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The Witcher 3 Expansion Pass announced - $25

kamineko

Does his best thinking in the flying car
Making software takes money and people. Of course stuff is planned in advance. When devs put together annual staffing and budget they don't have a big grey area on the business plan that says "play it by ear." That isn't how any business works. At all. How would they keep programmers on the payroll? "We don't have anything planned after May, but please keep yourself available for us just in case we come up with something for you."

Anyway, I'm going to do what I was always going to do. Buy the main game and see how I feel after finishing it
 

Cels

Member
Sounds like a fair deal to me, are people upset about this?

only the ignorant.

development of witcher 3 is basically done, the game releases in a month. they have staff that need stuff to do.

announcing DLC like this is really no different than announcing a game.
 

Guri

Member
I will have more fun with 5 other games than with Witcher 3 expansions for sure. The value is just not in the side of CDPR and their content in this situation as far as I'm concerned. Oh and did I have mentioned that they have changed the price for the game twice already? I usualy don't pre-order the games before 2 or so days before release (well, you never know what may happen... another delay or anything else, plus pre-ordering games long before release without knowing if they are good or not is not my style) and now I have to pay twice as much than a year ago.

Oh man, the game is 200+ hours long with a HUGE... MASSIVE replay value considering all of the choices from the first two games, some people will be playing the game for months and months before even get close to the end. I remember myself playing Morrowind for 2 years in a row without any mods and still not finished the game by then (I still didn't finished Skyrim with all DLCs for Christ's sake), it was so huge, massive and so full of content that it wasn't really necessary to release more content for it, not even Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions. Same thing with Witcher 3. However, this will be the last Witcher game so I guess they didn't have much of a choice but not to include not finished content in the base game and release it later in a finished state as paid DLCs.

I am glad we got to the bottom of this. In the end, it is all about taste. I am sorry, but I will never discuss this. If you think that 200 hours of content is enough, then you don't even have to think about the expansions. Just buy the main game whenever you feel like and that's it. Now, just remember that 200 hours includes the main quests, side quests, mini-games, combat and world exploring. The game can be completed in less than half of that time. Can you at least see the room for additional content for fans not interested in side quests and mini-games? Room for new lore, new places to explore and more? If so, then that's all to it. You don't have to buy.
 
I love Witcher. I'll probably end up buying this, but there's no way I'm paying for it 5-6 months in advance and even longer for the meatiest part of the "expansion."

Also, fwiw, they are incentivizing this. There's a $5 discount if you buy now on Steam. I presume that a $79.99 "digital deluxe edition" will make its way to the XB1 and PS4 as well.
 

mhayze

Member
Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a developer follow up an announcement of new content that they want you to buy with a "hey, don't buy this now, unless you're really sure" message, i.e.:

we want to make one thing clear: 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,” Iwiński concludes.

Truth in advertising? Cautionary message? Warning? Reverse Psychology?
All of the above?

Don't know what to think about that aspect of it, but overall, I'm excited for the Witcher 3, and with regards to a sub-$30 expansion pass that promises a full expansion's worth of content, it's good to know there's more available if I love the Witcher 3. I'm not buying it now, because I've never played the previous Witcher games, and that probably wouldn't be a good indicator of whether I'd like W3 anyways.
 

Mrbob

Member
DLC needs to die.

I've never paid money to support this scheme, and never will.

Good thing these are looking like true expansions and not DLC garbage most companies try to pawn off on the consumer.

Don't know what to think about that aspect of it, but overall, I'm excited for the Witcher 3, and with regards to a sub-$30 expansion pass that promises a full expansion's worth of content, it's good to know there's more available if I love the Witcher 3. I'm not buying it now, because I've never played the previous Witcher games, and that probably wouldn't be a good indicator of whether I'd like W3 anyways.

If you are getting the game on PC, wait. The expansion pass will probably go on sale before the first expansion is out.
 

MrFortyFive

Member
Looks like a fair amount of content for a fair price. Hell, I bought The Order for more than that and I'm sure I'll get a hell of a lot more time out of this than I did that. Terrible time to announce it though. They should have at least waited until the game was out. GOG's community is so easily riled about this kind of thing too. Unfairly or not, this is going to earn them some ill will from many on their own service.
 
Wild Hunt has a $5 discount, and has had it since the pre-order started. The expansion packs don't.

Yeah, my bad. Wild Hunt actually has a $6 discount, so apparently you pay a dollar more for the honor of buying the expansion pass now. They're actually disincentivizing it. :p
 

ViciousDS

Banned
what the hell is this what people saying it was planned well no s*** it was planned what else do you think f****** DLC is. you don't just magically decide one day hey we're going to make this, no you have to decide head of time and most of time is before the game is finished on what you're going to work on next well the last couple months of the actual game is crunch time for bugs and glitches.

