"Let's not preorder games anymore..."

[thilanliyan]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/18/editorial-lets-not-pre-order-games-any-more-eh/

Last game I preordered was Witcher 2 and don't regret that, but I think the author is correct. You're not missing a lot by waiting until released, except the positive consequence of not preordering a crappy game. Some games I would preorder to support the studio (like CDPR), but most I wouldn't.

 

[JTsyo]

Only reason I pre-order is if there's a good deal. Most games I'm willing to wait a year to get them on sale.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

There are only a few devs left that I trust to actually preorder. DICE is about it at this point.

Luckily I don't have nearly as much time to play games anymore so the temptation to preorder to play on day one is almost gone at this point.

 

[velillen]

I rarely preorder anymore as i dont play games to often. I preordered Mass Effect 3 but didnt play it for like 6 months, in which case i could have gotten it for 40 bucks anyways, but i got the 20 buck amazon promo

If i do its almost always with a deal such as amazon's $20 promo credit

 

[Canun]

I pre-ordered a few games. Some were worth it like X-Com and borderlands 2. Others haven't been, and there really isn't a benefit to pre-ordering. Now, on Amazon for BL2,I got 10% off, and a $10 gift card. That made it worth it.

 

[darkewaffle]

I will if there's a discount or it's a game I'm really intent on getting (like the new FFXI expansion) but otherwise I don't care. At the same time I don't think it's a big problem either, I think most people who pre-order would end up buying anyway even in the absence of a pre-order.

 

[Stuka87]

I pre-order games that I am looking forward. SimCity 5 is the most disappointing of that bunch. I was able to play the day after release (day of release was a no go), but the game itself has not been nearly as good as I had hoped.

BF3 pre-order I was very happy with, ME3 pre-order I was very happy with, Diablo 3 had some hickups, but over all was fine. Most recently was Heart of the Swarm, very happy with it. Next up is BioShock 3, really looking forward to it.

 

[imaheadcase]

Easy solution, bring back game demos and forget DLC.

 

[Stuka87]

Easy solution, bring back game demos and forget DLC.

Steam thankfully has demo's for a lot of games. But none of the AAA titles have demos these days. Would be really nice if they did. But they may lose sales when people find out how bad some of them are.

 

[blurredvision]

If Amazon offers me a $20 credit for a game I know I'm going to buy anyway or find worth $40, I'm pre-ordering it. Don't care what kind of bandwagon gamers are trying to create.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Agreed if it's not a sure thing with something special about it preordering is a suckers bet. I've been snookered far too many times. I generally refuse to buy anything risky unless it has a demo or its super cheap, like $10 max.

 

[you2]

I preorder (which amounts to paying full price) if there is a particular developer I want to support or a very attractive deal. The last two games I preorder were witcher 2 (very happy with how the developers support the game *long* after release) and tomb raider (good deal from amazon @33). I would never preorder a game from EA for example and these days very rarely purchase from them. Right now I think cd-projec, Larien (divinity), trump (age of wonder), square eq and the various non-small kick start folks (xile, obsidian) are the only 'big' developers I'll preorder. Why? Because they support the games after they come out; the games tend to be enjoyable and they aren't doing this crap with locking the game to their platform, online drm, destroying game play and such.
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The article is basically correct but the truth is that if we want AAA block busters we can't all buy them at $5. They cost too much. Having said that - no one should have pre-order simcity as soon as online drm was mentioned - from Dragon Age limited on-line drm it should be obvious that EA will *only* screw the customer (dragon's age on-line drm is still freaking broken - no clue why they don't go back and patch it out but that's another indication the problem is with EA not the pre-orders).

 

[lupi]

with dlc these days I tend to wait till the compilation edition is released.

 

[imaheadcase]

Actually, if they offered instant refunds on stacked levels for games that would be just as good. Like if you bought sim city if you wanted instant refund in the first 2 hours you got %100 back, 4 hours %90, 6 hours %75 back or something along those lines that would also work.

So many people base a game on what others think, be it reviews or hype. That would eliminate the felling of "wasting" money on a game based on what others thought of it and you just hated it (I'm looking at you pathetic black ops series).

I bought countless games that i played for 2 hours and was like "this is crap".

 

[Pandora's Box]

Steams new pre-order bonus system is pretty nice imo. Bioshock Infinite with X-Com for free was pretty damned nice.

 

[Dankk]

No. It's my money and I'll spend it however I like.

 

[Aikouka]

Pre-ordering only screws over those that buy the game digitally. Even if you pre-order a boxed copy through Amazon and read tons of scathing reviews, you can just file a return. Amazon even pays for the return shipping, so the only cost to you is the disappointment.

EDIT:

Of course, this assumes that you read said scathing reviews prior to opening the game!

 

[thujone]

i think it's a great idea to not preorder simply because if there's a certain reward you want from a deluxe package/specific preorder... chances are they'll make WAY too many of those packages and will eventually sell them at discount to get rid of them.

or you can just ebay it from others

 

[blackened23]

Lonbjerg told me to not pre-order ARMA 3. Because the engine is terrible. As difficult as it was to accept, i've decided to not pre-order.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

yeah i dont see the appeal to preorder now that everything is usually available in unlimited quantities via download. not like the old days where stores might not have copies.

special limited edition content, preorder sales, could be good reasons to buy though.

if cost is the biggest purchasing factor the best idea is just to wait for a better sale after the game has been out for a while. if the game turns out to be a dud you end up saving even more money....

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Lonbjerg told me to not pre-order ARMA 3. Because the engine is terrible. As difficult as it was to accept, i've decided to not pre-order.

It's not much prettier than Arma 2, but it does run a little better. Judging by how many mods are already ported to it, I'd have to say it's at least 80% the same game. That said, there's no way I'm not having it. It's like the new quake or half-life. Mods and total conversions will make this game. So I got it for $25 instead of $50-$60 when it's released.

 

[Texashiker]

Besides left 4 dead 2 and portal 2, I have not preordered since doom 3 and quake 4.

Doom 3 and quake 4 were so bad, I almost stopped gaming.

 

[BladeVenom]

Except for Kickstarter and independent studios who need the money before the game is complete.

 

[CWRMadcat]

Yeah there's really no logical reason to pre-order unless you're getting a significant cash discount on the price of the game. Given the piles of crap that publishers have been churning out, it's not worth the risk.

 

[Red Storm]

Pre-ordering made more sense during the retail box days of PC gaming. You pre-ordered the next big game release cause otherwise it would be out of stock and you wouldn't be able to play for a while. That was the culture and what people were used to. Now in the Steam Age we don't do that stuff anymore, so games are only pre-ordered if they come with early beta access and/or cash discounts or bundled items.