LarsTheSurly said:
Why else would he spend so much time posting anti-Witcher threads? I still fail to see them problem with releasing extra content and bug fixes at the same time. Especially for free.
I see your attitude as "Wow! They're bug-fixing their game for free! We should thank them!" My attitude is "Bug fixes should always be free". There should never be an expectation that consumers should pay for bug fixes. If you buy any other product and find it's faulty on release, the company will most often pick it up and replace it at their expense (or is bound to do so by law). Why is it that when it comes to computer games, we're over the moon when faults are fixed free of charge?
Patches also don't need to be hyped. CD Projekt are re-packaging the same game they had last year, adding in bug fixes (and free content like a map editor they've already released for free) and re-releasing it as a Game of the Year Edition. If you bought the original game, you have the priviledge of registering (so the marketing department can get your details) and downloading what is alleged to be anywhere from at least a 1 to a 5 gig patch (an entire re-done audio track for one language alone would probably weigh about that much. Multi-lingual audio in 9 different languages is going to be huge).
Here's the crux of my problem. If you're like me and are on a slow, shitty internet connection with relatively low bandwidth per month (5 gig would chew through half my monthly limit and I already hit my limit regularly with the normal stuff I do, without the priviledge of downloading patches), you'll immediately look at the "postage option" which works out to about half the original cost you already paid for the game when it was released at full price.
I bought the game on release and spent $90 AUD. Add $40 for the Enhanced patch and the total spend is $130. Alternatively, I could've just not bought the game and spent $90 for the full Enhanced Edition. In short, I'll spend $40 more than I needed to in order to fix the game I bought. If I'd known The Witcher wouldn't work when I bought it and that it was going to be fixed for a cost, then I wouldn't have wasted my money. Can I get a refund? How about a new for old trade-in at the store?
The people who are happy about this are the fans who never had any problems with The Witcher in the first place and who would happily fork over extra cash just to support CD Projekt (at least according to the number of people who say as much on the official forums). CD Projekt's marketing department will go into a spin when they realise how many cows they have to milk. Here's the thing, this patch isn't aimed at them. I kept asking in the other thread and nobody answered: "Is this game messed up or isn't it?". According to CD Projekt, the Enhanced Edition is aimed squarely at people who had "the will to blow [their] head off" (
CD Projekt say as much on their website). If so, then "especially for free!!" should be "A free patch? And they're hyping this as a good thing? Really?". Assuming of course, you're not stuck having to figure out how you're going to download The Worlds' Largest Patch EVAR™. And I really don't like it when that patch is hyped as the Second Coming of Christ and get told how thankful I should be.
yarpen said:
More seriously, I see your point, but I also understand our marketing folks trying to find a catchy slogan. Dont treat that so literally.
It's hype. We used to have a thing against hype over here once. Okay fine, it's your marketing department and not you guys yourselves who are so cool for doing this and everyone loves you. It's still needless hype. Especially when the only example we've seen of the "completely re-done translation" showed nothing.
Lestat said:
"The best PC game of 2007 reaches perfection"
What happens when the Enhanced Edition needs a patch? "
Perfection becomes even more perfect with the Super Enhanced Edition. We've now added completely re-done shoes to every NPC!"
More seriously, I see your point, but I also understand our marketing folks trying to find a catchy slogan. Dont treat that so literally. You can argue that Carlsberg is not the best beer in the world, despite what their commercial says. After all, how exactly is it better than all the other beers?
