Never have I been disappointed by a game I pre-ordered. I choose the games that receive that privilege quite carefully.
Preorders: Have you been screwed?
- Thread starter Tohuvabohu
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Same here. And I remember they decided to release it a day early on PC. Wtf was that all about?Euphbug said:
To be honest, there were a few moments I've had with the game when it reached levels of greatness. When the game actually played the way it was allegedly meant to play. With two full teams of people playing their classes well, and fighting for objectives... it was pretty awesome.
Unfortunately, the rampant gamebreaking bugs and horrendous rubber-banding made the game unbearable to play. It had so much promise, but in the end, thanks to the game breaking bugs and performance issues - I felt screwed.
I too pre-ordered the RE6 anthology... but I'm one of those people that actually liked RE6 lol.babinro said:
Of course having the rest of the franchise is great too.
Admittedly, this is a big reason why I pre-order. Some fairly recent preorders by me were made for this reason alone.jollybarracuda said:
Well shit, I never thought about that.Bhaalspawn said:
I'll have to start looking into this. Valve's approach for pre-orders is too damned heavy-handed, it'd be nice to make a small investment and take it back after release if I see the need to.
I remember back when I was young, I'd preorder games at dedicated game stores because they really would run out of stock.
And big box stores like Best Buy wouldn't stock new releases until several days after their release date.
But now it seems that every big box store is crammed to the brim with new releases the moment they come out, and even do midnight releases. Dedicated game stores intentionally get a small amount of shelf copies to make pre-orders seem necessary. But I can't remember the last time I wasn't able to find a game I really wanted on release day. It's been years.
Since I don't preorder too much, not really.
Well, I preordered Duke Nukem Forever, but I knew that it wasn't going to be a good game, I just wanted to get it over with (I remember how I went with my dad to an electronics store and trying to buy it, back in the nineties, so I had to get it ASAP) and also Dishonored (with a 30% off coupon at GreenManGaming).
Then I preordered some indie titles like Retro City Rampage and Legend of Grim Rock, I don't think I really got burned at all.
Well, I preordered Duke Nukem Forever, but I knew that it wasn't going to be a good game, I just wanted to get it over with (I remember how I went with my dad to an electronics store and trying to buy it, back in the nineties, so I had to get it ASAP) and also Dishonored (with a 30% off coupon at GreenManGaming).
Then I preordered some indie titles like Retro City Rampage and Legend of Grim Rock, I don't think I really got burned at all.
I have preordered one game in my life, that being Natural Selection 2. I will say I was had because I didn't read the small print, I thought I was getting access to the beta. So feeling very stupid I waited a month and a half to play it. Best game ever. Did preodering make me more excited for it? Oh yes. But would I have gone near it with a ten foot pole without the metric tonne of beta footage leaving me in no doubt what I was getting? Probably not, although the nineteen pound price encouraged me.
Watching footage of aliens:cm is just painful, the game has some of the worst clipping in an fps I've ever seen. I haven't played duke nukem forever, but based on what I've seen, I'd say it's actually the better game.
Will I ever preorder again? Indie games, maybe, especially if it gives me cheap beta access. AAA games, no chance. I'm never dropping 30 pound on something I've no clue about.
Watching footage of aliens:cm is just painful, the game has some of the worst clipping in an fps I've ever seen. I haven't played duke nukem forever, but based on what I've seen, I'd say it's actually the better game.
Will I ever preorder again? Indie games, maybe, especially if it gives me cheap beta access. AAA games, no chance. I'm never dropping 30 pound on something I've no clue about.
I wouldn't say I've ever been screwed, but the closest to that would probably be after preordering Brink. I enjoyed the game for the most part, but once the servers started drying up and I was stuck with just bots that don't act near as much like people as they marketed they would; there was no point in playing.
Most of the stuff I've pre-ordered was stuff I was gonna buy anyway. Portal 2, Pikmin 3.. I've never been screwed over by preordering and getting surprised by a bad quality game.
