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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 07, 2015
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R33D3M33R: Why would anyone preorder an expansion before the base game was released?
that's probably the only real problem i have with this announcement,especially as there are no benefits preordering this now,very bad timing
Posted April 07, 2015
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BKGaming: You do realize most of us know that these 16 DLC's won't be significant and will largely probably be crap... but you do realize that most companies would charge for these 16 DLC's and not care whatsoever? You realize before this stupid DLC craze that we had expansion packs with large significant content that we had no problem paying for it because it was worth it.

I'd gladly take the later over the former before were being charged for horse armor... aka Bethesda.
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bmgermani: So you add useless crap to your game. Like other companies do. But those companies charge for the useless crap. Meanwhile you decide not to, and proudly shout MY USELESS CRAP IS FREE, AM I NOT A GOOD COMPANY?

Come on man.
Being crap because something useless and being crap because it's not worth paying for are two different things. I don't know how useless it will be until we get it. I do know it's not worth paying for because CDPR has said it's nothing significant. They might largely be crap content I don't know, but they might be decent content too.

The point is they don't have to do anything, and they could be a POS company like every other publisher out there. There is nothing wrong with expanding a game and expecting to be compensated for that work if it's done is a good significant way. Based on what they have stated, they don't appear to have cut content, they are not making it day 1 DLC and they appear to have made the game they wanted to originally make before starting to work on this content.

Seems perfectly acceptable to me, the only bad choice they made here was perhaps announcing it before the game has came out.
Posted April 07, 2015
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bmgermani: Oh I see.

Well I'll just cancel my preorder of the game and maybe buy the eventual "GOTY" edition on discount then.

Jesus GOG...
"Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Season pass: incentive for wait for the goty edition"
Posted April 07, 2015
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TheWitcherAR: i think its a good idea but it´s a little pricey. and i hope to see a loyalty discount for the fans that have the tree games on GOG (i can dream) if not i will buy it all the same but it would be a nice touch.
Pricey really?
Thats $12.50 each expansion.
Posted April 07, 2015
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bmgermani: Oh I see.

Well I'll just cancel my preorder of the game and maybe buy the eventual "GOTY" edition on discount then.

Jesus GOG...
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Zoidberg: "Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Season pass: incentive for wait for the goty edition"
Very fitting (and honest) title, have you considered sending your CV to CDPR?
Posted April 07, 2015
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Foxhack: If this was the big surprise they were teasing... could you take it back? Because I don't want it, and I'm pretty sure nobody else does.
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Cyraxpt: I think that was the free gog versions for those who had cdkeys for the Stalker games (and some others).

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mintee: I was excited to see this but then saw the price. Seems a bit pricey for an extra 30hrs (supposedly) of gameplay. I'll probably get it but will wait upon some reviews.
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Cyraxpt: Sarcasm, right? Because 25$ for 30 hours is an amazing deal considering that most games nowadays have 8~12 hours and and cost the double.
Considering the amount of play hours that has recently been announced, it seems pretty SUBPAR!
Posted April 07, 2015
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A Season Pass by any other name is still a Season Pass.
Posted April 07, 2015
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Foxhack: "16 free DLCs." When I first saw that, I figured they were poking fun at downloadable cosmetic and game-altering content. Many of us believed they wouldn't stoop to selling extra stuff for their game, given their history of supporting Witcher with extra stuff down the road.

And now this happens.

So tell me, how's that kool-aid taste?
Kool-aid taste fine, but then again I've been a gamer a long time and I prefer expansion packs to small DLC that is current to today. As far as I am aware CDPR has never done an expansion pack for the Witcher games, so I would fully expect them to charge for that. All you have gotten before is small content similar to what you getting with the 16 free DLC. Anything else just makes you entitled to something your not entitled too. They are supporting the game with free content just like they always have.
Posted April 07, 2015
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Foxhack: "16 free DLCs." When I first saw that, I figured they were poking fun at downloadable cosmetic and game-altering content. Many of us believed they wouldn't stoop to selling extra stuff for their game, given their history of supporting Witcher with extra stuff down the road.

And now this happens.

So tell me, how's that kool-aid taste?
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BKGaming: Kool-aid taste fine, but then again I've been a gamer a long time and I prefer expansion packs to small DLC that is current to today. As far as I am aware CDPR has never done an expansion pack for the Witcher games, so I would fully expect them to charge for that. All you have gotten before is small content similar to what you getting with the 16 free DLC. Anything else just makes you entitled to something your not entitled too. They are supporting the game with free content just like they always have.
Enjoy your pre-order of the expansion of the pre-order game then, mate. I see there's no point arguing with you.
Posted April 07, 2015
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Foxhack: Back in those days, expansions weren't usually developed at the same time as the main game or announced for release before the game was even out.
Development of expansion packs (or sequels) is nearly always starting during ending phases of game development - because for the last few months, game development is about fixing bugs and polish, so writers and designers have time to already start working on a new content. Did you seriously believe these people do nothing for half a year or longer so that for "ideological reasons" nothing new is developed before the game is released?

So having this argument out of the way, basically your problem is that they dared to announce it while the buzz is still "loud" rather than waiting until nobody plays the game anymore.

Okay.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
The timing of this announcement is criminally poor... Could they not have waited a month or two after release, or say a few months out from the completion of this content?

Why anyone in PR, thinks this is an acceptable business decision... Absolute foolishness, all that can be said in lieu of stronger words.
Posted April 07, 2015
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BKGaming: Kool-aid taste fine, but then again I've been a gamer a long time and I prefer expansion packs to small DLC that is current to today. As far as I am aware CDPR has never done an expansion pack for the Witcher games, so I would fully expect them to charge for that. All you have gotten before is small content similar to what you getting with the 16 free DLC. Anything else just makes you entitled to something your not entitled too. They are supporting the game with free content just like they always have.
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bmgermani: Enjoy your pre-order of the expansion of the pre-order game then, mate. I see there's no point arguing with you.
I haven't decided either way honestly, I just don't see anything wrong with this. Have a nice day though.
Posted April 07, 2015
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C17: The timing of this announcement is criminally poor... Could they not have waited a month or two after release, or say a few months out from the completion of this content?
During Cologne's Gamescom in August would've been perfect IMO.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
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Foxhack: Back in those days, expansions weren't usually developed at the same time as the main game or announced for release before the game was even out.
Ahem.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
Well, this would seem an excellent deal and I would be hyped to see it almost as I was when "Night of the Raven" was released... IF it came out after the main game.

There is a minor problem, though:
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Foxhack: Back in those days, expansions weren't usually developed at the same time as the main game or announced for release before the game was even out.

This is a pure moneygrab. Nothing more.
Also, this move coming from prople (formerly) renowed as being "anti-industry-standard" hits even more my trust in CDP.
I would understand if there were already detailed plans for expansions (that's quite reasonable and predicatble, actually), heck, I would even approve a good'ol solid expansion like those back in the long gone times and buy it in an heartbeat... yet pre-ordering content for a pre-ordered game sounds very akin to the famous industry standards the devs continuosly state to be far away from.

That's my problem: not the expansion itself, but the mandatory "Good News™" that make this place each day more "average".
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Community
General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)