Do You Pre-order Games?

[Madda]

With all these new games coming out that will either make us go "That's pretty neat." to "Meh.", have you ever, or still pre-order games from retailers or digitally?

 

Maddaself, Madda takes a strong opposing stance against the pre-ordering fiasco, as it's gotten to the point where the items included should be in the retail version of the game (see Alien: Colonial Marines where Ripley is a pre-order bonus). 

 

Madda does make an exception to MMOs, as normally, they offer Standard versions for those that don't want to shell out an extra $20 for stuff they don't need.

[Duskwright]

It depends for me. If it's a Final Fantasy game, I'll pre-order it, hells I'll even shell out extra for Collector's Editions. Though most games, I'd just stick to standard pre-orders.

[Coatleque]

I will never pre-order another game. Most of them are hyped up to the point that what you get is far from what was promised. You are better waiting for the game to release, then looking at the 'real' reviews from people who bought it and just ignoring all the paid review hype.

 

I'm even to the point of not buying things the day they're released on Steam either, because most of the games are unfinished, mid-alpha/beta quality that require 3 to 4 patches before they even play correctly.

 

Homeworld Remastered, for example, was a huge let-down for fans of the original game. I've not played more than 6 hours of it because most of the game mechanics are still broken.

[TheLastCandle]

It depends. Like, I'll preorder the digital CE for Heavensward because I know I'll get my money's worth. I'll generally preorder SMT/Persona games, Zeldas, Mario platformers and Karts, and Dragon Quests when they're actually localized. Everything else, I'll wait for impressions. My backlog is huge enough to discriminate.

[SessionZero]

After getting burned on Elder Scrolls Online's Imperial Edition and the Founder's Pack for ArcheAge, Heavensward is about the only thing I fel comfortable pre-ordering anymore.

[Maril]

I tend not to, unless I am very loyal to the game. I would probably do it in XIV because I can't foresee me leaving for a good while even if it does end up being a bucket full of crushed hopes and dreams. I'd never pre-order an entirely new game that I hadn't at least been in a beta or likewise for - but even that is becoming a paywall, these days.

Otherwise, I tend to wait until the games eventually fall in price or go on sale when it's not a game I super duper want but would like to play sometime down the line.

[allgivenover]

Rarely, this year has in fact been a boom in preorders for me. Let's look at what I'm currently waiting on and why.

 

Bloodbourne - spiritual successor to the Demon/Dark Souls - vetted developer

Heavensward (duh)- active player of FFXIV, transparent, vetted developer

Final Fantasy Type 0 HD - reviews have been out for years, looks like something I'd love

Dragon Quest Heroes - I love everything Dragon Quest, gameplay videos just look great

 

Last year I pre-ordered exactly zero games. So this is a big change for me.

[Wild Card]

I realized a few weeks ago that I only preordered two games in the last two years. Both are from SE and one is gonna be released in 10 days lol

 

But srsly, no I don't preorder. First of all I'm a greedy whore, which means I try to buy discounted games or find a pre owned copy. For that I'm patient, I don't have to play them right at the release.

Secondly, I'm done paying for Beta testing. I'm done paying for unfinished and overhyped games that turn out to be massive disappointment. AC Unity, The Order: 1886, Evolve, Destiny, etc. The list is way too long by now. All those games were imo not worth the money they were sold for.

[Enla]

Only for a handful of games, mostly Dragon Age and possibly Heavensward. Other than that, never again. Been burned way too many times by companies front-loading the experience with lackluster end game, bugs, day one-DLC that has entire swaths of story cut from the main campaign to justify it's existence, always-online DRM, and broken promises aplenty. There is just no point in pre-ordering from companies I do not trust, and even then I'm leery of even that.

[Chris Ganale]

I used to be huge on it. 2011 was like the worst year in my life with the massive glut of games I wanted.

 

But nowadays it's just Halo games or things with pre-order bonuses I want. I wasn't even going to pre-order Heavensward until they said early release and I was on board for that. I pre-ordered Type 0 but only to get the 15 demo.

[U'roh Tia]

It really depends. If I am really hyped or it's from a studio I adore then yeah I'll pre-order it. Though the serious standard franchise that get pre-orders from me are Disgaea/NIS titles.

[cuideag]

I'll probably pre-order the Heavensward CE because heck yes but naw, I don't anymore. No real reason to unless it's for specialty things like, yeah, CEs.

[Aoi Fukiku]

I preordered a few games. Mostly Wow when I raided but only two other games I preordered and one of them I should have saved the money but let my friends talk me in to it.

 

1) Neverwinter *twitch* yes, I was an idiot and spent $200 for the Renegade Drow pack (But it is money I made soley through drawing so nothing out of my bank account)

 

2) Wildstar, I loved the game, don't get me wrong but it was the RP and housing I was looking forward to. As soon as Mega servers hit I couldn't stand the trolling.. Most of the community had quit by then or went to hide in housing. RNG was a pain and while I ran adventurers and dungeons as much as possible I couldn't get the drops I needed to move on and do other stuff.

