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General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(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
When I read the info I certainly do not see how people think that this was cut from the main story. They both seem like glorified side quests to me(not a bad thing)

They have been working on it probably since the concept artists finished their job on the main game, that sure as hell does not mean that the expansions are already completed and contain main story elements, if that was the case then it would be hugely stupid to release it 5 months down the line. Hell this is not a Javik(or whatever his name was) from Mass Effect move that they are pulling here.

Sorry for ranting at no one in particular, I just thought that simple, over priced DLC was the problem, not the very existence of DLC(expansions) and certainly not ones that have "worth it" written all over them
Post edited April 08, 2015 by Mekari
Posted April 08, 2015
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jerff: They always said that they would charge for large expansions, in every interview about DLC starting from as early as 2011.
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RafaelLVX: Please quote, specially if you have a statement from 2011 up your sleeve.
Sorry about this, but for the sake of accuracy: link

From May 17th, 2011, the day the second game released.
Posted April 08, 2015
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RafaelLVX: HOW? Which company ever charged $60 for expansions? GOG fans are starting to hallucinate to rationalize GOG's choices, that's new!
Fallout 3 DLC which was about 20 hours of gameplay was around 50 bucks if I remember correctly...
Dragon Age origin with all extra DLC was about the same
Mass Effect 2 DLC was at least 70 dollars....

This thread does not surprise me at all. A bit weird to announce preorders now for expansion packs right now. I admit that.


But expansion packs are good. (if done well)


or do you guys say that Throne of Bhaal should not have been made? Opposing force for Half life? That ant invasion thing for red alert?


so yeah. I do like expansion packs (if done well) a frigging cosmetic dlc which costs five bucks but is just a reskin? that's annoying
Posted April 08, 2015
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RafaelLVX: Here's how: you pay the full price but don't get the full game. For the full game you need to pay full price plus $21.

You don't know that. Let's face it, it's probably not the case. The only way we could pretend they haven't started production would be if they weren't selling it now, even unveiling details of both stories. This is not Kickstarter.
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Gnostic: So you will be happy if they stop all works on the expension now and save 1.5 year time and use it to develop a new game?
I think the hundred million dollar question is: what if they had made the exact same decision but, instead of disclosing that now, they only disclosed it in september, weeks before the first expansion? Would we still be arguing over whether or not the game was shipped complete in may? Because as of now I think they're releasing an incomplete game in may and sure as hell I'm only buying the full package later and only if the price is right (full price tops, not full price + $21). I EXPECT that from many companies (from the beginning I knew better than buying Oblivion and Skyrim on day one), only not CDPR.
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RafaelLVX: Please quote, specially if you have a statement from 2011 up your sleeve.
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227: Sorry about this, but for the sake of accuracy: link

From May 17th, 2011, the day the second game released.
+1 to you.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by RafaelLVX
Posted April 08, 2015
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RafaelLVX: I think the hundred million dollar question is: what if they had made the exact same decision but, instead of disclosing that now, they only disclosed it in september, weeks before the first expansion? Would we still be arguing over whether or not the game was shipped complete in may? Because as of now I think they're releasing an incomplete game in may and sure as hell I'm only buying the full package later and only if the price is right (full price tops, not full price + $21). I EXPECT that from many companies (from the beginning I knew better than buying Oblivion and Skyrim on day one), only not CDPR.
so okay.

Can you please answer three questions:

you don't want expansion packs?

when should they start working on expansion packs?

what should happen to artists, music creators, writers and other early game development staff when the main game is being finalized?
Post edited April 08, 2015 by lukaszthegreat
Posted April 08, 2015
I rather like this idea. The episodic nature of the books fits into this sort of structure of including all new full length adventures. That's all the Witcher really needed... Just an open world with major stories (not minor quests) to take place to encapsulate Geralt's journey
Posted April 08, 2015
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d2t: Except many if not most of complainers here argue, that this is bad that they dared to announce it this early, before the game is out.

Lets consider.
option A - CDPR is transparent and announces expansions as they start working on them => bad CDPR, how do you dare to announce them this early, it is surely a money grab to fool people into buying DLCs!!!!!
option B - CDPR hides their plans for expansions until few months after release => bad CDPR, I would never buy this game if I knew it is not a complete edition, it was surely some money grab to sell more standalone copies!!!!!
This post has a good point and the core of it is true, however a lot of grief is over the way they're doing it.

Yes, they should announce the expansions, or at least their intent to have them, before the initial release for the reasons mentioned above. Give people the option to opt out of buying after having learned this information. Good move there.

But to start selling the expansions right away? And not only that, they're doing it in this ...dreaded.. 'pass' format. One of those horrid practices you do *not* want to associate with GOG.

