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General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 07, 2015
Two full-blown expansions for the epic RPG.




The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is almost here. That means the game is pretty much finished, and the devs are about to take a deep breath while CD-presses and hype machines slowly wind up to take things through the home stretch. It's not gold yet, but now that development is coming to an end, the CD PROJEKT RED team is ready to start their work on two new, ambitious monster-hunting expansions.

The expansions will be called <span class="bold">Hearts of Stone</span>, and <span class="bold">Blood and Wine</span>. Combined, they'll offer over 30 hours of new adventures for Geralt, and the latter introduces a whole new major area to roam. More items, gear, and characters (including a few familiar faces) will all be crafted with the same attention to detail as the game itself.
<span class="bold">Hearts of Stone</span> is a 10-hour adventure across the wilds of No Man's Land and the nooks of Oxenfurt. The secretive Man of Glass has a contract for you - you'll need all your smarts and cunning to untangle a thick web of deceit, investigate the mystery, and emerge in one piece.
<span class="bold"><span class="bold">Blood and Wine</span></span> is the big one, introducing an all-new, playable in-game region to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It will take you about 20 hours to discover all of Toussaint, a land of wine, untainted by war. And to uncover the dark, bloody secret behind an atmosphere of carefree indulgence.







There used to be a time when buying an add-on disk or expansion for your game really meant something. That's what CD PROJEKT RED are going for, it's about bringing that old feeling back. You can take it from our very own iWi, (that's Marcin Iwinski, co-founder of CD PROJEKT RED):

"We’ve said in the past that if we ever decide to release paid content, it will be vast in size and represent real value for the money. Both of our expansions offer more hours of gameplay than quite a few standalone games out there.”

Hearts of Stone is expected to premiere this October, while Blood and Wine is slated for release in the first quarter of 2016, so there's still plenty of time ahead. We're offering you the <span class="bold">Expansion Pass</span> now - it's a chance to pre-order the two expansions and even show your support for the devs. But we can't stress Marcin Iwinski's words enough:

“Don’t buy it if you have any doubts. Wait for reviews or play The Witcher and see if you like it first. As always, it’s your call."







The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is just over a month away, and you can pre-order the game right now - it's a particularly great deal if you own the previous Witcher games and take advantage of the additional fan discount (both The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings are 80% off right now!). You can also take a rather unique refresher course on the universe with The Witcher Adventure Game at a 40% discount, all until Thursday, 4:59 PM GMT.
Post edited April 07, 2015 by Chamb
Posted April 09, 2015
high rated
Hello Everyone,

First of all let me thank you for your feedback. Although a bit harsh at times, it is always very passionate, emotional and we really do appreciate it.

I wanted to add a few words to the original press release, which will hopefully shed some more light on the Expansions and the timing of the announcement.

Let me start with the Expansions themselves. The work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is almost done and we are waiting for the final certifications. Thanks to it we were able to allocate part of the team onto the expansions. Yes, we have been thinking about it for some time, as with over 250 people on the Witcher team good planning is essential.

Rest assured, there is no hidden agenda or cutting out any content from the game. Both Expansions are being built at this very moment, from the ground up – hence the release dates long after the launch of Wild Hunt. We develop them in-house by the same team, which was working on Wild Hunt. This is the best guarantee we can give you that our goal is to deliver both the story and production values on par with the main game.

Now, on the timing of the announcement - in other words “why now” and not - let’s say – “a few months after the release of Wild Hunt”. The reason is very simple: we want to get the word out about the Expansions to as many gamers as possible out there. There is no better time for it than during the apex of the Marketing & PR campaign of the game. Doing it sometime after the release would mean that our reach would be much smaller.

Yes, we are a business, and yes, we would love to see both the game and the Expansions selling well. Having said that, we always put gamers first and are actually quite paranoid about the fact that whatever we offer is honest, of highest quality, and represents good value for your hard earn buck.

Yes, these are just my words. So let me repeat myself from the original release: if you still have any doubts -- don’t buy the Expansions. Wait for reviews or play The Witcher and see if you like it first. As always, it’s your call.

Cheers,

Marcin
Post edited April 09, 2015 by Destro
Posted April 08, 2015
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TCMU2009: Just five days ago GOG were saviors of the DRM free fight when they unveiled their "reclaim" initiative. Now they're "worse than EA," "fallen to the dark side," "writing their own epitaph," or my favorite: "adding DLC after they said there would be NO DLC!!!111" Also, Galaxy is now a form of DRM. Even though it wasn't last week.
The only savior against DRM are the cracker groups.

Noone can be more evil than EA. Not even Microsoft comes close. Or Apple. Maybe Oracle.

The dark side is everywhere. Mostly in our own souls. Fight it!

