Topic: Witcher 3 release date, board game, and GOG Galaxy

[idolminds]

February 24th 2015. Preorder on GOG for extra GOG goodies. Do you own The Witcher and/or The Witcher 2? Owning one or the other on GOG gets you a 15% discount, owning both gets 20% off. You'll also get Neverwinter Nights: Diamond Edition for free when you preorder.

They also announced a digital version of The Witcher Adventure board game coming to GOG, which has me super excited.

And GOG Galaxy, an optional DRM-free GOG client to keep track of your games and keep them updated (optionally! No forced updates! Yay!).

The page for it basically just shows that video, but you can also sign up for the Witcher Adventure Game closed beta there.

[Quemaqua]

Fuck me that trailer was good.

[gpw11]

Argh, I'll be too old for videogames by next feb!

[W7RE]

Also worth pointing out is that the STANDARD edition comes with a bunch of shit you'd almost expect to see in a collector's edition these days.

standard edition:
game "same game content regardless of platform of game version"
manual
witcher universe compendium
map
soundtrack
stickers

[MysterD]

Wo0t @ a DRM-FREE optional game-client.
About time!

TW3 trailer's stunning.

[Cools!]

Exciting! Might pick up the Witcher 3 down the line. And speaking of Neverwinter Nights, I was just thinking of picking up both games from GoG earlier in the week since I never played them.

[MysterD]

PCG -> Hidden messages throughout the new TW3 Trailer.

[W7RE]

I need to play the Witcher and The Witcher 2...

After 11 hours of play, I got up to the first city in The Witcher (get thrown in jail as part of entering the city). The world and characters seem great, but the pacing is really slow. I already own the Witcher 2 on Xbox 360, but have been putting it off until I finish the first game.

[Xessive]

I just got my key for The Witcher Adventure Game Online Beta.

I was also granted an extra key for a friend. If anyone wants it, PM me. I'll provide it on a first-come-first-served basis

UPDATE:
Congratulations to Lord [redacted]! Your key has been sent!

[Xessive]

Hey dudes, I've got two more keys for The Witcher Adventure Online game beta, if anyone's interested.

I still have to get a game going with Idol!

[idolminds]

Yes we do! I need to get the game updated again. They've been doing that quite a bit it seems.

[Xessive]

Yes we do! I need to get the game updated again. They've been doing that quite a bit it seems.

Yeah, the latest update is relatively massive ~309MB.

Btw, I'm having a hard time getting any game going. Connectivity is really lacking, probably due to my physical location.

[idolminds]

So people are a little upset over some collectors edition news.

The Xbox One version of The Witcher 3 Collector's Edition is to receive additional physical content unavailable in the PS4 or PC versions, Bandai Namco has announced.

Exclusive to Xbox One, the collector's edition will now contain a physical cloth map and two card decks for Gwent, allowing players to play The Witcher 3's in-game card game in real life.

"Gwent is an amazing game and we're really happy to be able to bring it to the physical realm with Microsoft's help," said CD Projekt RED co-founder Marcin Iwiński. "Now we've got Gwent in every copy of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as an in-game experience for free on every platform, and a physical version in the Xbox One CE, how awesome is that?"

"Gwent is a fast-paced card game that can be played within The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on every platform," added the studio. "Invented by dwarves and perfected over centuries of tavern table play, Gwent is a game of initial simplicity and ultimate depth, something beloved by both road-weary travelers during long nights around the campfire and elegant nobles looking to liven up dragging dinner parties.

"The game is about the clash of two armies locked in mortal struggle on a battlefield where the players are the leaders and the cards their forces. With four different factions offering unique combat styles and endless paths to victory, Gwent is every adventurer’s first choice when it comes to one-on-one card-based dueling. Take risks and think on your feet, strategize and deliver cunning combos, use potent magic and mighty hero cards and be the last one standing on the field of honor!"

Marcin Iwiński released a further statement after people got upset.

Looking at the heated comments, I believe that our announcement of the physical addition of two decks of Gwent cards and a cloth map, requires a further word from us.

Here at CD Projekt Red, we always put gamers first. Our PC versions are released DRM-free, we bend over backwards to give you the most beefed up editions of our games (be it standard or Collector's), and we deliver the same game, regardless of platform or version you buy. Moreover, we promised not have any exclusive DLCs, neither per platform nor per retailer, and we do stand by our promise--nothing has changed, nor will change in this regard.

Don't get me wrong, I do understand that these extra items might be desirable for Witcher fans playing the game on other platforms. However, as we are not offering any platform or retail exclusive DLCs or any other form of gameplay differentiation, we do have to find other ways to support our partners. We are also providing special pre-order items for certain retailers around the world, including Witcher comic books, posters, steel books or medallions. Funnily enough, we did not notice any heated comments on the pre-order specials.

What is the reason? Why are we doing this? We need the support of partners to make our game visible worldwide. This should hopefully translate to better sales, which will in consequence allow us to do what we have been doing for the last 10 years, i.e. reinvest this money to make more great RPGs, while still sticking to our values.

If you still consider that adding two decks of Gwent cards and a map of the in-game world to the Xbox One CE equals us betraying our values and not fulfilling our promises, well, it does make us sad, but the final call is always yours to make.
Still, I do hope that what we offer is unique and we can ask you to give us the benefit of the doubt. We have more great things to announce for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the coming months and I promise you won't be disappointed (yes, yes, there are no more exclusives coming).

It does kind of suck to be running preorders for a couple months and then oh hey BTW the Xbox version gets more stuff in it just because. People getting collectors editions are collectors so not having everything in there bites for those people.

Now I'm not a collectors edition kind of guy but I still would like to get those cards. I'm hoping CD Projekt puts them up as a print-and-play PDF on GOG or something. Of course I'm sure someone will be able to extract the images from the game itself if they don't do a release themselves. One way or another I will have that deck.

[Quemaqua]

That does kind of blow. If I were a preorder on one of the other editions, I'd be upset. Because more than probably both of those items would be more desirable to me than whatever the CE already includes (I'm a big sucker for maps and cards).

[Xessive]

It sucks but I appreciate how transparent their feedback is.

I'm inclined to believe that Microsoft made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

[MysterD]

And game companies wonder why I often do not pre-order or buy games at full price.

{shakes my head}

The business practices by these all of these companies (devs + pubs) when making deals with platformer owners (Sony, Microsoft) and/or distributors (GameStop, Best Buy, or anybody else wanting exclusive content) continue to suck more + more with each day.

These companies just keep devaluing each version of their game being sold w/ exclusive content on certain platforms, exclusive content from certain retailers (digital or physical), Season Passes, DLC galore, Re-Released Editions coming later w/ all content, DRM (well, that won't likely happen in CDP's case), unstable releases, buggy releases, PC versions not getting best treatment - why should I pre-order ASAP, buy ASAP and/or buy close to full-price anymore?