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[VlaudTheImpaler]

Yeah, no way in hell that is true.

If you know first hand that a game sucks that means you bought it and were duped. The fact that people here are the first ones to complain about it means they were the first ones to get swindled.

A lot of this started before the game even launched, back when the copies leaked and people where upset about the multiplayer thing. I didn't buy the game after the bad PC port but I still complained about the situation as the lies started unraveling which the average consumer wouldn't have known from the previews alone which is what I'd guess that most of them would have watched as their "research."

 

[SomTervo]

going by some of the NMS forums, I don't think he is...

Yeah, I think that's pretty much directly the point of the thread.

Not that it detracts from how poor Hello communication has been.

 

[Fdkn]

I know what I like and what I can expect from what I buy. The last time I really regretted a purchase was Lords of Shadows and it was only 15, while I buy probably near 100 games every year between all platforms, sales, etc.

I'm not saying I never find flaws in games because obviously I do, but rarely those flaws offset what made me go ahead with the purchase and when the doubts are significant I wait for affordable sales.

"Judge games for what they are and not for what you wanted them to be" is a mantra that works for me almost every time.

 

[Phu]

You can never be certain a game won't burn you because you can never be 100% certain making a decision with incomplete knowledge. Which you are doing anytime you pre-order. Made worse in the age of such a broken gaming media feedback loop.

You are always taking a risk on pre-orders. In an age of instant digital downloads, day one discounts and large supply there are very few reasons to pre-order. Hell, I would even argue there are not very good reasons to buy a game in the first month of its release given the growing propensity for bugs and performance issues that are more and more prevalent.

Even agreed upon games of the generation like The Witcher 3 ended up being damn near unplayable on launch for a not insignificant number of people. Yet you have posters in this thread exhausting blind allegiance to whatever they do next and ready to drop $60 down for a pre-order. Only weeks after the NMS debacle.

Hardcore gamers really are almost addict like in their approach to getting their next fix.

Doing research on a game, looking for good/bad signs, considering past releases/dev's past, what type of hardware, etc., and doing this all well is more than enough to make an informed decision to the point where it can be worth it to preorder and have it sitting on one's porch come release date.

Personally, I've never preordered a game and gotten burned. But if I give some wiggle room and assume that, yeah, it's technically possible and will probably happen at some point, I'm still looking at like a 99% success rate. It's not really as much as a gamble as people make it out to be.

In the case of something like NMS, nobody could really tell which way it would swing, and you could see that from various places leading up to its release. The vague/open ended interview answers, the small dev team seemingly achieving something of such a huge scale/depth... It was definitely one of those game that's not worth preordering. Tons of people were asking 'but what do you do in NMS?' yet there were still groups of people out there imagining it would be some grand thing they could sink thousands of hours in. This isn't something noticed in retrospect, people had been acknowledging these concerns the whole time.

I guarantee the next big game that comes out and turns out to be a massive disappointment will have people going 'that's why you should never preorder!' and 'don't you remember what happened with NMS?' but that's just nothing talk.

 

[Nameless]

Simple for me:

never preorder.

Why not? I've one-ordered close to 20 games this gen so far and haven't felt burned once. Like others have said it's not hard to get a good idea on whether or not a game is for you pre-releaese.

 

[KTO]

I think you're preaching to the choir here on GAF.

I don't think so, there is such a huge contingent of gaf that doesn't believe in online multiplayer, or dlc in any shape, form or price. Are we going to lump them in with the informed crowd?

 

[chillybright]

People were getting bullied into pre-ordering the collectors edition.

WTF really? That sounds insane.

 

[paragonpro]

Pre ordering in 2016 is dumb, thers no point since copies arent likely to be limited and the digital market place exists

 

[injurai]

The GAF hype for The Division was unlike anything I've seen anywhere else on the internet.

People were getting bullied into pre-ordering the collectors edition.

Yeah, there is definitely an "in-group" mentality the proliferates in hype threads.

 

[ShapeGSX]

I've never once felt screwed over by the game industry. I know how much I'm paying for a game. I know what I'm getting when I purchase it. Why would I feel screwed over?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

The GAF hype for The Division was unlike anything I've seen anywhere else on the internet.

People were getting bullied into pre-ordering the collectors edition.

Okay, I need to see the receipts on this. Sounds totally unbelievable.

