The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Dsan

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So basically, there's a "day 1" patch that is required to play the game but will be available to everyone. In essence, even though it's a required patch, CDPR is providing a crack to their own title.

My opinion may be rather boring on this honestly. lol

DRM has reached a point of being almost totally non-intrusive. It's there but no one really pays attention to it because it doesn't really get in the way anymore, and it's very easy to get through activation, etc. It's unusual to offer a bypass themselves but in the end there really is no way to stop "pirating" of the game. If anything, CDPR is basically saving themselves the trouble of dealing with fruitless DRM, and maybe saving a little money at the same time. I suppose the conclusion of my opinion is that CDPR is telling the world that they know their game is good enough to sell even when people can easily get it for free.

Obviously you have to admire the attitude - games should be able to stand on their own. Very different from most releases that are hyped all to hell but hidden to their utmost at the same time. After all, who wants to reveal bad design or critical bugs when they want to make sales? With this CDPR says "everyone can play and see for themselves, we know we'll make sales because it's just that good."
 

Trekkan

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If they would of done this at the beginning or otherwise did a "pay what you want" kind of thing, I'd be ok with it.

As it is, they are saying that since there are enough of us that actually paid for the game already, they are giving it away to everyone else. I paid full price for two copies of the game and feel pretty anally raped at this point. So for being a "fan" and doing the right thing, they are screwing everyone that paid for the game over, just so they can look good in a PR move to those people that WEREN'T GOING TO PAY FOR IT ANYWAY...
 

Alicia

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A difference of opinions. Nice. I see what you're saying Trek, you make good points. Personally, I'm still paying for the game even thought now I could cancel and pirate it because pirating is a pain in the ass, I was reminded of that with GTA5, and I'd rather have the support provided with purchasing the full game and whatever DLC was mentioned that'll come out as well. People were going to pirate the game anyways so even if they weren't going to make the "crack" available themselves, someone would.
 

Trekkan

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A difference of opinions. Nice. I see what you're saying Trek, you make good points. Personally, I'm still paying for the game even thought now I could cancel and pirate it because pirating is a pain in the ass, I was reminded of that with GTA5, and I'd rather have the support provided with purchasing the full game and whatever DLC was mentioned that'll come out as well. People were going to pirate the game anyways so even if they weren't going to make the "crack" available themselves, someone would.
The pirates are still going to get the DLC as well, no doubt about that.

Like I said, my only problem is that they are doing this AFTER they secured their money from people like me. I pay for my games, because it's the right thing to do. I honestly don't think I've pirated a game in 15-20 years. Mostly because I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford it. But, I shouldn't feel penalized because I can afford it and that others are "going to steal it anyway".

If they really wanted to show how awesome both they and their game are, they should of done a humble bundle or some type of thing right out the gate. But they wouldn't do that for several reasons. They wouldn't get all of the money they got now (just no way at 60 bucks a game), but most importantly, they wouldn't of had all of the support from various video card manufacturers and the free promotion that comes with it. Because those companies wouldn't of bothered to BUY copies to give away if they are free...
 

Dsan

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This could also have something to do with the unofficial retailers of Witcher 3 spitting out codes from sources that are unknown to CDPR.
 

KrazyGonk

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I agree wholeheartedly with trekkan on this one.

I am someone who has not pirated a single thing since i was 14 (when i realized pirating was illegal) and although i have always admired CDPR no DRM policy and their beliefs i do not agree with them and i think this is a bad decision.
There is a difference i feel between the actions they have taken and their policies this time. No DRM does not mean siding with hackers and making it easier for them to get the game whilst screwing over those who legally pay for the games. The no DRM policy in the past has been there so that when you pay for a game you actually own it unlike with steam. Hacking should not be something that is looked at with a mild attitude because "it happens all the time and always will do". if you want to ignore the hackers then fine, your choice, but don't encourage them it helps nobody.

As someone who has yet to buy the game this has actually made me conflicted as to why i should give them the money. I will anyway because i want to support the devs but now i just have this feeling that they don't actually care about the paying consumer :/
 
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complexmath

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So here's a quick summary of W2, at least if you make the choices I did. Please forgive my poor memory of act 1, I played that part like a year ago.

The game opens on a battlefield. Geralt (you) has been roped into acting as King Foltest's personal bodyguard after doing some stuff for him in W1. Triss is with you and a battle is about to start. Foltest is basically putting down a feudal lord who thinks they're too cool for school. During the battle, holy cow a dragon appears! Then it flies away. No roasted marshmallows for you. At the end of the battle you're on a tower up against the lord's kid or something like that. He's an honorable guy, and you can either kill him or spare his life.

