Pre-order culture discussion/debate

Thenightsurgeon

I've had some very... Stimulating arguments on Facebook today. I'd like to hear from the people who like actual discussion. SO Pre-orders; Good or bad?

Coldguy

Thenightsurgeon said:

I've had some very... Stimulating arguments on Facebook today. I'd like to hear from the people who like actual discussion. SO Pre-orders; Good or bad?

Do I personally know the designer/programmers/other people making the item? If yes they get before money if no I'll wait to see if it worth some after money.

MATATAT

If I am 100% sure that I will want to play the game day one then sometimes I will. It doesn't happen very often but recently I preordered Destiny off PSN so it'll be preloaded before the 9th. Depending on where you are sometimes it was just a nice precaution to put down the $5. When I was in college (in a small college town) there were marginally anticipated games that would come out and the two to three locations that would sell games would only order like 3 copies each. So if you didn't preorder then you were SOL. Granted that could have easily been remedied by ordering off Amazon or something but at the time I usually had such an annoying time getting things mailed to my dorm/apartment that if I could avoid it I would. Nowadays I almost always just order off of Amazon but now I just buy digitally so that lack of stock is non existent. It just comes down to occasional convenience at that point.

Thenightsurgeon

My point of view is, why put down 60 or more dollars on a product before it is released, on the sole promise of it being good from the publisher? Who have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted.

MATATAT

Thenightsurgeon said:

My point of view is, why put down 60 or more dollars on a product before it is released, on the sole promise of it being good from the publisher? Who have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted.

Well with Destiny I put several hours into a slice of one episode so I think I can safely assume I'll sink more time into the rest of the game. Other games where it seems like they'll only provide improvements and new features on a formula I already like then I might also pre order. Like if I enjoyed Borderlands then chances are I'll probably like Borderlands 2. If I like Modern Warfare's multi then I'll probably like MW 2's multi.

Thenightsurgeon

Good point. However, There's with slices of gameplay being completely unrepresentative of the final product. Such as Aliens Colonial Marines. They're "gameplay" was actually completely fabricated, was an unmitigated PR disaster, and caused false advertising lawsuits continuing this day. They showed it in order to get as many pre-orders as possible from consumers before they had the knowledge of it being garbage. And the most recent iteration of Call of Duty, that being Ghosts, was generally poorly received. It reused assets, had poor textures, and it's online matchmaking was considered very poor. That being the most recent iteration. And Pre-ordering DLC is whole new can of worms to open.

MATATAT

That sorta stuff gets really tricky to interpret. I think it can be avoided by noticing trends in game marketing and iterations. For me specifically I wasn't super interested in Colonial Marines but Gearbox doesn't really have that spectacular of a track record for games. Really their only good games come from their own IP like Borderlands which technically is mostly just competent IMO. It's a fun game but it has some pretty obvious issues gameplay wise. I never played Brothers in Arms but I remember hearing good things about them. Also the amount of advertising going behind it sent up some red flags with me.

I bought MW 1-3 and Black Ops 1 and 2. With a lot of the creative leaders gone from Infinity Ward and just the premise of the entire game I sorta had my doubts about whether it was any good anyway. Plus Black Ops 2 I realized I was getting really burnt out on the franchise. Amending from my next point my friends all pretty much were done with the series as well. Even if AW is any good I still probably won't get it unless its super cheap and then it'll only be to play through the campaign probably.

It also sorta comes back to my original point of being 100% sure I will play it the first day. Elaborating on that I usually also only take into account multiplayer, and generally after I've already had experience with it. I can't even remember the last single player game I preordered. But if I know my friends are getting it and it looks like it'll have a fun time for us to play together then I'm usually all in.

ThatGent

When you say pre-order, does it exclusively refer to video games or are physical goods included?

I would say yes to physical goods that you know will have a limited run and absolutely want and no to everything else.

sK0pe

I would say I'm ok with pre-ordering board games or trade paper backs, things that you have a good sense for.

The only time I pre-order a video game is if I'm getting it for a cheaper price than release day and I know I want the game e.g. Civilization 5: Beyond Earth.

Thenightsurgeon said:

And the most recent iteration of Call of Duty, that being Ghosts, was generally poorly received. It reused assets, had poor textures, and it's online matchmaking was considered very poor. That being the most recent iteration. And Pre-ordering DLC is whole new can of worms to open.

