It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)
Pages:
1
4
5
6
7
8
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
74
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 07, 2015
high rated
This is the moment I regret pre-ordering The Witcher 3. In a single moment CDProject and GOG have ruined the reputation they've built over all these years.

SHAME.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
$35? Seriously? I already bit the bullet and paid full price for the base game, I want to support you guys but this is just too much.

As others said, why the hell did you not wait until after the game was out to announce this content? This is pre-release DLC, surely you should know how most of your userbase feels about business practices like this.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
avatar
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.
avatar
d2t: 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.
No, my problem is that they're basically behaving like a typical big name publisher, disappointing those of us who liked them because they didn't act like one.

Enjoy your renamed Season Pass, fellas. Like others, I'll just wait until the GOTY hits 90% off in a couple of years.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
That's it, CDPR. I was about to preorder The Witcher 3, now I know I'll be waiting for a GOTY when you will have decided to stop produciing the expansions.

I like my games complete. In one go. I could say "your loss", but it won't be your loss, since I know I WILL buy your game. Just, not now. Not until I will know for sure that the expansions stream will be over.

Sorry about that. I will remain a customer here at GOG, but TW3 became a no-go with your announcement.
Posted April 07, 2015
avatar
Enebias: 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:
avatar
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.
avatar
Enebias: 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".
Exactly. I pay more for games here when I could get them on Steam for less money. All because I trust(ed) this company.

Unfortunately, each day that passes makes it seem like they're just more of the same.
Posted April 07, 2015
As mentat Randor put it: "THERE IS A TRAITOR IN OUR MIDST!!!"
Posted April 07, 2015
avatar
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.
avatar
JMich: Ahem.
In my defense, I've never touched Accolade's games. :p

(Point taken.)
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
What pisses me off is announcing this one month before the release of the full game. Making DLC/Expansions take times. If you, GOG/CDPR, already know the name, how many hours those DLCs will be, it means they are already half-done at least. Because you don't wake up one day and say "Ehi, I will release a 30 hours expansion tomorrow, I have nothing in my hands but hei, it will be 30 hours long".
Posted April 07, 2015
holy crap, a lot of dramatic posts going about.
Posted April 07, 2015
high rated
One of the reasons I preordered the wild hunt was because it was a game where I counted I'd get it all at once, just like with the previous games. Seeing that not only will it not be so, but that you're pushing the expansions before the actual game is even out... Honestly, it makes me want to cancel that preorder.

Not cool. Not cool at all. This is a shot at your trust boat's flotation line, for me at least.
Posted April 07, 2015
So a season pass for DLC?
Alright.
Posted April 07, 2015
So many angry people here. Guys, this is not "horse armor dlc" it's expansions to game in good, old style. Additional 30 hours of play to 100 hours + game. Read this: http://i.imgur.com/W6MAzDd.png
Posted April 07, 2015
avatar
Smannesman: So a season pass for DLC?
Alright.
Um... no. That's not what this is. At least I don't think so, since it covers two specific expansions. There might be other stuff coming.
Post edited April 07, 2015 by Breja
Posted April 07, 2015
avatar
ThePunishedSnake: What pisses me off is announcing this one month before the release of the full game. Making DLC/Expansions take times. If you, GOG/CDPR, already know the name, how many hours those DLCs will be, it means they are already half-done at least. Because you don't wake up one day and say "Ehi, I will release a 30 hours expansion tomorrow, I have nothing in my hands but hei, it will be 30 hours long".
No. They can make a pretty accurate prediction of how long it will be from the design documents they draw up outlining the entire expansion content.
Posted April 07, 2015
avatar
duxcorvan: Don't know... Preordering expensive regional-priced unreleased content, for a preordered expensive regional-priced unreleased game, looks like asking a bit too much faith from some of us.
Funny thing is the game and season pass are differently regionally priced. Witcher 3 has big regional discount here In Russia but season pass is not really all that cheaper. As of now, season pass costs more than the game itself.
Pages:
1
4
5
6
7
8
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
74
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionAnnouncing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Expansion Pass(1100 posts)(1100 posts)
(1100 posts)