These expansions would take forever to come out if there weren't plans for scheduling. If they didn't plan this before launch they would take over a year for us to see dlc. apparently people wanting to just keep the delaying and delaying and delaying game because for some reason they think expansion means to cut content. It they wanted to put all this content in at launch they probably would run dry of funds. So let's get a fully complete game for $60 and if you don't feel like buying the expansions then don't. You still bought a huge and complete game.


Edit: phone typing
 

Kin5290

Member
I think the biggest disappointment for me is that both expansions have you playing as Geralt. Otherwise, it was pretty clear from early on that the free stuff was going to be cosmetics or horse armor (where making you pay extra is a ripoff) and not a full ~30 hours more of gameplay.
 
They didn't lie at all

W6MAzDd.png

What people tend to forget..
 

Jsheldon

Member
Mixed reactions like everything else on this forum, personally couldn't be happier to support and play it (hoping to be finished the game once through by the time the first expansion releases). Only thing that would have been nice is to get the option of playing as Ciri or another character (not that I don't enjoy Geralt).
 
Ahahahah ahahah! I wanna see how many people come up with excuses that it's ok to have DLC before the game is even out. I know heaps of people kicked up a stink about Evolve so it will be good to pick out the hypocrites.

FYI I have no problem with DLC but Evolve's player base/sales suffered heavily from the bad word of mouth everyone was giving it but I know excuses will be made for Witcher 3 because GAF seems to love it so much. I've gotten 35 hours out of Evolve and I only paid for the base game ($69 AUS) which is more than any other game I have played this gen and infact more than 90% of games last gen, so to me it was well worth it and was really disappointed in the way people were foaming at the mouth over it's extra content.

I don't really have an interest in Witcher 3 but this DLC has nothing to do with that (did not like Witcher 2....combat, build variety and equipment was waaaay too simplistic for my tastes) so a no buy for me either way.
 
What happend to "all future DLC will be free"? Or am I mistaken ?

They aren't announcing "DLC", they have already done that (and they are free), they are announcing expansion packs. But since the current generation of consoles and PC are almost completely reliant on online access for updates and add-on content, it will be released in two parts via download.

And there is nothing wrong here, better they announce that they are offering continued support and new, worth-while content, than doing what most of the big guys are doing and just hoping everyone puts up with rushed shit, that they can band-aid patch later and then move onto sequels.
 
I dont have a problem with this.

I'm about as anti-DLC as you can get when it comes to charging for bullshit like horse armor or charging for content that feels like it should have been in the main game. But knowing CDPR's history & the pro-consumer/anti-DRM principles they openly stand for I'd say its pretty clear Witcher 3 is feature complete & content rich (to a ridiculous degree from the sounds of it). Any large expansions like these which expand a great deal on the already existing world & give us more to see & do are essentially a way to keep that world alive, keep it a living, breathing thing we can enjoy even beyond the massive amount in the base game. I'm all for that & support their need to be financially compensated for all that extra development effort. Complaining about this seems pretty silly to me. When I was a kid & played dungeons & dragons we didn't expect new adventure modules to be given to us for free just because we spent hundreds on the rule books. CDPR is basically saying, "We love this world & think you are going to love it so much too that we want to expand it, keep it going." So they are planning on releasing new "adventure modules" with a crazy amount of new stuff to do. Assuming its not just a bunch of fetch quests I'm guessing I'll be more than happy to plunk down some extra $$$. If you're worried about it, wait for reviews &/or the inevitable sale. I'm actually pretty excited by the idea. If its successful maybe they'll keep releasing new expansions.

With that in mind, what I'd ideally love to see is a construction set so would-be Dungeon Masters could create endless new adventures for others to enjoy....
 

Momentary

Banned
25 bucks for an expansion pack is not bad. I would have announced it after the game was released though.

I don't see anything wrong with this. Shits been like this for the last 25 years of me playing videogames. Expansions with hours of content have always cost money.
 

Guri

Member
Ahahahah ahahah! I wanna see how many people come up with excuses that it's ok to have DLC before the game is even out. I know heaps of people kicked up a stink about Evolve so it will be good to pick out the hypocrites.

FYI I have no problem with DLC but Evolve's player base/sales suffered heavily from the bad word of mouth everyone was giving it but I know excuses will be made for Witcher 3 because GAF seems to love it so much. I've gotten 35 hours out of Evolve and I only paid for the base game ($69 AUS) which is more than any other game I have played this gen and infact more than 90% of games last gen, so to me it was well worth it and was really disappointed in the way people were foaming at the mouth over it's extra content.