For the people that bought Call of Duty, that's basically their fault. It's been the same game since the 4th and 5th iterations.

Thenightsurgeon

I think there is nothing wrong with pre-ordering a physical object that may run out of stock. I'm speaking exclusively for games. And I understand pre-ordering a game that you are definitely sure you will buy anyway. But I cannot justify pre-ordering a game based on marketing alone unless you have some very serious disposable income. All I see pre-ordering doing is giving publishers money before you get a product. That way, If it's bad or broken on release, they at least got all that pre-order money. As a consumer I simply cannot see the justification. Pre-order bonuses? Those are things that should have been part of the game in the first place. They're there in order to keep retailers relevant in an increasingly digital distribution market. Different bonuses given to different retailers assuring no one gets a complete experience on launch.

Thenightsurgeon

ThatGent said:

When you say pre-order, does it exclusively refer to video games or are physical goods included?

I would say yes to physical goods that you know will have a limited run and absolutely want and no to everything else.

I agree entirely with that. Physical goods can go out of stock or sell out on release. Even before release. Such worries don't apply to games however considering their increasingly digital format.

Thenightsurgeon

And while I'm on it, I'm curious to know how you all think about pre-ordering DLC. Or On-Disk-DLC for that matter.

Matt

Am I going to buy this game when it comes out anyway? - Decent chance I would pre-order. I'll go on Amazon and click "buy" like I do with everything else in life, then it will just show up when it comes out.

Are you going to offer me some significant discount or special incentive? - Big increase to my odds of preordering, which are very low typically. Mario Kart 8 was a great example. Between various pre-order and Best Buy-specific incentives, I was able to shave $15 off the price of the game AND get the free Nintendo game download code (got Pikmin 3 for free). I otherwise might have still been waiting around for a cheap used copy of MK8.

Is there pre-order specific DLC that I suspect might be a value-added component of the base game? Fuck this. I'm never playing your game out of spite.

sK0pe

I despise the pre-ordered DLC. It is literally something that they have separated from the rest of the game to earn a small amount more. Whenever I see a game like this I wait till the entire package is for $5 on Steam or don't buy it at all.

DLC should only be present to extend the life of the game. e.g. Left 4 Dead 2 should have died off a long time ago but because of fun multiplayer, modding community and extra offical map releases released, people are still playing it on my friend's list now.

However looking at Evolve's schedule of release, they already have day 0 DLC in mind in the context of which monsters you can play, that is fucked up. Turtle Rock (the developer) is trying to sell it on the premise that you can still play against people who have the DLC but you can't play as the alternate monsters.

Victor Frost

sK0pe

Well that is one perspective on it, however why not add the DLC price to the full game and then launch with free day 1 DLC, the "early adopters" will be happy and not being able to point fingers at the developers and saying they are "money grabbing" will improve their word of mouth.

HMTKSteve

Didn't BF3 do that with the Back to Karkand DLC being free to early adopters?

Churba

HMTKSteve said:

Didn't BF3 do that with the Back to Karkand DLC being free to early adopters?

Yep. And people bitched mightily about it.

Thenightsurgeon

sK0pe said:

I despise the pre-ordered DLC. It is literally something that they have separated from the rest of the game to earn a small amount more. Whenever I see a game like this I wait till the entire package is for $5 on Steam or don't buy it at all.

DLC should only be present to extend the life of the game. e.g. Left 4 Dead 2 should have died off a long time ago but because of fun multiplayer, modding community and extra offical map releases released, people are still playing it on my friend's list now.

However looking at Evolve's schedule of release, they already have day 0 DLC in mind in the context of which monsters you can play, that is fucked up. Turtle Rock (the developer) is trying to sell it on the premise that you can still play against people who have the DLC but you can't play as the alternate monsters.

I agree with you entirely sir. Here's a video for you all if you're willing to spend a couple minutes.

Apreche

http://www.dorkly.com/post/67959/the-top-6-reasons-to-pre-order-a-game

MATATAT

I generally only buy games on sale these days considering you can get 30%-50% off within a month or two.

La Petit Mort

I always pre-order console games that I really want well in advance, and slowly pay for them over time. That's how I can convince myself that I'm not throwing my money and keep my biweekly budget in check.