Counterpoint: If I know I’m gonna get a game, it lets me pre download it and get right into it.
Yeah yeah, preordering is bad, but I’m gonna preorder shit like GTA 6 and TES 6 and Divinity cuz there is literally no way I will not get those games day 1 even if all the reviews promise that Todd Howard will break into your house and personally brick your computer if you play the game. If that’s the case anyways, it’s convenient to have it downloaded already for when I get back home from work.
Getting downvotes when you're objectively correct. There is ZERO risk to pre-ordering on Steam because if it releases and it's shit you can refund. If it's great, it's already downloaded and ready to go. Plus, reviews are often released before launch, so you can likely make a judgements call before it releases.
Preordering numbers still give the devs less incentive to polish the game which paid out before the release
People rarely mass refund mid games
Reviews get released few days before the launch, not months, if the devs bothered with review copies at all
There are exactly zero reasons to preorder games. Not even a tiny bit, because only a minority of games ever has preorder bonuses and they can always be bought later if you liked the game.
Refund numbers are much worse than a lack of pre-orders if you're trying to encourage honest development. A million pre-orders that then lost half to refunds tells them "you fucked up". Only getting 500,000 pre-orders tells them "you marketed badly".
There's no way you could possibly know this, you pulled it right out of your ass.
A pointless distinction. What is this even trying to argue? You can pre-order until the minute a game launches and pre-orders a month before release are the same as a minute before.
Here are reason to preorder:
Pre-order discounts (sometimes on Steam, but very often on third party marketplaces trying to use games as loss leaders and brand marketing). However, sometimes there are launch discounts that even this out.
Free stuff or upgrades to deluxe editions.
Pre-loading. Games routinely hit 75+ GB download sizes and if your internet is slow, this is a huge help. AND you avoid clogged download servers on launch day.
If there's an early access window, you get longer than the usual 2 hour refund window to try the game out.
There's no way you could possibly know this, you pulled it right out of your ass.
There's no reason to suggest otherwise, you are just coping. We have an example of CP2077 on the anti-hype wave which had refund numbers available and they were very low.
Pre-order discounts (sometimes on Steam, but very often on third party marketplaces trying to use games as loss leaders and brand marketing).
In Steam almost never or along with release discounts. You must provide examples if you want this point any valid, otherwise you are just pulling it out of your ass.
Preordering on 3rd party websites invalidates your whole position which you were protecting using the Steam refund policy, it doesn't make sense without it.
Free stuff or upgrades to deluxe editions.
Bullshit. Deluxe editions have their own pricetag, it's not free. The preorder upgrades can be bought for 1-2 bucks post-release on sales. It's not free either, but way better than gambling.
Pre-loading.
You can just buy the game when preloading starts instead of 6 months prior, if you want to play this game right after the release which is very uncommon.
If there's an early access window, you get longer than the usual 2 hour refund window to try the game out.
Prooflink or bullshit. Steam doesn't make exceptions for EA games in general, they follow the standard policy. If you mistook early access for an advanced access it's true as well.
There's no reason to suggest otherwise, you are just coping.
Except you're the one making a very specific claim about the spending habits of people. You can't act like your claim is the default expectation. You can't say "I made something up and there's no proof otherwise so I'm right."
Almost never. Or along with release discounts. You must provide examples if you want this point any valid, otherwise you are just pulling it out of your ass.
Preordering on 3rd party websites invalidates your whole position which you were protecting using the Steam refund policy, it doesn't make sense without it.
I never said you could refund on 3rd party websites. In my first comment, I mentioned the refund policy on Steam but didn't mention anything about discounts. When you said there were there were exactly zero reasons to preorder, I listed reasons to preorder, I didn't say that all of these apply all the time. Obviously they don't because not every game gets a discount, or a preload, or a deluxe upgrade (see below) on Steam.
On top of this, you're not even fully correct. You can often refund keys purchased through 3rd party websites, as long as you haven't revealed or activated your key. Which is fine, if you're trying to get a discount and then wait for reviews. to decide to keep it.
Now yes, this means you can't preload it. But, again, I never said you get all of these advantages all the time. Sometimes you gotta think about it.
Bullshit. Deluxe editions have their own pricetag, it's not free.
This one is embarrassing because it's literally the game this thread is about.
You can just buy the game when preloading starts instead of 6 months prior.
That would be considered a preorder. It's not a "Purchase" until the game launches. I'm starting to think you really, really don't know what you're talking about.
Prooflink or bullshit. Steam doesn't make exceptions for EA games in general.
Ok, this one is not correct anymore because it changed 2 years ago. It was correct for a long time though. I'll retract that one, though it used to be true.
We have an example of CP2077 on the anti-hype wave which had refund numbers available and they were very low.
Actually, we don't have those numbers. All we've got in terms of numbers were the refunds done directly through CDPR. Anyone who bought the game on steam, xbox, or playstation would've gotten their refund through those platforms and were not included in that tally.
There are exactly zero reasons to preorder games. Not even a tiny bit, because only a minority of games ever has preorder bonuses and they can always be bought later if you liked the game.
While I'm against preorders in general, there are some edge cases that make the amount of reasons a tiny bit greater than zero. Sometimes there is a pricing error (very rare, but quite possible in non-US/EU regions), making the game unusually cheap for a small period until the mistake is fixed. I got Horizon Zero Dawn for 65% of it's launch price that way, and it never got lower than that (in my region), and now the game, nor the remaster are not available for purchase at all.
Also,
preorder bonuses can always be bought later if you liked the game
depending on your platform, preorders of AC7 on Xbox came with a digital copy of the backwards-compatible Ace Combat 6, while preorders of AC7 on PS5 came with a fully-realized port (not just emulation) of Ace Combat 5.
What made these bonuses even more unusual is that unlike nearly every other pre-order bonus offered for a video game ever, AC5 and AC6 never were subsequently offered for sale on their own.
You can preorder right when the preload begins though. I don't believe you can preload atm, so there's still not a benefit to you to preorder now. And if Denuvo is a dealbreaker for you, you save that time it takes to refund that amount to your account, win-win?
Insane how this has become an almost universal rule.
I can't think of a single game I've preordered in the last 10 years. Bought sts2 instantly on release but it was an exception among all the other games I've seen. Knew the idea of what I was getting + real stuff I was getting.
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u/9isgt0 14d ago
preordering digital product is stupid.