[Spoiler/Survey/Discussion] Pre-epilogue vs Post-epilogue DLC: What should CDPR focus on?

[latios507]

[Spoiler/Survey/Discussion] Pre-epilogue vs Post-epilogue DLC: What should CDPR focus on?

Poll question:

IMO, Witcher 3 future DLC's should be released during the timeline of ......... to better reflect the Witcher 3 experience and a fitting swan song to Geralt's adventure

Public Poll (Open to non forumers as well)



Can't see the picture? Click here

Target: Um, maybe until CDPR brings back our beloved main characters into the game

First and foremost, this is not a suggestion thread but a discussion thread to gauge the players sentiment about the empty world state and how future DLC should address that. This thread by no means will guarantee that CDPR will release such content. It's just a SURVEY + DISCUSSION. If CDPR decides to break the good news however, I'll be sure to update the thread.

Poll explanation available below, so be sure to scroll down to understand if you are not clear about the poll.

============================================

Short Table of Content (Ctrl + F to save time)

► Forewords
► Poll Explanation
► Notable Discussion Ideas
► Other Notes

​

.|| Forewords ||.

If you have been keeping up with the forum for the past few weeks, you'll notice various rants once you finished your first playthrough. I am not here to repeat that because I'm sure CDPR are well aware of the problem plaguing the community about the empty world state issue, so don't have to go into detail.

Before that, there is a disease called the PWSD (Post Witcher Stress Disorder) that is plaguing the community. Infection rate is high especially amongst player who completed the game. As far as I'm concerned, they are no known cure as of now. Are you infected? The Symptoms are as below:

Spoiler

• You clicked on this thread
• You wonder, where are all the main characters after the major boss fight? Why can't we party with them?
• You can't get Yennefer and Triss out of your head. Every time you see a redhead, you'll be like "Is that you Triss?"
• Unicorns
• You can't decide to load which save file to pick for a second playthrough
• You want more Ciri
• You don't give a sh*t about E3 2015 because Witcher 3 > E3 2015

If you are lost and have no idea generally what this poll is about or what happened around the forum, you can read the other topics on the forum.
The main inspiration of this thread comes from previous threads on the forum:

Spoiler

Main Thread: Witcher 3 Immersion Destroyer - Post world emptiness

Other related threads
1). Reddit Top trended topic (I just finished the main story and I have to say..)
2). General thoughts on ending & epilogue
3). Why the narrative in the last third game is a bad hot mess
4). Triss content & inconsistency of romance choices - Rant - More yen too plzz
5). Suggestion: Yennefer and Triss romance DLC to address the lackluster Epilogue

Inspiration from quotes from concerned fans around the forum:

Spoiler

I rather see a poll that is DLC for post-game stuff vs Act 3/Pre-ending stuff., since I don't see point of developing content for post-ending experience while the main story-mode is problematic.

A large audience depend on immersion to keep themselves interested in game play.

.|| Poll Explanation ||.

Now, everything explained in one picture (if there's a mistake, do let me know):

Yes yes, before this thread becomes a flame fest where people started saying "this option is unrealistic & bla bla" and more wild troll appears, Keep in mind of the following factors generally. This is a discussion, so try to be a Devil's advocate & see things from a different perspective and be constructive:

• Complexity - How complex to develop the DLC if CDPR were to undertake such options
• Time - Such content would take months to develop, will the timing of the release of DLC clash with other AAA games/title release, will fans still play Witcher 3?
• Resources - Manpower, equipments and $$$
  
• Macroeconomic Factors - Financial obligations, Potential liability, Financial returns (Return on Investment, Return on Equity, expected sales, expected cash flow & etc)
  

Option 1: Just after the final battle, before the epilogue (Pre-ending/Pre-epilogue/Pre-post game)

The current world state we reside in after completing the game (the warnings that the game system display after finishing the game). The epilogue that depicts our decisions consequences and narration does not happen instantaneously, but rather many weeks/months after we get to play the three different ending. So there is an opportunity for DLC to beef up the epilogue.