 

[KTO]

Pre ordering in 2016 is dumb, thers no point since copies arent likely to be limited and the digital market place exists

Gotta get those preorder themes /s

 

[Siege.exe]

You can never be certain a game won't burn you because you can never be 100% certain making a decision with incomplete knowledge. Which you are doing anytime you pre-order. Made worse in the age of such a broken gaming media feedback loop that time and again has done a poor job educating readers and holding companies accountable.

You are always taking a risk on pre-orders. In an age of instant digital downloads, day one discounts and large supply there are very few reasons to pre-order. Hell, I would even argue there are not very good reasons to buy a game in the first month of its release given the growing propensity for bugs and performance issues that are more and more prevalent.

Even agreed upon games of the generation like The Witcher 3 ended up being damn near unplayable on launch for a not insignificant number of people and even for those that could, updates greatly improved the base game that would of made it a better experience for anyone with the patience to wait. Yet you have posters in this thread exhausting blind allegiance to whatever they do next and ready to drop $60 down for a pre-order. Only weeks after the NMS debacle.

Hardcore gamers really are almost addict like in their approach to getting their next fix.

I really don't think that's the case. You not being able to tell that you will either be burned or generally not enjoy a game does not mean that I or anyone else cannot either. I can say with 100% certainty that I will not be burned by a game I pre-order, because I don't pre-order every big game that comes out. I'm not just pre-ordering games because other people are excited for them, or because a publisher's marketing team is telling me to be excited, I'm pre-ordering based on my own tastes. I know what I like, and I'm sure plenty of other people do as well. Also, not everyone relies on reviewers to tell them what games are and are not good. If you do (or did at some point), and you find that they are lacking in several regards, maybe you should stop listening to them (or maybe you already have). At the end of the day though, you're the one spending the money. Not the publishers, not the developers, not the reviewers, not the retailers; you. You make the decision whether or not to pre-order a game, and if you do not have the utmost confidence that you will enjoy that game, just wait.

That being said, I also think your proposition that no one should pre-order just because they can download games on day 1, or that they shouldn't buy the game at all for at least a month, is kind of ridiculous. For one, if you have Best Buy's GCU or Amazon Prime, pre-ordering physical copies is cheaper than buying digitally, and you get other perks. Plus, many people do not have the internet speed or bandwidth to support buying all of their games digitally. As a far as waiting a month to play a game goes, let me put it like this; I like Pokemon. I know I'm going to enjoy Sun/Moon. Why should I wait some arbitrary amount of time to play a game I know I'll enjoy? I'm getting in there day one and setting the groundwork for my competitive teams.

Waiting for however long just because a game might get better months after release doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't enjoy it when it comes out. Maybe my opinion is skewed because I don't buy tons of games, and I haven't bought any games that were busted on day 1, but I don't think I should be tied down to that expectation just because other people are having bad experiences with games that I'm not even interested in. I don't think anyone is displaying any traits of being an addict just because they don't want to be talked down to by people who are against anyone ever pre-ordering games.

 

[Ascheroth]

There's nothing wrong with preordering if you know what you're doing and are aware of the risk (or you preorder directly from Steam and have no risk at all, but will probably miss out on preorder-deals).

I think I have a pretty good idea of what I like and don't like, and so far I haven't been burned by preordering.
Maybe it helps that I'm not really interested in most AAA games to begin with and rarely follow pre-release hype/announcements/previews, or it's a late port where the quality of the game itself is already a known quantity.
I mean, I like to go into games as blind as possible if I know I'm going to like it, and even with that I've managed to avoid getting screwed.

 

[Wensih]

I counter this with the majority of comments shitting on the game coming from people who didn't actually play it or were hoping for it to become a target of tar-and-feathering for whatever reason.

It has well earned reasons for being dressed down, but the over abundance of "what a disaster" "what a shit game" "what a mess" eclipsing comments from actual players is undeniable.

I'll raise my hand for the people who have an opinion on the game and decided to not buy it. You can still have a reasonable opinion on the whole debacle without having purchased the game. It was a game that I was very excited about at the beginning of the year up until the release. I don't think I ever really planned to buy it right away as that's not typically how I purchase video games, especially at the rate they devalue, but I was definitely excited to play it. After learning how many missing features and empty promises were made, it's become a game I would have to question buying on a steam sale for $5. Is the game still good or okay? It might be, but based on the list of what's not in the game; it's not the game I was excited for.

 

[Rapscallion74]

I think you're preaching to the choir here on GAF.

Umm, I don't think you and I are reading the same GAF...

