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I think it’s an age thing a lot of times. It’s like telling my kids to brush their teeth because of my experiences with dental, or you can plug any example like that.
I can tell kids not to preorder all I want. They just haven’t had the opportunity to be burned as many times as we have yet.
I think a lot of gamers just don't care enough too. I know so many people that buy a game on release, play it for a few hours, and then drop it. Even AAA titles that are actually good.
Steam achievements kinda confirm that as well, there is a fair bit of drop-off on even the most popular games.
It made some sense when they came in physical format and there was a real risk of a highly sought game selling out. Nowadays they have put worthless digital incentives on preorders and they can't possibly run out.
It didn't make sense to me that people are pre-ordering digital copies at first too, then I remember mtx and streamers which didn't exist back then.
It's the boiling frog syndrome. Gradual implementation of predatory monetization practices like mtx and gachas have made us grown numb to being treated like cash cows for unfinished products.
The latest generation of gamers probably see this as a norm. It's up to us oldies to remind them about the good ol' days when you only pay once for finished products.
This right here. There will always be a steady supply of new gamers who don't know better.
I think it’s an age thing a lot of times.
I don't have numbers but I bet that a lot of people who preorder aren't kids but adults with a proper income. Kids as a group don't have the income to uphold the current presale figures, that's done by working adults who can afford to preorder a game and take the not so small risk that it's utterly shit.
If I want I could preoder a lot of games that come out this year without having to worry about the waste of money to much. I doubt that any regular kid can do that.
This isn't a kids thing, we've been pre-ordering games since before today's kids were born
I don't pre-order games nor do I really buy any games new.
I mean why should I when I can buy complete version of the game for like 10-20 bucks 1-3 years later. Honestly I've simply discarded the idea of being consumer and shifted to thinking myself as customer instead. Its not my job to support the developers and keep their studios afloat its their job by making good games that are actually worth their price tag.
I already have backlog of games that would take years clear thanks to steam sales, playstation plus and all sorts of bundle offers. I am in no hurry to buy new games and I can easily wait for the developers to actually finish the game and buy the GOTY/Ultimate/Definite edition that includes most if not all the expansions and dlc for a discounted price.
As for free 2 play and live service games I simply don't have the time and interest to play those. If I ever make an exception to this then I'll be using only default skins/cosmetics, no gatcha and ignoring the battle pass completely.
Its not my job to support the developers and keep their studios afloat its their job by making good games that are actually worth their price tag.
That’s fine and all, but it goes both ways. If you’re gonna wait years to maybe buy their game, then they’re not going to cater to what you want.
There’s a middle ground imo. If I love a certain type of game, I’m gonna buy it relatively new to show my support. If you don’t do that, then you’re essentially a bottom of the barrel afterthought that the market simply won’t cater to.
I second this. I did stop buying games as soon as possible when I had a child.It was like a 2 years gap in my life. I realised it was like living in a shifted timelapse :)
Now I only play 2 yo games, same for movies and series... It means I only keeps top quality stuff !
FF16 wasn’t preordered as much as they wanted. Then when the game turned out to be okay, people bought it (and it had a demo). It was a hit.
Yeah, I love Final Fantasy. But I wasn't very hyped for it. I bought it after I played the demo.
I miss the age of videogame demos, it feels like nothing but a distant memory now. And the only reason companies let people play their broken betas now is to gauge excitement for their games and fix any serious game breaking bugs.
Eh.
On the flip side, back in the day, a lot of people bought a lot of crappy games based on nothing more than what the cover art on the box showed. The only source of info was video game magazines, and that applied only to new releases and only certain games.
Now upon release you can look up dozens of detailed reviews, even video reviews. You can watch full play through a on YouTube. You can ask for opinions in social media.
The amount of information you have to figure out if this game is for you is insane compared to before.
I miss the age of videogame demos
Fuck the corps. That's what piracy is for.
I miss the days of game demos
Steam's Next fest has brought back some demos on PC. You might not get a demo for a big IP, but you can try lots of smaller dev games without having to buy first.
I've never understood the concept of pre ordering digital content, it's not going to run out of stock. And why pay extra for a few graphical items that don't change the way the game plays?
Also, surely digital games would be cheaper because there's no physical product to send to the customer? But there you go. Base copy of Diablo 4 is £70!! Wow!
Developer here - currently indie but was in the machine at one point. Cold hard fact is that demos hurt sales for AAA games, and pre-orders get cash in the door today to keep the lights on. With millions and years invested, they must hedge and limit risk as hard and as quickly as possible.
If demos hurt sales, that means that game devs depend on gamers buying games they don't actually end up liking right? I understand making games has become pricier and pricier, but if the whole business model is dependent on "We want to trick people into getting stuff they don't want", then we have a problem.
Companies 100% have a right to skip demos and sell pre-orders. And people have a right to boycott those.
I've been hearing this since 2010. Nothing is going to change.
EA Sports 2024 is going to come out, it's going to have 40,000 mixed reviews.
The fact that you can "pre-buy" a digital game is insane to me!
Like what's the point! You still can't play it until it comes out!
I made a flow chart for this ages ago...