After the battle, everyone is regrouping and Geralt goes to talk to Foltest, but oh wait, that monk approaching Foltest is oddly muscular for a guy who spends his days chanting. Now he's taking his robes off, what a show! But no! He has a knife and totally murders the king! On your watch! After him! Man, the dude jumped out a window and appears to be escaping with some elves. I bet they're Scoia'Tel freedom fighters. The plot thickens.

Hey guys I totally didn't kill the king it was this super-dude dressed as a monk. What? You don't believe me and you're throwing me in prison? F this noise I'm a Witcher, I'm totally escaping. But who's this Roche guy that totally caught me? Some kind of spymaster and he kinda believes me. Well, keep your enemies close and all that, let's go after the killer together. And hey Triss, why dontcha tag along? Your sorceress powers are super helpful and I'm digging this friends with benefits thing.

Nearing some crap town called Floatsam and stopped by Scoia'Tel. Things get tense and they totally start firing arrows at us. Darnit, Elven archers have sick aim! Thank goodness Triss is here to generate a badass forcefield for us. But it's draining her a ton and she passes out right as we make it to town. Phew!

Wandering around town looking for info on the killer guy takes Geralt to the local Scoia'Tel leader, named Iorveth, who has decided that Geralt may be an okay guy after all and and totally doesn't try to kill him. Also, he's super drunk. I guess a lot of bad things have happened to Elves and man this guy has seen a lot. Downside to living a super long time I guess. Oh, it turns out this killer guy's name is Letho and he's a Witcher! Cue conspiracy music.

Well the mayor of Floatsam is a total jerk. Nonhumans are one step up from being kicked by passing guards. This guy's talking about quid pro quo, but the quo is horrible. I'm not working for this guy. Well, at least Roche hates him too, but it's humans vs. nonhumans right? Maybe those Scoia'Tel guys aren't so bad after all.

Totally killed some badass giant monster with a sorceress' help. Her name is Sile, and she's up to something. But thanks for the help, I guess more enemies to keep close huh?

Hey it turns out the mayor was gatehring up nonhumans and sending them down the river as slaves. Totally uncool. I'm breaking these guys out and anyone that doesn't like that will get a sword to the face.

Well that went okay but now the town is in chaos. Stuff is on fire everywhere and the guards are killing civilians. And to top it off, that Letho dude showed up out of nowhere and forced Triss to teleport the two of them away. Triss! Come back! But hey, Iorveth, that Scoia'Tel leader guy, is bailing with the nonhumans we rescued. Sucks to be you, Roche. I know we had a deal, but I don't much like your opinion of nonhumans. I guess you'll catch up if you survive the fire.

Alrighty, down the river to some new place but what the hell? There's some craziness going on with magic, some other king, and now there are wraiths everywhere! Let's get the hell out of here! Man, it's handy that some sorceress showed up in the form of an owl. She can do a force field thing like Triss, and it totally keeps the wraiths away. Onward!

Well now we're in a town called Vergen and it's erstwhile leader, a woman named Saskia, has been poisoned. What's that? The only cure is 4 rare artifacts that the creepy owl-changing sorceress lady named Philippa can turn into a potion. Seriously? Good thing Geralt is here I guess.

Okay got all the stuff for the potion and Saskia is cured, but there's still a battlefield full of wraiths between us and where Triss probably ended up. Time to end the curse... which involves inhabiting the spirits of various dudes in the battle and fighting it all over again. Thank goodness they're total badasses. Piece of cake.

So it turns out that Triss is being held prisoner by the king guy we met when the wraiths appeared. And of course he's captured us too. Rescue plan failed! But not to worry, we're a badass Witcher and can get out of anything.

Back in town and of couse now that the ghost battle is over that jerky king can attack the town with his army. But this is a dwarf city. You know what that is? Boiling oil. Eat it, king. Also, it turns out that Saskia is actually a dragon in disguise. And she's the one we saw in the beginning of the game! Whelp, good thing she's nice. I bet she could make this place a haven for nonhumans. All these other kings are jerkwads.