I'm pretty sure the idea a lot of people took away from the '16 DLC' for free announcement was that people who would buy the Witcher 3 wouldn't feel nickle and dimed for extra content. That they could be assured were buying 'the full experience' unlike what those 'other' developers do. And while that impression may have been right or wrong, since apparently they were only talking about 'Small DLC' and not 'Large DLC', it certainly felt like that's the point they were making.

But now, before the game has even come out, people find out that their initial purchase is going to be the 'base game', to be added on by expansions which have to be paid extra for. It's getting thrown in their face that their game is *not* going to be the full Witcher 3 experience.

To summarize it best I'll quote this part of the '16 free DLC announcement', the part they were mocking.

Haven’t we just paid a lot of cash for a brand new game?
And while it's now clear they were only talking about small piecemeal 'dlc' only, tell me this isn't exactly the feeling they just gave their fans by announcing this, in the manner they did, at the time they did.

In my opinion, GOG should have announced they were going to do expansions and then leave it at that. Leave the preorder and sale for some time after your game is out, give a preorder discount. Give a loyalty discount on the second expansion for owners of the first. It would amount to the same thing, but the way it would've been handled would've been so much better.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by Pheace
Posted April 08, 2015
I would actually be happy if they just announce the expansions when they came out; forget all this preorder stuff. Would be quite funny if CD Projekt just said absolutely nothing and then BAM! heres your expansion. I actually would love to do away with pre-ordering alltogether and have announcements only when there is a release, but that makes no financial sense.

I don't think it's fair to expect them to offer expansions for free (especially with a whole heap more content); but I don't want to see it as another way of breaking the main game up into smaller pieces so you could sell those individual pieces for more then the sum.

But the way they handled updates on The Witcher 2 was great; very generous offering those updates for free to get the game perfected (and I got the GOG versions of the witcher 1 & 2 by using my retail versions, so I never paid for them). Hopefully people aren't punishing them by expecting them to be even more generous with their content on their new game, providing larger content for free.

I've heard it mentioned though that CD Projekt promised free content updates on the Witcher 3...I don't remember reading this (I did pre-order July last year though, so I may have missed it), if there was some sort of misrepresentation then I could understand feeling cheated about it.

The story though can be completed without the expansion though I would think? From the description, these expansions are side adventures (quite big if the hours are honest) which don't necessarily have a bearing on the main story in the vanilla Witcher 3 game. Charging for expansions does not seem unreasonable unless we are left hanging at the end of game waiting for the next 2 episodes to finish the story.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by Jamie.monro
Posted April 08, 2015
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mobutu: Actually this made it a lot easier for me because I was seriously considering buying W3 Wild Hunt and in the process upgrade the graphic card also.
There's no way I'm getting an incomplete version so my decision is taken: I'll wait for a complete edition, goty or enhanced edition or whatever the name will be ;)
phew, I feel like a heavy burden has been taken off of my shoulders :)
Yeah that's the same boat I'm in. I really shouldn't be upgrading my graphics card yet anyway, this is the only game that requires the next model up (I have an AMD 7850 and iirc it requires an AMD 7870)
Posted April 08, 2015
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RafaelLVX: HOW? Which company ever charged $60 for expansions? GOG fans are starting to hallucinate to rationalize GOG's choices, that's new!
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lukaszthegreat: Fallout 3 DLC which was about 20 hours of gameplay was around 50 bucks if I remember correctly...
Dragon Age origin with all extra DLC was about the same
Mass Effect 2 DLC was at least 70 dollars....
Just, please let's draw a line here:
cosmetic DLC != game expansions

Don't know about Mass Effect, but Dragon Age and Fallout's expansions were smallish missions and very expensive alright, but they were almost instantly bundled with the game or in themselves for more reasonable value, nobody had to choose to pay that much. But I now recall the kinds of expansions you mentioned.

See, particularly in the case of Dragon Age the expansion was useless for anyone who already had beat the game, because you'd need to start over to see the content (like in the case of Baldur's Gate's Stories of the Sword Coast). Dragonfall had the director's cut, which had the same "problem" (though in my opinion the expansion was so grand in comparison to the original that it was worth restarting the game).

Now CDPR/GOG's saying there will be expansions for the original campaign one year later. Why play the original campaign now then, you know?
Posted April 08, 2015
Okay, I slept on it and decided I'm canceling my preorder. However, this is the first time I do something like that and I'm not sure how to go about it, could someone please point me on the right direction?
Posted April 08, 2015
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Pheace: *snip*
Just wanted to say that this post definitely summed up a large part of why this whole thing rubbed me the wrong way, though I'd have preferred it if they came out and said, "Hey, we have our artists working on some expansion-type stuff reminiscent of older titles like Baldur's Gate's Throne of Bhaal expansion now that Witcher 3 is entering the home stretch leading up to release, but we don't want to get into any concrete details until people have experienced the world we've poured ourselves into creating for the third game." For me, it was bringing up new details before we've had the chance to experience anything in the base game that made it seem wallet-leech-y, for lack of a better word. Just... not very subtle.