Therefore, by choosing this option you believe that addressing the 'empty world' issue is the UTMOST PRIORITY by reintroducing the main characters (with interaction, dialogues, quests, storage system & etc) to better reflect our lackluster narrative epilogue.

By fixing the narrative epilogue, everyone will have a satisfying conclusion after hundred hours of gameplay.

Analogy:

Imagine it as if you're just bandaging your wound

Option 2: After the epilogue (Post-ending/Post-epilogue/Post game)

Contrary to popular belief, this is not our current world state. Currently, CDPR have no plans to develop any post-game DLC because they believe Geralt's adventure is at the end.

But, if you choose this option: You believe that the narrative experience is satisfactory despite leaving us with many question marks. Instead of fixing what CDPR could & should have fix in the first place, having a post-game content will MAKE UP for the weak epilogue because we get to experience firsthand about the WORLD THAT IS REFLECTED based on our prior decisions.

It's like a new immersion (consider it as a fresh start), opening us with rooms to venture into different world/regions that was not available in the original game and endless options for CDPR to develop new contents.

IMO, this is the most logical and plausible route for future expansion. Compare with option 1) however:

• This option is time consuming to develop (refer to other notes section below)
• The 36 possible ending states (Although just 3 of them are the 'big impact ending) further complicates the matter - Which save file to use if certain main character is dead?
• Only certain main characters might get their own Post-content DLC - Usually those who will not die as a consequences of our decision.

Well, CDPR could also try to release an episodic content (similar to telltale games or Dontnod 'Life is Strange') instead of a whole new content if they just want to focus on specific characters that have a significant impact on Geralt's life.

Analogy:

Imagine it as if you licked your wound, and you want more action

Option 3: Mix of both (Option 1 + Option 2), otherwise would go with the most votes

Self explanatory. This is a neutral & safest vote.

If option 1 or option 2 > option 3, we would go with the most votes
(e.g. option 1: 450 votes, option 2: 500 votes, option 3: 200 votes. Option 2 wins)

If you believe that by releasing both Pre-epilogue and Post-epilogue DLC, it could lead to a most satisfying ending to the narration in a game we have ever seen so far and could basically address any lingering doubts about other character's fate.

Definitely a fitting finale to Geralt's adventure. But, it would be extremely costly and time consuming from the development POV which would be very unlikely, unless CDPR decides to do the unthinkable.

On the bright side, it is possible that CDPR first two expansion could be the pre-epilogue content and the post-epilogue content could happen afterwards. It doesn't hurt to dream


===============================

TLDR Analogically speaking...
Option 1: Imagine it as if you're just bandaging your wound
Option 2: Imagine it as if you licked your wound, and you want more action
Option 3: 1 + 2 = 3!

Doesn't make sense? Read above.

.|| Notable Discussion Ideas ||.

Below you can find some notable thoughts or ideas that have been posted in the thread by dedicated fans about Pre-epilogue vs Post-epilogue DLC that might influence your voting decision:

Pre-ending/Pre-epiloge/Pre-post game

Spoiler

I'm actually a little bit torn about this subject. As someone who has done programming on my own small game projects, I can appreciate the huge complexity we're left with Witcher 3's post-ending. I really get what GingerEffect is saying.

There's certainly a feeling of having not enough closure for Geralt that I share. However, I'm not convinced that post-ending content will be the way to go. It would require a lot of work for the potential benefits. I'd rather CDPR look at expanding their existing story and dialogue in order to set us up for better closure at the conclusion of the game. I believe with the same amount of resources invested, we could see more new content here than post-ending and thus fix more "holes". More bang for buck, essentially.