Will it be legitimately hard to find? (Think Steel Battalion on Xbox.) No? Do not pre-order.
Do you get anything for pre-ordering? No? Do not pre-order.
Cosmetics only? Yes? Do not pre-order.
Is it from a developer with an established track record? No? Do not pre-order.
Is that established track record full of buggy launches (Bethesda)? Yes? Do not pre-order.
Online only? Yes? Do not pre-order.
Beta's used to be free and would actually have an impact on the game getting fixed before shipping out
Financially, preorders without a “preorder bonus” are a zero interest loan to the developer. Preorders with the “preorder bonus” are a loan with the bonus as interest. Even if the game were guaranteed to be good, you could most likely be doing something better with the money until it comes out. Since the game is not guaranteed to be good, it is a risky loan as well. Without any of the protections you get when you make an actual loan.
I gave up on that. I just don’t care anymore. No, that’s not true. I actually care somewhat.
People preorder, game comes out, game is shit at launch, they get into a furious rage online, I chuckle.
My money, my choice. Everyone saying otherwise can eat a bag of dicks. I'll preorder for bonuses if a game looks good, and I'll refund that purchase if it releases in a garbage state.
I must remeber the history of gaming completely differently. Noone was demanding trials. Majority of people went to a store, looked at box art, made a purchase based on the art and description on the back. Plenty of stinkers in the mix.
Trails would be nice sure, not going to deny that. But I fail to see how pre-ordering is linked to no trials lol.
The concept of needing to pre-order a digital asset is already dumb as fuck. It won't run out of stock or anything. That should be the reason to stop pre-orders, not due to a lack of arbitrary trails. Only reason I do it os the bonues or early access/head starts.
My local currency is devaluating by the second, the price I see today may not be the price tomorrow.
Most games are actually most expensive at launch. A year after release their prices tend to be half. If not, discounts and other promotionals will surely come your way.
I pre-ordered baldurs gate 3 after playing the developers previous game divinity original sin 2 and hearing a rather large amount of praise for the content available in the early access.
It's something I wouldn't regularly do but in their short line of recent games Larian studios have left a very good impression on me and I trust them individually.
DOS2 is such an insanely good game. BG3 is shaping up to be just as awesome.
I used to keep my Galactic Edition copy of Spore on my shelf as a reminder to not preorder games.
There is no buying games anymore. You rent them now until the servers are down or Microsoft makes a new windows version.
The exception to this is GOG -- They, and publishers/developers that release on their store, should be supported whenever possible.
Not perfect, but miles above the alternatives.
Steam makes it so easy to refund games that I'm not sure what the point of all this is anymore.
Steam is not the only game platform out there. Some would also prefer to buy direct to companies. Some games aren’t on steam. There are many reasons why it’s still reasonable to warn people NOT to preorder games, especially since there’s a trend of companies releasing broken, buggy games at launch.
There are enough games out there that I can game all I want without ever spending a penny on any games from any companies in this video.
EA games were shit starting around the time of Battlefield 3, I did not need to buy Battlefront to know it would be shit. Absolutely refuse to spend a penny on ANY game from ANY studio owned by EA, and this will not change until the board and entire executive team have turned over.
I expect based on Fallout 76, Starfield will run but be weaksauce with bare mechanics and go the DLC route w/ content to maximize revenue. Studios got shit for that but not as much shit as broken games, so why not give THAT a shot this time?
When AEW Fight Forever I had friends asking if I was going to preorder a game they knew I was buying digitally.
Our games are digital and we cannot run out of stock
We can buy them on our platforms at a moments notice, from the comfort of our homes. The days of lining up at a store until midnight is over. Therefore there is no reason to preorder, if there is a bonus that you must have wait until the last moment read every preview and buy it minutes to release, but remember anything that is given away as a bonus that is separate from the base game is almost always frivolous and doesn't really contribute to the game in any real way.
Oh yeah? Well what about the new thing to do that's even better than pre-ordering. Take Starfield for example. Wanna play it earlier than everyone else? Well their early access option is the one for you.
"Anyone can dive in then if they're willing to pay the price - it's only available to those who buy the expensive Constellation Edition of the game (for roughly £250/$300) or the Premium Edition (for about £100/$100)"
Edit: deleted comment was additional edit, realised I could just edit original comment
I stopped preordering unless it's a project that I 100% believe in.
Usually it's titles from studios that never miss like Supergiant Games or small dev team projects with a solid demo.
You don't need to pre-order anything except limited edition collector's releases of which there will be relatively few physical copies. You don't need to pre-order EA Sports titles, Bethesda titles, Halo, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, and especially not digital games. Pre-ordering systems are inherently anti-consumer. Even systems that don't require a down payment on the game, still exist to prove to publishers that pre-ordering is a viable way to make money. Not only that, but your personal information is now in a database that you don't control or can consent to 3rd party access. Just don't do it.
I agree with this; we used to pre-order back when physical copies were the only way to get a game, in order to reserve a copy. Now they use it to squeeze extra money out of you for "exclusive content." As somebody who is as militantly against exclusive content (because it screws over late adopters) as always-online content, I can't agree enough that digital pre-ordering needs to die.