 

I will be preordering Heavensward because I enjoy the game and I need more stuff for my gaming self.

[Aaron]

I preordered Heavenward, Bloodborne, Type - 0, and Xenoverse. . .  omfg Xenoverse is the main reason I'm not playing XIV anymore ATM probably until Heavenward.

 

So many betting matches. . . . so many wins. . . . nothing but profit. . . .

 

#MysticGohanOP

 

Anyway ya, preorders are all or nothings pretty much.

[ProvaDiServo]

I have in the past. I did it for TTT2 Because I respect harrada's views on how a game handles content. (Not to mention the game was generous with content. And a great game overall.) Knowing that I could have my main (who was free content regardless of pre-order or not) Day one with no wait? That was a no brainer.

 

So essentially I need:

 

To respect the developer

 

And be sold on incentive.

[Kage]

It really depends on what it is.

 

Is it a game I really want to play? From a publisher I really like? Do I think that the fanbase is not as big as I'd love it to be?

 

Yes.

 

Things like DanganRonpa from NISA will get my pre-orders. Maybe / most likely even a CE pre-order.

 

I've wanted Final Fantasy Type-0 forever so HD is a preorder. Heavensward CE (physical hopefully) will be pre-ordered as well.

 

ZERO ESCAPE 3 WILL BE PREORDERED.

 

I preordered the Xenoblades Chronicles 3DS.

 

And also FFXV.

 

After that, I play this game too much to care about game pre-orders.

[Dravus]

My gut feeling is usually pretty reliable so I generally only pre-order games that I know I'll play for more than a few hours. They're generally RPG's and MMO's since they're the sort of games that often provide hours and hours of content to enjoy.

I intend to pre-order Heavensward and I'll also be pre-ordering The Witcher 3 as well.

 

The only times I've regretted a pre-order is when a game has been portrayed as one thing only to turn out to be something completely different. I regret pre-ordering Dead Island and Guild Wars 2 for precisely that reason.

[Flickering Ember]

I will preorder a game if I trust the company and brand. But honestly, since I mostly just play MMO's and role-play, I don't really buy that many video games anymore. And I actually preorder games much much less than when I buy them regularly.

 

If the company and brand break my trust, then I stop pre-ordering.

[Boo the Hamster]

I almost never pre-order unless I know for a fact I'll enjoy it before the release even hits, no matter what happens.  Burned a lot of money on games I hardly play because of pre-ordering, so I try to fight the urge not to. 

 

Then something like King of Fighters gets released on PC and I ignore that urge entirely.

[Caspar]

Short answer? No.

Long answer? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I tend to only buy certain games. I wouldn't pre-order a game because frankly, I never need to. Series I would pre-order, like Armored Core which I autobuy, aren't popular enough in the States to create rarity at the stores, so I feel no pressure to make certain I have a copy tied down. The problem also isn't a matter of fanbase or popularity; the series is quite deliberately poorly promoted, and will probably never get better, whereas in Japan it's always been strong, so me preordering it wouldn't help much, I feel. And in general given my interests almost none of the games I play are popular in the US or have any tangible mainstream appeal, so nobody is chomping at the bit to buy them the moment they're released.

 

As for series outside of those I automatically know I will enjoy like AC, I don't preorder as there's never any guarantee it'll be good.

[Tali]

Historically, I used to be all over pre-orders, especially if the reward for doing so was something nifty/cool/pretty to be used in the game.

 

These days?  Eh... not so much.  As has been touched upon, the hype of these things lately has been largely disproportionate to the actual quality of the games themselves.  Although if early-access counts counts as pre-order, then yeah, I've been pre-ordering that way? >_> World of Diving, Starbound, Space Engineers, and Interstellar Marines all took my money

[DeletedUser]

I used to, a lot. Not so much now. I've been burnt too many times, pre-ordering a hyped game only to be sorely disappointed when I play it. Now I tend to wait for player reviews before I part with my hard earnt cash.

[Warren Castille]

Generally speaking, I pre-order new pokemon and Zelda games. The only games I can think of that I've pre-ordered in the past couple of years are Hotline Miami 2 and Payday 2.

 

I staunchly oppose pre-order bonuses that aren't physical products; I miss the keychains and shirts and tokens and figures and stuff. Actual incentive to buy something early, not pieces of the game that are developed and then locked behind 60kb DLC toggles.

[Kellach Woods]

I only pre-order when I know the game will be difficult to find physically, or if not pre-ordering will end up costing me more in the long run. (aka fuck you Atlus/Aksys/ASW)

 

There are games I would pre-order, but I refuse to patronize Gamestop as much as possible (I don't mind the other large corporations, but that one specifically can go take a hike). Seeing as there's no other video game store in the area, I've almost switched over to digital mostly.

[DreamedReality]

Not normally. Usually I play games after they've been out for a couple years. After they stop being the SHINY NEW thing and cost SHINY NEW prices. My main exception is a mmo that I'm actively playing. I'll certainly preorder Heavensward. Debating if it'll be the CE or not tho.