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General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)
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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
Fine. CDPR decides they can't make enough money from developing expansions versus having to sell the game at a deep discount. I just expected them to not suddenly go "hey kids, we're charging for the expansion and you can pay for it right now on top of $60 (plus eg the australia tax, even if it was partly refunded in store vouchers)".

The only good thing about this (or at least worst-bad) from a PR standpoint is had they announced this after release, when everyone is screaming about bugs/missing tutorials/etc , it would be all too easy (complete with vader voice) for it to be spun as "CDPR charges for bugfixing patch" or something equally horrid
Posted April 08, 2015
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RafaelLVX: If it's free on release day, then it should come with the game, but it doesn't, so there's the free DLC and the bullshit paid expansions.
So, what you're saying is that once the game goes gold (master files are sent to press), which it has to do quite a while before release in order to have the discs produced and shipped in time, everybody should stop working until the game has been released?

Why are you complaining about being given free content? You don't have to accept it you know. If you don't want a beard and hairstyle set, don't download it. See? Easy-peasy. And since you say it's so ridiculously useless (which I kind of agree with), why would you want them to spend time on it before going gold, further delaying the game? It's extra content, not affecting the story or gameplay in any way, so they choose to offer it as an option, free of charge, for those who may be interested in it, while not letting it affect the game or its release in any way.
Posted April 08, 2015
low rated
For the rest of the kids that are crying out there about this expansions. You need to grow up for the fuck sake!

They did not lie, just reed the fucking quotation.


http://i.imgur.com/W6MAzDd.png
Posted April 08, 2015
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JMich: What were the Enhanced Editions then? I thought Witcher 1 was a complete meal, as was Witcher 2, and their Enhanced Editions elevated them to 3-course meals.
Abut the "what is the whole game" argument:

Base game < (base game + expansion). I don't think there's an argument there, is there? Since I'll typically only play each game once, what of the two options should I pick?

Sure, Dragonfall was great. But dragonfall director's cut was better. If I had known that the director's cut was going to come out, I wouldn't have played the base game on its own.
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altshift_kill: For the rest of the kids that are crying out there about this expansions. You need to grow up for the fuck sake!

They did not lie, just reed the fucking quotation.


http://i.imgur.com/W6MAzDd.png
Excuse me for not "reed"ing every single interview, and expecting them to be as cool as they were in the past. Don't worry, I've grown up and will no longer expect that from them.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by P1na
Posted April 08, 2015
I certainly don't mind CDPR making expansion packs for Witcher 3 and I'm sure it will be great value for money even if you don't compare it to what garbage some other publishers are pushing for even higher prices. However, making this a pre-order season pass (even if they don't call it quite that...) is pretty horrible decision PR wise. Pre-order season passes are one of the most controversial practice of modern AAA developers and they really don't fit to the concept of GOG.

It would have been much smarter to announce this after the release of main game and just call it expansion pack with 30 hours of gameplay. At least the expansion pass doesn't have pre-order discount so you can purchase it after release and reviews without feeling like you are being punished for not gambling. I'm sure CD project has no malign intents but this was just the worst possible way of announcing these expansions.
Posted April 08, 2015
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JMich: What were the Enhanced Editions then? I thought Witcher 1 was a complete meal, as was Witcher 2, and their Enhanced Editions elevated them to 3-course meals.
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P1na: Abut the "what is the whole game" argument:

Base game < (base game + expansion). I don't think there's an argument there, is there? Since I'll typically only play each game once, what of the two options should I pick?

Sure, Dragonfall was great. But dragonfall director's cut was better. If I had known that the director's cut was going to come out, I wouldn't have played the base game on its own.
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altshift_kill: For the rest of the kids that are crying out there about this expansions. You need to grow up for the fuck sake!

They did not lie, just reed the fucking quotation.

http://i.imgur.com/W6MAzDd.png
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P1na: Excuse me for not "reed"ing every single interview, and expecting them to be as cool as they were in the past. Don't worry, I've grown up and will no longer expect that from them.
And why should they give them for free, if one may ask ?
Posted April 08, 2015
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P1na: Base game < (base game + expansion). I don't think there's an argument there, is there?
There isn't. My beef is with those claiming that because (base game + extra content) option is available, base game is not complete. Do you recall the often posted image about paintings being games and DLCs? My point would be that base game is the painting, expansion 1 is a better frame for the painting, expansion 2 is better lightning for the painting. Yes, you do get a better experience if you have everything, but you still have a complete experience if you only have the base game.
Posted April 08, 2015
I'm okay with this. I mean, I'm not going to buy it until I've played the W3 that I've pre-ordered, but it really doesn't affect me. 25 bucks for 30 hours of gameplay is way more than, say... The Order: <insert 4 numbers>. I can understand those who are angry though, because selling an ex-pack before release can be misconstrued as "planned paid DLC". In the end, I only hope the game is as awesome as we hope it is. And if so, I'll buy the ex-pack.

