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[inki]

Announcing before the game arrives makes most of the day one purchasers and fans to buy this season pass as well, so the developers could use this money to make their season pass content without worries and risk free to some extent which is paid in advance.

The first week of a game being released is usually the best selling week for the game. Because they are a month out they are ramping up their adverts for said game. It's overall cheaper to advertise the season pass WHILE people are excited about the game. It also makes it so people will know there is more coming at a "nominal" fee. Which will keep people from selling off the game right away.

Look at Bloodborne, I want DLC but I don't know if any is coming. Should I keep the game and hope or sell it off right away? (I ALWAYS sell my games). I wish I knew if there was more coming.

Games have to be blockbusters these day's. We all know that. They are trying their best to stay afloat and make as much money as possible (successful businesses all subscribe to this time old tradition). However they are trying to do right by the consumer and offer FREE DLC to people while also offering additional content (Large Expansions) at a reasonable fee.

$25 for approx 30 hours of additional content is a great value to me. You yourselves will have to decide if it is for you. Regardless, I would always suggest that you don't pre-order DLC.

 

[dlauv]

Will definitely purchase the pass on the cheap somewhere. DLC is such a bother.

 

[dr_rus]

Good pre-launch publicity right there, guys.

Blood and Wine sounds like something I will be willing to pick up for a reasonable amount.

Hearts of Stone however sounds like just some new mission done in the same old locations and that doesn't worth anything in my opinion.

Eh, will get the pass anyway during some Steam sale.

 

[PodcastFips]

Will wait for GOTY then, thanks. Funny though, they renamed DLC to Expansion.

 

[BPoole]

I'll buy both despite knowing nothing about them

 

[Jamix012]

I'm not against the idea of more content for games, but I wasn't in a huge rush to get Witcher 3 anyway, so I'll happily wait out for a GOTY edition.

 

[Absoludacrous]

That's a bad idea because it creates the idea that to get a full experience with the game they need to pad beyond the price of the base game. Sure, it sounds good from a marketing perspective since it kills two birds with one stone and is riding on the hype train to the game's release but it has a negative effect on a consumer's perception. Giving the buyer time to enjoy their product and feel like it's totally worth it and then dangling more in front of them to take advantage of that appetite works better overall and is far less likely to cause resentment.

Then you run into the issue of not only losing awareness, but also disinterest from people who might be aware of the content, but have played their fill of the title and won't want to purchase it at release.

The entire AAA industry is built around pre-release hype, so it's not surprising to see them sell their dlc in a similar manner.

 

[tuxfool]

That's a bad idea because it creates the idea that to get a full experience with the game they need to pad beyond the price of the base game. Sure, it sounds good from a marketing perspective since it kills two birds with one stone and is riding on the hype train to the game's release but it has a negative effect on a consumer's perception. Giving the buyer time to enjoy their product and feel like it's totally worth it and then dangling more in front of them to take advantage of that appetite works better overall and is far less likely to cause resentment.

Sure, I get that. However given that they had already telegraphed that they would do it, I'm sure they felt they had very little to lose with this. Given how late the 2nd expansion hits, they want to guarantee a certain mind share.

Honestly, I don't think it bothers that many people, COD certainly doesn't seem to get hurt by this kind of thing.It also helps them if they aren't as pushy about it as some other developers.

The number of people moaning about this issue in this thread certainly seems to be a minority.

 

[Paxem]

Over 30 hours for 25$ seems very reasonable to me.

 

[Dragon1893]

This 100%. I'm OK with paid expansion, but announcing it even before the game is out, it's a bad PR move. They should have waited to announce it.

I'm not going to argue against that but truth be told how they handle their PR is their problem.
And for people having (legitimate) doubts about the lenght, do the reasonable thing and wait for reviews/impression.
The "buy button" isn't going anywhere.

 

[Omikaru]

Probably would've gone down better had they announced this after the game's release, rather than prior to it, but I'm sure that people looking to buy The Witcher 3 appreciate the transparency.

Though it doesn't strike me as the kind of bad DLC that people find so irksome, and I feel that comparing this to some £8 DLC pack that could've been sliced out of the final game to be sold later is intellectually dishonest. It seems with that kind of bad DLC, CDPR are still offering it for free, which is great.

