So I'm about to jump into Witcher II, and I watched some gameplay on YouTube first, but I noticed something that made me curious about the next installment of the series.

I'm amazed by the gameplay and graphics and music, and the game clearly feels fun, but... it appears that the characters you run into constantly spurt forth modern/non-creative profanity, which to me tends to totally destroy immersion in a fantasy world.

Instead of yelling, "Damn you to hell, you sniveling vermin!" they yell fucking-this-and-that and shit-so-and-so and "You cunt!"

I've noticed a pattern in this regard, in that it's always European developers who obsess over infusing high fantasy worlds with modern/non-creative profanity.

I've been burned before by games like Of Orcs & Men, and almost purchased Bound by Flame recently, only to watch some gameplay footage and realize that the game is infused with this sort of profanity as well, thus breaking immersion. And these are all games by European developers. It's some sort of weird obsession.

Does anyone know if this trend will be extended into The Witcher III?
Has there been anything said, or any clips of the game, or sound files uncovered?

I ask because I will probably be able to power through Witcher II despite this (it looks REALLY good), but this trend is so annoying to me that I'm not entirely certain I'll want to pick up the third game if it continues.

Hm, why do you consider them modern? The exact same swear-words, which you can listen to in the Polish version of the game, have been used for... several centuries. Is that modern? And what do you mean by non-constructive? Those words were used even in old literature by famous poets.

Those words are older than you think.

The Witcher games are not set in high-fantasy worlds.

I like to think of the Witcher universe as a gritty, dark fantasy setting not catering to conventional fantasy tropes.

Joe Abercrombie is a master of writing gritty fantasy (not the Polish Witcher author) and the blunt, brutal way people interact matches their actions. The narrative changes with the characters and when someone "wipes the white slime from her cunt" it just punctuates her distaste for the world and what she had to endure. How can someone punctuate that same emotion without drawing modern English (the Billy Shakespeare modern, not 21st century)?

Geralt and his friends are no different. Monsters are becoming more rare as man advances in technology and Witchers are hunted to extinction. None of them have had an easy or happy life, especially Geralt. He has made hard choices which reflect darkly upon his soul, both in the books and the games. He doesn't have a verbal wit anymore, he only has his sharp reflexes and mind to combat man and beast alike.

I know little of the history of the Polish language, but the English words used in translation are well known from the 13th Century. Nothing modern about them at all, when records of the time inform us that a street in Oxford was called Gropecunte Lane, and a man went about by the name of John le Fucker. And if you demand literary use, read "The Miller's Tale" from Chaucer. In fact, pay close attention to Chaucer. Chaucer is working-class bad language done right.

There are class distinctions in the Witcher world, and they are well reflected in the language (including profanities) used by the social classes.

You absolutely should expect a dwarf who swings a pickaxe for a living or a soldier who has nothing to do but blow his meager pay on drink and whores and dice to come out with "Why do pricks go in cunts? It's the natural order of things", not some mincing "Damn you to hell, you sniveling vermin!" On the other hand, you most certainly can and should expect that manner of refined cursing from nobles, knights, and sorcerers.

There's a hilarious sequence in the first Witcher game (have to play the Order path to get it) where Siegfried meets White Rayla. Rayla, a mercenary, is turning the air blue with four-letter words, and Siegfried is visibly offended and tries to calm her down. It does no good.

That's one thing the Witcher games do rather well at, is giving the right curse words to the right characters.

The profanity they use in the game have been around since the 13th century, with the F word possibly being older than that. So yeah, not modern words at all.

I think that deliberately sticking to archaic language would break immersion. More to the point, I don't understand why you have a problem with profanity in particular but not the language in general.

I had the same problem with Game of Thrones, but I got used to it. Whore is definately old especially calling someone a whoreson.

That is sort of a two-edged sword...;) You can have a "problem" with profanity in that you don't want to see it, and a "problem" if you insist on seeing it, imo. It's kind of like the cartoon sex in the game--yawn. It does nothing for the story or plot or atmosphere, imo--unless there is some deliberate humor involved with it. Nothing is more boring than profanity that takes itself seriously.