I don't really have an interest in Witcher 3 but this DLC has nothing to do with that (did not like Witcher 2....combat, build variety and equipment was waaaay too simplistic for my tastes) so a no buy for me either way.

Evolve's DLC made consumers feel that they weren't getting the full experience. On top of pre-order incentives, they had characters as paid content. Not only that, you could pay $120 to get the whole thing. Everything from The Witcher III's main game in terms of additional content is free. There will be 16 DLCs, some simple and some quest related. No in-game pre-order incentives. The expansions are optional and not related to the main game, hence the name "expansions".
 

gocubs

Member
I will wait on the expansions to come out before I decide to buy them. I have no issues supporting CD Project Red but I want to play the main game first.
 

Exentryk

Member
CDPR delivering quality just like the good ol' days (1999 in below image). Any other developer currently delivering this kind of value? Can't think of any, except maybe Nintendo with their Mario Kart 8 DLCs.

 

Ventara

Member
I preordered the game for $16, so this is a terrible deal for me. Will not support.

Though seriously, why couldn't they have announced it after the game releases? That sole action would solve everything. Are they idiots? Announcing DLC (lol, expansions are DLC; deal with it) before the game releases gives an impression that you're getting less for what you're paying for, regardless of whether that's true or false. CDPR is a great company, so I know they're not trying to stick it to us, but this was a poor marketing decision, one that many companies seem to make.
 
Evolve's DLC made consumers feel that they weren't getting the full experience. On top of pre-order incentives, they had characters as paid content. Not only that, you could pay $120 to get the whole thing. Everything from The Witcher III's main game in terms of additional content is free. There will be 16 DLCs, some simple and some quest related. No in-game pre-order incentives. The expansions are optional and not related to the main game, hence the name "expansions".

Annnd here we gooo....

I feel as if i'm not getting the full experience with Witcher 3. This content seems like it should be in the main game, infact i'm positive they cut this content from the main game just so they can milk it's customers. Extra monsters, Hunters and Maps are the main content in Evolve, there is nothing else to the game so one extra monster equals approx 10-15 hours gameplay and an extra hunter would equate to the same. You don't have to buy extra monsters and hunters in Evolve and unlike The Witcher 3 you will still be able to experience this extra content because you can still fight the extra monsters when playing as the hunters and vice versa when playing as the monster or fighting alongside them when playing as another hunter. So technically that extra content is the same as what The Witcher 3 is doing infact it is better because everyone gets to experience the extra content in some way unlike The Witcher 3 where you are forced to pay for it if you want to see it.

Sure there are some paid skins in Evolve but I was also given some free skins when I bought it so there was free DLC in Evolve as well....just like The Witcher 3. In all honesty I don't see any difference between the two but it's ok if you do....that's just how people justify things for themselves. So how much will The Witcher 3 cost with this season pass on top of the main game? As I said before I only paid the base amount for Evolve and got many hours of fun out of it so my purchase was more than justified. Infact I even received the Goliath monster as a free pre-order bonus, is The Witcher 3 offereing one of these DLC expansions as a free pre-order bonus? I don't think so, so to me Evolve seems like the lesser of two evils because atleast there was an avenue to get some of this main content for free whereas in the Witcher you will have to pay for it.
 

Hawkmosis

Banned
These guys have a history of being a good developer when it comes to massive patches and all that. As long as I enjoy the main game I will buy the "expansions"
 

antonz

Member
30 hour expansion for 25 bucks is a decent deal. Considering they are throwing lots of free dlc cant complain. I mean they even tell people if it bothers you hold off and see the reviews and then buy it.

They are completely awesome
 

RDreamer

Member
Good shit.

Makes sense they're doing this. They delayed it mostly for technical issues. Did people want their creatives to just sit around on their hands the whole time? No, they mapped this stuff out, and can start work on it as soon as the game goes gold/when certain teams are free.
 

Thoraxes

Member
They can talk the talk.

I'll wait to see if they walk the walk though.

I believe CDPR will do good, but I'm always skeptical of season passes and usually see them as a major waste of money.
 

VariantX

Member
Have no problems with this expansion as they're actually treating it like an expansion with meaningful content and pricing it appropriately. Full games dont even offer 1/3 of what they're offering and for much more money.
 

senahorse

Member
Annnd here we gooo....