 

[jimmyd]

I am very thankful for those who pre-order and day-1 everything, because it is this mass collection of reviews and opinions that helps me to make decisions. Sitting back and seeing reactions on GAF to some big news or a massive game release is just awesome.

 

[Oersted]

I honestly think it's useful to try to delineate between different consumer mindsets. I think it's erroneous to assume that consumers can always avoid getting hyped up about something. It's going to happen at times where you have good reason to expect a game to be good and wind up disappointed. If during the development cycle misleading promotional materials were utilized to oversell what the game was going to be, then I do think there's grounds for grievance. But here, we're talking about relatively isolated incidences.

In the opening sentence of the OP, I sort of gathered that this is in response to what I sort of regard is the perpetual outrage. Joe Consumer has a lot of bones to pick with the current state of the industry and isn't afraid to let everyone know how much he hates modern practices. There's this sort of defeatist attitude I see all the time from people that lament how things are now and yearn for the golden era of yesteryear. And I understand why this attitude is getting called out.

When you see people act as though Big Publisher has us over a barrel because they know we need to play the hottest new release, it takes all agency away from us as consumers who have all the power in the world to simply not buy stuff. Now that doesn't mean that we have to be hard on ourselves when we earnestly buy into the hype occasionally. However, if you're frequently buying into the hype and frequently being disappointed as a result, it sort of falls on you to stop getting on the hype train every time something shiny and new is dangled in front of you.

I agree but I don't think handwaving it as isolated incidences helps.

Some customers have some bones to pick with the industry. Yes. Sometimes justified, sometimes not. I can't see any good examples for the latter in the OP.


I haven't seen those people but I think you underestimate the power of marketing and the resulting peer pressure. Heck,we had that here on Gaf. The Order, SFV, now NMS... toxic everytime. And we are mostly adults, shit is alot worse for kids, the maintarget for this industry.

Bottomline: You, the customer, should learn.
You, the company, should deliver on your promises.You don't deliver, blame on you, not the misslead/uneducated customer.

 

[Waddle Dee]

I very rarely ever fall for anything this industry shits out but that doesn't stop me from being mad that they tried to trick us in the first place. Plus, it just means we have one less good game on the market and we're already pretty low on worthwhile triple A games nowadays.

 

[jackal27]

Absolutely agreed OP. I haven't bought a game I didn't love in about 7 years. There are so many resources out there these days to do better research. If I'm even questioning whether or not I'll enjoy a game, I put it on the back burner until a sale comes along. No regrats.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

What is a unrealistic expectation?

That all parts of the game work?

As I've never been dissatisfied with a game purchase you would need to query someone else as to what their unfathomed expectations were. I wait for input on a title from a source I trust post-release, and base my expectations on that. Not hype, or promises from devs/pubs, or anywhere else.

 

[Oersted]

As I've never been dissatisfied with a game purchase you would need to query someone else as to what their unfathomed expectations were. I wait for input on a title from a source I trust post-release, and base my expectations on that. Not hype, or promises from devs/pubs, or anywhere else.

That does not answer my question, but thanks for the reply.

 

[King Gilga]

It's simple for me.

Don't buy games until they're £5 or less on a steam sale or £10 or less on a PSN sale.

At this point quality is generally known and I'm never disappointed and I have such a massive backlog I could not give less of a shit about waiting.

 

[More_Badass]

It's simple for me.

Don't buy games until they're £5 or less on a steam sale or £10 or less on a PSN sale.

At this point quality is generally known and I'm never disappointed and I have such a massive backlog I could not give less of a shit about waiting.

Sure, you're never disappointed at the cost of devaluing what you feel games are worth. Personally, I wouldn't call that a good tradeoff

 

[Fou-Lu]

I basically know if I am putting a JRPG into my console or installing it that I will love it. I am probably much too forgiving with the flaws of JRPGs, but they are by far my favourite games. Outside of that I can't think of many games I have regreted purchasing. Maybe Shadowgate for NES when I was a kid. Was not ready for that game. Love it now though!

 

[PaulloDEC]

It's remarkably easy. There's literally thousands of voices out there on the internet providing advice and opinions; all we need to do is listen and make suitably informed decisions.

 

[Ranger X]

I can tell I will like a game by watching gameplay videos of it. Its that simple. And there's a plethora of those about pretty much any game on the internet.

Also, other easy advices to follow:

- Never pre-order
- Never buy a season pass before there is an equal amount (in price) of DLC you want to buy that is already released.
- Don't care about reviews and metacritics too much
- See pre-launch hype/marketing as lies until you see gameplay videos.

