why preordering affects game quality

[@jaysuede2627]

The game stores, the developers, the designers... everyone suffers before the publishers do. Can't continue if we want something better.

[@commonviewer2488]

Never pre-order, don't assume quality, always wait for analysis.

[@cv5953]

I agree BUT BUT BUT of course I still need to preorder the new Gun Adventure 2025 But YOU guys should definitely not preorder, mine doesn't count for some reason

[@beforesomeduring7330]

Absolutely asking for a friend, but is a preorder acceptable if it’s a remaster of an old, already released game?

[@CancerousAutoFilter]

@beforesomeduring7330 No. Because they have CONSISTENTLY censored, removed, and/or deliberately mistranslated content in EVERY SINGLE REMASTER in the last 5 years. Usually in the name of DEI. They CANNOT be trusted. DON'T PRE ORDER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. (yes this is an alt, because I'm not allowed to say this on my main for some bloody reason.)

[@CancerousAutoFilter]

@ No. Because they have CONSISTENTLY censored, removed, and/or deliberately mistranslated content in EVERY SINGLE REMASTER in the last 5 years. Usually in the name of DEI. 1/3

[@CancerousAutoFilter]

They CANNOT be trusted.2/3

[@ProfessorYana]

To paraphrase the late TotalBiscuit: *"Remember: NO PREORDERS."*

[@MerlinTheCommenter]

RIP the goat. Introduced me to Godhand.

[@jmal]

​@@MerlinTheCommenterThe good die young, unfortunately.

[@Danielscottrhoades]

Always knew pre-ordering was idiotic. I just wish I could have been as well articulated about my opinion when I was a young gamer.

[@razenburn]

I'm just glad I'm too old to have preorders be normal when I was young. I think it would have given me a skewed perspective on gaming economics.

[@TheAyanamiRei]

Pre-Ordering back in the day made a certain amount of sense. You could normally count on a Good Series to STAY a Good Series. They didn't have Day 1 Patches and other nonsense to fall back on. The problem is with the Modern Digital Age, they can just "Fix It Later." Nevermind that frequently games don't get fully fixed until 6+ months or even YEARS later to be at 100%. Frequently they end up at LESS than 100% and cancelled 1 year later AT MOST!! After all...if people say X is Bad, but then PAY for X, then they have 0 reason to care.

[@647586]

​​@@TheAyanamiRei it's easier than that- back in the day, if you didn't pre-order a popular game, they'd be sold out and you couldn't buy it!

[@razenburn]

@TheAyanamiRei In my mind, there was only ever one good reason to pre-order. Stock. Nowadays, that issue is (almost) entirely extinct. Digital copies don't need to be shipped, shelved, bought before they sell out. Respectfully, all those other reasons you listed were reasons to buy the game without playing the demo first.

[@CrusaderGabriel]

@@TheAyanamiRei that’s not the reason preorders worked… they worked because when physical media was the ONLY way to play something you either preordered or risked not getting a copy for months. Also a good series staying a good series was not always the case… there were a lot of big names which has a flop or two in their series, so you really couldn’t count on that

[@Aesculathehyena]

Always remember the First Rule of Acquisition. "Once you have their money, you never give it back"

[@bionicseaserpent]

*once they have your money

[@peasantkyr]

@@bionicseaserpentit’s a rule of acquisition, not a rule of what’s been acquired from you. It’s a Star Trek reference

[@seanmyster6]

To quote the Bullshit Man's cameo in the Tiger games episode of Angry Video Game Nerd: "They don't care! By the time you're having this problem, you already bought it!"

[@Trinsid]

I can appreciate special editions and even the hype feeling of having pre-ordered something, forgetting about it, and then getting a heads up that it's ready to play. But this is absolutely true, especially with AAA franchises - they are treated like businesses, not art - they prioritize profit, not consumer satisfaction.

[@thecrispymaster]

This is a common thing that goes well beyond games, but people suddenly become blind to it with games. In short: never pay in full upfront before the job is done. This goes for paying contractors, but it also applies to buying products. After all, where's the motivation to properly complete a project of good quality if you already have your money?

[@GoldenSun3DS]

This is also why insurance is so bad. They have your money, and so they're going to do everything possible to NOT give you the product (insurance claims) that you paid for.

[@Rynewulf]

@@GoldenSun3DSDepends on the country, turns out America is almost uniquely bad about that because you cant get a government trade ombudsman or something to investigate the insurance companies for fraud, because thats Danish socialist communism or something

[@dinoblacklane1640]

And even if an insurance company grants your claim. They put their costs up to the point that where the claim cost you more money

[@oatmeak]

Thank you for saying this, I think one of the biggest problems with games is people will complain about how they want things to be better but then the second the next release comes out they forget everything and just go out and buy it like there was never a choice in the matter.

