The Witcher 3 Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[moon knight]

You man those awesome c&c in tw1 where i simply got best armour from different npc? Or those in tw2 where no matter what i do in 3rd act triss gets her ass saved? C&c in twicher games are all about substituting npcs


Anyway I was criticizing streamlined tw2 dialogues cause they are even worse than fucking dragon age 2 dialogue wheel. 1/3 rd of them are simple binary choices and half of the rest is you watching cutscene where geralt talks without any of players input. At least you dont have to click "continue" like in NWN1

No, I think he is referring to those awesome C&C that changes quests, or that awesome C&C in the awesome Vizima Confidential. Or the awesome C&C with enviromental changes in TW2, or the awesome C&C that change 28 side quests and 10 main quests.

And comparing TW2 to Dragon Age 2 in terms of dialogues tree is simply laughable. There aren't binaries choices in The Witcher.

 

[1451]

Witcher 1 had a lot of the neutrality aspect of the mutants' lifestyle incorporated in it's dialogues. Witcher 2 dialogues were also important since they literally assigned the player's character to a different faction with a branching quest line. It may converge during the final chapter but even there the player was given meaningful choices on what to do about Leto.
For a 3d, semi open world game with fully voiced dialogues this was no small feat. In fact no other game of the category reached witcher except older games like bloodlines.

I can't offer a solid opinion on the third witcher's c&c aspect since the game is not out yet but I'm afraid I'll have to side with the critics this time. They seem to aim for a lite rpg experience covered in polished asscreed gameplay mechanics. Will it be fun in the end? Time will tell. It is however noteworthy that from the moment they went with the open world approach, they shrank the c&c aspect to a minuscule portion of the previous games.
It's not necessary bad, since a different kind of game will have varying good and bad points.

 

[moon knight]

Witcher 1 had a lot of the neutrality aspect of the mutants' lifestyle incorporated in it's dialogues. Witcher 2 dialogues were also important since they literally assigned the player's character to a different faction with a branching quest line. It may converge during the final chapter but even there the player was given meaningful choices on what to do about Leto.
For a 3d, semi open world game with fully voiced dialogues this was no small feat. In fact no other game of the category reached witcher except older games like bloodlines.

I can't offer a solid opinion on the third witcher's c&c aspect since the game is not out yet but I'm afraid I'll have to side with the critics this time. They seem to aim for a lite rpg experience covered in polished asscreed gameplay mechanics. Will it be fun in the end? Time will tell. It is however noteworthy that from the moment they went with the open world approach, they shrank the c&c aspect to a minuscule portion of the previous games.
It's not necessary bad, since a different kind of game will have varying good and bad points.

Yes, the C&C system in The Witcher 3 could be compared only to Fallout New Vegas and Gothic.
Now I don't remember, how was the C&C system in Gothic?

 

[Perkel]

You man those awesome c&c in tw1 where i simply got best armour from different npc? Or those in tw2 where no matter what i do in 3rd act triss gets her ass saved? C&c in twicher games are all about substituting npcs


Anyway I was criticizing streamlined tw2 dialogues cause they are even worse than fucking dragon age 2 dialogue wheel. 1/3 rd of them are simple binary choices and half of the rest is you watching cutscene where geralt talks without any of players input. At least you dont have to click "continue" like in NWN1

This is actually the best part of TW2. Same thing but you can get different conclusion on other choice.
In case of Triss right after that you have to make a choice fight with Letho or not.

In my first game i personally saved Triss. After that Letho did his monologue about their pasts. But for me it wasn't sufficient. He used me for his own games and it was only chance of luck i survived that. Sure he did something nice for other companion by his own words i saved his life earlier. So it wasn't 0 sum. I didn't have debt and i didn't actually owe anything to him.

So i choose to fight him.

On my second play-trough i choose to save royal kid. What changed was that it was no longer 0 sum game. I owed him a debt because he did save Triss.

So i choose not to fight him.

------------------------------------

Same milestone different conclusions. And it is not only one C&C like that.
Killing dragon is other interesting one.


Overall i agree. Triss should be killable in at least one version of story. This hurt that C&C and it is not like they can actually make all choices into their next game.

 

[moon knight]

Overall i agree. Triss should be killable in at least one version of story. This hurt that C&C and it is not like they can actually make all choices into their next game.

Tha fact is...The Witcher 2 has been rushed in the end. The game was supposed to have another act set in Dol Blathanna.

 

[Perkel]

Overall i agree. Triss should be killable in at least one version of story. This hurt that C&C and it is not like they can actually make all choices into their next game.

Tha fact is...The Witcher 2 has been rushed in the end. The game was supposed to have another act set in Dol Blathanna.

Hmm i don't know anything about that ? Any source ?

