point. Having flashing lights saying "This choice will determine her fate", or a Telltale-esque "Ciri will remember this" undermines the point of these decisions. Ciri doesn't fail because she couldn't trash the lab and the player didn't know "Calm down" was the 'don't trash' option. Ciri fails because her father tells her to "Calm down" when she's just learnt that her Elf buddy was involved in a breeding program to create her for his (or his people's) own purposes*. It's not just the one choice that does it though. You have to choose several of the 'bad' options for the 'bad' ending. Having this requirement is there to establish that there is a pattern in the way the player treats Ciri. With enough of these choices the game sees a pattern in Geralt's behaviour and adjusts the story accordingly.
The options you're not choosing are "Go for it" and "I know what might lift your spirits". Compare that to "Calm down" and "Relax". Two things that no one will ever do if they're told to.
I think the dichotomy between to two choices communicates enough. The text for the choices isn't meant to communicate to the player how Ciri will react, they're only there to communicate what Geralt will say, and I think the cutscenes follow through on that. Geralt has the best of intentions when he says and does these things, just as the player does, but the way Ciri will react is driven by her character not Geralt or the player's intentions.
In my other comment I mentioned several characters that want to use or control Ciri in some way. Most of them have good intentions. Emhyr wants Ciri to have what's rightfully hers, the Lodge thinks Ciri will excel under their tutelage, and Avallac'h wants Ciri to save the world. Their intentions are not the point. The fact that they feel ownership or control over her life is the point. Geralt telling her to "Calm down" or "Relax" is just another voice in the cacophony of "Do this" "Do that" that Ciri is exposed to.
I think what throws people is that games just don't do this. One of the supposed tenants of good game design is that there should be a predictable response to player input. Games have long struggled with how to handle this notion when it comes to dialogue and character interaction since humans are not predictable. Players feel betrayed when an option they chose with good intentions leads to a bad outcome if the possibility of that outcome was not communicated in some way.
When it comes to Ciri the only way this could be communicated is through knowledge of Ciri as a character, and her backstory, from the books. So you have two groups of people who get the 'good' ending: People who've read the books and understand the character, and people who just naturally feel like choosing the 'good' options because of their personality or if they just figure out Ciri's personality. The people who get the bad ending often get it because they assume that Ciri needs protection, or needs to control herself.
This is not a failure on CDPRs part. Choosing those options and getting that ending is a complete and thematically rich story told from beginning to end. That it's not what the player wanted or intended is the point. Having flashing lights saying "This choice will determine her fate", or a Telltale-esque "Ciri will remember this" undermines the point of these decisions. Ciri doesn't fail because she couldn't trash the lab and the player didn't know "Calm down" was the 'don't trash' option. Ciri fails because her father tells her to "Calm down" when she's just learnt that her Elf buddy was involved in a breeding program to create her for his (or his people's) own purposes*. It's not just the one choice that does it though. You have to choose several of the 'bad' options for the 'bad' ending. Having this requirement is there to establish that there is a pattern in the way the player treats Ciri. With enough of these choices the game sees a pattern in Geralt's behaviour and adjusts the story accordingly.
