If I hadn't been watching a lot of South Park I wouldn't have known what the title of this article even meant. Do you collect extra underwear instead of lives?
@Benny_a: I don't have a problem with preorders. I have a problem with cutting away content from you if you choose not to preorder. There are companies/franchises that I trust and I have no problem preordering. On the other hand there are games that interest me a lot(like Mankind Divided) but I don't trust the publisher so I wait for reviews. It's not fair that you would experience less content just because you chose not to blindly give your money in advance.
The only preorder incentive that can actually make me think about preordering a game is selling it at a 10%-20% discount. If it's a game I'm excited about then something like that will really seal the deal. Making some certain missions/gear available only for people who preordered is downright offensive and annoying. Why should I be punished if I'm not sure about a certain game before I see some gameplay and reviews? (Yes it's punishment if there's content available that I'm denied access to just because I didn't buy a game weeks ahead).
@Sohereiam: About the first part of your comment, I'm not sure how buying a digital product contradicts what you said? Can you only get joy from a game you physically bought? Do you have to physically see the game's box do realize you bought it? I guess it's different for each person, but I always cared about the game itself and not its package.
About the 2nd part of your comment, I think you're being a bit pessimistic. I can say about myself that games I was really excited for, like The Witcher 3 and XCOM, I bought months ahead(digitally) even though I knew they would be 50% off just 3-4 months after. Other games I wait a few months for a discount. My point is, if people are excited about something they'll buy it when it's available, and I don't see how the distribution method can affect that.
There are a few old things that people still enjoy because they were good - like record players. On the other hand, there's a shit ton of things that got thrown out and never looked at again - like Cassettes, Video Tapes, Floppy Disks. I consider game discs the latter, but again that's a matter of taste.
If I have to choose another then it will be Starcraft 2's opening cinematic. Seeing it after 12 years of anticipation makes it all the more satisfying. It starts slowly, then the pace quickens as you try to understand who is this man in the room and what are those machines doing to him. When it becomes clear he is becoming a marine, the pace is at it's peak and you get glimpses of the conflict that's coming in the game.
And the end - perfection. The man breaks the 4th wall by looking right at you and saying "Hell, It's about time." With the double meaning of him being released from prison and seeing this game after so many years.
@facade_of_faust @Mevrick @marraballs I don't know enough about game development to validate the things you said. Blizzard usually take more than a year and a half before they publish an expansion pack, so I take my examples from them.
I also don't know enough about sales figures to say if your statement about announcing the expansions early will net more money. I can say for myself that if I had played The Witcher 3 to death and enjoyed it a lot, and then an expansion would have been announced, I would get super hyped and pre order it in the following minute. However, now that the expansions have been announced already I'm not so excited since I don't even know what are the good and bad things in The Witcher 3. If I buy those expansion packs it would be only after I've beaten The Witcher 3.
@marraballs @Mevrick While incorporating feedback into the expansions would certainly improve the game, I'm sure the expansions would be of high quality regardless, and as I mentioned earlier I would probably buy them eventually since I enjoy The Witcher universe.
My main problem is with CDPR's choice of addressing this matter, especially since they proud themselves of being so radically different than other publishers.
Maybe Blizzard just spoiled me with their approach to expansion packs, and I shouldn't take this too hard.
@dani_i89 @TehMasterer2 @cherrytsuru @Mevrick As I mentioned in a previous reply, Blizzard's expansions were planned ahead that's true, but they were developed (gameplay-wise at least) only a few months after the main game was published. That is why Blizzard's expansions not only add more content, but they improve the current content as well, since they had time to incorporate feedback.
Another good example I can think of is 2k's Enemy Within. It added stuff, but also tweaked and improved things from the main game according to what they saw in player feedback.
@marraballs @Mevrick I feel like expansions should be more than just added content. Although people look less fondly at Blizzard these days, I still give them a lot of credit for crafting their expansions. Blizzard plan their expansions before their games are out, but they only start developing them a few months after their game got some feedback from the community.
This way, expansions are not only added content, but also improved content. If CDPR had started development on their expansions before The Witcher 3 was released to the public (which I find very likely since I can't imagine they can develop a 20 hour campaign in a few months), then it's very likely that these basic improvements will not happen, and community feedback will not be significant.
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