[@typemasters2871]

I’d say this is more of a FOMO issue -game is announced -game looks good -you want to play the game before getting spoiled -even if you don’t pre-order, you try buying it day 1 -company still gets rewarded for having effective advertisement over a polished product Doesn’t help that there’s a slight catch 22 where someone might not want to get spoiled but what makes a game bad requires spoiling, the only solution is having other people buy the game, play the game, and all saying that the game is bad without any added detail

[@danixyea4463]

People need to understand that companies talk and listen with money, not words.

[@yuuthehobo]

"Numbers going up is all I need" - CEO

[@illitero]

This industry (and software in general) so desperately needs consumer protections regulation. It's genuinely maddening when a software product can be sold and easily deny responsibility to release a product that meets expectations of functionality, yet any physical product doing ANY of that in either quality or advertising gets slapped with fines and class-actions easily.

[@POVgames]

This was a hill I was dying on 15 years ago and constantly explaining to people how games are going to get so much worse if they keep preordering. I was in the vast minority and now look where we are.

[@Razzy-sr4oq]

"We can shovel slop because they'll swallow it before tasting the shit."

[@BlazeMakesGames]

Yeah preordering is basically a scam at this point. It served a point in the past when physical copies were the only way to get a game so there was a legitimate risk of being unable to get a copy. I can understand why people preorder stuff back then. But today it serves zero functional purpose anymore. Digital games lack any meaningful scarcity so you have no real reason to pre-order one. And even if you exclusively still only buy physical games with online shopping and whatnot you no longer have to rely on random game stores only getting 3 copies on the first day and stuff like that. It's trivial to get a copy quickly and easily from numerous online storefronts. So basically there is no reason to not at least wait to see what the reviews are like first. And yeah, this is also why pre-order bonuses have become so commonplace now. They realize that there's no actual reason to pre-order games anymore, so they create artificial reasons like releasing cosmetics that you can exclusively get through pre-orders to try and keep people doing it for this exact reason

[@TheSpeep]

Preorder exclusives are a great justification for piracy tho. After all, if you missed out on the preorder time window, youre now getting an inferior product. Youd be paying full price for a game missing a bunch of features and content that people who got it earlier did get. But you know where you can still get that content, and for free even? From the pirates. Youd have to be mad to pay full price for an incomplete experience, when you can get the whole thing for free, especially when thats the only way to get the whole thing.

[@chaossmith3864]

Okay you kinda touched on this touche That being said, FOMO is a helluva drug unfortunately and they prey on it. Especially with the way shipments have gone for some people.

[@Electric0eye]

​@@TheSpeepthis exactly. Videogame publishers think they aren't competing with the pirates. They are. And they're losing.

[@kaijuultimax9407]

The last time I remember pre-ordering actually being useful for securing a copy of a game was the 2007 release of Halo 3. Didn't see a loose copy on any store's shelf for months and got a little over-protective of my copy during that time (I didn't let anyone borrow the game, if they wanted to play the campaign, they had to come over and play co-op so that I knew the disc would be safe).

[@todesziege]

I guess the one exception could be very small run physical releases (like some indie games). It might really be impossible to get a copy post-launch, even if you're willing to pay scalper prices. Still, should probably still only ever consider it if it's a developer with a proven (rock solid) track record, or there's a demo or something to try it for yourself.

[@Impalingthorn]

It is nuts to me that the industry SUCCESSFULLY got everything to side with them while siding AGAINST their fellow customers. People's willingness to defend BRANDS these days is downright deplorable. They're brands, IP's, PRODUCTS designed to be put in your face and sold. Now if they offer something useful or fun then sure, but there's the problem: People have effectively allowed the industry to let their standards/quality fall off a cliff because they have been sucked into the "Just throw more money and praise at them and they will do better" mentality. Newsflash: Throwing money at them doesn't "fix" anything. All it does is convince a corporation that they can min/max your wallet; more money for less effort. They are a BUSINESS. They aren't your friend. They aren't your family. They are a machine built to print money and sell games. If you give them money they didn't earn, then they have successfully tested the waters with you and you let them get away with robbery.

[@emilemil1]

The biggest issue is that many games nowadays tie early access to preordering, so if you don't preorder you don't get to experience the game alongside your friends who did preorder, you'll get bombarded with spoilers, etc. I really think someone should step in and prohibit preorder exclusives. The only reason you should ever want or need to preorder is like a day before release when reviews are in and you want to predownload. Steam, please, get on this shit.