I'm not even all that interested in The Witcher 3 (certainly not day 1 interested; I need to finish The Witcher 2 first), but nothing here seems particularly dodgy, or indicative that CDPR have broken a promise. From what I remember, they've always said that if they ever decide to do a huge expansion pack, they'd charge for it, while a lot of the stuff that other devs sell as DLC would be given away for free. I believe this was the case with The Witcher 2, too (though they never did do a huge expansion for that game).

To be honest, I see this more as something akin to the Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium Pack, which is the only 90s PC game expansion I can remember right now, rather than shitty horse armour DLC or some bland quest line being sold at a premium price.

And CDPR themselves are saying to wait for reviews or word of mouth if you're on the fence. That they are confident enough to tell their customers to wait, rather than trying to trick or cajole them into paying in advance before they even know what the season pass content entails, tells me that they are at the very least confident about the value proposition being offered.

 

[Skelter]

Will wait for GOTY then, thanks. Funny though, they renamed DLC to Expansion.

Funny how you can't read. There is free DLC still it's just small stuff. The expansions are much larger and in CDPR's mind worth the cost.

 

[-tetsuo-]

People today have no idea what an expansion pack is. They only know DLC.

 

[a916]

Wow, another game announcing DLC before the game releases? No, forget this... oh wait, it's a game I want and like?! Well in that case take my money.

 

[Loakum]

I'm all for buying this season pass, but they contradicted themselves during the Playstation Access interview: (see at 4:12 of video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4LHxsvknog

 

[shandy706]

What other words can we change the meaning? Can I kill someone because I understand killing in a different way than everyone else?

 

[Dominic_Shade]

Not named "Iorveth & Saskia (Roche Can Come Too) Adventure Pack" = no sale.

I suddenly want a Citadel-esque expansion starring Geralt and all his companions from the series -- Siegfried/Yaevinn, Iorveth, Roche, Saskia, Zoltan, Dandelion, Triss, and of course Yennefer and Ciri.

 

[Radec]

They forgot to add, "Before buying this game, wait for the inevitable GOTY Edition with added DLCs from the season pass!. With that kind of waiting you did, you certainly made up your mind in purchasing the game at its "full" experience!"

 

[Cizeta-Moroder]

Sounds like they're going the "paid extra content" (expansion) route instead of "content held hostage" (dlc). Which is always welcome.

 

[King_Moc]

I'm kinda with you. I won't disagree that on paper it doesn't necessarily sound fair that they are already "selling" you more stuff before the actual game releases, but on the other hand as a consumer it's nice to know what the post release content entails and I'm sure most people also appreciate to know that the game will be supported well after release. I personally have no issue with announcements well before release and no hint of bad taste either, just business as usual.

Well, it's not like they already made it and held it back. They just announced their expansion road plan is all. I don't see a problem with that. Square Enix announced that ffxiv would have one prior to release and I'm pretty sure Obsidian did with Pillars of Eternity too. I don't really get why it's an issue here, not elsewhere.

 

[cripterion]

Gaming seems to be rooted in knee jerk reactions with little attention to research as possible. People calling this DLC are embarrassing themselves.

Unless the expansions come out boxed and on a disc, I fail to see how calling them Download Content is embarassing.

 

[Virdix]

Let me see if I got this right. Because he understands the word DLC differently from the real meaning of it, he can charge for things while still being true to his word? Interesting.

What other words can we change the meaning? Can I kill someone because I understand killing in a different way than everyone else?

I mean you could run with this, or just acknowledge that they've been upfront with their definitions since at least may of last year.

 

[Furfuryl Furforate]

I'm all for buying this season pass, but they contradicted themselves during the Playstation Access interview: (see at 4:12 of video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4LHxsvknog

Well it's an expansion pass...

also good catch and you can link to a specific time in youtube videos

https://youtu.be/D4LHxsvknog?t=4m12s

Well this thread is embarrassing...

People seem to be having a hard time differentiating between dlc and expansion packs.

there is no difference the words are freely interchangeable, show me an official definition of DLC that doesn't apply to an expansion

 

[UrbanRats]

I don't see the big deal.
New content costs money to produce, and you pay for it.
It's not shit they cut from the game, clearly.

I'm happy we get more content, if we so desire.

 

[GHG]

Well this thread is embarrassing...

People seem to be having a hard time differentiating between dlc and expansion packs.