And Galaxy (Alpha) is a download client and gamestarter.. Nothing more.
Posted April 08, 2015
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TCMU2009: Just five days ago GOG were saviors of the DRM free fight when they unveiled their "reclaim" initiative. Now they're "worse than EA," "fallen to the dark side," "writing their own epitaph," or my favorite: "adding DLC after they said there would be NO DLC!!!111" Also, Galaxy is now a form of DRM. Even though it wasn't last week.
The internet giveth and the internet taketh away.

But like it or not, these people are customers who determine the success and image of companies and games. And for the record, the reclaim initiative was one step forward after the two steps back that was the sudden explosion of games that were regionally priced. Tack on unbundling and a number of other niggling little things (the great spam wars, etcetera), and anyone could have seen that this was a powder keg waiting to go off.
Posted April 08, 2015
I don't understand why anounce the "expansion" before the game release. Perhaps CDPR need a front page on all the internet gaming sites? And hordes of enraged fans giving them visibility?

As long as they don't mutilate the original as EA did on ME3 with Javik , I found it irrelevant.
Posted April 08, 2015
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JustSayin: ""Entitlement""

Anyway, I'll just wait for the GOTY or whatever it will be called when that comes out. I gots other games I can play until then.
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coreyblueexclusive: Yeah it's good to be smart with your money,I might do the same myself,but yeah people telling other people what to do and then shitting on the company,just rubs me wrong way.
That's cool. I didn't see anyone telling people what to do with their money, (didn't read every post though). I'm fine with people shitting on GOG within reason. This isn't what people expected from GOG so people should have the right to be angry. I just hate when people throw out the word "entitlement". It always screams "stop complaining about things you are angry about."

Edit: Now that I think about it, aren't "expansions" the things we used to get before some marketing assclown started calling them DLC?(where those three letters are actually two words.) Maybe this is just another marketing term from GOG but as long as the game is complete, whatever. I'm still waiting for the GOTY. When you announce your DLC before your game comes out, it's an automatic wait and buy for me. Sorry, blame the other companies.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by JustSayin
Posted April 08, 2015
high rated
I am entertained by both sides of this discussion.

I like the fact that they announced the expansions BEFORE the game was released. This gives time to anyone not ok with it to cancel. Wouldn't it be worse if they shoved this in your face the day the game was released, just as you were installing the game?

I think they were honest & transparent. At least, a lot more than any other company out there. I approve.

HOWEVER, I remain cautious. It is never a good idea to blindly defend something... things have this nasty habit to turn on you when you least expect it.

I was thinking about pre-ordering the game close to the release date, just a couple of days before.

I might still do that. And if I do, it'll be the same deal with the expansions. Or, I might just buy other games & buy this later. It hasn't changed anything.

I approve that a lot of you criticize when you feel things are going to wrong way. You should. But let's not overreact & start predicting the end of days just yet.

And those of you arguing with the ones criticizing, it's good that you're keeping the doomsday predictions at bay, but don't snuggle too much into GOG's lap... loyalty is one thing, blind obedience is another thing entirely.

My point, if I have one, which I'm not really sure I do, is that you shouldn't veer too far into any extreme. There's nothing but lunacy in the fringes of idealism.

GOG has been bad. Its customers have been bad. Shame on you all. GOG, apologise right now. Customers, kiss & make-up. Or it's the belt for you lot.
Posted April 08, 2015
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JMich: Here's my beef though. Their definition of a complete game last week was the same as mine. The game has remained the same, but by having extra content, it's no longer a complete game (in their eyes), but an incomplete or an unfinished one. Thus why I use the food analogy. Extra content for the game doesn't (usually) diminish the base one, it enhances it.

P.S. I do use the term complete and not full/definitive/GoTY for this exact reason. Steak and Fries is a complete meal, but it's not a 3-course meal.
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mrkgnao: Yesterday's game has indeed remained the same, as you say, but today CDPR has revealed that, contrary to many people's previous impression, it is not complete (according to their definition of completeness, not yours). The game hasn't changed, but the information about it has.

Your knowledge of the game's completeness has not changed as a result of the new information; other people's has. The new information has little effect on you; other people feel that they have been deceived until today.
well explained.
either way everyone sees it differently.
I for my part have mixed feelings.
there are some good reasons why this bothers me, though.

like you said: your (in general, any) definition of a complete game is not the same as other people's. Yours is valid, theirs is valid too.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by Aceso
Posted April 08, 2015
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coreyblueexclusive: Yeah it's good to be smart with your money,I might do the same myself,but yeah people telling other people what to do and then shitting on the company,just rubs me wrong way.
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JustSayin: That's cool. I didn't see anyone telling people what to do with their money, (didn't read every post though). I'm fine with people shitting on GOG within reason. This isn't what people expected from GOG so people should have the right to be angry. I just hate when people throw out the word "entitlement". It always screams "stop complaining about things you are angry about."
Yeah some people really overreact to this kind of stuff and it's cool to show that your not happy about what their doing,but some people need a chill pill and just need to just relax.