There are a number of themes that need more time to explain. Here's a brief and incomplete list of what I was thinking of:

- Ciri-Yen-Geralt family dynamic and how does Triss factor in now? "You are my destiny." "We shall never be apart again" from the books could factor in here. How will the future look for this family unit?
- Ciri's hopes and dreams vs her desire to serve a greater good. What does she owe the world? Has she done enough? Is more required?
- Yen and Triss clear the air in regards to Geralt. Ciri might have something to say since Yen is her "mother".
- Geralt's weariness of being a Witcher. He was eager to retire at the end of the saga but got caught up in trouble again with the games. How does he feel at the end of the Witcher 3 about this?
- Geralt - Dandelion could use a final long talk about things. Expanding their conversation about Priscilla to touch on more topics would be great.
- etc

I feel weaving in these topics at opportune times in the current story will do wonders for people's feeling of closure at the end of the game. It could explain why Ciri might feel becoming Empress is something she would want to do, or how she feels about spending more time with Geralt + Love Interest. It gives the player more content to help interpret the otherwise very open endings.

I feel this approach is the one that goes for the root cause of people's "PWSD".

The closest voting option to this is the pre-ending one so that's what I'll go with.

In my opinion, I don't see the use of adding stuff after the epilogue, when you start at Kaer Morhen. The main story is over, the stories around the important characters should be resolved. As far as I see it, it's impossible to make content about the main characters after this point, due to the large amount of ending states, different endings, whatever. I don't think it's sane to demand something of the sort from the devs.

By the way, this is the reason why I was against being able to play after you completed the main story in the first place. It just feels weird to be back at Kaer Morhen again after all that has happened, and having seen what happened to the world and some of the characters during the final slides.

What I would like to see is more content in the Third Act (after the Battle of Kaer Morhen), because right now that part of the story feels very rushed. The epilogue is also really damn short. The epilogue should be the part where we get to see most of the main characters for a final time (if you get a good ending, that is), and have their stories resolved.

A few flashback-like scenes, as nice as they might look, just lack the impact that good gameplay and cutscenes could have.

To me, Witcher 3 ended as the credit roll. We know what will become of Ciri, we know that Geralt continues his path or live happily with his loved one, we know that people get on with their lives,... that's all we need to know as the story ended. What the writers want to tell us has already been told, it's finished, same thing happened in TW1 & 2.

Since TW3 is open-world so they just let the players roam freely. So I don't see post-ending contents as a big deal, it's not the point of this game and it's unnecessary, unless CDPR planned for expansions with new stories start after the post-ending.

Pre-epilogue, however, just like TW2's act 3, it lacks of polish and feels rushy. We have questionable plots like: what drove Dijsktra to do such dumb action? why Geralt was able to kick Eredin's ass so easily? why the rift need to be open to stop the white frost? how the hell Ciri managed to stop the white frost while? et cetera et cetera...

People are not happy with post-ending because they weren't satisfied, it felt unfinished, it wasn't enough, it wasn't suffice for the end of a great trilogy. (stemming from vague epilogue)

I want CDPR to finish that unfinished story, I want them to make the final battle with Eredin more worthy and memorable, I want them to tie up loose ends, I want more Geralt interactions with important characters during pre-ending events. That should be suffice to put a good end to a great trilogy.

Post-ending/Post-epilogue/Post Game

Spoiler

I would go for Post-Epilogue. We will be having two major expansions which will take place pre-epilogue. The original game itself already has plenty of contents that feel more alive when doing it pre-epilogue rather than post-epilogue because the world feels dead without the mainstory backing it up, and it's proven by the stress posts coming from the majority of people after having finished the game while still being able to free roam to do the leftover contents the game has to offer.

With that in mind, Post-Epilogue continuation will be more fitting so we can replay the game and enjoy any of the contents whenever we feel like doing it instead of having to choose whether to focus on just mainstory or exploring the world.

Time doesn't stay in the past, it always moves forward, it breaks the immersion totally if the world has to stay pre-epilogue. The epilogue itself fast forwards just enough to bring up new and interesting world states that can back up any future contents, be it official or by fans via REDkit. The Witcher 3 Universe will stay fresh and has a long lifespan instead of dwelling within specific timeframe.