And why Dol Blathana ? Elves had nothing to do with Iorweth commando as after war they basically sold off those commandos to butchers for land.
So it is not like Iorweth would accept rule over them by elves which betrayed him and his units and which still play Nilfgard game (Dol Blathana is "free" nation but elves have deal with Nilfgard and are under their protection being basically Vassals)

 

[hiver]

Witcher 1 had a lot of the neutrality aspect of the mutants' lifestyle incorporated in it's dialogues. Witcher 2 dialogues were also important since they literally assigned the player's character to a different faction with a branching quest line. It may converge during the final chapter but even there the player was given meaningful choices on what to do about Leto.
For a 3d, semi open world game with fully voiced dialogues this was no small feat. In fact no other game of the category reached witcher except older games like bloodlines.

I can't offer a solid opinion on the third witcher's c&c aspect since the game is not out yet but I'm afraid I'll have to side with the critics this time. They seem to aim for a lite rpg experience covered in polished asscreed gameplay mechanics. Will it be fun in the end? Time will tell. It is however noteworthy that from the moment they went with the open world approach, they shrank the c&c aspect to a minuscule portion of the previous games.
It's not necessary bad, since a different kind of game will have varying good and bad points.

I dunno, we hardly ever saw any real quest chains. Save few basic examples.

Tha fact is...The Witcher 2 has been rushed in the end. The game was supposed to have another act set in Dol Blathanna.

Hmm i don't know anything about that ? Any source ?

And why Dol Blathana ? Elves had nothing to do with Iorweth commando as after war they basically sold off those commandos to butchers for land.
So it is not like Iorweth would accept rule over them by elves which betrayed him and his units and which still play Nilfgard game (Dol Blathana is "free" nation but elves have deal with Nilfgard and are under their protection being basically Vassals)

Oh it was definitely rushed, to say the least.

Didnt you read about how it all came to be, with failed console version that nearly bankrupted the company and how they scrambled to put something together for W2, they say they did new stuff, but i think its obvious large parts of that console version were used to grunge something.
good ol consoles...

 

[moon knight]

Overall i agree. Triss should be killable in at least one version of story. This hurt that C&C and it is not like they can actually make all choices into their next game.

Tha fact is...The Witcher 2 has been rushed in the end. The game was supposed to have another act set in Dol Blathanna.

Hmm i don't know anything about that ? Any source ?

And why Dol Blathana ? Elves had nothing to do with Iorweth commando as after war they basically sold off those commandos to butchers for land.
So it is not like Iorweth would accept rule over them by elves which betrayed him and his units and which still play Nilfgard game (Dol Blathana is "free" nation but elves have deal with Nilfgard and are under their protection being basically Vassals)

It was written on Eurogamer article about CDProjekt history.

"""The Witcher 2 took half the time to build that its predecessor did, despite being every bit as ambitious and with an engine to build as well. An entire location called The Valley of the Flowers had to be cut, even though it had "an amazing story plot". "It's not a girly place," Adam Badowski quickly adds, "it's a land of elves." And elves in The Witcher universe are as dirty and mean as everything else. The game's third act was also cut short because the team ran out of time."""

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-06-seeing-red-the-story-of-cd-projekt

 

[Perkel]

Didn't know that. Interesting

I guess i could think what they had in mind with that place

considering:
- After a war elves struct a deal with Nilfgard and made Dol Blathana elven kingdom with Franceska one of big names in magic as its queen.
- This area earlier was place controlled by humans (i think only one village)
- There was literal goddess living in that small village (though in TW world it is not like D&D gods). More like Lady of the Lake in TW or good spirit that granted boon to lands.
- Elves from mountains really really really didn't like humans
- Village was mostly defenseless.
- He said that Dol Blathana wouldn't be like in its name.
- short story by sapkowski from first book (or second ?)

My opinion:

This arc would be probably set after elves massacred village. This would lead to some event with goddes. Probably leaving land and thus making land infertile thus making elves dealing with severe famine. Geralt would probably meet Francesca which he knew from earlier as she was Yennefer associate and she helped her. Since some elves have power to see future it would be revealed that Ciri is in dire need of help. (yennefer position would already be known from Letho in act 3).

Only plot unknown is how would they tied it to current act 3

 

[Perkel]

“With the development of Wild Hunt coming to an end, the team has embarked upon the creation of two new really big adventures set in The Witcher universe,” says Marcin Iwiński, CD PROJEKT RED co-founder. “We remember the time when add-on disks truly expanded games by delivering meaningful content. As gamers, we’d like to bring that back. 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 our expansions offer more hours of gameplay than quite a few standalone games out there.”

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.

Blood and Wine, a 20-hour-plus tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint, will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret.

“While we’re offering the Expansion Pass now, 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.