[@typemasters2871]

Well try pre-ordering as late as possible, like a week or so before release That way you can see if there are any pre-release reviews online before preordering for the preorder bonus

[@archiveacc3248]

Imagine going to a used car dealer, having him describe a vehicle he has coming in, and you pay him full price up front without EVER looking under the hood or turning it on to see if it even runs. That's what peordering is. It's an awful idea for anything else in life, but gamers let hype control their minds. The only possible benefit of preordering was in ye olden days, when we had to wait in line at a store for a finite amount of physical copies. Now that everything is available in an unlimited quantity digitally, there is ZERO reason to preorder. And if you have fomo for preorder bonuses, think of it this way- why is a company holding part of their game hostage to us, when we are paying full price anyways on release? I certainly don't want to give even more money to someone who's clearly trying to squeeze me for a nickel more. The suits just view you as a number, never forget that

[@lordmike9331]

To quote LowTierGod " I'm just gonna stomp you and you're gonna keep coming back, imma seal up all my cracks, you're gonna keep coming back. Why? Cause you smellin the syrup. "

[@mrdragonart2895]

Perfect

[@PogChimp]

keep going

[@GhostGirlBlues]

i made a point of avoiding scarlet and violet. and then someone bought a double pack for me a giant like pokemon has a lot of momentum. even if everyone stopped buying the games, i don't know how much of an impact that would have and when it would even be noticeable

[@Zeverinsen]

You've gotta do what you can every time you can.

[@ShinySubstitute]

This mindset is why I sassed people whining about Dexit during the Sw/Sh era. "Oh, you're going to stick it to GameFreak by... giving them the best week-of sales they've had ever (up until that point)? Are you a special kind of stupid, or do you identify with everyone else who did the same thing?" Unless it's a game I've personally heard good things about, I don't buy day one. I never preorder, either. It's not worth it.

[@liselotteline8596]

@@ShinySubstitute And games often have bugs in the beginning. I prefer waiting for a sale and it’s patched up by that point. So I get the best version for a lower price. And enough people have played it to review the endgame in case it sucks.

[@TheAyanamiRei]

@@ShinySubstitute I'll buy Day 1 if I see some trusted reviewers or other stuff. I pre-ordered MHW and it was GREAT! Though I also got Cyberpunk 2077, which turned out to be a HUGE MESS on Day 1. It wasn't until years later that I really put effort into it.

[@typemasters2871]

As a Pokemon fan, I an happy that I did not buy Sword and Shield new because of dexit and because the main story isn’t good. Sure I did buy Sword used a few months after the game launched (because of funny grass monke) but non of that money went to the Pokemon company

[@missspectra]

Showing this to some friends. More people need to hear this, and you need more views.

[@powerdude_dk]

👏👏👏

[@guanglaikangyi6054]

I have a friend that said something to the effect of: "I know I shouldn't preorder, but ATLUS is different."

[@softnoobgirl73]

In the words of Scott the woz "don't pre order shit"

[@MrKitrid]

Peordering breeds complacency. It just gives companies the massage that you're gonna buy whatever schlock they churn out. People need to learn to stop supporting bad business practices.

[@UserOfTheName]

I told all my friends not to pre-order Cyberpunk. They said I was being too cautious because CD Projekt Red always delivers.

[@Kniffel101]

I wanted to make a comment on Pokémon, but you already did! =D "Wait (for review results) before you buy!" is a stark contrast to "Get the double-pack of the exact same game for $120!" =P

[@banquetoftheleviathan1404]

It's supposed to be the same game, if it ain't broke, don't add fairy types.

[@AgentSapphire]

Scarlet and Violet are such sad games. The story was actually fantastic and the gimmick of tera, while silly, has been the most healthy thing for the competitive scene in a long time (yes megas are cool but they were really unhealthy for comp). But my god the gameplay was painful. The lag hurts. Especially in violet since Miraidon's jets cause lag. It needed another month or two to bake and I think it would have been one of the better games across the entire series. And one of the few games that didn't have a set bad guy that the hero could just beat and everyone lives happily ever after. The issue is more that the games have to come out on pace with the anime which is why it turned out unfinished. If the anime at least was willing to take breaks so the games could catch up and be delayed now and then I think it would be fine. But this was an especially big crunch since Horizons was such a huge change.

[@TearfulZorua]