Oh and please focus on what any of YOU want, not what the developers can do or can't do, it's not in our capacity to asses them and we'll never know what they're capable of, It's not like we're asking them to bend time, they're game developers, they develop games, they did manage to create this awesome game from scratch.

I would like to have the free play open world containing all the survived characters after the Turret quest. After your personal ending that is. With the ability to interact with them and join on quests. The world should reflect your political choices made during the game.

That is a lot of work, but we really would like CDPR to have this work done. Nobody asks you to work for free so we are ready to pay a premium for that, not included in the season pass. 19.99 US Dollars could be a perfect price for that expansion as someone else in another thread has mentioned. I am sure everyone will agree with that.

CDPR could let the game going eternally by constantly issuing some quests and contracts on monsters, but that is too perfect and probably too much to ask. We want more but we understand that the project shall be closed at some point in time.

But doing so without the proper post-end additions is just not right to say the least.

Thank you the your attention and I hope you will listen ti us. Here you have a chance to build a diehard backbone fanbase.
Thanks for the thread, latios507.

.|| Other notes ||.

One of the CDPR staff . @GingerEffect made some good points on this thread

It is a matter of priorities.

Like Sagitarii says, including conversations and dialog for all possible worldstates after you finish the game would have been an enormous undertaking.

I would like anyone who thinks this is an easy thing of just keeping the NPCs around to think for a moment.

1) Every NPC would have to react to all possible world-states that affect them. For the major NPCs that would be all of them.
2) They need to have different scenarios of where they are and what they are doing, logically, depending on the endings.
3) Even entire areas might have to change dramatically if we were to showcase the ending world states

And this is just a small list of considerations that ultimately led to the decision to not include this. As is the case with branching stories, they get heftier and heftier the further you go down the branches. To add tailored content to the end world would be a huge a undertaking if we were to do it right (and we don't like to do things unless we do them 'right' particularly when it comes to story and plot).

And before you yell that this was lazy on our part...please remember that we already have one of the heftiest scripts in gaming and so many voice over sessions that it boggles the mind.

Just remember...there is never such a thing as "JUST" adding something when it comes to a game like this

More quotes from him:

Hi,

I am sorry I am not a PR representative and don't only tell you things that are PR approved. I speak from my personal experience and outline reasons why we did what we did.

Please remember I could have just not said anything, but I saw that a lot of people are commenting on this...and a lot of people asking why we don't "just" add some more dialog lines to NPCs for after the game, so I explained why it is not as simple as it may seem.

It is always refreshing when a community engages in dialog about a solution to a problem. Often, we may find new ways to approach things, which is why I am here.

I will, in the meantime, pass the suggestion of using the last savegame before the final mission as a starting point for the "After Ending" game on. I think this is a good idea that we can look into for a patch.

As for Expansion content after the main game, I will also add that to the feedback. I outlined in my reply why this is a more expansive change/addition, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

In the meantime, thank you for keeping the discussion civil and for the suggestions and feedback!

---------- Updated at 08:24 AM ----------

WOW! What a body blow. Guys seriously at the very minimum, just place them in the world, at Kaer Mohren for the Witchers (inc Ciri if the Witcher ending)
Place Triss in a flat, Yenn in her room at Kaer Mohren, they dont even need to say anything apart from "Hey Geralt" or something, it's just so you can go on in the world happy with the knowledge they are in it with you.

I will happily pass on the suggestion to the rest of the team.

Blows, incidetally, were not intended. I merely pointed out the difficulties of the things that have already been requested by people in this and other threads about this topic.

Apologies if this was taken as an insult or attack.

Thank you CDPR

Happy now? So civilized forumers, discussion begins!

 

[Sarcen]

Well, anything that is post the final battle is good to me, but they might not do either. Because then they will need to include the world state in whatever they do next. So I feel like anything they will add will be during the current game and will barely if not at all affect the story. Which is completely boring to me and I wont care about it

 

[OutgoingHermit]

Haven't they already said that it will take place during the timeline of the main game?