 

[More_Badass]

I can tell I will like a game by watching gameplay videos of it. Its that simple. And there's a plethora of those about pretty much any game on the internet.

Also, other easy advices to follow:

- Never pre-order
- Never buy a season pass before there is an equal amount (in price) of DLC you want to buy that is already released.
- Don't care about reviews and metacritics too much
- See pre-launch hype/marketing as lies until you see gameplay videos.

Reviews are helpful though. They can you tell you things that a gameplay video can't

1) Offer context and impressions on the game as a whole. Watching gameplay is like reading a chapter in a book or one episode in a show. Might give you a sense of tone and style, but it won't tell you about the work as a whole or if it improves throughout
2) Offer a retrospective angle on a game. Someone had to think back, consider their time with the game, what worked for them, what didn't, etc. A clip of SOMA might show off the atmosphere, but it doesn't tell you how haunting it can be and how you might be thinking about it days after you finish it
3) Offer perspectives other than your own, that you might have not considered. Happened to me with Gravity Rush, didn't have much interest in the game, but then I saw comparisons to Infamous and Spiderman 2, stuff I never would have implied from just watching some gameplay. Game is great

 

[BleedOrange]

I made a leap with No Man's Sky and it didn't pay off

What persuaded you to take said leap, instead of spending the $60 on other, more deserving titles?

 

[Aaronrules380]

I don't preorder anymore (and when I did it was often games that I did genuinely risk not being able to buy at all if I didn't preorder, since I play a lot of niche jrpgs), but I often buy day one, and I rarely get burned (and even then, it's usually less that the game is bad and more just not really my thing as much as I expected)

There are a lot of ways to discern whether a game will be utterly broken, or if you will enjoy it. Closely follow previews, and look at them with a critical eye. Look at who the staff on a game is, what studio is developing it, and who is publishing it. Be more wary of games from unknown studios, or ones that seem overly ambitious. Look at how demos and other such things for the game are handled: Are they very open, or super guided and focused. Places like Bethseda are known for putting out buggy projects, while Nintendo for instance has an incredibly good track record. And then there are some series that are relatively known quantities, like Pokemon, where past experiences will be very indicative of the type of thing you'll get this time

Even hyping up a game isn't always bad, as long as you make sure to keep a critical eye and don't let the hype cloud your judgement. I think get excited and hyped for games can be really fun. I loved getting involved in the Smash hype for both Brawl and Smash 4, and I don't regret it for either of them, since discussing and being excited as a community is a fun experience in it's own right.

 

[Figboy79]

I had that mindset sort of by default for awhile, when I was working at a game store and writing for a blog, getting review copies of all sorts of games I'd never touch by choice.

I never hated this hobby more. I dropped gaming almost entirely for about a year. I think I re-played some Gameboy DQ remakes and that was pretty much it.

I guess some people just never get to that point, so they just constantly rage and vent on places like this instead. And they're also probably paying day one prices for the privilege, which... I just can't imagine. I at least had external motivations to play a bunch of games ASAP. Why do that to yourself for no reason at all?



Even with some of those features in, the basic gameplay was always going to be what we actually got. There was never a whole lot going on there, not a single time it was shown. It always looked like a spruced up version of what Spore already tried (and also overpromised on), with a dash of equally boring indie games like 3079 thrown in to be a bit more "game-y".

Simulating gravity while entering a planets' atmosphere wasn't ever going to change the core concept of what NMS is.

Those are two lessons I learned some time ago:

1) I don't need to own every game that releases.

2) I don't need to own every game that excites me on day one.

I have PS+, and between that, Steam sales, and Humble Bundles, I am swimming in games that I'm interested in, but games that I've paid a fraction of their original cost for.

The reason why I don't own a lot of 3DS games is because most of the ones I really want are still $40, after fucking YEARS past release.

Naturally, there are games that I'll be really excited for and want day one like Uncharted or Dark Souls, but those are once every few years types of games. Most other titles I can wait for, and I'll usually grab them when they go on sale or end up in a Humble Bundle.

I own 200+ games on my Vita alone. Between it, my 3DS, my PC, my PS3 and PS4, I have thousands of games, and thousands and thousands of hours of entertainment. And those are from games I haven't beaten yet! There's just no hurry to rush and buy everything. I did break down and buy Deus Ex yesterday, though. XD. I'm a huge fan of the series, and I wanted to wait, but I said, "Fuck it, I'm really jonsing for a cyberpunk game right now."

