Thoughts on pre-orders

Luke_Bowman

Luke_Bowman

Luke_Bowman

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What are everyones thoughts on pre-ordering games?

At the moment I have Shadow of Mordor and Farcry4 on pre-order and these represent my two sides of thought.


With Shadow of Mordor I paid £25 but the game may be terrible and I have no basis to say otherwise

With Farcry4 I paid £50 for a special edition and from the first 3 Farcry's I think this game will be excellent and have prior knowledge on the engine used etc



So what do we think on pre-orders?

Do you pre-order games or wait for them to come out fully? Do you think it's worth paying more for 'special editions'?
 
My personal opinion is to avoid pre-ordering the current gen games as they've been nothing but a total failure. BF4 and Watchdogs as prime examples of hyped up rubbish!
 
I never used to Pre-order games and would always just go out on the day, or wait a couple of days so I knew what was the best deal and then go and buy it. Generally I've always been able to get it a bit cheaper by doing it this way. I did however pre-order Grid Autosport as I saw it for a cracking price that I was confident wouldn't be beaten.
 
This guy's thoughts, pretty much:


There's not point at all, unless you have the patience of a three year old and like being made a fool of.
 
Nah with so many games dropping sub 20 and even sub 15 in such short periods after release I don't bother any more tbh.

You don't need to go anywhere, most games are available digital now.
 
Maybe it's just in my nature.

I don't really mind risking a small fee of £25

I've 'invested' a lot more into kickstarters that have much less chance of coming to fruition
 
I've been pretty much completely put off pre-ordering games after the whole EA/Dice BF3/MOH/BF4 rubbish and others disappointment with watchdoges :p

I mean, I'm tempted for sure.... but the chance of being let down seems to be ever increasing... So I'd rather just wait now. unless it was offering something fantastic as a bonus or was stupidly cheap... be more willing to risk it then
 
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Firstly, you're paying hard earned money on something you know not much about, often something that doesn't even exist yet (looking at you, Star Citizen). Secondly, any pre-order has an opportunity cost - the interest you would have gained if you had put the money in a deposit. Lastly, there's a significant chance you're completely wasting the money, even if the developer has a very good reputation (Rome II, SimCity, X3 - Reunion).

I never do it and I never will - it's an emotional response to anticipation, an ultimately irrational reaction.
 
Personally, the only time it's worth pre-ordering is when you get an exceptional deal from doing so, or if it is a digital purchase, and you are given the opportunity of pre-loading the game (if you're that eager to play it).

Otherwise, what's the point? I haven't seen a single game be out of stock on release in recent years (probably due to games being sold digitally a lot more nowadays). Pre-order DLC is often not worth the extra money, and if you want a collectors edition, they are normally worth peanuts a year after release (apart from limited collectors editions e.g. where there are only a set amount produced)

I pre-ordered MotoGP14 a month ago from Game. I only did so, as they paid me more for trading in my games if I pre-ordered another one, and also because I had some Game vouchers to use, so I knew I would be buying it from there anyway.

I wonder if companies make much money from pre-orders (as in making interest on it, investing it etc)
 
If you want to see how badly a pre-order can go wrong pop over the Eagle Dynamics forums

Backer got 150K of kick starter money spent it all and fluffed the project ... looks bad for the backers of the WW2 project :-(
 
Not worth pre-ordering unless you're a console player and want that exclusive collectors edition item (which always turns up for sale again anyway after release and for much cheaper lol)

But I don't preorder because:

- You can still buy games cheap after release from VPN, CD Key sites, Steam Trades etc
- AAA Games that are released, normally have release day problems that can take anywhere between a week to months to fix
- There really isn't enough incentive to pre-order anyway. Using "Get Beta Access to (x) if you preorder is a cheap tactic." or "In Game costumes, skins etc" have no appeal to me. It splits up the game/divides communities.
- I'd rather wait for a review from PC Gamer if single player campaign and User opinions if a multiplayer game after release.
- I'm not loyal to many franchises now.
- Most publishers/Dev studios are using "Early Access" to what effectively is a preorder incentive anyway.
 
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TotalBiscuit sums up my thoughts on pre-orders.

The only way I would consider a pre-order now would be if I was able to play a demo of the game first. And companies just don't seem to want to produce demo's any more.

I was tempted to pre-order the new Aliens game - but I'm not taking the risk that it turns out to be another Colonial Marines.
 
No point now with most things being digital. It only made sense if you shop in a store and they had limited copies, so you could reserve it for release day.

Too many companies take advantage of it, too many bad burns. You can't rely on a company to make a solid port (looking at you Ubisoft) so best to wait and see what the reaction is first.

Though I would be fine pre-ordering from a reputable company who deliver, like CDPR for The Witcher 3.
 
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