But what's this? Philippa and Saskia suddenly teleported away to some meeting. Well that's sketchy. Fortunately, Triss was taken there by the king that tried to take our wonderful city of Vergen. Bet Letho is there too. And what's this? Philippa's notes about the cure for Saskia totally don't mention one of the ingredients. She's mind controlling Saskia! Oh no! We must be heading into act 3.

Yep, act 3. Turns out this meeting is being held in a dilapidated elven city. How weird. And it's a meeting of kings. And these guys totally hate nonhumans and magic users. Philippa and Triss are both in jail. Who to save? Triss, because she's a friend, or Philippa, to force her to break the curse. Well, thanks to a magical remote viewer and some info from the bad guys it sounds like Triss isn't in too much trouble. Let's go after Philippa. A monomaniacal sorceress with a pet dragon is totally a bad thing. Triss can handle herself.

Phew, we got the cure from Philippa... sorta. She escaped though, and it turns out the cure is some magical dagger you have to stab Saskia dragon with in the heart. Fortunately, Philippa's plan was to have Saskia transform and murder everyone. Time for an epic battle!

Phew, that was rough. She ended up impaling herself on a fallen tree. Dagger used and Saskia cured, and she'll totally heal too.But Philippa is gone, Sile (who turns out to have been working with Philippa to unify the kingdoms under Saskia, um, Philippa's rule) is gone too. Letho sabotaged her teleportation spell, but we can't let her die like that. May as well fix it so she doesn't explode on her way out. Seeya, Sile.

Only one piece of the puzzle left... Letho. And no, dude, I'm not drinking with you. But finally some information! Turns out Yennefer got sucked into the Wild Hunt and you, Geralt, traded yourself for her... and eventually escaped on your own, at the expense of your memories. In the meantime, turns out Letho was taking care of Yennefer, who had also lost her memories after being freed from the Hunt. And what's this? Between pieced together memories and other info you realize that the Hunt is actually Elves from a parallel world where Humans didn't take over, and they're here with their pet wraith army on some kind of mission. So they aren't just playing the Most Dangerous Game? Man. And it seems like they are after Geralt and Yennefer specifically. I bet they're actually after Ciri. She's like the golden child.

Also, an emissary from the Nilfgaarden Empire was at the meeting and things didn't go well. They hate everyone and they're super powerful. Looks like we're gonna have a war on our hands. And man but Letho was killing kings to soften everyone up for an invasion. I know he took care of Yennefer, but he's totally a dead man. Some things can't be forgiven. Stabby stab.

And... credits roll. Nilfgaard marches on the local kingdoms and roll over everyone. There's also tons of local strife between the humans and nonhumans. Fortunately, Saskia, now freed of mind control, has turned out to be a badass leader and her self-made kingdom has been turned into a haven for the nonhumans. Everyone is heading there. It's like Woodstock, but with walls and cauldrons of boiling oil on top.

And now the epilogue with a lot of words that I didn't read because my daughter woke up and there was no way to pause the game. But I think we can guess what was said, given the state of things.


That's the core plot anyway. There's also a lot of monster contracts and the like. Hopefully I didn't miss anything major.
 
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Trekkan

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Looks like my 960 isn't as much of an upgrade as I thought.
Keep in mind that you also have access to different types of tech that you didn't have before. So while a benchmark might not show a large increase, you're able to see things much better than you were before. More shaders, etc... So your overall graphics are probably much nicer, even though your benchmark isn't all that much higher.
 

Ronus

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I went from an 8800 to the 960 so I'm seeing a HUGE improvement. I couldn't get myself to spend the extra $140 for the 970 though. I'm not an Ultra High mode graphics guy, so I think I should be fine.
 

Trekkan

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[MENTION=11]Ronus[/MENTION], yeah, that would be a massive improvement! =) Congrats on that!
 

Alicia

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Watching the Witcher live stream from Friday on the IGN Twitch channel, just wanted to post this here for those interested:

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is the end of Geralt's story, though did not specify it is the end of The Witcher...(Ciri game in the future mayyyyybe?)

Also, Wild Hunt will have 16 FREE dlc's and 2 expansions(not specified if free or not).
 

Malsirian

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I've barely touched the previous games as I mentioned before because I didn't like the controls.
This is exactly why I never played W2, the pc controls were shit. I was able to find one interview in which they mentioned that good mouse and keyboard control is important to them. I'm still reluctant to pick it up til I know for sure though. And at this point the PS4 reviews have been GREAT but no pc reviews yet. Once y'all spend a little time with W3, I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts on the game in general and the controls specifically. :)
 
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