Pre-orders

[Noobc0re]

What do you think of pre-orders?

Which camp do you fall into?

The "Never pre-order!" camp?

The "Oh, I usually don't pre-order...but I can trust this dev..." camp?

or the "I don't have a problem with pre-orders." camp?

[fenrif]

No one should ever pre-order a video game. Any game that incentivised pre-orders with in-game items should be regarded with the highest of suspicion.

[SnarkyJay]

I rarely, if ever preorder games. The only game I have preordered in recent memory was Dark Souls 2. There was some exclusive weapons and some collectible keychains or something, and I was a big fan of the franchise and wanted all the extras that came with it. Now that I think about it, I also preordered Persona 5 because I wanted the crap that came with the day one edition. Both those game franchises are reliably good, so I don't feel bad about preordering for them. Other than that, I just buy the game when it comes out.

[twidget]

Never pre-order.

[Baron Baldric]

Never ever.

[aileron]

Nope. Never. I don't like to pay full price and I like to see reviews, let's plays, etc before buying. I Kickstarted a video game once and had to wait years for it which is kind of similar to a pre order I guess. I'm not sure how early people typically pre order a game.

Also, wasn't there another thread about this?

[Noobc0re]

Oh, was there? I only checked the first 5 or 6 pages, and I haven't seen any since I started hanging out on these forums. Sorry if I'm repeating topics.

[aileron]

No problem. I don't mind it that much. It's early days and new people are joining all the time. I don't expect them to read all the old threads before posting.

[Astraea]

I never pre-order anymore, but I don't care that it exists. I used to, but this generation has ruined it for me with all the AAA mess ups. I'm also jabbing at Sony here, as a lifetime Playstation gamer I have seen every generation of PS and they always had a reliable and consistent quality assurance that had to be met to be released on their platform. But since ps4 i've seen games being released in early access, sub 30 fps, bugged to hell and what not. The days of pre-ordering my playstation games are over.

[JackofTears]

The only reason to preorder games is for the incentives. Typically, this isn't enough to entice me, but if it is a game I fully expect that I'll love and one of the perks is early access ... well, I've done it in the past. That's the only way they can get people to preorder in this era where we have a constant stream of new games coming out and internet downloads mean nobody has to worry about missing a release. They want to show stockholders they have a guaranteed X number of sales, even before the game hits markets, and the way to do that is to incentivize preorders in any way you can. I don't mind the practice, from that angle, so long as I'm still getting access to the full game if I chose not to preorder, and if I do get early access the game I receive is actually finished - I don't want to pay for the honor of bug testing your game.

"Shadow of the Tomb Raider" and "AC: Odyssey" both offered three day early access for preorders, so I ordered the game two days prior to release and paid 15 more dollars to play the game early. Since I enjoyed both games as much as I expected (well, TR was a little disappointing) and I had the money, I didn't mind doing so.

When "Cyberpunk 2077" becomes available for preorder, I'll probably jump right on that one, since I trust the publisher to deliver an awesome game.

Most of the time, however, I avoid preorders. I have to feel very confident about my purchase, and eager for a game, to be lured into such a thing.

[gbullock32]

Back in the PS2, Xbox, and PS3 and Xbox 360 days I pre-ordered a lot and even went to many midnight released. Halo 2 and 3, GoW 2 and 3, Uncharted, Skyrim, Fallout NV, and many others; times have changed though. No longer do I care to pre-order unless I really trust the Dev and want the game enough to not wait for reviews.

I pre-ordered Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 but those were the only 2 I have pre-ordered in years now. I will pre-order Cyberpunk 77 and probably Rebel Galaxy Outlaw and The Outer Worlds but that's all.

[Doom Video Vault]

Rarely, if ever anymore in this absurd gaming atmosphere.

[CuppaJoe]

Anyone that preorders deserves to get ripped off. Star Citizen prime example.

[GermanCrayon664]

I never pre-ordered a game because I wait for trusted reviewers to say if its worth it or not

[TelperionST]

The "Oh, I usually don't pre-order...but I can trust this dev..." camp?

I'm definitely in this camp, but I read developer blogs and development diaries almost religiously, so it's not like I'm buying something sight unseen.

But, yeah, for the most part I don't pre-order.

I also dislike buying Early Access games, unless if I can see someone playing the game for hundreds of hours on YouTube and I like what I'm seeing.

[Damian Cunliffe]

I still like to buy my games as a physical thing, with a disk in a box, if possible, so if there's a game I'm really excited for (like for example the Resident Evil 2 remake), I will pre-order it to make sure I get my copy on release day.

It's very rare that I pre-order though. I usually have a backlog of games to get through so I only ever do it when I know for sure I'm going to play the hell out of this game as soon as it arrives. Otherwise I usually buy games months or years after they release.

[isturbo1984]

I'm not in any "camp" here. Its a practice that has been abused over the years. But I still pre-order maybe one game a year. Otherwise, I would advise against it for a metric fuckton of reasons. But for people who are saying there is "no reason" to pre-order.... really? Like really? No reason? How about availability? I went to pre-order A Way Out (good game) just last year in 2018 and decided against it at the last second. I went to Best Buy to pick it up and they only had three free copies floating around besides specific pre-orders. Three. I had to go to GameStop to buy it for $5 extra. Gamestop! Enter: "no reason to shop at GameStop ever!" argument. Make up your minds, lol.