 

[outunderthestars]

I honestly don't see a single reason to buy games at launch anymore. Games are at their most expensive and least finished.

 

[aggienader]

Thread in response to No Mans Sky?

(Looks thru a few posts)

Thread in response to No Mans Sky...

Note: Getting "screwed over by the games industry" in a response about a $60 game... Yeesh... Not buying a car here. Let's cool down a little bit.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I don't either, but maybe it would be different if I wasn't broke all the time. I guess it's far easier to avoid bad games if you can only afford one or two a year.

 

[Curufinwe]

I don't think so, there is such a huge contingent of gaf that doesn't believe in online multiplayer, or dlc in any shape, form or price. Are we going to lump them in with the informed crowd?

The never-DLC people are the weirdest to me. The Fury DLC for Wipeout HD was a total steal at $10. That was my first DLC purchase and I've had many other great experiences with DLC since.

 

[Moon_frogger]

I still can't get over the viciousness which some of us were subjected to when we expressed the slightest skeptisim over no mans sky here on gaf. It wasn't a defense force, it was an attack force of over zealous nut cases. All in defense of something that had almost zero substance. It was crazy.

 

[CyberPunked]

That's why you pre-order everything through Steam. 2 hour refund period is essentially a 2 hour demo for every game.

 

[Moon_frogger]

Thread in response to No Mans Sky?

(Looks thru a few posts)

Thread in response to No Mans Sky...

Note: Getting "screwed over by the games industry" in a response about a $60 game... Yeesh... Not buying a car here. Let's cool down a little bit.

Yeah....this kind of subtle bragging about ones finances is just terribly pathetic. 60 dollars is a lot of money to some people. I honestly don't care if what you're selling is a 10 dollar value. If you misrepresent what your product is you are a dishonest prick and that type of business practice should be called out each and every time. If you're on the side of people who are getting rich by scamming consumers you should really reevaluate your world view.

 

[aggienader]

Yeah....this kind of subtle bragging about ones finances is just terribly pathetic. 60 dollars is a lot of money to some people. I honestly don't care if what you're selling is a 10 dollar value. If you misrepresent what your product is you are a dishonest prick and that type of business practice should be called out each and every time. If you're on the side of people who are getting rich by scamming consumers you should really reevaluate your world view.

Seriously?!? C'mon...definitely not bragging by any means. Didn't mean to come off that way at all.

Here, I'll "reevaluate" it for you:

You're right to an extent, you should never misrepresent your game (and there will be repercussions for that. The game HAS had a 90% active player drop since launch), but for folks that have a morbid curiosity and decide to spend the money on the game anyway? You weren't screwed. If you pre-ordered you weren't screwed, you just made a bad decision.

To summarize if you can't wait 2-3 days for a review or well represented impressions of a game to make your purchasing decision, then well... That's on you and you're complaining about "getting screwed over" by a $60 dollar game like a plumber came over and charged you $100 an hour and didn't unclog your drain.

 

[King Gilga]

Sure, you're never disappointed at the cost of devaluing what you feel games are worth. Personally, I wouldn't call that a good tradeoff

What's wrong with devaluing what I feel games are worth?

Games were never worth all that much to me at any point in life £wise, and as I grew up and my access to £ radically changed, that never did.

 

[Figboy79]

Thread in response to No Mans Sky?

(Looks thru a few posts)

Thread in response to No Mans Sky...

Note: Getting "screwed over by the games industry" in a response about a $60 game... Yeesh... Not buying a car here. Let's cool down a little bit.

Well, there's only so many ways people can stealth shit on No Man's Sky. I think we're finally scraping the barrel here, though. Eventually we'll run out.

Spoiler

it was worth the $70 I spend on it for the limited edition. I'm sure it really upsets some folks that I'm enjoying a game they hate.

 

[NBtoaster]

In game pre order/limited edition bonuses are almost always insignificant. Only things like soundtracks are worth it.

The most recent game I got burned with was Just Cause 3 because of the permanently trash pc performance. Can't refund because I didn't buy it on steam.

There's a problem..do you buy on steam for the ability to refund and pre-order bonuses, or do you buy elsewhere for significantly lower initial prices? Having the patience and self control to not buy at launch is perhaps the superior option.

 

[jroc74]

The first and probably last game I pre ordered was Wolfenstein The Old Blood. I feel I did good on that one. I may have done it with TLoU with that demo that was with God of War. Not sure now...

I do get games the day they launch but I rarely pre order.