I am really not sure why they're doing it that way, since it seems like it'd make a lot more sense to set it in the immediate postgame. Not only would it be easier to integrate mechanically (the player's level is more predictable), but most people will be coming in with postgame saves by the time this DLC is released, anyway. From a story perspective, it also doesn't make sense for Geralt to race off to Toussaint during his quest to find Ciri, unless it is somehow integrated into the main quest. Which seems like it would be a headache on account of that aforementioned point about most players coming into the DLC with a postgame save.

Be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[Zeroscape]

I'm actually a little bit torn about this subject. As someone who has done programming on my own small game projects, I can appreciate the huge complexity we're left with Witcher 3's post-ending. I really get what GingerEffect is saying.

There's certainly a feeling of having not enough closure for Geralt that I share. However, I'm not convinced that post-ending content will be the way to go. It would require a lot of work for the potential benefits. I'd rather CDPR look at expanding their existing story and dialogue in order to set us up for better closure at the conclusion of the game. I believe with the same amount of resources invested, we could see more new content here than post-ending and thus fix more "holes". More bang for buck, essentially.

There are a number of themes that need more time to explain. Here's a brief and incomplete list of what I was thinking of:

- Ciri-Yen-Geralt family dynamic and how does Triss factor in now? "You are my destiny." "We shall never be apart again" from the books could factor in here. How will the future look for this family unit?
- Ciri's hopes and dreams vs her desire to serve a greater good. What does she owe the world? Has she done enough? Is more required?
- Yen and Triss clear the air in regards to Geralt. Ciri might have something to say since Yen is her "mother".
- Geralt's weariness of being a Witcher. He was eager to retire at the end of the saga but got caught up in trouble again with the games. How does he feel at the end of the Witcher 3 about this?
- Geralt - Dandelion could use a final long talk about things. Expanding their conversation about Priscilla to touch on more topics would be great.
- etc

I feel weaving in these topics at opportune times in the current story will do wonders for people's feeling of closure at the end of the game. It could explain why Ciri might feel becoming Empress is something she would want to do, or how she feels about spending more time with Geralt + Love Interest. It gives the player more content to help interpret the otherwise very open endings. I feel this approach is the one that goes for the root cause of people's "PWSD".

The closest voting option to this is the pre-ending one so that's what I'll go with.

 

[frozenkex]

Sorry, when i suggested content for Act 3, i didn't mean "just after final battle. Think the issues with Act 3 start way before final battle. Like lack of interaction with your friends. It feels like rushed act in general for various reasons.

As its now your poll supports just one agenda .

 

[goku_nazz]

Yup, I have PWSD for sure.
I think it would be a better idea to fix the pre-epilogue first before thinking about the post-epilogue.

But still, why CDPR opted for an easy route to introduce expansion that takes place during the game timeline before the final boss is still a question mark. I mean, you already completed the game so... what's the point of turning back?
Should have went for post-epilogue expansion instead. or, just fix the empty world and we all will be happy

Sorry, when i suggested content for Act 3, i didn't mean "just after final battle. Think the issues with Act 3 start way before final battle. Like lack of interaction with your friends. It feels like rushed act in general for various reasons

even if you suggest contents for act 3.. it's difficult too. I did read somewhere where the one of the Red staff said that 'anything that requires us to change the game mechanism when it was shipped for release is a definitely a no'. unless they announced an enhanced edition, then it might happen. wish i could quote for you but my memory is bad. sorry.

for your case.. closest would be pre-ending I guess.

 

[Smurfin]

I would go for Post-Epilogue. We will be having two major expansions which will take place pre-epilogue. The original game itself already has plenty of contents that feel more alive when doing it pre-epilogue rather than post-epilogue because the world feels dead without the mainstory backing it up, and it's proven by the stress posts coming from the majority of people after having finished the game while still being able to free roam to do the leftover contents the game has to offer.