​@@AgentSapphire I have conflicting feelings about scarlet/violet. Unlike most Pokémon games, I can't just sit and play for hours because that actively makes the experience all the more terrible. Bug wise, as far as I've been able to note, it starts removing the picnic tables and collision, eventually the ground on the pokemon sandwich mini game, after like 30 minutes of playing. If I play for 10 minutes without saving, since i turned auto save off, the game just actively freezes or crashes, especially if that ten minutes finished durning a battle or tera raid. But the graphics are pretty good in my standards, the story is good, and it had a lot of potential. Its just... almost like it wasnt meant to be played the same as other games. I don't know how bugged Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were on release, though I've heard it was pretty much as bugged as og Diamond and Pearl were (which isnt too bad imo) and that the music was still unchanged, but it was otherwise playable right? I mean I only bring it up because this christmas I got Brilliant Diamond (my sis got Shining Pearl) to just complete the switch Pokémon games collection, and I played it for sh!ts and giggles. It actually blew my expectations out of the water since I'd heard so much trash about it. It was playable without autosave, it had decent graphics (even though they were a tad strange choice wise, for example the style difference between the pokemon and humans on the overworld is a tad jarring), battles dont lag on as if youre waiting for someone to select their move in online battles while having cruddy internet, its got its own unique charms like the grand undergroud and whatever it is they did to the musicals. My only gripes with that game are the style decisions and the fact you can't turn exp share off, but otherwise i find it much more fun and playable than the gorgeous Scarlet that I have no choice but to put to the side after doing nothing. Yeah Scarlet is still unbeaten (post game + blueberry academy) despite having gotten it at launch, and i did have dlc as well as a complete pokedex for 2 of the dexes, but yeah... I can't even pretend its good anymore when its the one pokemon game that actively makes me rage quit just by playing as "intended." Thats not to add that the game doesnt even open normally anymore on my switch because it has to double check if it can be played every time i select it. Which nearly all other games dont... I used to tell everyone, I loved scarlet violet, that its one of my favorites. It would be had it not been for how difficult it is to actually get into playing it (as in crash wise. Difficulty wise the game was easy, even when going for the strongest gyms first). It had such good potential, and still does, but has so little love put into it by gamefreak. Like they put more effort in legends arceus, which is really good but... what about the main release? They could update the game to fix its issues but at this point every update to it has just made it less playable. I dont even know why, because while i could say its too much for the switch to handle as a system there are better games for other franchises out there that play fine. Perhaps gamefreak is using spaghetti code and thats its issue? Who knows. But yeah its sad the downfall gen 9 has gotten, and it sucks that since i got it at launch thats what itll be from now on. Id love a gen 5 remake, they are remaking gen 6, but im scared to see where its at. Im afraid my favorite franchise wont be able to capture my enterest with games anymore because of how unplayable it may become. But remakes and legends games might be its only safe option anyway, with a limited set of pokemon and much smaller locations already designed and most code already complete. I can only hope itll be good, and thats why im not even worried they havent released a trailer yet. I can enjoy the journey together pokemon card set, or the battle figures instead for a while. But you wont see me on comment sections hating any games, or complaining about the reasonable changes like dexit, only feeling bummed i cant play a series i love without actively loosing my mind at the crashes. So much lost data... we need to get the gamefreak that worked on alpha sapphire and omega ruby back, those were peak 3d pokemon (but legends arceus is pretty close, dont hate on that game).

[@PyroOfZen]

And now they get people with early access betas so that the complaints can be written off as "Well, it's not done yet," as if it'll be any different at launch.

[@NoshuHyena]

Extends to predatory microtransaction games too. Nowadays, no matter how egregious a game is, you get thousands of content creators pouring thousands of dollars into them just for the spectacle. A big name developer can purposefully make a game as predatory as they can, and still ensure that they make a profit because of how far internet gaming culture has devolved.

[@alxsytb]

i always thought of preordering as basically the ultimate sign of trust to a game, like you only preorder a game if you know youll be a fan of it and you gotta be aware of the gamble. i only ever preordered like 7 things and only two were triple a (shadow of the erdtree and smash ultimate). i dont think preordering is bad in theory but it shouldnt be something you do for a random game you might like, especially in the aaa market where thats like 60 bucks down the drain as opposed to the like 20 youd loose with an indie

[@Dargonhuman]

In my life I've only preordered something like 4 games - Bioshock 2 for the Toys R Us exclusive toy bundle, Halo 3 because ... well, Halo freaking 3, Marvel vs Capcom Collection because MvC2 and an indie room escape game that I've been a fan of since they were browser exclusive over ten years ago. Everything else I wait to go on sale, or in Nintendo's case, I wait for it to be patched and all the DLC released since they almost never put their first party stuff on sale.

[@iLikeVideoGames77]

Im my personal experience, I preordered the Doom game for the Nintendo Switch because i wanted a physical copy as a collectors item. I paid in full and then they pulled the plug. Remember that. You can preorder and they can change their minds and pull the plug whenever they feel like it. It almost feels like a crackhead asking for money. So never again

[@TheNewRobotMaster]

This makes a lot of sense. Think about how Sega changed Sonic's appearance in the Sonic movies. People complained about how much they hate it and it'll be too horrible to watch, but Sega and paramount didn't have the money from people watching the movie yet. Preordering really is a bad deal. I remember getting burned by MvC3 through preordering. They promised there would be no next edition, they made a sweet steel case and included the dlc codes for Jill and Shuma-Gorath. Ultimate edition came out only 10 months later and now my pre-ordered extra collection was worthless

[@da_pikmin_coder8367]

Even when I'm fairly certain I'll enjoy a game before buying it, I still have never pre-ordered. But to be fair, the games I tend to like aren't big on pre-order bonuses and collector's editions. If Pikmin 4 had a steelbook, art book, and Bulborb statue for pre-orders, maybe I'd be singing a different tune.