They have to realize GoG is a company,not their friend.They need to make money,now it's up us to be smart with spending our cash.

Shit Steam exploits the fuck out it's market on a daily
I think it's a damned if you do,damned if you don't situation.
I mean what if they did this a month after release?

I'm only here because I share their vison for a DRM free market one day,hopefully.
Posted April 08, 2015
Waaah, waaah, how dare you charge money for 30 hours worth of extra game content. Does it even have horse armour?!

To be honest, at first it looked like a late April Fools joke to me, since it's rather unexpected. But I can't say I mind, if this is really true. To me this just means, once I'm done with my first playthrough/explored most of the base game, I'll have the first and then second expansion to look forward to. And as long as the ratio of content/quality and price is fair, I don't see a problem.

Still, maybe this wasn't the best timing. Seems like you should have waited until after release ( maybe by a month or two ). As long as the base game is good, people would probably have been happy about more future content then. I hope CDPR isn't short on money for development and release costs, if they decided to announce this now. :(
Posted April 08, 2015
Gosh darn it CD Projekt RED. I already have to reserve 200 hours of my life to play through vanilla Witcher 3 and now I have to add another 30 hours?! It better be worth it! :)
Posted April 08, 2015
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Dalthnock: I am entertained by both sides of this discussion.

I like the fact that they announced the expansions BEFORE the game was released. This gives time to anyone not ok with it to cancel. Wouldn't it be worse if they shoved this in your face the day the game was released, just as you were installing the game?

I think they were honest & transparent. At least, a lot more than any other company out there. I approve.

HOWEVER, I remain cautious. It is never a good idea to blindly defend something... things have this nasty habit to turn on you when you least expect it.

I was thinking about pre-ordering the game close to the release date, just a couple of days before.

I might still do that. And if I do, it'll be the same deal with the expansions. Or, I might just buy other games & buy this later. It hasn't changed anything.

I approve that a lot of you criticize when you feel things are going to wrong way. You should. But let's not overreact & start predicting the end of days just yet.

And those of you arguing with the ones criticizing, it's good that you're keeping the doomsday predictions at bay, but don't snuggle too much into GOG's lap... loyalty is one thing, blind obedience is another thing entirely.

My point, if I have one, which I'm not really sure I do, is that you shouldn't veer too far into any extreme. There's nothing but lunacy in the fringes of idealism.

GOG has been bad. Its customers have been bad. Shame on you all. GOG, apologise right now. Customers, kiss & make-up. Or it's the belt for you lot.
This was a great post,
+1 for you
Posted April 08, 2015
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Zenphic: Gosh darn it CD Projekt RED. I already have to reserve 200 hours of my life to play through vanilla Witcher 3 and now I have to add another 30 hours?! It better be worth it! :)
they soon announce the reduction from 200 to 20 don't worry
Posted April 08, 2015
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simda.gog: Witcher 1 + 2 were both 3-course meals.

Until recently ("last week") Witcher 3 appeared to be a 3-course meal.
Thing is, as far as I can tell, if the first two games were 3-course meals, then the third one is more like a 6-course meal. Or an all-you-can-eat buffet, and then some. And that's without any additional expansions.
Posted April 08, 2015
Wow keyboard controls still undecided only a couple of months before release, region pricing, no linux version and now DLC... so many downers.
Posted April 08, 2015
The Witcher 3 Expansion Pass doesn't factor in a discount for preordering or for owning TW1 and TW2 like The Witcher 3 does. I know this may have been by choice... but it just seems odd. What is the incentive for preordering?

Also... if you go to the page where you can buy The Witcher 3 and the Expansion Pass together as a bundle it does not factor in your discount on The Witcher 3. It should charge you $73 -- $48 for The Witcher 3, and $25 for the Expansion Pass. But instead it charges you $80. So you're actually losing money by buying them together instead of separately.
Posted April 08, 2015
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apehater: REMEMBER:

The Witcher 3 Dev on Making a Stand Against Paid DLC
I'm guessing you didn't read that article:

"DLC, it’s small content," said head of marketing and PR Michal Platkow-Gilewski last September. "Like one-thousandth of the whole game. Why should you charge for that? If it’s small, give it for free. I know it’s not always possible or easy but this is what we want to give gamers; a little bit of love, which we’d like to get from other developers as gamers ourselves."
What they see as DLC and what you see as DLC is two different things. To them this is not your standard DLC... this is an expansion. A term that was around long before the rise of DLC.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)