Preorders: Have you been screwed?

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Like I said in the comments of the video, I pre-order because I'm part of the Hardworking Middle-class Console Race that holds the whole gaming empire together while those of the oh so glorious, ridiculously expensive, PC "master" race sit around enjoying tax loopholes and exploiting the REAL patriots of our people for their own overpriced, unintuitive gains.

...Wait what was this about?

Oh right.

Anyway, I pre-order for 2 reasons:

1) I can put 5 bucks down on a game. That's a small enough risk for me.

2) Midnight releases. Halo 3, ME3, Borderlands 2. These are some of the best experiences I have ever had and I wouldn't miss them for anything.

 

[Nazulu]

I used to pre-order (as in shops), then Tiberium Wars happened. Every single pre-order before turned out absolutely great, but I just don't trust these company's at all any more. So I research every thing before I even consider it now.

 

[Gunner 51]

Hmm, OP - you made me think a bit.
So long as the pre-order is handled more like a refundable security deposit, I see no problem in it. But more often than not, the retailers are sly sons of guns and make it non-refundable. (Surely illegal?)

But what makes it morally low is the publisher issued press embargo on the games - with people not knowing what it is they're buying until they buy it, they're slapping down their five quid down on what is essentially a gamble.

Both the publishers and retailers are playing tit for tat and all gamers will always end up getting screwed over by both in some capacity. One's best bet to avoid being screwed over is to wait a few months after release date - but publisher advertising with peer pressure tests the most iron cast of wills.

Perhaps the upcoming gaming crash might shake things up a bit and make publishers and retailers realise that gamers aren't made of money.

 

[Candidus]

I don't think I've been screwed too many times. Or at all. I didn't pre-order A:CM because the last licensed Aliens game was super-average Steam Sale fodder. That iceburg was eaaasy to dodge. Everyone should have been able to save £30 there, sorry.

But I do preorder games occasionally. The Witcher 2 CE. Sword of the Stars II. Baldur's Gate EE. Heart of the Swarm.

Of those, I was initially burned by Kerberos's effort with Sword of the Stars II. This game retailed for £30 while neglecting to mention that it was in a poor alpha state with basics like the options menu yet to be implemented. However, I can't say that I regret the purchase in retrospect because A) they offered me a refund (even through Steam), which I turned down because I was pretty sure why the debacle had gone down and B) The game is now the best science fiction TBS I own.

In general, I don't regret preordering games as often as I'd regret not having goodies like Geralt's sexy little bust.

 

[SweetShark]

Nope, I was always spot on when I preorder a game.
Some examples are Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 and X-com.
But most of the times I wait first to read a review and search on interner before make a decision.

 

[Epicspoon]

I don't think I've ever felt screwed over on a pre-order in my entire life. Consequently I have never felt screwed over from a games special edition before either.

 

[Project_Xii]

Well, given that I work at a games store, I can pretty much return something I don't like within a week quite easily, so the number of games I get that screw me over are minimal. There are some things you can't return, however. Namely PC games with one use codes and collectors edition. My biggest "screwed over" games in memory:

* Hellgate: London - The biggest clusterfuck in gaming history? I'd consider it mine.
* Dante's Inferno: Death Edition - Used the code for the Dead Space skin, never used the skin, finished the game, didn't like it, trade value was 1/10 the price. Goddam it.
* Diablo 3 - Had I been able to return this collectors edition, I would have, since it was all garbage. Sadly, thanks to battle.net, that is not possible. Instead I just have to make do using the box as a prop to keep my blu ray player off the floor, and the game disc as a coaster. Bummer.
* Dishonoured - Ok, so it's not a bad game persay. I just had interest in it in the negative digits. However, I really really wanted the collectors edition Tarot cards. Sigh.

and, the most recent edition:
* Aliens: Colonial Marines Collectors - The worst looking, worst playing, most poorly written shooter, only slightly above Duke Nukem. And it had a kick ass statue of an Alien fighting a Power Loader. Why?! Why gods why!! I couldn't bring myself to part with it. Kept the collectors stuff, traded the game in the next day for pittens. Amusingly, because of the street date break her in Australia, I'd literally bought, played, and traded the game back 3 whole days before the rest of the world had even seen it on the shelves. I tried to warn people... they wouldn't listen! They just wouldn't listen!!!

 

[Zanderinfal]

I've preordered only once, but I was pretty happy about it. It was Crysis 2 on PS3, and surprisingly it was what I was expecting. So as of now no, not yet.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

If next gen consoles introduce a system that blocks used game sales, I think people will not pre-order as much as they used to. I rarely pre-order games because I'm a PC gamer and I can't sell them. And I know a lot of PC gamers who do the same.