[@DeathInTheSnow]

Literally the point this bloke is making is that you shouldn't pre-order _ever._ These trinkets don't improve the game. Why would you want a cheap statue to commemorate a terrible game?

[@TheSpeep]

Its pretty simple rly. You preordered. They already have your money. Why would they put more effort, time, or money into it? Once they have your money, any more work they put in is a waste of resources. They can now spend that extra work on the next game theyre gonna make you buy instead.

[@Electric0eye]

Realistically, no. They just pocket it.

[@JPOG7TV]

An example from last year: Destiny 2 the final shape had data that showed it had a quarter of the pre-orders than other expansions had in the past. It got delayed with more stuff added to it and it’s the highest rated release in that franchise. Personally I chose not to pre order monster hunter wilds due to the poor performance of the game on all hardware and now they are making improvements on that front. There’s definitely proof that low preorders force companies to make their games better

[@mikealheit8116]

God, I never actually thought much about it before, but now that you say it, it makes so much sense. Not to mention, pre-ordering a physical item make sense since there’s a finite supply (for example, I was thinking of something I WOULD want to pre-order and the first thing that came to mind was figurines, because good ones sell out fast so it’d be a good way of guaranteeing I get one), but with a digital copy, it’s kind of… always available? So there’s not really any good incentive when you think about it.

[@NISHIAKI]

Generally the digital purpose for preordering is pre-download. Granted, that can often be delayed until close to release when initial impressions by the press have come out. And if review embargoes are too close to release, that's your sign to wait.

[@Khorvalar]

Now you're using your noodle!

[@IRanOutOfPhrases]

What I dont get is why people feel compelled in the age of digital games. At least on tje old days, you did this because you wanted to be sure to play it day 1. Now that you can just download games.....who cares about preorder? And sure, I understand not everyone has space to download another game. But I bet a large percent of those preorders are in fact downloads.

[@cryochick9044]

I preordered one game Never again I wanted a multiplayer fallout not an uninteresting mmo The only games I'd preorder is if an indie dev needs money to kickoff. Like grimshire. I've followed grimshire since it was originally teased I'd 100% pay for a kickstarter

[@FRETW1ZARD]

Well now hold on a second. I get that if you return a physical game in a shop the shop eats the cost, but if I return a digital game on steam or the psn for example, who eats that cost?

[@frogmouth2]

If there’s no preorder bonus, idk why people would. It’s not like there’s a shortage of AAA game copies at launch.

[@dumaass]

Oh damn great point, actually. Thanks :D

[@jthejester2338]

Imagine you go to a restaurant and order a burger, then pay for it full price. The waiter comes out with half your burger and asks if you want the other half. You were displeased and say no, they have your money, they don't care. If you said yes, they'll make the other half, at lesser quality. If you pay the bill when you're done your meal, the restaurant will ensure quality.

[@Souper_OPP4i]

More people need to hear this. Boosting

[@doopness785]

The last time I preordered a game I got a little Ho-Oh figurine.

[@Brant-vh5mk]

That’s how I fell for it back in the day, but most companies realized you can put the rewards in game and make more money off of nothing.

[@latemanparodius5133]

​@@Brant-vh5mk Some realized that you can include a promise of a reward but never actually deliver the reward. The lawsuit will cost less than how much they make from the scam.

[@doopness785]

My point is that back then there was an actual insensitive to preorder. The Pokémon Games used to include preorder collectibles but this hasn’t been the case since 2010. And I don’t consider in-game rewards or items to count as a bonus or incentive.

[@Scoottheboot670]

There are VERY few games that I will pre-order, and I'll only do it from established series/studios I already trust. Like I've pre-ordered kingdom come deliverance 2 because I legitimately see no way that game will be bad and from everything I've heard from people who've played it early it sounds like they've really been polishing it over the past few months (I also know warhorse studios definitely will listen to their fans). That's a super rare case for me. Like I'm also a huge Yakuza and monster hunter fan, both of them have games coming out next month and Im probably not preordering either of them.

[@ghosty918]

Even if you trust them, and know the game will be good...wait and buy it when it releases.

[@Khorvalar]

I really hope more people start to understand this, it's so sad to see people enabling these companies to take advantage of their foolishness!

[@NoNameNoWhere]

Pre-ordering started when most games were physical only. This helped companies better predict how many copies of a game they should purchase and it allowed consumers who have to work to purchase games comfortably in the afternoon. Nowadays, it just allows companies to ensure more people will buy their game before any revoews come out. Even if the game is good, it pushes players to pre-purchase games in the spur of the moment. It's an unnecessary practice.

[@Eyevou]

if you put the money you spent on preorders into a savings account you will have at least $0.10 more by the time the game comes out.