To my eternal shame I pre-ordered Final Fantasy X-2, because it came with a free poster (don't ask) only to be informed on the day I went to collect that the employee had lied to me and I only got the free poster if I pre-ordered the strategy guide, as well.
It didn't help that the game fucking sucked, either.
It didn't help that the game fucking sucked, either.
The one time I broke my no preorder rule was maybe 4 years ago, figured why not? Then the store I preordered from closed down (Movie Gallery was its name) and they owed me around $200 for the 3-4 games I had preordered. So I bought a bunch of garbage that I'll never play because I couldn't get my money back. Never going to preorder again, well I guess I technically "have" since then. But it's rare and only the day before release so I can preload it on steam
Well yes, because of preorders I payed 80$ for Mass Effect 3, and then played it.
That's like paying someone to kick you in the balls and then rape you with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.'
If I had any foresight I would have gladly payed someone an absorbent sum to follow me around and kick me in the balls every time I thought about buying the game in the first place. Either I'd eventually get the hint that I shouldn't be playing the game or I'd be completely numb to pain by the time I'd want to feed every Bioware employe their own beating heart.
That's like paying someone to kick you in the balls and then rape you with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.'
If I had any foresight I would have gladly payed someone an absorbent sum to follow me around and kick me in the balls every time I thought about buying the game in the first place. Either I'd eventually get the hint that I shouldn't be playing the game or I'd be completely numb to pain by the time I'd want to feed every Bioware employe their own beating heart.
The most recent examples that come to mind are Dragon Age: II, and Assassin's Creed: 3.
Both were bad sequels to good games.
Duke Nukem: Forever doesn't count, because I didn't expect it to be good. Didn't expect it to be as bad as it was though.
Both were bad sequels to good games.
Duke Nukem: Forever doesn't count, because I didn't expect it to be good. Didn't expect it to be as bad as it was though.
My brother and I have been burned by preorders before, though he still insists on day one purchases and preorders without seeing gameplay material beyond promo trailers. To be fair, he only likes a small, very specific niche of games that usually flies below mainstream radar, and so is a bit harder to disappoint.
In my case, it was One Must Fall: Battlegrounds, successor to One Must Fall 2097, an older 2d fighting game with giant robots which I enjoyed in spite of its somewhat simple, dated engine. Third-person perspective PC fighting games with 3d arenas and tank controls does not a smooth experience make. A lot of gameplay for me involved projectile spam due to aiming being considerably easier than trying to go in with the prefabricated moves available, an ambitious 'one button for each limb' paired to motion-dependent attacks system, let down by the fact that most keyboards lock up if you press more than three buttons at a time and that the movement delays in the tank system make landing blows a chore. And the terrible jumping controls, mustn't forget those.
If it was a beat-em-up, it could have stood as a sort of giant robot version of God Hand, but as it stands, it's a clumsy 3D fighter not worth the $10 preorder and additional $30 that I sank into it. The delays in delivery should have tipped me off before I got a hold of it.
In my case, it was One Must Fall: Battlegrounds, successor to One Must Fall 2097, an older 2d fighting game with giant robots which I enjoyed in spite of its somewhat simple, dated engine. Third-person perspective PC fighting games with 3d arenas and tank controls does not a smooth experience make. A lot of gameplay for me involved projectile spam due to aiming being considerably easier than trying to go in with the prefabricated moves available, an ambitious 'one button for each limb' paired to motion-dependent attacks system, let down by the fact that most keyboards lock up if you press more than three buttons at a time and that the movement delays in the tank system make landing blows a chore. And the terrible jumping controls, mustn't forget those.
If it was a beat-em-up, it could have stood as a sort of giant robot version of God Hand, but as it stands, it's a clumsy 3D fighter not worth the $10 preorder and additional $30 that I sank into it. The delays in delivery should have tipped me off before I got a hold of it.
The one problem I have with TotalBiscuit's stance, is that logically, SOMEONE has to play the game first to review it, or for word-of-mouth to begin.
Someone has to take the risk first, and that someone has to be willing to relate their experience.
That's just the nature of second-hand information.