With that in mind, Post-Epilogue continuation will be more fitting so we can replay the game and enjoy any of the contents whenever we feel like doing it instead of having to choose whether to focus on just mainstory or exploring the world. Time doesn't stay in the past, it always moves forward, it breaks the immersion totally if the world has to stay pre-epilogue. The epilogue itself fast forwards just enough to bring up new and interesting world states that can back up any future contents, be it official or by fans via REDkit. The Witcher 3 Universe will stay fresh and has a long lifespan instead of dwelling within specific timeframe.

Oh and please focus on what any of YOU want, not what the developers can do or can't do, it's not in our capacity to asses them and we'll never know what they're capable of, It's not like we're asking them to bend time, they're game developers, they develop games, they did manage to create this awesome game from scratch.

 

[0nakita]

Voted for post-game and post-epilogue, want to see Kovir with Geralt and Triss in cozy house, also want to see there Yen, Dandelion, Zoltan, Ciri.

 

[witcher3_10108]

Definitely I'd love to see Kovir DLC. Seeing Pont Vanis would be fantastic, getting more content with Triss would be more than epic. So yea - my vote - post epilogue DLC.

 

[0nakita]

- Ciri-Yen-Geralt family dynamic and how does Triss factor in now? "You are my destiny." "We shall never be apart again" from the books could factor in here. How will the future look for this family unit?
- Ciri's hopes and dreams vs her desire to serve a greater good. What does she owe the world? Has she done enough? Is more required?
- Yen and Triss clear the air in regards to Geralt. Ciri might have something to say since Yen is her "mother".
- Geralt's weariness of being a Witcher. He was eager to retire at the end of the saga but got caught up in trouble again with the games. How does he feel at the end of the Witcher 3 about this?
- Geralt - Dandelion could use a final long talk about things. Expanding their conversation about Priscilla to touch on more topics would be great.
- etc

This too!

 

[gogusar]

I would like to have the free play open world containing all the survived characters after the Turret quest. After your personal ending that is. With the ability to interact with them and join on quests. The world should reflect your political choices made during the game. That is a lot of work, but we really would like CDPR to have this work done. Nobody asks you to work for free so we are ready to pay a premium for that, not included in the season pass. 19.99 US Dollars could be a perfect price for that expansion as someone else in another thread has mentioned. I am sure everyone will agree with that.
CDPR could let the game going eternally by constantly issuing some quests and contracts on monsters, but that is too perfect and probably too much to ask. We want more but we understand that the project shall be closed at some point in time. But doing so without the proper post-end additions is just not right to say the least.
Thank you the your attention and I hope you will listen ti us. Here you have a chance to build a diehard backbone fanbase.
Thanks for the thread, latios507.

​

 

[wichat]

I would like to have the free play open world containing all the survived characters after the Turret quest. After your personal ending that is. With the ability to interact with them and join on quests. The world should reflect your political choices made during the game. That is a lot of work, but we really would like CDPR to have this work done. Nobody asks you to work for free so we are ready to pay a premium for that, not included in the season pass. 19.99 US Dollars could be a perfect price for that expansion as someone else in another thread has mentioned. I am sure everyone will agree with that.
CDPR could let the game going eternally by constantly issuing some quests and contracts on monsters, but that is too perfect and probably too much to ask. We want more but we understand that the project shall be closed at some point in time. But doing so without the proper post-end additions is just not right to say the least.
Thank you the your attention and I hope you will listen ti us. Here you have a chance to build a diehard backbone fanbase.
Thanks for the thread, latios507.

​

That doesn't look like a DLC neither an expasion but a brand new game. Don't count with a TW4 or something like. YHou can count with previous or parallel timeline stories, but no muh more complicated. CP77 need hands, and after TW3 and its delays, we must expect another RPG as huge, complex and even fuller than TW3. And that means, obviously, more dev hands on it.