 

[Siegfried]

I'm all for buying this season pass, but they contradicted themselves during the Playstation Access interview: (see at 4:12 of video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4LHxsvknog

Perfect video! And there's still people saying they didn't contradict themselves. 20 hours = 10 hours now? And what about the new region? Heart of Stone should be free by their own definition.

 

[Loakum]

Well it's an expansion pass...

also good catch and you can link to a specific time in youtube videos

https://youtu.be/D4LHxsvknog?t=4m12s

well he did say, "It's just free DLC, there is NO need for a season pass." apparently, they changed their minds. lol

 

[FinalStageBoss]

It's cool, im going to wait for a price drop anyway. Or wait for a version with everything.

 

[Dark_castle]

I welcome the meaty expansion packs, but perhaps they should have announce this after the game is released.

 

[Summer Haze]

Haven’t we just paid a lot of cash for a brand new game?

So? The base game offers potentially hundreds of hours of content. And these are expansions that will be made post-release, that will take many months to develop. It's not as if were being charged for cut content that's releasing a couple of weeks after the main game, and they're not charging for any of the smaller DLCs unlike most devs these days.

 

[Lashley]

Huh? Its a business. of course they would like extra money, thats why they are offering a reported 30 hours of extra content.

Developers have been called out for offering wayyyyy less content at higher prices than we are seeing here, If anything CDPR did it the right way! I haven't even played any of the Witcher games and I can tell that much.

This isn't 4 extra characters in a fighting game being locked out.

This isn't extra content that was ready being locked out of a sparse base game

This isn't announcing an expansion season pass without letting people know exactly what they are buying.

This isn't a crucial part of gameplay necessary to complete the full game. Its an optional expansion pack.

I struggle to see what the issue is here. Its maddening. If you dont like it, don't buy it.

How would you know that its content that hasn't been removed from the base game?

The same could be said for every other game with DLC.

The hypocrisy in this thread is hilarious.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downloadable_content

He can't change the definition of things just because he wants.

Like I said, whether you agree with his definitions is somewhat irrelevant. They haven't "changed" any of their stance or messaging.

The idea was that for them DLC i.e., the "smaller bits and pieces" that other companies nickle and dime you for, would be free, and anything substantial (or as they term it "high production values") would not be.

And before you say something, I don't see that as an expansion pack. Blizzard makes expansion packs. For WoW, for Diablo, for Starcraft, for Warcraft. They add a TON of content, almost the same ammount as the base games sometimes. 10 hours is a DLC no matter how much you try to push it.

I'm glad that you already know how much is in these expansion packs. Since you already seem to know how much content it adds, can you go the extra step and tell us how much you enjoyed your time in the DLC? How was the experience? How long did it take you?

While you're at it, you obviously got an early copy of The Witcher 3 itself. How is the game?

 

[tcrunch]

I'm glad that you already know how much is in these expansion packs.

It tells you the estimated playtime for each pack in the press release in the OP (10 hours for one and 20 hours for the other).

 

[Lil'DigiOp]

How would you know that its content that hasn't been removed from the base game?

The same could be said for every other game with DLC.

The hypocrisy in this thread is hilarious.

It says in the press release..... First pack in October, Second pack in 2016.

Are you being obtuse? Really? They would hold completely finished content for later in the year and next year just to try to make 25 bucks......

Like this is seriously your argument?

You didn't read the press release at all.

Edit: And on top of that, the game is going to be massive outright...

 

[Summer Haze]

I was wondering this exact thing. You're not hallucinating - CD Projekt Red said they would release 16 DLC packs for free across all systems. Guess that has changed.

Nothing has changed. They are releasing 16 DLC packs, featuring lots of smaller content (armor, hair styles, short side-quests etc etc), and then there are these two large SP expansions, which are being developed post-release, and are paid DLCs.

Since when has this been a problem? Huge SP games like these always get post-launch expansions, and they do not deserved to be lumped into the same category as the smaller DLCs that devs love to nickle-and-dime us for these days.

 

[Heartfyre]

There were people who misunderstood the original announcements? Even during The Witcher 2, they said that all DLC would be free...and it was. We got hairstyles and other small stuff, the arena and other meaty stuff, and the Enhanced Edition in all its glory, for not a penny more. And it was good. Even then, they kept the option open where, if they wanted to make a substantial content slice, they'd charge for it. They never did make anything, but they made the distinction between DLC and expansions back in 2011. Keep up with the news, folks. You're being caught with your pants down.