I feel as if i'm not getting the full experience with Witcher 3. This content seems like it should be in the main game, infact i'm positive they cut this content from the main game just so they can milk it's customers. Extra monsters, Hunters and Maps are the main content in Evolve, there is nothing else to the game so one extra monster equals approx 10-15 hours gameplay and an extra hunter would equate to the same. You don't have to buy extra monsters and hunters in Evolve and unlike The Witcher 3 you will still be able to experience this extra content because you can still fight the extra monsters when playing as the hunters and vice versa when playing as the monster or fighting alongside them when playing as another hunter. So technically that extra content is the same as what The Witcher 3 is doing infact it is better because everyone gets to experience the extra content in some way unlike The Witcher 3 where you are forced to pay for it if you want to see it.

Sure there are some paid skins in Evolve but I was also given some free skins when I bought it so there was free DLC in Evolve as well....just like The Witcher 3. In all honesty I don't see any difference between the two but it's ok if you do....that's just how people justify things for themselves. So how much will The Witcher 3 cost with this season pass on top of the main game? As I said before I only paid the base amount for Evolve and got many hours of fun out of it so my purchase was more than justified. Infact I even received the Goliath monster as a free pre-order bonus, is The Witcher 3 offereing one of these DLC expansions as a free pre-order bonus? I don't think so, so to me Evolve seems like the lesser of two evils because atleast there was an avenue to get some of this main content for free whereas in the Witcher you will have to pay for it.


Are you seriously comparing this:

evolve_zps8ic6xydc.png~original


to this:

w3_zpsclayiqki.png~original


Seriously? Surely you jest and are just tag fishing?

And if you are a joke character, joke is on me for taking your bait :)

edit: for anyone wondering, Australian pricing
 

Guri

Member
Annnd here we gooo....

I feel as if i'm not getting the full experience with Witcher 3. This content seems like it should be in the main game, infact i'm positive they cut this content from the main game just so they can milk it's customers. Extra monsters, Hunters and Maps are the main content in Evolve, there is nothing else to the game so one extra monster equals approx 10-15 hours gameplay and an extra hunter would equate to the same. You don't have to buy extra monsters and hunters in Evolve and unlike The Witcher 3 you will still be able to experience this extra content because you can still fight the extra monsters when playing as the hunters and vice versa when playing as the monster or fighting alongside them when playing as another hunter. So technically that extra content is the same as what The Witcher 3 is doing infact it is better because everyone gets to experience the extra content in some way unlike The Witcher 3 where you are forced to pay for it if you want to see it.

Sure there are some paid skins in Evolve but I was also given some free skins when I bought it so there was free DLC in Evolve as well....just like The Witcher 3. In all honesty I don't see any difference between the two but it's ok if you do....that's just how people justify things for themselves. So how much will The Witcher 3 cost with this season pass on top of the main game? As I said before I only paid the base amount for Evolve and got many hours of fun out of it so my purchase was more than justified. Infact I even received the Goliath monster as a free pre-order bonus, is The Witcher 3 offereing one of these DLC expansions as a free pre-order bonus? I don't think so, so to me Evolve seems like the lesser of two evils because atleast there was an avenue to get some of this main content for free whereas in the Witcher you will have to pay for it.

CD Projekt is completely against in-game pre-order bonuses. If you buy the GOG version, you get:

8 wallpapers+ 6 paper toys+ soundtrack - exclusive tracks (MP3)+ soundtrack - exclusive tracks (FLAC) + 5 HD videos + 24 artworks + comics (Reason of State - Part 1) + paper toy catalog

That's for $45. Less if you own the first two games on PC. Then you can have up to 200+ hours if you are a completionist. If you want 230+ hours (including the expansions), it is $60.

Now, as for the multiplayer vs singleplayer comparison. I am still baffled you are doing that. There's no way you can compare because they are completely different. You are getting the whole experience in The Witcher III because the expansion packs are not at all related to the story of the main game. They are just expansions, just the ones released in the 90s for games like Diablo.

I mean, good for you that you had your fun with Evolve without any paid DLC. But the difference here is this: Evolve had a pre-order DLC bonus on Gamestop. If you bought it there, you got it for free. That means that the content was in the game for everyone, but only Gamestop customers could unlock it. I am not sure if it's already available for everyone, but if it is, then I'm sure people had to pay for it. Also, the "Monster Expansion Pack" is free only for pre-order customers, while those who didn't pre-order had to pay $15 for it.

Everything in The Witcher III regarding the main game will always be free with no in-game exclusives to specific stores. The expansions are other stories, set in places you never go during the main game. It's very different. And it wasn't cut. You will only get the expansions in 6-12 months from now. They are still being developed.
 

Altairre

Member
Pre ordering is pretty retarded yes, I fully agree

Or was that supposed to be a counter argument to mine? Because it isn't.

