Games

I don't buy a lot of games that have pre-order any more but no, I don't. If I want to buy it before it is released and have a pre-order I do it the same day or just the day before release but I think I will stop with this too.

I find it interesting four of the top 10 sellers are Free To Play.

Steamdeck top 4. Yeah right Valve.

I've stopped preordering most games, partially because of a backlog, partially because games like 2077 ruined my trust in even "good" companies (and no, I do not think 2077 deserves the redemption arc the Internet gives it). I did however pre-order Path of Exile 2 by a week because I had A) played a beta experience which was terribly fun B) followed all of the content creators talk about the beta's they played and how even when they complained it felt like choices I'd like (more action focused combat) and C) the preorder I got came with keys for friends I wanted to distribute ahead of time. So I knew for sure I was going to play it, like it at least enough to justify the price, and that I wanted to preload it for a launch party.

Pretty much the biggest and best reason to preorder is for the preload so you can play at launch. But not every game needs to be played at exactly the launch time (in fact we struggled on launch day of poe2 but did eventually get to play) and all pre-orders should be done as close to the launch date as possible so you can get an easy refund if it sucks.

If I actually have faith in the developer, plan on getting the game at launch, and it has some extra in-game goodies, I might pre-order it.

I pre-ordered Elden Ring and SOTE. I won't pre-order Nightreign because I'm not sure if it will be something I like, as it doesn't even sound like an official Fromsoft game; it sounds like a mod made by a teenager.

For me it really depends on the game, the studio, and the publisher. I preordered Firmament because Cyan has a good history. I might also pre-order a digital game if I think a game is particularly novel, or if I think I'm going to like it pretty much regardless of the reviews (e.g. I like the franchise it's from/ties into), the last reason is if there's some kind of in-game incentive to do so (e.g. pre-order and you get some in game minor boost/cosmetic/whatever) but that's really only a minor consideration.

I only pre-order Guild Wars 2 expansions, as it's my favourite game and I know that whatever I get, I'll feel that it was worth the money for the thousands of hours of fun I've got out of that game :)

But I wouldn't preorder anything else - I have a massive Steam backlog, and a few years after release I can get the properly finished, patched version of games with all the expansions for a fraction of the price (+ all the mods and community resources that had time to develop and mature). Last year I got Witcher 3 for like 90% off lol. No need to rush, there are so many older games I haven't played yet...

Btw I was a r/patientgamers member for years, I see that they also have a community on Lemmy :) https://sh.itjust.works/c/patientgamers

I bought a pre-purchase once, and it was for Bloodstained.

Not only was I excited to play a new Metroidvania from the guy who made the best Metroidvania, but the price in my local currency was 1:1 to the dollar. I knew that this price was wrong and that it might go up after release. And I was right, the price increased.

Totally worth it and the game was amazing at launch.

With 14 days after release and 2 hours of playtime you can still refund. Maybe some just see it as the current day demo? Quite easy to see if it runs well and what the playability and average response is within that time frame. Like a wishlist that reserves the cash in advance.

I mean, Civ is a pretty established line of games. If you are into those things you probably know you’re going to get the new one. Same for Monster Hunter, especially with this one returning to world’s formula, which was hugely popular, and having multiple betas people could have tried to before prepurchasing. I assume kingdom come deliverance is the same.

No issue preordering a game I know I’m going to get either way.

But with new games, or AAA shit, or titles I may enjoy but are not a guaranteed buy, then preordering is stupid as hell.

I get lost in the hype and I do, last one was armored core and cyberpunk before that

I will say this, the hype is also entertainment and I had more fun with the buildup to cyberpunk than with the game itself and I'm glad I experienced it all, steam servers crashing was wild

The real cyberpunk was the friends we made along the way unironically

No

it would have to be one hell of a sale or a ton of perks added, and be something i was gonna buy at release anyway--which i do not do often: the last game i bought the week of release was hl2.

Not anymore. Mostly for 3 main reasons.

• The only reason I'd ever preorder something now is if there's a significant risk of stock running out quickly. That's not a thing with digital games, ask there's no need to consider it.

• I've been burned far too many times by getting shitty games on day one, after having fallen for all the fake hype, deceptive marketing, sophisticated astroturfing, and paid-for reviews. Now, as a rule, I'll wait for about 2-4 weeks at least to see what the community sentiment is before I buy something.

• And finally, games are fuck all expensive now. 70 dollars is already a bridge too far for many of the bug-riddled, unfinished slop big corpos push out these days. And then there's "speculation" that RockStar will price GTA6 at a 100 dollars, giving all the publishers out there the precedent to do the same with their own titles. I'll just take my time and wait for them to go on sale for at least 50% off before I consider getting something. (P.S. I say speculation, but I'm almost entirely convinced that it's a deliberate industry psyop to get people primed for this insane price tag and reduce the sticker shock-induced backlash)

Never. Apart from the pre-order bonuses that I refuse to accept there's really no reason to. The game's still there after I have seen the reviews. I have fast internet and a fast SSD, so even if I could pre-download that would realistically only save me an hour or something even for the largest games.

Not really. The one exception I made in recent times was Cities Skylines 2 after I had 400+ hours in the original, and that was only due to a 30% off sale days before release. Though I wouldn't recommend it for most, I still have 42 good hours in it so it was worth my money.

Otherwise I'm a very patient gamer.

Very rarely, usually out of interest for the bonuses or out of spite to a circlejerk that has formed against it. Have they been great games? No, but they have also not turned out to be bad games or something I did not expect, as I did my homework.

No. I am fairly sure almost everything on the top seller lose is also in my ignore category.

Nope. I used to pre-order ESO expansions because you got some cool mounts or whatever, but I haven't played that in years.

Also try not to give into early access either.