 

[Jobbert.907]

In my opinion, I don't see the use of adding stuff after the epilogue, when you start at Kaer Morhen. The main story is over, the stories around the important characters should be resolved. As far as I see it, it's impossible to make content about the main characters after this point, due to the large amount of ending states, different endings, whatever. I don't think it's sane to demand something of the sort from the devs.

By the way, this is the reason why I was against being able to play after you completed the main story in the first place. It just feels weird to be back at Kaer Morhen again after all that has happened, and having seen what happened to the world and some of the characters during the final slides.

What I would like to see is more content in the Third Act (after the Battle of Kaer Morhen), because right now that part of the story feels very rushed. The epilogue is also really damn short. The epilogue should be the part where we get to see most of the main characters for a final time (if you get a good ending, that is), and have their stories resolved. A few flashback-like scenes, as nice as they might look, just lack the impact that good gameplay and cutscenes could have.

 

[moonknightgog]

From a story perspective, it also doesn't make sense for Geralt to race off to Toussaint during his quest to find Ciri, unless it is somehow integrated into the main quest. Which seems like it would be a headache on account of that aforementioned point about most players coming into the DLC with a postgame save.
.

There is a letter form Fringilla which says specifically that there's nothing related to Ciri and the Wild Hunt in Toussaint.
So...I don't know how Toussaint can work.

Yes, maybe Emhyr could say that Eredin has been sighted while he was painting the fence of a kindly woman from Toussaint, but still...

 

[Charcharo]

Not all ending states occur at the same time people...

Nilfgaard may not have won/lost yet. Ciri might not be an empress yet...

You can easily limit a large part of the world states.

 

[CostinRaz]

It would be a herculean effort for little gain.

Better to just put people on the boat before they do the final mission with the option of taking that on.

CDPR should spend all it's resources on improving the base game.

 

[latios507]

In my opinion, I don't see the use of adding stuff after the epilogue, when you start at Kaer Morhen. The main story is over, the stories around the important characters should be resolved. As far as I see it, it's impossible to make content about the main characters after this point, due to the large amount of ending states, different endings, whatever. I don't think it's sane to demand something of the sort from the devs.

By the way, this is the reason why I was against being able to play after you completed the main story in the first place. It just feels weird to be back at Kaer Morhen again after all that has happened, and having seen what happened to the world and some of the characters during the final slides.

What I would like to see is more content in the Third Act (after the Battle of Kaer Morhen), because right now that part of the story feels very rushed. The epilogue is also really damn short. The epilogue should be the part where we get to see most of the main characters for a final time (if you get a good ending, that is), and have their stories resolved. A few flashback-like scenes, as nice as they might look, just lack the impact that good gameplay and cutscenes could have.

Ah yes, very good point. I totally overlooked about this. It was mentioned before by a CDPR staff as well.
True, game have 36 possible ending, although just 3 of em is the actual 'big impact' ending. That's another reason why CDPR decided not to pursue a post-ending DLC yet because of the major setback.

If there's additional content in the third act, the immersion is basically gone. Because you already finished playing the game and now you have play all over again in Act 3, with the ending already stuck in your mind. That's why the pre-ending before the epilogue takes place, is the closest thing CDPR can focus on to answer all that questions and vagueness.

But still, Post-game would be the best content lMO. CDPR can do whatever they want and player will be more than happy because they'll get to experience new immersion (that's why the post-game vote is leading by a large margin).


Unfortunately, Witcher 3 doesn't have that online save editor similar to Dragon Age inquisition where you can edit your game save and directly sync with the console.
To make post-ending DLC possible, CDPR might have to set a 'default' save where certain main characters are not dead (assuming you end up with a bad ending), or only focus on main characters where previous decision will not have an impact on their status (e.g. killed, missing & etc).

As long as the issue of "which save file should player start with" is not solved, then it'll be difficult. But we can always use the 3 main ending as a focal point, because the other 30+ endings are just small variations that are not that significant. But then again... it's up to CDPR.