[@Levyathyn]

I've been pushing it for years. I'm someone who grew up in a time when pre-orders mattered--you literally had to pre-order the game, to reserve your copy, so that they ordered enough for you and everyone else. I also grew up in a time when games couldn't patch later or consistently charge you money over the course of their lifetime, so they had to release good and they had to release complete. The rise of pre-order culture, as I call it, literally goes hand-in-hand with the overall dissolution of gaming as an industry, and the denigration of quality across the board to where we are now. Executives make money off of presales, they make money off of height, they make money off of stock searches, and they make profit off of sales. The overall reception of games and does not matter, and if you don't believe me, literally just take a look at the industry. People are doing it to themselves, and I've run out of sympathy, years ago.

[@sanostargalaxy]

I remember pre-ordering only being attractive for games you knew were going to sell out day 1and then they added on pre-order bonuses for popular games to make it even more popular

[@Jamesssssssssssssss]

The last game I remember pre-ordering was Kingdom hearts 2. I just never got the concept, especially as physical media was replaced by digital media. Now everyone can have a copy. No one's going to buy my copy if I don't get there in time or something

[@rajabuta]

I know. That's why I preorder games from brands I trust. Not that it means I can't get screwed 😂

[@MKL874]

Another bad one is when some gameplay content is tied to a preorder. It feels like publishers are doing a middle finger to all those clients that bought the game after that time period. This needs to stop

[@JP-1990]

This is why I always wait for the complete editions. Haven't pre-ordered a game since KH3.

[@Evixyn]

The only time I preorder a game title is if I know the brand is well polished "Nintendo" and is actually good title that I know I would enjoy no questions ask. My recent pre-orders from my memory are Luigi's Mansion Three, Shantae Five, and Splatoon Three "I do not like splatoon three as much"

[@oddishsmile7368]

I've sworn off of preorders after the time I preordered Animal Crossing at Gamestop and then the day it released Covid19 restrictions went into place

[@younesgeek1313]

Well, to be fair, this time it wasnt the game's fault.

[@jacksonjabba]

I mean I feel like the fact that game existed in Covid was a good thing? Helped me and lots of folks through the isolation. Preordering is still bad regardless, but not because Covid or whatever

[@yle-mw6pi]

Haven't pre-ordered a game since borderlands the presequel. The first and last time I'll ever buy a game without seeing a review

[@shirayukinobunaga9424]

Honestly the only games that are safe to pre-order are the ones that first get a JP release prior to EN release so you know the quality beforehand, its a 1 for 1 port of a previous released title in a game collection, or has special promo cards like the yugioh early days collection

[@ReeseGhost]

I mean yeah literally nothing we do as a consumer matters aside from buying or not buying the game. Pre-ordering is obviously buying the game, lol.

[@powerdude_dk]

Splendid video! What's so hard to understand? Now we just need parents to check what they buy, for their little gold lumps (will never happen). And people to not fall for the marketing BS..... (will probably never happen as well)

[@excrubulent]

I'm sure this effect is happening, but I think it's more co-causal. Pushing pre-orders and declining quality are both caused by the fact that the business makes money first and games second, and is run by marketing and sales rather than by developers and artists. Yes, they push preorders to decouple sales from quality to enable their goal of making money, but that's not the fault of the audience. People are manipulable, but if they are so manipulable on such a large scale, then that's not an issue of personal responsibility. It's just a social phenomenon. It's like physics. You don't blame molecules for burning when you put them in a fire, that's just what happens. I think bad games and bad marketing and bad sales practices are just a feature of capitalism, and blaming the people whose brains haven't been hardened against it won't fix anything. As the old saying goes, "There's a sucker born every minute."

[@zachjones4551]

DONT PREORDER. Ever. Wait for reviews.

[@thebreakfastmegapowers]

I hear this and I'm gonna agree but I disagree that it applies to all video games. Preorders don't usually change anything for small series and many times games like a niche Atlus JRPG will be extremely limited in the U.S. so preorders are nearly mandatory to ensure you get a copy. What this does apply to is massive AAA companies and yearly releases. The EA's Activisions and Blizzards will absolutely divorce quality from sales and this goes to less massive companies like the Capcoms and Konami's as well but to a much lesser extent. The big trick is that you don't need to preorder a game you already know about, if you know of a series like Madden FIFA MLB then you have no reason to preorder. Nintendo games as well as long as they are mainstays like the next Zelda Mario or Donkey Kong you will NEVER need to preorder to get a copy but that oneoff series detour like a spinoff Pokemon or a Remaster of a older game is a different story

[@lizzytheowl577]

Additionally: There is quite literally zero reason to get a *digital* pre-order specifically. The original pitch of pre-orders was "This game is going to probably sell out on day one, so if you want to get a copy on release day you should buy it in advance to ensure you get your copy." This made sense when games were exclusively physical releases, and it still makes a degree of sense to pre-order a physical copy of a game if that's what you prefer (Still don't pre-order. Just because a physical pre-order makes more sense doesn't mean it doesn't feed the behavior described in the video). But digital releases? They *can't* run out of copies, it is *impossible* for them to run out of copies because nothing gets depleated when you download the game files. There's no difference between pre-ordering and buying day one if you only plan on getting a digital copy. Sure, they might try to give you a pre-order bonus. But think about it, when was the last time pre-order bonuses were actually good? Most of the time now its just additional in game items or outfits, and if the game isn't fun *without* that extra content then the game isn't good or isn't complete. And in *that* case you just shouldn't get the game.