The upcoming expansions will offer gamers new adventures, gear and foes and will feature characters both new and dearly missed -- all crafted with maximum attention to detail and quality by the joint forces of CD PROJEKT RED’s Warsaw and Cracow studios.

Hearts of Stone will premiere in October, while Blood and Wine is slated for release in the first quarter of 2016.
Both expansions will be available on all three platforms: Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4.

Season pass Infinitron if he moves this to TW3 megathread.

TLDR.
Season pass for "Expansions" vide BG2 throne of bhall like

- first one 10 hours in no mans land OCtober
- second one 20 hours in completely new area first half of 2016

 

[moon knight]

Didn't know that. Interesting

I guess i could think what they had in mind with that place

considering:
- After a war elves struct a deal with Nilfgard and made Dol Blathana elven kingdom with Franceska one of big names in magic as its queen.
- This area earlier was place controlled by humans (i think only one village)
- There was literal goddess living in that small village (though in TW world it is not like D&D gods). More like Lady of the Lake in TW or good spirit that granted boon to lands.
- Elves from mountains really really really didn't like humans
- Village was mostly defenseless.
- He said that Dol Blathana wouldn't be like in its name.
- short story by sapkowski from first book (or second ?)

My opinion:

This arc would be probably set after elves massacred village. This would lead to some event with goddes. Probably leaving land and thus making land infertile thus making elves dealing with severe famine. Geralt would probably meet Francesca which he knew from earlier as she was Yennefer associate and she helped her. Since some elves have power to see future it would be revealed that Ciri is in dire need of help. (yennefer position would already be known from Letho in act 3).

Only plot unknown is how would they tied it to current act 3

Maybe. The only thing I know for sure, is that it would have been great with a proper ending and the 4th act.


PS: In Polish is Franceska? I thought it was Francesca (which is an italian name)

 

[Perkel]

don't remember i think you are right.

 

[Perkel]

TOUSSAINT this is probably one of the best areas for TW game.

For people who didn't read books.

TOUSSAINT is area that is essentially warped mirror of clished medieval world.
It's like fairy tale kingdom where knights take oaths and make their pilgrimage around TOUSSAINT to resolve their oaths.
NAturally as per usuall in sapkowski writing under that image is something going on that makes it interesting.

 

[Morkar Left]

Shouldn't they release the game first?

 

[Perkel]

Shouldn't they release the game first?

Exatly my words.

They should first release game and then announce plans. Instead they will be catching hot ball in hands trying to figure out how to fucking do proper PR in first place.
Ton of people already are starting some outrage threads on various forums over this.

Meanwhile link to already available expansion pass:

http://af.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_expansion_pass?as=1649904300


edit:

Thinking about it.... hell this is probably brilliant move to make money. Capitalize on fans buying "whole thing" before release. Instead of 60 they will play 90$.

And if game will be shit they will still have that additional 30$

 

[Morkar Left]

I guess they are on really high stakes with Witcher 3 and the long development time. When the game flops which means no contender for Skyrim or AAA games in general they probably will be completely clueless how to proceed further.

 

[Bubbles]

It's not going to flop.

 

[GloomFrost]

Stupid move announcing them before the game release. Unless devs are really desperate for any additional income.

 

[Perkel]

Stupid move announcing them before the game release. Unless devs are really desperate for any additional income.

You answered yourself. They are trying to capitalize on crazy fans

It's not going to flop.

this is 100% true unless something happens or their game will be in worse state than Unity they are going to get ton of 10s , psalms from several reviewers and they are likely to steamroll DA:I sales.

Frankly if i had free cash i would invest everything into CDPR on warsaw stock exchange. They are likely going to get 200-300% shares value after first quarter results after releasing TW3.

Hype for this games on different forums is bigger than for recent Dragons age and it doesn't have any other game beside it to contend with for money.

 

[Morkar Left]

If everybody is already convinced that the game will be great why should they still wait to cash in?

 

[pippin]

The boxed PC version of the game is compatible only with the Expansion Pass sold on GOG.com

 

[Renfri]

Stand against DLC? Oh right, they are called Expansion.

 

[Metro]

CD Projekt has always been full of shit. Everyone but their rabid fan boys realize that. This is just more proof. But... but... it's an EXPANSION. Day 1 DLC, Season Passes, welcome to the big time, boys!

 

[moon knight]

CD Projekt has always been full of shit. Everyone but their rabid fan boys realize that. This is just more proof. But... but... it's an EXPANSION. Day 1 DLC, Season Passes, welcome to the big time, boys!

What are you talking about?

Is this a proof of what? Pillars of Eternity has an expansion. Mask of the Betrayer is an expansion.
What's the problem?

 

[Metro]

Joined:
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