Thread: Game prices vs entertainment values. Part 2.

Tenrou hits a sore spot for me: pre-order has become so prevalent now.

I pre-ordered bf4 & bf3.

I pre-ordered robo-genesis.

I pre-ordered a camera.

So much is sold based on marketing and "previews". Sure we have some prior knowledge but what's to say they don't screw up the latest iteration. Take bf3 for example. People were severely pissed with this game, I personally loved it. They pre-ordered based on flashy videos and previous play knowledge of bf2. Patience as Tenrou said should be exercised more...

We can't talk pre-ordering without talking another peeve of mine. Beta/alpha/demo.

Pre-order to get into the beta. That's like saying buy the game to try the demo. Game developers know people are impatient little fucks these days. People are unable to sit in line these days - phones illuminate their faces as they tweet Facebook and angry bird their way to the front of the queue. You think they'll be able to resist the temptation of playing now? I doubt it...

I've pre ordered a few games. DoD:S, HL2, CS:GO, and a Pac-Man game...but those also came at discount. More often than not, though..I don't pre order games. Heavy says there's some excitement to playing a game on release day, which I find is mostly nonsense. Why?..because if you buy on release day, more often than not you're going to get a game chock full of bugs, crashes etc. (BF3, BF4, AC:M..the list goes on). If you wait, most likely not only will the game be patched...but, you're going to be paying an even more reduced price than the pre order discount.

Originally Posted by Guyver

I've pre ordered a few games. DoD:S, HL2, CS:GO, and a Pac-Man game...but those also came at discount. More often than not, though..I don't pre order games. Heavy says there's some excitement to playing a game on release day, which I find is mostly nonsense. Why?..because if you buy on release day, more often than not you're going to get a game chock full of bugs, crashes etc. (BF3, BF4, AC:M..the list goes on). If you wait, most likely not only will the game be patched...but, you're going to be paying an even more reduced price than the pre order discount.

I'll pre-order bf5 and hard-line because of that release day buzz. I will gamble on EA produced multi-player shooters as I mostly enjoy them. They are a nice medium ground between Arma and cod.

Pre-ordering helps game developers in other ways than simply financial. A new "perk" of pre-ordering (backing) some games is open alpha. Arma 3 did a great job of letting players help direct the game, thru alpha (cheap $) to beta (a little more pricey) to RC (full $). This formula has been a trending way of helping developers create the game with players tailored in mind.

Rust is being rebuilt because of gamers reaction to the game play (laggy gunplay - the engine wasn't built for that!). They also removed zombies. Asked the community what they'd like to see incorporated.

Star citizen is another example of this.

Pre-ordering is a nice way to make a buck, but smart developers are using the community to make their games better. (unless you're rocket then in that case your game is your game and will never leave alpha).

Another thing we can thank mine craft for.

The last game I pre-ordered was Dark Souls 2. Then again, it had been out for a while on console. So, gameplay and story were known factors. Then, the guy who made modding possible for DS1 gave his seal of approval after being flown out to see the pre-PC-release. It was also sold for at a base price of $50. With a code from GMG, I got it for under $40. The only games I'm going to preorder in the next year would be the redux versions of both Metro games (I own the originals so I can get them both for $25) and The Witcher 3. I'm going to preorder that from GOG.

I'm Pre-ordering Gta V on PC and 12 months of rations.