[@Kirii86]

I’m fairly sure a refund does hurt the publisher, at least a steam refund does.

[@CrusaderGabriel]

This is what I keep saying… they don’t care about reviews if you already gave them your money, they have what they wanted from you so even if you scream as hard as you can they won’t listen anymore. Take for example the streamer who spent about 50,000 USD in Diablo immortal to then delete his account “as a protest”… like, dude you literally gave them all they want, why should they do something… like alter the game monetization scheme or anything if it’s already selling super well (50k or something around that, basically an annual salary for some of us mortals)… This is why it’s important you learn to vote with your wallet, reviews can be censored, altered and all of that but sales are undeniable. I just wish people stopped giving in to fanboyism about brand names and started thinking before purchasing just because it says “star wars” or “warcraft” in there (not saying to not buy but rather buy only if you really like the game and not because it has a big name on it)

[@n1lknarf]

Preorder is the content creator tax. The first version of the game is the most expensive and worst optimized. The last version of the game is the least expensive and most optimized. There's no reason to buy games until after at least a year they're released.

[@chubokuway]

At this point I only consistently preorder RGG games. They have never let me down

[@TheAyanamiRei]

REMEMBER: The ONLY Language & Complaints that Corps care about & listen to is MONEY!! As long as you're throwing money at Lootboxes, Gatcha, etc. they will NEVER care, IF the Gamers keep throwing money at it. So when you Pre-Order you're REALLY telling the Game Devs, "Please abuse your Customer base, because I LOVE Buying your Games, no matter HOW BAD they are!

[@polocatfan]

game publishers lose money if you return a game on steam. which is deserved.

[@Dr._Nicolas]

the only 2 games i preorder in my life was metroid dread and Tears of the Kingdom, one was an amazing game that met my expectations and i enjoyed every second of it, the other one was tears of the kingdom and i will never preorder another game ever again.

[@spacefacecadet]

After totk I've learned my lesson 😔 pretty much only series I've ever preordered, and it won't be happening again.

[@tellierbop]

I only pre order if the developpers have shown transparency and I can trust them.

[@charlespentrose7834]

I don't think I've ever pre-ordered a game and I'm certainly not going to start now.

[@Jaminsongunner]

I love your itemlabel collection

[@40088922]

call it warped luck or whatever, but I got burned more by the few times I bought on Day 1 than by the few times I pre-ordered. that said, I think the only way to justify someone pre-ordering is if the devs were fairly transparent during the pre-release, and bonus points if they have a good track record, although I will admit both things are getting increasing hard to attest, specially the "good track record part". bottom line, I don't recommend pre-orders because of the long-term effects it has, but I'd be lying if I said it's NEVER EVER good... unfortunately, pre-orders aren't aimed towards moderately well-informed players, so saying to speak with one's wallet or some such *tends* to fall on deaf ears

[@joe_z]

The only game I've ever pre-ordered was Tetris Effect back in 2019, and only because I wanted to break in my then-newly-created Epic Games account. I guess I'm blessed in that I don't care much for AAA games in the first place so I don't contribute to this problem.

[@hypnotic13371337]

If you are going to preorder it, do it the day before launch

[@WARLORD626]

Good thing that I'm not preordering Witcher 4 and Interstellar.

[@thedeadpoolwhochuckles.6852]

This makes me want to preorder everything.

[@dragonkyng]

We need to stop this use of the term “preorder” when we actually mean pre-purchase

[@Adam-Mei]

I pre-ordered Loz games that got me Windwaker preview.

[@TripNBallsGaming]

The only game I've pre-ordered recently was FF7 Rebirth, but only because I didn't realize it was a pre-order and thought I'd be able to get straight to downloading and playing it.

[@MerlinTheCommenter]

It’s basically like a gotcha game. You’re gambling. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant “gacha” game.

[@mnspstudioLOST]

It doesn't take any extra logic or knowledge of gaming and development cycles. It's this simple: If your child *always* gets the toy, especially early, then they do not care to finish the chores. How will you punish them? You already gave them the toy. Pre-orders give them the toy without any of the work. Hence why over the last fifteen years they've decided to do less and less of the work before release. THEY'VE GOT YOUR MONEY REGARDLESS, AS PRE-ORDERS SHOW. It's that easy. You're rubber stamping their game without seeing it and if you're surprised that this affects the quality, you're a troll.

[@sgtsaltstick2729]

People need to consume responsinly.

