Hello Everyone
Before I dive in, I do want to exclude games that are limited editions, and companies like Limited Run Games or very rare numbered box sets, obscure devs, niche JRPGs and stuff like that because without preordering those games sell out very fast and you won't get one. That's kinda what pre ordering started as with titles with huge demand but not quite enough supply so collectors could get one by buying early and not have to worry.
What i'm referring to is more like games with plenty of supply, certainly not going to sell out, (best example being) the poor saps who preordered no man's sky. And I know their may be a few in here who put their hard earned money into a company to preorder a promise or an idea. False promises were made, a game undelivered but they still raked in massive amounts of money because of the pre order trap.
Is it bad in general to hand over money to any game company for an item that is unproven, something that doesn't exist yet, enabling them to half rump it due to already making millions off a sold promise? Does this make game companies complacent? Or does it further drive them to make better content or fund them to do last second tweaks as well?
I preorder quite a bit, I love the feeling of having the game accounted for and it gives me a sense of ease because it feels good paying something off and already knowing It's out of the way. It's become a yearly thing for me to preroder all the games after E3 that I like, But more and more lately they have been giving less and less preorder insentives. And games that I want, even without preorder I can get on launch easily. I kinda wonder if their is a point to preorder a popular game as it will be given anyway.
I know they give your preorder amount back if you ask but usually by the time you find out the game is bad or the consensus comes out it's already 1-2 days after launch like No Man's Sky and you would have already picked it up out of sheer curiosity. Sometimes at midnight or morning of before anyone would have known.
Do you think preordering is a good or bad thing as a whole for how most people use it with common blockbuster games? Is it good for companies to get money early. It seems similar to a kickstarter, in the sense of putting money into a idea and having faith it will be awesome. Do you preorder often with common games or just pick up games when they release and wait for reviews?
I only preorder from companies with stellar track records now and franchises i already love that haven't failed me. Like Nintendo games like Smash or a Last of Us 2.
But something i'm on the fence about i'll wait because No Man's Sky has scared me.
Thanks for sharing
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