One more thing on that note: Oxenfurt is where Shani (Geralt's potential love interest in the first game) ended up according to the journal in the second game when you imported a Shani save. Since the second game railroaded you into being with Triss—which a lot of people were upset about—it kind of makes having that content locked behind another purchase a bitterer thing. This is a nitpick, admittedly, especially since she's not confirmed, but the location certainly suggests a cameo.
Posted April 08, 2015
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d2t: If these "alienated" were really the "greatest supporters", the expansions wouldn't climb to third spot of currently best selling products in just about 5 hours or so.
Well, you know that the popular category isn't about units sold, but about the money they made with a game over the last few hours? New games with a higher price point always more or less automatically go to the top as long as no major sale is running at the same time.

It says more or less nothing about how good a game is really selling.
Posted April 08, 2015
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d2t: Except many if not most of complainers here argue, that this is bad that they dared to announce it this early, before the game is out.

Lets consider.
option A - CDPR is transparent and announces expansions as they start working on them => bad CDPR, how do you dare to announce them this early, it is surely a money grab to fool people into buying DLCs!!!!!
option B - CDPR hides their plans for expansions until few months after release => bad CDPR, I would never buy this game if I knew it is not a complete edition, it was surely some money grab to sell more standalone copies!!!!!
avatar
Pheace: This post has a good point and the core of it is true, however a lot of grief is over the way they're doing it.

Yes, they should announce the expansions before release for the reasons mentioned above. Give people the option to opt out of buying after having learned this information. Good move there.

But to start selling the expansions right away? And not only that, they're doing it in this ...dreaded.. 'pass' format. One of those horrid practices you do *not* want to associate with GOG.

I'm pretty sure the idea a lot of people took away from the '16 DLC' for free announcement was that people who would buy the Witcher 3 wouldn't feel nickle and dimed for extra content. That they could be assured were buying 'the full experience' unlike what those 'other' developers do. And while that impression may have been right or wrong, apart from that one quote it certainly felt like it.

But now, before the game has even come out, people find out that their initial purchase is going to be the 'base game', to be added on by expansions which have to be paid extra for. It's getting thrown in their face that their game is *not* going to be the full Witcher 3 experience.

To summarize it best I'll quote this part of the '16 free DLC announcement', the part they were mocking.

Haven’t we just paid a lot of cash for a brand new game?
avatar
Pheace: And while it's now clear they were only talking about small piecemeal 'dlc' only, tell me this isn't exactly the feeling they just gave their fans by announcing this, in the manner they did, at the time they did.

In my opinion, GOG should have announced they were going to do expansions and then leave it at that. Leave the preorder and sale for some time after your game is out, give a preorder discount. Give a loyalty discount on the second expansion for owners of the first. It would amount to the same thing, but the way it would've been handled would've been so much better.
Ah I see, there's where it went wrong.

If they just announce there are expension in developement instead of taking in pre-orders now for the expension for another pre-order, it will be cool.
Posted April 08, 2015
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CharlesGrey: 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.
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CMOT70: So we're going to compare games to meals, well since we're paying for it we need to compare this to eating at a Restaurant i think. And who the hell walks into a restaurant and pays UP FRONT before they know what the food is like? So you pay for your 3 course meal, thinking it's great deal, only to find that the first course is shit on toast! What are you gonna do now, you've paid for all three courses already! You don't want to feel like an idiot so you'll pretend that you actually like shit on toast and give the place a good review, if going by most GOG reviews is anything to go by anyway.

Reading the above over, it occurs to me that it may sound like i'm critising you personally...that's not what i'm intending believe me. I'm just trying to put this whole pre-ordering thing in the same context as the 3 course meal analogy. Don't pay for the food before you see it, that's what i say. Unless you're starving of course, in which case you'll eat anything. But we're not starving.
From the sound of it you're primarily against pre-ordering ( especially of digital items ), which I can agree with. It's definitely odd timing to announce expansions, when people haven't even played the main game yet. My guess is, they just wanted to squeeze it in now, because of the whole 1000th GOG release thing. Still a bit weird, but oh well.

My point was merely, that even without these expansions, W3 is likely going to be one hell of a "meal", bigger and better than the previous games, even if you don't pay for further extra content. People make it sound like CDPR leaves them with a crippled, partially complete shell of a game, if they're unwilling to pay extra on top of the base price, but I strongly doubt that's going to be the case.

From the sound of it, these expansions are going to be more like Lord of Destruction for Diablo 2, or Immortal Throne for Titan Quest. And if that's the case, then I have absolutely no problem with paying a little extra, for such a large amount of extra gameplay and content. Let's all just chill and wait for the main game release. By the time we've all played that, there's a good chance these expansions will drop in price. They won't be available for some time anyway, for that matter.
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Community
General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)