[@AgentSapphire]

I very very VERY rarely preorder a game (like once every couple of years). And its usually only when a company already has an excellent track record of delivering quality. It doesn't mean that the game that I ordered will be better. But I'm voting only for game companies that have already proven trustworthy with quality. The moment their quality drops, I will no longer pre-order.

[@Zeverinsen]

Pre-registering is fine. Pre-ordering is not. In fact, it is stupid, and hurts both you, the other players AND the actual developers. *STOP DOING IT!* I've never pre-ordered any game, and the only way they'll make me do it if my purchase also includes a tangible item that I value at the same amount or more than the price I paid for the game.

[@DameDantalion]

The first game I pre-ordered was Shadow The Hedgehog for the PS2 and lemme tell you it was foreshadowing. i don't pre-order often.

[@Valcuda]

This is why I have a rule to not pre-order or buy on day 1, except on very rare occasion. My opinion is, if your only info on the game is from official sources, then you're buying the game blind. You have to get information from unofficial sources, who WILL tell you the flaws, before you're actually informed. Nintendo is the only company I'm willing to buy a game from blind, cause they've almost never disappointed me. (I don't consider Pokémon to be Nintendo games, as they're made by GameFreak)

[@drtyboy]

Pre-ordering started as a way to guarantee that ya could get a copy on release, and is now irrelevant in the digital age. Some BS armor set or weapon skin is never really worth it either. Especially in a first person title.

[@macmainemusik5913]

I did not know that, thank you frfr big homie

[@CharginChuck]

I didn't complain about Pokemon Scarlet. I also don't preorder games, for the exact reasons you stated. Preordering games, as a concept, dates back to when all games were on physical media, so if you really wanted to get a game on launch day and didn't want to take the risk that it would sell out, you would preorder to make sure a copy was reserved for you. It made sense for the time it was first conceived in. But now that every game is available digitally, limited stock isn't an issue anymore. While I could defend the idea of preordering a physical game twenty years ago, there us absolutely no reason to ever preorder a digital game. The only reason game publishers keep the practice alive and keep spending so much marketing money to get people to think they need to preorder is, well, all the stuff you just said. But yeah, seriously though I really like Pokemon Scarlet and didn't have any issues with glitches.

[@SplatastictheRealOne]

A game's quality is better when it doesn't have bells and whistles attached via a fomo aspect from preorder. The game would be better once it sits for months or weeks with the promised online stuff available for purchase _cheaply_ (including irl cosmetics.) I had to wait a bit due to not having some moolah for the release of Antonblast that shipped out Dec 4, and 13th respectively. Still enjoying it after Christmas. Same with cyberpunk 2077 which is an older game with some funi bugs, here or there. But it does put it up on the perspective chart, if thet game was under the preorder function _i think it was years ago and people were unhappy with the glitchy state and late launch._ But I'm having fun with what the current iteration is, in this year under the Streetrunner playthrough. (1st)

[@typemasters2871]

I only pre-order a week or so before release if I do decide to pre-order By then the majority of pre-release reviews have already come out For example, I was happy that a Fantasy Life sequel was announced, but then months later there was a level 5 presentation where the company expressed their desire to make use of AI art, now i don’t want to pre-order it (waiting to see if the game actually uses AI art) and I would have had to cancel my pre-order if I did pre-order the moment the game was announced.

[@picivyvortac2641]

Funny, this is the opposite for baord games. Most board games are a labor of love and things like kickstart success (they dont usually do pre-sales on the same scale) the board game often has more and better content.

[@Caterfree10]

I will say, at least in the case of Pokemon, despite the sales that could tell them that they way they handled SV is fine, they seem to be taking the needing extra dev time criticism to heart. The only mainline Pokemon thing that happened in 2024 was the announcement of Legends AZ, and that hasn’t had an update since that announcement in February 2024. That’s a good thing imho, because it tells me they’re hard at work and giving enough time to the devs to work on it. So yeah, at least Game Freak seems to be reevaluating what they’re doing. Hopefully. We’ll see how that translates with the next games whether they come this year or next for the 30th anniversary, anyway.

[@makogp747]

i dont pre order stuff unless theres a demo beforehand, and even then i rarely pre order, but question, what about digital stores?

[@CheesyLizzy]

I'm holding out a small amount of hope for the next mainline pokemon game since they stopped yearly releases

[@Zeverinsen]

If they lose against Pal World in court, then _maybe._ I still think it will take time and actual economical backlash before anything really changes.

[@CheesyLizzy]

@Zeverinsen yeah

[@Thalanox]

I will preorder only from proven studios. I've got enough games on my list that im not in a hurry to buy new ones.

[@catborg780]

I only ever pre-order if I know it'll probably be a limited print, like an Atlus game. Definitely not from a first party studio.

[@Anchus-l2r]

What companies have y’all been buying from that let you pre-order the game before they’ve even finished it??