It's great to have available and I encourage more gamers to make use of it, but with a bad game (ANY game) SOMEONE has to get suckered first.
In theory: we have critics for that.
In practice, (entirely too many) critics can be bought, and games can be issued a critical blackout, at which point we are back to square one.
EDIT: As for the purpose of pre-orders.
They're only really "necessary" for big releases on disc.
That was the point of pre-orders to begin with: reservations for a finite supply of games on launch.
Digital distribution systems obviously don't have that limitation, and if a system is going to be taxed to the point where people have to queue, pre-orders isn't going to help that much anyway. (knowing how networks operate anyway)
Someone has to take the risk first, and that someone has to be willing to relate their experience.
That's just the nature of second-hand information.
It's great to have available and I encourage more gamers to make use of it, but with a bad game (ANY game) SOMEONE has to get suckered first.
In theory: we have critics for that.
In practice, (entirely too many) critics can be bought, and games can be issued a critical blackout, at which point we are back to square one.
EDIT: As for the purpose of pre-orders.
They're only really "necessary" for big releases on disc.
That was the point of pre-orders to begin with: reservations for a finite supply of games on launch.
Digital distribution systems obviously don't have that limitation, and if a system is going to be taxed to the point where people have to queue, pre-orders isn't going to help that much anyway. (knowing how networks operate anyway)
Right, I get you. I don't pre-order PC games often, but if I feel the need to, I'll seek Gamestop out next time. Unless I'm absolutely sure the game I want is going to be great, I'd rather avoid getting burned again and being stuck with a terrible game.Bhaalspawn said:
Reading through this thread, seems like a lot of people feel that they've been screwed by ME3 lol.
I pre-order only if it's a game I know I'm going to like, typically by doing research into the game or if the game is a follow-up to a game I really liked. Even then, I won't usually pre-order unless there's some sort of snazzy bonus to go along with it. I don't usually care about art books, but figurines and digital or in-game content is nice. You got a helluva lotta stuff for pre-ordering Borderlands 2.
At first, I thought this was a topic about getting screwed on said premiums, but since most everything is digital now, I guess it makes sense this way. The only digital game I have ever pre-ordered is the upcoming expansion for SW:TOR, because I know I'm going to get it anyway and the bonuses will be nifty little additions.
At first, I thought this was a topic about getting screwed on said premiums, but since most everything is digital now, I guess it makes sense this way. The only digital game I have ever pre-ordered is the upcoming expansion for SW:TOR, because I know I'm going to get it anyway and the bonuses will be nifty little additions.
Yeah, they'll refund the entire amount you've placed on a pre-order in whatever way you want. It's not a charge to pre-order through GameStop, it's a deposit, with the minimum being $5. They'll try to get you to change it to another pre-order (the employees are graded on pre-orders and getting a cancel looks bad), but the guys at my store are cool and don't push, so they'll give me back whatever I put down in whatever form of payment I used (cash, store credit, ect).Bhaalspawn said:
I used to pre-order games, but just the ones I was absolutely sure I would get anyway, and mostly just console stuff. The only PC game I ever pre-ordered was StarCraft 2, but I did buy my buddies pre-order of GW2 off of him during the beta. That was a mistake.
I never pre-order anything anymore, even if I am almost sure I'll eventually get it anyway. Actually, I don't even buy games anymore unless it's off Steam for 50-75% off. I haven't paid more than $20 for a game in about 6 months, and I probably never will again. There is no way I am going to pay $60 for something I haven't tried yet. Plus, I just don't have the money to waste on entertainment anymore, there are more important things in life(especially since when I think about getting a new game I remember all the games I already have and think "nah, I've got enough").
I never pre-order anything anymore, even if I am almost sure I'll eventually get it anyway. Actually, I don't even buy games anymore unless it's off Steam for 50-75% off. I haven't paid more than $20 for a game in about 6 months, and I probably never will again. There is no way I am going to pay $60 for something I haven't tried yet. Plus, I just don't have the money to waste on entertainment anymore, there are more important things in life(especially since when I think about getting a new game I remember all the games I already have and think "nah, I've got enough").