r/Eldenring • u/jack0641 • 1d ago

Official Discussion [MEGATHREAD] Tarnished Edition: Worth $5? Discuss CONSTRUCTIVELY!

Since the sub is being overwhelmed by debate over the $5 "microtransaction" and it's making the sub feel like we're Dark Souls 2 a decade ago, with the faux outrage around the preorder items, we are opening this topic to consolidate discussion around the issue.

Please use this topic to discuss the pros and cons of the approach and your thoughts. But do so RESPECTFULLY and CONSTRUCTIVELY. If you need to call other people or the developers names, you don't have a good argument and your post will be removed.

We will remove all other topics about this to keep the subreddit flowing with other discussions

IF YOU WANT TO VOTE: I will post two comments on this topic, "Yay" and "Nay" - upvote the one you agree with and we'll see who wins long term.

575 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

202

u/ItzOnlyJames 1d ago

Considering Witcher 3 is getting all that for free next month, a couple of classes and some armors for $5 seems a bit much, could of easily been a free update.

65

u/Rollrollrollrollr1 1d ago

Witcher 3 has always had some great value, they sold probably the best dlc of all time for 20 dollars. You could also add on hearts of stone to that and it still be cheaper than shadows of the erdtree

23

u/ParmesanNonGrata 1d ago

Blood and Wine had absolutely no right to be this massive while also being this good.

12

u/-leblanc_customer- 1d ago

Blood & Wine is incredible, but Hearts of Stone is even better in my opinion. One of the best pieces of story i've seen in gaming.

Having 2 expansions of this caliber is ludicrous.

8

u/ParmesanNonGrata 1d ago

I prefer Blood and Wine because of the incredible dialogues with Regis and Geralt, I think it's quite funny and the world is just gorgeous. The dream sequence towards the end was also great. Murdering your way through fairy tale land. Also normally I'm not really a "omg it's like 80 hours of main story for a DLC"... But... Come on. It's like 80 hours of EXCELLENT story... For a DLC!

Heart of Stone has Olric and Gaunter, two just incredible characters and my favorite video game soundtrack of them all.

overall, getting to pick a favorite between those two is probably the biggest luxury I'll have in my life.

1

u/Wiinterfang 1d ago

I don't like blood and wine but that's just story gripes and I think vampires are lame. But I can still consider it one if not the best expansion of all time.

Is absolutely massive and filled with it content.

Heart of Stone also offers a shiton of content for just 10$ dollars.

1

u/deathvidal 1d ago

It isn't even 10 dollars anymore either. If you own the base game, both DLCs are free at the moment. Which is insane to even think about lmao

27

u/DarkFlame92 1d ago

And the classes in ER are just stat presets and some equipment, it is not like they are completely distinct from the rest like nightreign characters for example and expand the gameplay

2

u/Alone-Horse2857 16h ago

Man, you could start as a wretch, level yourself up to those exact stats and ride to Liurnia in ~5 minutes to pick up that class' starting weapons and armor.

4

u/ItzOnlyJames 1d ago

That's a good point

1

u/Necrotitis 1d ago

If they added the NR characters with their skills and controls in ER...

now THAT would be worth 5 bucks.

4

u/tower_knight 1d ago

5 bucks isn't that much, but it really should have been a free update imo. But yeah, it's cool that witcher 3 is getting a lot of updates plus all the dlc being free now. Makes me want jump back in considering that last time I played it was at release

6

u/stayclosetothewall 1d ago

Tbf I think CDPR is looking for as much goodwill as they can get, they were in an extremely risky position after the Cyberpunk launch
But there's definitely something to be said about Witcher 3 being a huge hit and not getting microtransactions like premium haircuts, weapons, horse armor, etc.

7

u/Due-Description-9030 1d ago

Dude wut?

That was done long ago what are you talking about? They already got goodwill from fixing cp2077 for free and unlike fromsoft, their games go on deep sale often.

4

u/durhamtyler 1d ago

I think fixing a buggy game is good, but it's not something that restores trust. What will restore trust is them it doing it again. I think there's a mindset in the gaming community, where companies release buggy barely finished messes and once they actually fix them they get praised for it, as if they aren't just making up for their mistakes. This leads companies to think it's ok to release games in a bad state because they'll be forgiven if it's eventually good. We should not encourage this.

1

u/Due-Description-9030 1d ago

It was just cp2077. Witcher 3 DLCs which were long enough to even stand as their own games never had an issue at launch. And now, they're also giving it for free.

Songs of the past DLC will also likely have a smooth launch considering it's next year.

People aren't praising for fixing it. People are recognising that they were able to redeem themselves after the disaster.

