DLC's being sold for $1.99 dollars (USD) that have one sword or voice packs being sold for $0.99 dollars (USD) is considered microtransactions.I Have read the whole thread (whooo) and there are a couple of things that I would like to clarify:
- When putting certain things in to Marcins mouth please read what was said - I assume you are referring to this http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-11-06-cd-projekt-announces-generous-witcher-3-dlc-plan - Marcin never said he does not like micro-transactions or DLC - he has said "As gamers, we nowadays have to hold on tight to our wallets, as [un]surprisingly right after release, lots of tiny pieces of tempting content materialise with a steep price tag attached. Haven't we just paid a lot of cash for a brand new game?" So we feel it is wrong to charge for sword DLC etc for a AAA 60 USD release you just bought. Never it was said that a free 2 play (done right and that is our intention) is wrong.
- The decision to go free 2 play was quite simple because we want millions of people to enjoy the game - the PVP aspect is really important and to make it in to a successful card game we welcome ppl that will not pay a thing and still will hopefully enjoy the game. This would be extremely hard to do even if we would attache a modest price tag of 20 or 30 USD - there are millions of people that cannot pay even 10 USD and still would like to enjoy the game. And of course there are games that exploit the free 2 play players but we are not one of them. There will be no timers, no gems you can buy - play and unlock card packs or pay real money for card packs - regardless of how you want to do it you will be still able to play to yours heart content.
- You will be able to buy the single player campaign that will be self contained and with a great story - you get cards in the campaign and unlock new ones when you progress in the game - you don't have to do PVP at all to be able to enjoy Gwent. You pay once for the single player and enjoy a great story done by writers and quest designers from W3.
I hope this clarifies our stance on things.
Microtransactions don't have to just be purchasing virtual currency with real currency or whatever else.
When Marcin Iwinski says we video gamers have to hold on tight to our wallets because so many video games are sold with so many pieces of DLC's that have one sword or five maps in a map pack. I still take it that he doesn't like that business model.
I know there are tens of millions of people on this planet who cannot afford $10 dollars (USD) at all.
If I can purchase the singleplayer campaign then that's what I'm ok with. The multiplayer of GWENT: The WItcher card video game I will just ignore and never play.