A look at preorders

[Nella_Bolt]

No Man's Sky and Fallout 76. Two games that I'm all too familiar with and have both had disastrous releases, and both being games that could be pre-ordered with extra goodies. One had false pretenses while the other just came out as a piece of crap that people didn't really expect to be a game in the first place. This of course made a lot of people feel like they were cheated out, which is an understandable reaction. Have there been other games with a similar fashion?
It all kind of brings me to the topic of ATOMIC HEART, an FPS RPG set in Russia within an alternate universe. You play as an agent who's sent out to a facility due to some technology going offline for various unknown reasons. The game play looks solid, the graphics don't seem to be the most up to date but they look great regardless, and I'm pretty interested in the whole design and story around the game so far. This too, is in pre order, for a number of different packages.
"UP TO 50% OFF
PRE-ORDER TODAY AND PLAY THE GAME BEFORE THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH
ATOMIC HEART BETA RELEASES ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 31, 2019"
~~It's already around half off before its even out, which is weird.~~

The many options include up to a maximum of as follows. ACCESS TO BETA VERSION IN Q4 2019

ONLY FOR FOUNDERS
FULL GAME
DIGITAL COPY FOR PS4 OR PC (STEAM)
EARLY ACCESS
ACCESS TO FULL GAME 7 DAYS BEFORE THE LAUNCH
DIGITAL GOODS
BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO, SOUNDTRACK, ART BOOK FOUNDER'S BADGE IN YOUR IN-GAME PROFILE

SO EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE A FOUNDER UNIQUE IN-GAME FOUNDER’S MASK

ONLY FOR FOUNDERS ACCESS TO PRIVATE DISCORD CHANNEL
THE PRIVATE CHANNEL FOR BAKERS WHERE YOU CAN TALK WITH THE DEVELOPER

PERSONAL IN-GAME ID WITH ACCESS TO A UNIQUE LOCATION PERSONAL ID OF THE FACILITY 3826 EMPLOYEE WITH YOUR PHOTO, THAT GRANTS ACCESS TO A UNIQUE LOCATION
YOUR PHOTO AND NAME PLACED ON THE WALL AT THE SAFE ZONE

ALL PLAYERS WILL SEE THAT YOU SUPPORT ATOMIC HEART FROM THE START There are certainly a lot of offers here but is it worth it I wonder? I enjoy the idea of talking about the game with the developer and such but what does that really entail? What more does it get you? If you're really into the game the founders mask, face picture, and unique location are cool but it seems like some rather ballooned offers that aren't actually as fancy as they seem.
Now obviously you don't have to get all of this; there are 3 different pre order options to pick from with increasing bonuses.

What does anyone else think?

[Kashimi]

The first game that comes to mind to me is Sacred 2.

I pre-ordered this game thinking that this was going to be a great hack and slash arpg, but the game was filled with so many problems. I was so angry with that game that i never even bothered to play the 3rd one.

[Irritablesquid]

You should never pre-order anything, always wait a month or so after release.
it gives time to work out any bugs and for "trustworthy" reviews to come out.
I've only pre ordered a couple games in my life that's because I fell for the marketing, that was when I realised they just withheld content so you would think it was justified.

[ethansito]

I never do pre-orders. The closest I will get to something like that is buying an early-access game that is obviously going to be fun for me to play. Otherwise, I just wait for the game to go on sale.

You might get a shiny medal or special items, but pre-ordering games is gambling with your money. It's surprising how good developers can make a game look with cinematic trailers and ambitious roadmaps and then release garbage.

[Matias]

Pre ordering games seems like a really risky thing to do. Either you get a good game or broken mess. Just to be sure i would wait for reviews to come out so you actually know what you are getting

[Nella_Bolt]

I fell to the No Man's Sky trap and never preordered again. Before that I had only pre-ordered Pokemon Diamond and then Pokemon Platinum, neither of which I regretted.

[SckizoBoy]

I have never pre-ordered... don't really intend to start, either. I rarely buy games at full price at that, one of the few that I did do was DE:HR and I didn't regret it. I'm actually more inclined to buy multiple copies of the same game, actually. I have three copies of Mass Effect 1, three of Deus Ex, three of Rome Total War, two of Medieval II Total War, two of SW:KotOR etc... *shrug* you waste your money how you like, I guess...

[twidget]

Never pre-order.
Wait for the game to come out, be reviewed and prove it's worth the money.

[aileron]

The pre order is already discounted? That's really weird. I've never pre ordered anything. I did kickstart a game once and when it finally came out I was disappointed, although I don't regret kickstarting it.

[Spect3r]

This is a tricky issue for me.
I hate pre orders and i i blame them for the release of so many incomplete/bugs filled games.

Now, that is when it comes to gaming, because when it comes to my collection (steelbooks and AC statues) i normally end up pre ordering a lot of things because many are really limited (like Nier: Automata LE) and their prices skyrocket after they are sold out. However as i dont play 90% of the things i buy it doesnt affect me if the game is complete/no bugs or not.

So, as you see is a love/hate relationship

[aileron]

"steel books" didn't know that was a thing. Cool. Thanks.

[Spect3r]

aileron they are, starts to be a very expensive thing though :P

[aileron]

I kind of realized that when I saw them and I actually didn't even look at the price.

[Armitas]

I used to preorder MMO's because of the early access, but even that is a waste of time because nothing works at release date. ESO probably had the worst. Some people were so bugged out on release they couldn't finish the game till it got fixed a month later.

It's really disgusting that they are selling off their beta. Why do we have to pay to test your game?

[TelperionST]

I have way too many games that I can play right now. I don't have any interest in throwing money at something that may or may not be in a playable state when it launches.