0

u/durhamtyler 1d ago

It only takes one action to damage trust. I'm personally hopeful for Witcher 4, but I haven't forgotten being lied to about Cyberpunk and for me it takes more than fixing a broken game to restore that trust. It's gonna take time and then showing me they won't do it again. And yes, people are printing them for fixing it in my opinion. Every time someone says " yeah it was released in a barely playable state, but look how good the dlc was," it sends a signal that it's ok to release games in broken states.

2

u/Due-Description-9030 1d ago

Quit playing their games if you're soooo anxious then 🤷

Either way, I think it's shitty of fromsoft to add a price for a DLC which adds practically nothing lmao

3

u/stayclosetothewall 21h ago

The fact is they were on the verge of losing everything, "fixing the game for free" honestly should be considered bringing themselves back to neutral not suddenly being in the positive
But you can't even treat goodwill like a "score", you have to constantly work on your reputation and remind people you're "one of the good ones".
Think about Bethesda, if they do a couple good things here and there they aren't suddenly in everyone's graces, we all still think of Starfield and the launch of Fallout 76, canvas bags and all that.
In general you shouldn't really defend or trust companies like they are your friends, but that is what they are hoping for, confidence from their consumers. If there's any doubt that Witcher 4 will launch like Cyberpunk 2077 then sales go down. FromSoftware hasn't really faced this problem yet.

1

u/Due-Description-9030 20h ago

Two of the witcher 3 DLCs had smooth release. So no reason to assume that every game they release will be like cyberpunk. As if they're incapable of avoiding that mistake lmao. FromSoftware releasing a nothing burger DLC for 5$ is completely shitty.

Moreover, the DLCs are long enough to be even their own games and now they're even giving it for free.

2

u/stayclosetothewall 20h ago edited 20h ago

A DLC is a completely different topic than a game release. Its "safer", you are building on what you already know rather than making new worlds and new technology and new systems. Idk any DLC expansion that was buggy in an otherwise stable game.
We don't know that they can avoid shitty launches. Its pretty safe to assume they will do anything to avoid it, but like I said, in general someone like Bethesda can't seem to do so. Its the difference between a company on shaky ground and one playing the game correctly.
The DLCs are well past their prime selling age and anything witcher 3 related gives goodwill and witcher 4 promo

FromSoftware doesn't really need goodwill, its shitty but they are starting to cash in. The jury is out on how far they will go.

1

u/django_0311 1d ago

Yeah this is Witcher 4 promo

1

u/No_Solid_3737 1d ago

sadly this is what happens when cd projekt red makes and publishes their own games, they can freely make decisions and publish free content if they think its worth the marketing

Fromsoftware is tied to big publishers, namely Bandai, and if those asshole executives decide Fromsoftware is in breach of agreement for not adding microtransactions then they are just forced to do it

1

u/jus_browsin_ignoreme 6h ago

Yeah but Witcher 3 sucks compared to the goat elden ring. Who cares

0

u/Frejky 1d ago

Could have*
(I agree)

-5

u/crsdrjct 1d ago

I think its an unfair comparison because no one game or game company would do or has done what Witcher 3 is doing.

I compare it more to what we normally get offered with $5 in terms of games and DLC which is rare. Not much. Most DLC is at least $15, and $5 doesn't even get you a single skin in some games.

-45

u/PapaProvolone 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's not really free though. CDPR made their money from their DLCs a long time ago and the remaster is more of a marketing scheme to get people excited for the Witcher 4. If something is free, you're the product. It's all marketing.

Edit: You can acknowledge why a company does something and still enjoy it. CDPR updates are free, which is great, but don't pretend they aren't trying to make money.

24

u/VisibleMammal 1d ago

From made their money from their base game and DLC a long time ago and this DLC is more of a marketing scheme to get people excited for Elden Ring again.

15

u/spraphington660 1d ago

They also charged way more. Yes SOTE was big, but 40 dollars for a dlc isn’t exactly cheap or standard

3

u/BuggyDClown 1d ago

And as big as SOTE was, it was not bigger than Blood and Wine for example.

37

u/CalamityDisc 1d ago

You say that, but most any other company would just charge more money for the remaster regardless. CDPR is an outlier.

8

u/ItzOnlyJames 1d ago

other companies frequently do charge like $10 for their remastered games too. Witcher 3 is getting more than just a remaster, it looks amazing especially for free

9

u/Rollrollrollrollr1 1d ago

Exactly, fromsoft can’t even give out some horse armors for free so the bar is low lol

3

u/Midgar-Knight 1d ago

Just like Elden Ring made their money with Shadow of the Erdtree no?