Poll: When do you purchase your game?

[Vendor-Lazarus]

I hear a lot of talk about the supposed power of the consumer in deciding which games become popular and successful.
Granted, this would depend on the consumer being entirely knowledgeable about the product beforehand and being able to form an educated opinion.

Many would lament the prevalence of DRM in today's games (me among them) and the widely popular brown shooter with brown-haired protagonist.
You could also add the dubious DLC and Micro-transactions found in games.
The list goes on.

Do you think you participate in propagating any such practices?
If you do, would you mind explaining why you make an exception in certain cases?

To reiterate: So, when do you purchase your game?


As a fun but entirely skewed analysis I've included The Poll (Escapist Poster Version).

*EDIT*

Doi & Duh. I entirely forgot to mention my own practices. Apologies.

I never buy any game with Online Activation or worse.
I usually buy games on sale for either GOTY/Complete edition or 3 for 99kr each.
My purchasing habits tend to be cautious and after trying it out or reading/watching a lot about it beforehand.

 

[The_Lost_King]

It really depends on the game. If I am excited I'll pre-order. Anything else is wait for reviews.Luckily I don't get excited by games all that much(especially Ubisoft's) so I haven't had to deal with a bad pre-order.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

If I am a fan of the series a game belongs to, or I am just looking forward to the game, I buy it on launch. I don't care how bad word of mouth is or what reviews say. The only time I felt like I really got burned on this would be Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Every other time--including Colonial Marines--I felt like I had enough fun to justify my purchase. Examples would be Bloodborne coming out, Dragon Age II and Inquisition, the Final Fantasy series (except MMOs), and stuff like that.

Now, if I know nothing about the game or its series, I will wait for reviews. A good example of that right now is Dying Light. It came out on Tuesday, and yet people aren't talking about it or reviewing it just yet (long story behind that second one). From what I've seen, this game looks like it will be a fun co op game for me and my friend, but I haven't seen or read anything that makes me go, "Oooooh, I want that now." As such, I'm probably going to wait until it drops in price a bit.

 

[Summerstorm]

Depends.

I am an Early-Access supporter - but for that to put my money down it has to be really promising - and active.
So far i am very happy with Mount & Blade (They did early access before that was abig Thing) Neo Scavanger, Long Dark, Starsector (formaly Starfarer), Kenshi, Kerbal Space Program and a lot of others. A few did disappoint though (I do have a Steam-Folder which is called WHYDIDIBUYTHIS?)

The rest i usually buy on sale or from a bargain bin.

Can't remember the last game where i paid full price just after release - usually i get my games a year later or so.

 

[go-10]

unless it's from kickstarter, which by default gets me the game on release day. I buy games when they go on sale OR in the case of fighting games I buy them when the 2nd version comes out

 

[DocJ]

I bought some big triple A titles recently, only to find out my computer isn't actually fast enough to play them well. As such they are usually a waste of my money.

 

[Mezahmay]

As a college student, I don't really have the time or money to buy games new. I wait for holiday sales to buy a GOTY edition. Unless it's an indie game. I can generally afford those within the first few months of launch if I'm interested enough.

 

[Ravenbom]

Just thinking about my Steam account I'd have to say I mostly purchase games on sale. Too many Humble Bundles and Steam sales to pass up even knowing I might never finish or play past the first hour.

I tend to wait for sales on consoles as well since I'm not a big multiplayer gamer, I figure I might as well wait to get it used on Amazon.
Doesn't matter with Nintendo since the game pretty much has to have a sequel out before they discount it so might as well buy day one, while Ubisoft tends to slash their games from $60 to $40 if it's not Assassin's Creed in a month or two.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

unless it's from kickstarter, which by default gets me the game on release day. I buy games when they go on sale OR in the case of fighting games I buy them when the 2nd version comes out

Right, I forgot about Kickstarter games.
They could be classified as Early Access though, I think.

 

[Smooth Operator]

When the price point and package match, if you got a really solid completed game on day one I have no reservations buying that, but if I am greeted with a wall of DLC and bugs I'll come back months if not years later.

 

[laggyteabag]

I either pre-order, or I get games on sale. Hardly ever in-between. If I am super excited for a game and I trust who is making it, I will pre-order it, otherwise I will just get it during the Steam sale.

Come to think of it, I don't think that I have ever purchased a game on launch day that I didn't pre-order.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I have found my backlog so big now that I only get games when they are on sale. The game is just as good down the line as when it was released, so I like to wait now.

That and Steam Sales and HumbleBundle... Lots and lots of Steam Sales and HumbleBundle.

 

[Marik2]

I just wait when the complete GOTY edition is on sale. The game would feel more complete and it would be cheaper than the first version that didn't have much content.

 

[Aerosteam]

On sale, obviously. If there is a complete edition available, I'll wait for a sale on that because I'm a cheap ************.

 

[tilmoph]

On sale, which usually means a GOTY or complete edition. By the time these roll around, I've got enough information too know if it's worth a buy or not. I also can know all the patches and updates have been applied, so game killing bugs should be worked out. The only thing I'll buy blind is something in the $5 and under range, and only if it sounds really neat. I don't do early access or beta versions of things; I just don't trust them. I have no problem waiting for the game to be done to buy it. I also don't pre-order. This is partly to avoid dealing with day one issues, partly due to an aversion to buying games blind, and partly an unwillingness to pay full price for pretty much anything, since I know I'll be able to get it way cheaper if I wait.

 

[FC Groningen]

It's not my way of considering to buy something or not. I personally have a golden rule; I made a good purchase if I spent at least 1 hour on the game for each ?1- I pay for it. So, what usually happens is that I wait for a game to come out, read a few reviews, ask around, watch someone play it online and then decide on whether I want it or not. If so, it doesn't have to be on sale either.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

I picked the "I just want to vote" option, because my buying habits change depending on the game.

Most of the time, I'll wait a bit to pick up a game. That way, I have an opportunity to check out reviews/Let's Plays of the game to see whether or not it is worth my money. If it isn't, but isn't a complete pile of garbage, I'll wait for it to go on sale.

Occasionally, a game will be released by a company that has done nothing but put out solid gold (Atlus and Persona 5, for instance). In that case, I'll get the game on launch day, and I might even pre-order it.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I don't really like Pre-orders anymore, unless its for a game I'm ten kinds of excited for. For example, I did preorder the collectors edition of Mass Effect 3. And the collectors edition of Space Marine. But truly, that was it.

I usually just wait for the sales or something

 

[FoolKiller]

For digital I never exceed $10 per game. EVER.

For physical its a bit different. I buy a lot of stuff when it goes down in price but there are two franchises I always buy day 1.

I also sometimes pick up games early.

Assassin's Creed: Unity - got it day 1. Made me sad as I've liked all the other ones in the series. This was just a disaster.
Sunset Overdrive - got it day 1. Loved it. It just looked awesome.
Saints Row IV - waited till it came out in the Re-Elected package. Loved it.

It just changes based on my desire to play something and what I like at that moment.

 

[SoreWristed]

If i want them beforehand, i'll buy them just long enough after release for the first unbiased and user reviews to appear. I'll sometimes refrain from buying if these turn out bad. Like with Watch_dogs, i'm glad i never payed full price for that, and i'll only buy it if i find it reasonably priced secondhand.

If i don't want it before release, i'll pick it up during a sale. Most of my purchases during sales are impulse buys anyway.