Hey communtiy, - one of CDPR's marketing concepts around TW2 was/is the game's
'non-linear story'

Having experienced much of the game, and seeing this non-linear story in action, I was curious what non-linearity means to CDPR.

I''ve never seen non-linearity approached in games with a strong central narrative. Say what you will about the quality of TW2's plot - but it presents very specific choices to the player in a very specific, linear order.

It may have major and minor branches that lead to different conclusions, but the narrative is not essentially player driven as all possibilities are predetermined, its just a matter of the player following the sequence that most interests him.

Games that approach non-linearity are those with dynamic campaigns that change in response to the player's actions. Its games like Falcon 4.0 that approach non-linearity.

In contrast, Wing Commander - which has a strong central narrative, a branching story and mission structure, and multiple endings - could not be considered non-linear as the narrative the player experiences is set out in specific paths from the very beginning.

So what does non-linear mean to you guys and how do you see the concept reflected in TW2?

This sentence is golden.

You think its contradictory, but presenting a player with choice A, B, or C doesn't amount to a player driven campaign.

The game is non-linear to a certain point. I think it needs more ending scenarios - not only different cutscenes - to be fully non-linear.

There are different ending scenarios and not different cutscenes in the end, gregski. Not the opposite.
As for the non-linearity OP has a point it is on narrative level and it is arguable. Never the less, this game has the best C&C system in a story-driven game, ever. Nothing more, nothing less :)

When it comes to RPGs, i think Mount & Blade has the type of non-linearity you describe.

I don't see how that can be applied to a Witcher game.

I agree its a very good game with a few major C&C junctures, which is awesome for what it is.

Yet the devs make such a stink about non-linearity, its nigh-delusional IMO....I hope these guys don't take shades of Bethsoft in future, with significant disconnects between stated goals and final execution...

To me it means this:

Since I played The Witcher 2 following Vernon Roche I missed...

- some different decisions, actions, conversations and conclusions in Act 1 [MINOR STUFF]
- a whole city in Act 2 [MAJOR STUFF]
- again some different decisions, actions, conversations etc. in Act 3 [MINOR STUFF]

Altogehter that makes the game pretty much unique - for a story-driven non-sand-box game. Think about it: When was there ever such a game that actually hid so many stuff that a second playtrough doesn't feel like "yeah why not", but instead like "oh god I gotta know what I missed"?

Sand-box games can do it. You can miss tons of stuff while playing. But it's usually unimportant stuff (a dungeon here, a side-quest there, tons of loot probably) because even these games always lead you back to the story-path.

With The Witcher 2 CDPR did what I thought was impossible: Combining non-linearity with a story-driven game. And then they even managed to add some exploration unlike the simple "tube levels" of other games in this particular genre (Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age 2).

Let me see if I can explain what it means in the gaming world:

If you play, say, Call of Duty, you play mission A, then you play mission B, then you play mission C, and so forth, until you finish the game. You must play the game in that sequence. So you go:
start---a----b----c----e---end.
I.e., a line.

The Witcher, on the other hand, has different paths you can follow, or not follow, or follow half way. While the story takes you to roughly the same places from chapter to chapter, through the eyes of the same character, the decisions you make branch the story in different ways, and you end up doing different things, following different stories/paths. That is what they mean by non-linear. This would be very clear if you were to trace the different paths you can take from the start to the end.