P.S. Not going to lie, paying a discount price for the ex-pack if we own all 3 Witchers would be fantastic. Not even a huge discount, just a tiny one to appeal to the cheapskate in me. All in good time, I suppose.
Posted April 08, 2015
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altshift_kill: And why should they give them for free, if one may ask ?
Because it's cool?

Seriously though, they don't have to. But they did so in the past, which gave them a good reputation leading to my preordering witcher 3. That's something.

I'm not saying it's a good idea to give them for free. Doing these paid expansions might indeed be the best move for the company, what do I know. I'm just saying that just as they have their circumstances and priorities, I've got my own; and according to those I choose to cancel my preorder. That's all there is.
Posted April 08, 2015
high rated
-Hey Boss, can we do some more sex motion capture?

-No. The game is complete. We can't justify the expense.

-Hey Boss, can we make an expansion?

-I like what I'm hearing. Put this on and meet me in the motion capture room.
Posted April 08, 2015
Why is everyone so mad about it? It's not one of those "DLCs" where you are getting 4 skins for 20 euros, while to make them it takes less then a day for a skilled artist.
Posted April 08, 2015
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Rincewind81: Do you remember preordering or just announcements of Expansion Packs even before the base game? This has nothing to do with the "old days".
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JMich: Ahem (deja-vu).
You like that singular pick, don't you?

Logically, you only need one exception to disprove a rule, unless said rule includes a generalisation disclaimer.

Do you have any other examples, JMich?
Posted April 08, 2015
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JMich: There isn't. My beef is with those claiming that because (base game + extra content) option is available, base game is not complete. Do you recall the often posted image about paintings being games and DLCs? My point would be that base game is the painting, expansion 1 is a better frame for the painting, expansion 2 is better lightning for the painting. Yes, you do get a better experience if you have everything, but you still have a complete experience if you only have the base game.
For me, it depends. I'm cool with expansion like the old Starcraft Brood wars, Commandos beyond the call of duty or the recent Shadowrun: Dragonfall itself. I played the game, enjoyed the game, then got more content in the form of extra missions/campaigns. The base game is complete, there's nothing added to the base game by those expansions, I just get to play the extra.

Then there's expansions like XCom: enemy within or the dragonfall director's cut. In those cases, the base game is very much impacted by the expansion, and as such I'd rather play it once it's been completed. In these cases, I do feel that I didn't get the "complete" experience by playing the base game on its own, and even if I enjoyed the game a lot, there's always a feeling of... wasted time, in lack of a better expression? since I have to play it all over again to experience the extra content. I would rather directly play the expanded version.

I'm not saying all old games were of the first kind, or that the second kind shouldn't exist. Hell, if there was a 2nd type expansion pack for the original Deus Ex I'd be overjoyed. But for me, there's a big difference between "my game is succesful, let's put some effort into improving it" and "Okay, that's good enough for the game. Let's release this, and keep working on an expansion". For the first, when the unexpected expansion comes out improving the game, it's cool. For the second, I'll wait until all planned work is released before starting to play it.

I believe it's clear under what category witcher 3 falls, and why I want to cancel my preorder.
Posted April 08, 2015
low rated
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altshift_kill: And why should they give them for free, if one may ask ?
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P1na: Because it's cool?

Seriously though, they don't have to. But they did so in the past, which gave them a good reputation leading to my preordering witcher 3. That's something.

I'm not saying it's a good idea to give them for free. Doing these paid expansions might indeed be the best move for the company, what do I know. I'm just saying that just as they have their circumstances and priorities, I've got my own; and according to those I choose to cancel my preorder. That's all there is.
Yes, coolness goes green then. But, what if they need the money to develop games like the witcher series ?! Or ... what if they don't have the money /// because they give every extra bit of content for free /// and ... i don't know, get rape by EA or Activision and then you will get those 16 DLC for 4.99 each ?!

In the end, you paid for the base game. It has like 200+ h ... but you cancel your preorder because CDR is evil like fuck for not giving you those expansions for free. GG man!
Posted April 08, 2015
Generally I also wouldn't be outraged if this wasn't CDPR. What did we get in the last year or two?

DLCs
Regional pricing
Regional locking
Pre-order exclusive bonuses
'Special editions' with OSTs

an a 'don't care'-sounding gray theme.

I'm really curious if they'll even bother issuing an official response or if they'll just sit this out.
Post edited April 08, 2015 by popperik
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Community
General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)