I'm not sure what you're arguing here. Are you saying that the option to buy a game before it is out shouldn't exist? Why? It is up to the consumer to decide if they want to engage in that practice or not and it doesn't have any impact on the quality of the game if people are preordering it or not (Witcher 3 doesn't have bonus items for preordering either).

As far as DLC goes, it is clear that they know they want to make the expansion so why should they hold back with the announcement? Would it be any better if they held that information back? The only reason I can see here is that it's content that should have been in the main game to begin with which, going by the amount of content they promised for the main game and the fact that they're starting to work on the expansion after they finished the main game, doesn't appear to be the case.

Even so, if you're sceptical just don't buy it, they themselves said as much. I really fail to see the issue here.
 

Loakum

Banned
30 xtra hours of gameplay is a great deal for only $25! I'm very much looking forward to this, especially since this will be my vary first Witcher game.
 

GribbleGrunger

Dreams in Digital
I'm fine with this but there is always a little part of me that wonders whether this DLC consists of content cut in order to meet the release date. I really don't understand why these companies don't just wait until the game has been out for a month or so before they announce the DLC.
 
Good shit.

Makes sense they're doing this. They delayed it mostly for technical issues. Did people want their creatives to just sit around on their hands the whole time? No, they mapped this stuff out, and can start work on it as soon as the game goes gold/when certain teams are free.

Yeah, anyone who understands development will see where this content is probably coming from.

CDP is being classy about what they decide to do, as usual, with a content-rich offering. Good to show there's good ways and bad ways to offer post-launch support of your game.
 

Kieli

Member
Witcher 3 seems like an expensive undertaking. Recuperating is the name of the game.

They're probably having their teams hit the ground running making new content after finishing gold on Witcher 3. Unlike other studios that chop shit out and then have the gall to sell it to us.

I say this because CDprojeckt Red has earned my trust. Very few companies hold that trust (FromSoft and Atlus are the few other companies).
 
CD Projekt Red made a tactical marketing error by announcing this expansion pass this soon. They should have waited until 1-3 months after release of the main game. Announcing this stuff this soon will likely hurt TW3's preorders and Day 1 sales. TW3 will still sell many millions early on, but a lot of people are going to wait for the inevitable "GOTY" or "Enhanced" edition with everything included, since they're getting more "game" for their money.

I like CDPR, and am confident that TW3 will be one of the best games (possibly THE best) of 2015...but things like the timing of this announcement just serve as a reminder that they are still kinda inexperienced and unseasoned in the video game industry. A large number of people are still a bit skeptical and wary of them as a developer and a business, and they remain doubtful that The Witcher 3 will truly live up to its lofty ambitions. CDPR is still unproven in many people's eyes.

Anyway, I have no problem with reasonably priced expansion content, therefore I have no issue with TW3's expansions. I will almost surely buy them eventually. DLC is more bite-sized extra content. Expansions are much meatier and more substantial...think Dragon Age Origins: Awakening, Elder Scrolls IV - Shivering Isles, or the upcoming FF XIV Heavensward.
 

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
CD Projekt Red made a tactical marketing error by announcing this expansion pass this soon. They should have waited until 1-3 months after release of the main game. Announcing this stuff this soon will likely hurt TW3's preorders and Day 1 sales. TW3 will still sell many millions early on, but a lot of people are going to wait for the inevitable "GOTY" or "Enhanced" edition with everything included, since they're getting more "game" for their money.

I like CDPR, and am confident that TW3 will be one of the best games (possibly THE best) of 2015...but things like the timing of this announcement just serve as a reminder that they are still kinda inexperienced and unseasoned in the video game industry. A large number of people are still a bit skeptical and wary of them as a developer and a business, and they remain doubtful that The Witcher 3 will truly live up to its lofty ambitions. CDPR is still unproven in many people's eyes.

Anyway, I have no problem with reasonably priced expansion content, therefore I have no issue with TW3's expansions. I will almost surely buy them eventually. DLC is more bite-sized extra content. Expansions are much meatier and more substantial...think Dragon Age Origins: Awakening, Elder Scrolls IV - Shivering Isles, or the upcoming FF XIV Heavensward.

Honestly though that this was going to be an "I'm an expert" parody post going into it. Despite what the portion of GAF that will go on a 4 paragraph tirade about their irrational hatred of DLC(which at most, is probably only a few hundred people)likes to think, this is how these things are done. I think your claims that CDPR doesn't know what they are doing and that the big boys in the industry don't announce DLC in this fashion might be the result of some GAF tunnel vision.
 
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