Poll

Do you pre-order games, and do you think it is helping the gaming industry?

I am FOR pre-ordering games. (List reason below)
I am AGAINST pre-ordering games. (List reason below)

Author Topic: Pre-Ordering Games, or: How The Bad Practices of the Gaming Industry Are Winning  (Read 2196 times)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf5Uj4XIT1Y

Not only this video, but your opinion on pre-ordering games.

In my humble, honest opinion: I couldn't agree more with what TB says in the video. I have only pre-ordered one game (Counter Strike: Global Offensive) and I had decent justification to do so because I know Valve would never forget me over. Even in that case, the game is good but still has a lot of flaws. Nevertheless I would never, and have never ended up pre-ordering games because I want extra content, even CS:GO never offered that - I simply pre-ordered it because I didn't want to have to remember to go and buy it, and just have it download the minute it was released (also to avoid long download times due to heavy traffic).

But, in this thread, I will allow and request your opinions on the matter of what I believe, and many others believe, is what is slowly murdering the gaming industry.

I'll add a poll. Try to keep this to a mature and reasonable debate.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 01:35:31 PM by MackTheHunter »

Poll doesn't work for me. I've preordered games but I don't support the extra content bullstuff.

Poll is horribly biased.

why anyone would buy something without knowing it will be good or bad is beyond me

it's like going to a restaurant and ordering the mystery meat

Poll doesn't work for me. I've preordered games but I don't support the extra content bullstuff.

Me too.

I despise it when the developers create content for the game, but the only way to get it all is to buy it from multiple stores. Even then it's not worth it.

I've pre-ordered GTA V from the Rockstar Warehouse, partly because that's my favorite franchise and I just love the stories they tell. I'm not getting any special content from doing that, whatsoever. Come around September, it will be shipped for arrival on the 17th. There's also the chance that when they ship it anticipating the release date, I could get it a day or so early.

if you have a problem with preordering don't do it?

Poll is horribly biased.
Poll doesn't work for me. I've preordered games but I don't support the extra content bullstuff.

Edited poll to be less biased, I'd rather have you guys post your opinions on the matter.

if you have a problem with preordering don't do it?
i'm assuming op is pissed about pre-order bonuses that you can only get from pre-orders

Pre-ordering helps fund games.  Also TB is an overly cynical starfish.  He just goes with a "screw the system" attitude and because he has an accent, people eat it up.  Of course don't pre-order a game you don't expect will be good, and of course there are incentives for pre-ordering digital downloads, the developer wants more money to work with, so they try to persuade you to pre-order the game with a discount or bonus.

I've grown extremely tired of seeing this video.  Every forum I go on has at least one topic involving this stuff.  If someone wants to pre-order a game, or make a topic related to a game being up for pre-order, they shouldn't have to see this link thrown in their face.  This wasn't a major concern to anyone until TB made that video.  If someone wants to pre-order a game, then they want to and shouldn't have a pile of Total Biscuit fantards stuffting this link all over the place.

TB is an overly cynical starfish.

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And his tagline is the Cynical Brit. He markets his opinion as that of an overly cynical starfish.

Pre-ordering helps fund games.  Also TB is an overly cynical starfish.  He just goes with a "screw the system" attitude and because he has an accent, people eat it up.  Of course don't pre-order a game you don't expect will be good, and of course there are incentives for pre-ordering digital downloads, the developer wants more money to work with, so they try to persuade you to pre-order the game with a discount or bonus.
Not really, pre-orders are mostly available when the game is almost ready for release or even when they are ready for release.
If they really funded the game with something like that, it would be a kickstarted game.
These games actually get funded with pre-order like things.
However in this case you actually fund the game.

Real pre-orders are just early sales.
Sales before the game even came out.
Chances are that some people wouldn't have gotten the game if they had seen a review of it, but they already preordered it, because the game looked cool or something.

The biggest example and the main reason for the time of TB's video is of course, Aliens: Colonial Marines.
I have played AVP and i quite liked it, though it had some bugs and other stuff that just didn't make it a game which i really liked.
The concept behind it, the whole idea of being a marine fending off aliens who try to kill you in that style was really something i liked.

When i heard about Aliens: Colonial Marines and heard it was from Gearbox (the guys behind a game which is pretty solid IMO: Borderlands), i was really excited.
Not only was it an Aliens game, but it was from Gearbox!
I expected good things!

I nearly pre-ordered it if it wasn't for a friend of mine to tell me to wait.
That and the price was a bit steep, so i just waited until after the release, maybe it would go on sale next Steam sale or something.
But when i heard so many bad things about that game...
I really knew i escaped blowing like what,50 to 60 bucks away to something i wouldn't like after all!

I already have had bad experiences with pre-orders.
I pre-ordered Saints Row the Third.
From what i had seen and heard it was going to be amazing.
But afterwards, it wasn't really how i expected it to be.

If i had seen reviews of it, i would've avoided it, 100% sure.

So yeah, pre-orders are quite bad.
But if they really would fund the game, it would be good.
But now they are just.. Pre-sales.

Now if Age of Wonders 3 is going to be a pre-order type game, i am certainly going to pre-order it.
That is because i am a fan boy of the genre and i expect good things.
However, some rumors i have heard were not really appealing.
However, the concept of the game, a fantasy strategy game with heroes to level up and spells and stuff, really appeals me.
I expect good things, but who knows.
I might be very disappointed afterwards.

That is the risk with pre-orders.
The game might end up sucking and they do not fund the game mostly.
It is just being used as a way to sell the game before it is out.
And in the case of Aliens: Colonial Marines, they really seemed to have tricked people into pre-ordering the game, since what they showed beforehand, didn't match the game after it's release at all.
Some say the demo was even something completely different, like it was developed aside of the game, just to make sure that people would love it.

I'm kind of neutral on it. If I'm absolutely positive the game is going to be good, and there's bonus content for pre-ordering then sure.

but otherwise nothx?

Even though my above post might be very hostile towards the whole point of pre-orders, i am actually neutral, maybe even positive towards pre-ordering.
I don't see a reason why the concept of pre-ordering is bad.
The fact that you don't have any reviews to rely on is just a constant risk that you might buy something which you won't like.

Though i fear, it is being used very deceptively and as therefor should actually be stopped or changed in some way.
There are quite some people who eventually end up buying something they don't like.
Of course this can also happen if you just don't look at reviews, but if you really don't get what you got showed, it is unfair.
Especially if what you showed didn't match the eventual result.

I've only Pre-ordered X-Com: Enemy Unknown and Halo 4. EU for Civ V and TF2 items, Halo 4 because I didn't want to wait in line on launch date (And I wanted to continue leveling up after level 70 without waiting a few months.)