Knowing CDPR, they'll contemplate to release a DLC that is not up to their expected standards/quality. Surely they do not want to drop after setting such a high standard for the game.

What do you think?

I would like to have the free play open world containing all the survived characters after the Turret quest. After your personal ending that is. With the ability to interact with them and join on quests. The world should reflect your political choices made during the game.

That is a lot of work, but we really would like CDPR to have this work done. Nobody asks you to work for free so we are ready to pay a premium for that, not included in the season pass. 19.99 US Dollars could be a perfect price for that expansion as someone else in another thread has mentioned. I am sure everyone will agree with that.

CDPR could let the game going eternally by constantly issuing some quests and contracts on monsters, but that is too perfect and probably too much to ask. We want more but we understand that the project shall be closed at some point in time. But doing so without the proper post-end additions is just not right to say the least.

Thank you the your attention and I hope you will listen ti us. Here you have a chance to build a diehard backbone fanbase.
Thanks for the thread, latios507.

​

My pleasure. I hope by having this thread, we can compile our collective thoughts. Together, we can come up with something. You might see a glass as half full, while the others might see it as half empty, and some might even see it as "don't judge a glass by its content".

We all have our thoughts, and some of them are actually worth to be shared and discussed. It's great to see things from different perspective, because that's how a game can be improved.

Whenever CDPR needs something to refer to, they can always look here instead of scavenging through the forum

 

[badboy_zay]

To me, Witcher 3 ended as the credit roll. We know what will become of Ciri, we know that Geralt continues his path or live happily with his loved one, we know that people get on with their lives,... that's all we need to know as the story ended. What the writers want to tell us has already been told, it's finished, same thing happened in TW1 & 2. Since TW3 is open-world so they just let the players roam freely. So I don't see post-ending contents as a big deal, it's not the point of this game and it's unnecessary, unless CDPR planned for expansions with new stories start after the post-ending.

Pre-epilogue, however, just like TW2's act 3, it lacks of polish and feels rushy. We have questionable plots like: what drove Dijsktra to do such dumb action? why Geralt was able to kick Eredin's ass so easily? why the rift need to be open to stop the white frost? how the hell Ciri managed to stop the white frost while? et cetera et cetera...
People are not happy with post-ending because they weren't satisfied, it felt unfinished, it wasn't enough, it wasn't suffice for the end of a great trilogy. I want CDPR to finish that unfinished story, I want them to make the final battle with Eredin more worthy and memorable, I want them to tie up loose ends, I want more Geralt interactions with important characters during pre-ending events. That should be suffice to put a good end to a great trilogy.

 

[dzbrown]

I guess I'm just a realist, but I would prefer for them to focus more on tidying up loose ends before the epilogue. As wichat mentioned, asking for substantial content post-epilogue would essentially be them making a new game, or 0.5 of a new game, since you would have to carry over the multitude of different variables/world states/statuses of character interactions, etc.. I also think the time and resources spent sticking the main characters in certain places to act as mannequins would be better spent on providing a little extra depth to said characters before the end. I mean, don't get me wrong...it would be nice to have a ton of extra post-epilogue content, but I simply just don't see it happening, and I think too much of it would detract from the feeling that Geralt's story is over, so I guess I would rather CDPR spend their time and resources on strengthening the end of Geralt's tale rather than diluting it.

 

[CTPhipps]

I don't want them to devote an epic amount of effort to post-Epilogue DLC.

Maybe just the following.

* A conversation with all of your buddies who are alive: Triss, Ciri, Yen, Dandelion, Zoltan, and a few others.

Just, "Okay, where are you going from here?"

That would be enough for me.

I mean, if we're going to have a game where Ciri and everything is dealt with along with the larger Nilfgaard-Redanian War aftermath then we should just have a game about it. It doesn't have to be a 100 hour game as I'm happy to play full price for a forty hour one using the same engine, graphics, and tools.