I do agree that now is not the time to announce it, but I understand the business reasons. I'd reckon it's their publisher's doing, to be honest. They'll undoubtedly sell more expansion passes because of it. But I'm going to take their advice and not do it now. If the game is good and I want more after completing it, I'll buy it then, but not a moment before. As it stands, $25 for 30ish hours of an RPG is not bad by my math.

 

[Siegfried]

I'm glad that you already know how much is in these expansion packs. Since you already seem to know how much content it adds, can you go the extra step and tell us how much you enjoyed your time in the DLC? How was the experience? How long did it take you?

While you're at it, you obviously got an early copy of The Witcher 3 itself. How is the game?

You do realise this info is in the main post right? Directly from them as far as I know...

"Hearts of Stone will take Geralt on an all-new, 10-hour-plus adventure into the wilds of No Man’s Land and the nooks and alleys of Oxenfurt, where he’ll try to complete a contract from the mysterious Man of Glass. Caught in a thick tangle of deceit, Geralt will need all his cunning and strength to solve the mystery and emerge unscathed."

 

[Deadstar]

One thing that really grinds my gears is that I'm paying the same for the pc version as the xbox one but I don't get the gwent deck or the cloth map.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

sounds great, but I am worried about the quality of Witcher 3. I am afraid it cannot live up to Witcher 2. Particularly in the story department.

 

[Summer Haze]

How would you know that its content that hasn't been removed from the base game?

The same could be said for every other game with DLC.

The hypocrisy in this thread is hilarious.

But not as hilarious as the people who don't read press releases.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

You do realise this info is in the main post right? Directly from them as far as I know...

Well you seem fairly certain that they're not expansions and don't add "substantial" content to the base game. Since you're so certain, you must have played it. Please share some of your experience with the game with us!

 

[BLunted]

Bought, and subject is misleading as I only paid $19.99 USD for it.

 

[playXray]

Will wait for GOTY then, thanks. Funny though, they renamed DLC to Expansion.

Not really. More like others renamed 'expansion' to DLC in the first place. This sounds like a proper old school expansion, and I will likely be as happy to buy this as I have ever been to buy an expansion pack.

I really don't get why some people seem to hate anything that isn't part of the original game release. Some of my favourite moments in gaming have been from expansions (Morrowind: Bloodmoon, Half-Life: Opposing Forces etc)

 

[Lil'DigiOp]

Well you seem fairly certain that they're not expansions and don't add "substantial" content to the base game. Since you're so certain, you must have played it. Please share some of your experience with the game with us!

Its totally apparent you have completely run out of arguments. How about you just wait for impressions and then see if you want to buy the stuff later.

 

[Siegfried]

Well you seem fairly certain that they're not expansions and don't add "substantial" content to the base game. Since you're so certain, you must have played it. Please share some of your experience with the game with us!

Well, when they announce 2 expansions and say that one is 10 hours long and the other is 20 hours long + a new region and someone posts a video where the guy says that for him an expansion is 20+ hours and a new region at least. I'm pretty sure the first one doesn't qualify even by his own definition.

 

[Lashley]

It says in the press release..... First pack in October, Second pack in 2016.

Are you being obtuse? Really? They would hold completely finished content for later in the year and next year just to try to make 25 bucks......

Like this is seriously your argument?

You didn't read the press release at all.

Edit: And on top of that, the game is going to be massive outright...

That argument could be used for the multitude of games that get criticized for this exact same practice.

Yes, CDPR have a good track record but this is a practice every other developer uses.

But not as hilarious as the people who don't read press releases.

I've read the press release, what's your point?

It's the exact same PR that other developers use.

Seriously, get off CDPR's dick.

 

[Wallach]

People today have no idea what an expansion pack is. They only know DLC.

You certainly don't get expansion packs from a season pass.

 

[soul creator]

I wonder if there's a correlation between people who are completionists when playing games, and are also completionists when purchasing games.

So extra content being mentioned before the game is out (even if that content doesn't actually affect the main game, and even if the main game is plenty substantial by itself) will bother that type of person more, since that interferes with their need to "100%" it.

Or like, gamer FOMO or something

 

[Ombala]

Will wait for the complete edition for this game.

 

[Loakum]

You certainly don't get expansion packs from a season pass.

you don't? darn.