Does Gwent affect the endings? Not a big fan of it. So I would like to know if i am missing something by not playing it. My thanks!

No, you don't need to play Gwent.
But you are missing out by not learning it.
Big tip, don't try & play the noble at the palace when you first go there.
It is very hard to beat him at that stage.
The odds against you winning are higher here than any other match in the whole game.
That was just CDProjekt RED's way to discourage anyone from playing.
Nor should you make the Baron your 2nd match.

There are a few quests that require playing Gwent, but I'm not entirely certain you have to win in those, and it definitely doesn't affect the ending in any way. You sure? I'm almost positive I beat him then and there. Took several tries as I recall, but strategy (with a little luck) can allow you to do magical things even with your pathetic starter deck. Definitely worth the effort since the Foltest: The Siegemaster leader card you win from him is godly for the rest of the game.

This is really good to know! Thank you very much :)

He has at least 10 top cards & you have none.
If your that lucky, buy a lottery ticket.

I also beat that noble in the castle granted it took me over 2 hours to beat him. The npc use all of his best cards on the 1st round, and most of his hero cards. The Siegemaster Foltest card let me beat the Baron fairly easy.

I too beat the noble at the castle at the beginning. Took a while! As for the Baron, I finally did beat him once when I first met him. I learned a LOT of strategy on how to play the game from the way he played! Also by then I had bought and won quite a bit of cards.

Tip, if you play a regular merchant and just win a 'Clear Weather' or other worthless card (as you only need 1) then reload and play again and you will probably get a better card.

I beat him on my very first try. It just takes some thinking in order to beat him.

No it takes exrtreme luck that you pull your best cards and he doesn't. He has 3 or 4 hero cards and those alone can kncok you out for a round.

I managed to beat the noble at the palace when first reaching it.
Although I gotta say: I was already interested in Gwent and therefore had purchased a few cards from the innkeep in White Orchard before progressing with the story line there.
Key to me were the dummies you can place to pick up an already placed card from the field.

well it took me 7-9 tries.
I think I made him use everything in the first round and i had more cards in 2nd and 3rd, but I'm not sure

Tibor Eggebracht 10 HERO
Menno Coehoorn 10 HERO Medic
Leto of Gulet 10 HERO
Black Infantry Archer 10
Black Infantry Archer 10
Heavy Zerrikanian Fire Scorpion 10
Shilard Fritz-Oesterlen 7 Spy
Vattier De Rideaux 4 Spy
Fringilla Vigo 6
Young Emissary 5 Tight Bond
Young Emissary 5 Tight Bond
Young Emissary 5 Tight Bond
Cynthia 4
Rainfarn 4
Impera Brigade Guard 3 Tight Bond
Impera Brigade Guard 3 Tight Bond
Morteisen 3
Nausicaa Cavalry Rider 2 Tight Bond
Nausicaa Cavalry Rider 2 Tight Bond
Nausicaa Cavalry Rider 2 Tight Bond
Etolian Auxiliary Archer 1 Medic
Etolian Auxiliary Archer 1 Medic

Plus his Leader card that lets him look at 3 of your cards & allows him to win, if it's a draw.
Scorch: allows him to take out your biggest point combo (the 3 Blue Stripe Commandos) in one hit.
You have no way to remove any of his cards.
He has 2 Commander's horns ( to double everything in the row)
You don't have any way to do this.
He has 2 decoys to your one, & can put them to better use than you.
He has 3 medics (who can bring in discarded cards) to your 1
You can't get near his ability to rack up 40 points from just 3 cards.

So yes, while you can beat him (and I have)
The odds against you doing so are higher here than any other match you will play in the whole game.
Add to that, that this is only the 2nd game you will play & it's not hard to see why so many are turn off playing gwent.
So I stand by my initial tip.
The smart thing to do is go away & get better cards & more experience before you play this guy.

Yes, well buying the cards from White Orchid & winning Zoltan Chivay still only gives you 97 unit strength.
And you only have 1 Decoy card & less than 50/50 chance of drawing it. (I can't see that being a game changer) I would have bet my left nut, that someone would have clamed this.
Your my hero & I'm going to get a poster of you in my room.

I will edit my first post to correct my foolish claim.

Being able to take a turn without wasting a card is a big bonus.

Not sure what you mean by everything? Scorch still takes your best card(s) regardless of weather.
The commander's horn still gives double even if weather restrictions apply
And given how few good cards you have, weather restrictions will usually hurt you as much as him.

doubles 1 damage ) thats fun.

the biggest problem is his spies - i had only one back then and if he uses2 he gets more his awesome cards and he wins.
dont remember if i had dummies back then, sending back spies is one of my favorite thing to do, right next to double medics =)