The only game I pre-ordered this year is Bioshock: Infinite. And the only other one I'm interested in pre-ordering is The Witcher 3. Basically sequels to series I always enjoyed from a company that always delivered an excellent product.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I've never preordered a game because I never buy on launch, and never buy from retailers (Australia, fuck yeah?), but I know what it's like to be certain of buying a game regardless of what reviews say (the Armored Core series gets pretty much consistently bad reviews), so I can understand preordering especially if there's an incentive involved (why would you forgo something for nothing?). But in cases where you haven't seen gameplay, it's probably not worth it for a weapon or skin. And of course I despise shop-specific bonuses and the whole practice of extra content for any reason being available at launch.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I still plan to pre-order Project X Zone. Mostly because A) I can just put down a deposit on it, B) Japanese copies have been reviewed in a few English-speaking places and they're generally pretty happy, C) I doubt that a lot of copies will be released in English, so I'd probably better make sure I can get one at all.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

Yes. Oh hells yes. I preordered Soul Calibur 5, Saints Row 3, Assassin's Creed 3, plenty of others
then I get home and find that I hate my new game. SC5 has grown on me, somewhat, since even though its story is terrible the lack of even basic character profiles makes the cast unrelatable, and there aren't as many characters who are just fun to PLAY, the character creation mode is pretty nice, and the actual fighting mechanics are miles above SC4. But it isn't worth the 60 I paid for it, not to me.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

-Skyrim; Arguably screwed. Spent a lot of time with it, but didn't enjoy it all that much

I'm sorry, but WTF? Arguably screwed? What does that even mean? There were hours upon hours of gameplay footage available of the game way before it was released. There were zero pre-order bonuses, didn't matter which retailer you bought it from. There was no Day 1 DLC witheld from the game. It was universally acclaimed and won several GotY awards. It's patched regularly and still supported 15 months on with fixes, content and DLC.

Unless you played it for less than 2 hours, or bought it randomly without any idea of what you were buying and are now filled with the worst case of regret and "buyer's remorse" ever, you were not even remotely "screwed". Listing that you were "screwed" by acclaimed, AAA titles from established developers that offered plenty of insight into their games is not it. You may not have liked a game, but chances are you would have bought them after release if you hadn't pre-ordered.

 

[MortisLegio]

I have preordered several games in my time and after A:CM (did it for the collector's edition) I will never preorder again. I'm getting tired of buying bad games (I know it's my fault that I bought into the hype) and I don't plan on buying anymore of them.

 

[The Lugz]

i'm a cheap ass except for a few franchises i really enjoy if a game isn't on my big top 10 then it's steam sale, amazon or i don't bother

obviously if you simply can't wait for something pre order it, but that shouldn't be the state of play for every game imo

 

[Frybird]

I preorder all the time, although it's all mailorder, i couldn't be bothered to give out 5 ? to a gamestop just so they can't screw me over when i come on release date to buy it (also i buy almost exclusively from the UK because it's cheaper).

Most of the time it works out well (Well, some games turn out to be more "meh" than others, AC3 for example), but i still messed up every now and then.

Biggest failure yet: Alone in the Dark (that new one).
I was SO convinced this would be the game of the year, so i got the collectors edition and everything. Unfortunately, it took me a while until i finally could admit to myself that the game just sucks, and as such i never managed to re-sell it. The bulky box still remains in my home to this day, a shameful reminder of me having no patience when buying stuff. Well, at least the Soundtrack CD was kinda neat.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I have only ever preordered 2 games: Diablo III and Borderlands 2. The first one because it had a contest with a killer gaming PC as the main prize, and the second one because I was the first one's *****, and knew I was going to be the second one's. Eventually regretted neither of those, despite initially being more than slightly disappointed with D3.

I've never really understood the point of preorders aside from preordering special editions, in which case I understand the desire to get all the extra stuff. It just seems implausible to me that someone is so excited for a game and so impatient that they can't wait for a few days after its release to see reviews, but simply has to be able to play the instant it hits stores. Preordering digital copies is simply insane, I cannot for the life of me think of any reason for it.

But I was actually screwed with my preorder of BL2. I had the premier club edition, but despite having owned it for almost 6 months, THE CONTENT NEVER SHOWED UP. I wasn't pissed enough to do something about it, since I already feel I got my money's worth (and then some) with that game. But it still occasionally itches in my memory as an annoyance.

Biggest failure yet: Alone in the Dark (that new one).
I was SO convinced this would be the game of the year, so i got the collectors edition and everything. Unfortunately, it took me a while until i finally could admit to myself that the game just sucks, and as such i never managed to re-sell it. The bulky box still remains in my home to this day, a shameful reminder of me having no patience when buying stuff. Well, at least the Soundtrack CD was kinda neat.

You just put to words the reason I almost never preorder games. Also, I once saw entire boxes full of Alone in the Dark's special editions, tucked under a table in a store. It was so tragic yet also so funny at the same time.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

No, I don't really preorder...

In the retail store where I buy all my games "preorder" means "reserve a copy for pickup" if you so choose (you can also have it shipped by mail, with payment upon delivery). You don't have to pay anything in advance and can cancel your reservation at any time - a great system to if you want to avoid buying disasters like DNF.

In today's world, where you can't trust anyone to deliver a quality product, forking over your money in advance is just foolish.

 

[Harlemura]

My pre-order of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood got messed up so it got here like a week after it was released, but the game itself was pretty good so that doesn't count.
Only game I pre-ordered that sucked I can think of is Street Fighter X Tekken. But even then it wasn't that bad and it has been patched and updated so that it doesn't suck as much, so I guess that doesn't count either.

I don't pre-order games all that much though, but that's down to waiting for the price to drop more than waiting for reviews.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

The only game I can think off was Dungeon Siege 3, that game had consolitis in a bad way.