After seeing users talk about No Mans Sky....I might skip it and focus more on Star Citizen.

Gotta agree with you OP.

 

[Wensih]

Sure, you're never disappointed at the cost of devaluing what you feel games are worth. Personally, I wouldn't call that a good tradeoff

I'm not sure why personally devaluing what you're willing to pay for a game is a negative or a trade-off at least from a consumer perspective...?

 

[Renekton]

Umm, I don't think you and I are reading the same GAF...

Is NeoGAF a.... multiverse?

 

[The Silver]

people who buy consoles and games at launch are all my personal beta testers, thanks guys.

 

[Jonm1010]

I really don't think that's the case. You not being able to tell that you will either be burned or generally not enjoy a game does not mean that I or anyone else cannot either. I can say with 100% certainty that I will not be burned by a game I pre-order, because I don't pre-order every big game that comes out. I'm not just pre-ordering games because other people are excited for them, or because a publisher's marketing team is telling me to be excited, I'm pre-ordering based on my own tastes. I know what I like, and I'm sure plenty of other people do as well. Also, not everyone relies on reviewers to tell them what games are and are not good. If you do (or did at some point), and you find that they are lacking in several regards, maybe you should stop listening to them (or maybe you already have). At the end of the day though, you're the one spending the money. Not the publishers, not the developers, not the reviewers, not the retailers; you. You make the decision whether or not to pre-order a game, and if you do not have the utmost confidence that you will enjoy that game, just wait.

That being said, I also think your proposition that no one should pre-order just because they can download games on day 1, or that they shouldn't buy the game at all for at least a month, is kind of ridiculous. For one, if you have Best Buy's GCU or Amazon Prime, pre-ordering physical copies is cheaper than buying digitally, and you get other perks. Plus, many people do not have the internet speed or bandwidth to support buying all of their games digitally. As a far as waiting a month to play a game goes, let me put it like this; I like Pokemon. I know I'm going to enjoy Sun/Moon. Why should I wait some arbitrary amount of time to play a game I know I'll enjoy? I'm getting in there day one and setting the groundwork for my competitive teams.

Waiting for however long just because a game might get better months after release doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't enjoy it when it comes out. Maybe my opinion is skewed because I don't buy tons of games, and I haven't bought any games that were busted on day 1, but I don't think I should be tied down to that expectation just because other people are having bad experiences with games that I'm not even interested in. I don't think anyone is displaying any traits of being an addict just because they don't want to be talked down to by people who are against anyone ever pre-ordering games.

That is just objectively impossible unless you enjoy everything you play equally.

You can never know with 100% certainty when you are operating on incomplete knowledge when it comes to decision making.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Simple rule: play all the souls games

why would you ever preorder a game

I'd pre-order Dark Souls!

But anyway, yeah, E3 pre-orders give a hefty discount. I see no problem doing that with games I know I'll enjoy for sure (Dark Souls is a guaranteed value for my money, here).

I've taken some mild risks with other pre-ordered games, but so far the only one that disappointed me was Uncharted 3 (actually I can't remember if I pre-ordered it or not...). And if I had waited for the reviews and impressions everyone would have praised it to high end too (I still remember that 10/10 from IGN... lol, what a crock that was).

I agree with the OP. It's easy to not get "trapped" and make informed purchases.

I don't trust a single thing Ubisoft does, for instance (and I don't like their game designs anyway). I was always skeptical of NMS. Not tooting my own horn, even if it had delivered on its promises I wouldn't have been interested, but the consistent vagueness put me off.

There's nothing inherently wrong with preordering. It is problematic however if you're not prepared to accept that you're taking a bit of a gamble. For one, the game may not be very good. Secondly, the price may come down very quickly post launch. But there are reasons why people may want to be there at launch. If it's a developer you really like, you may just want to show your support. And while consumers shouldn't feel obligated to do that, you're also not a rube if you want to. Another reason is just that some games are an event for people. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be there right at launch.

But yeah, if the idea of getting burned by a $60 purchase not being very good is unacceptable to you, then don't preorder.

Yeah, perfectly reasonable.

I still can't get over the viciousness which some of us were subjected to when we expressed the slightest skeptisim over no mans sky here on gaf. It wasn't a defense force, it was an attack force of over zealous nut cases. All in defense of something that had almost zero substance. It was crazy.

Remember how "but what do you do?" was such a derided meme, every time someone dared voice this question they were met with hostility, turning it into a meme of sorts. Well, maybe someone should have actually answered them more clearly haha, turns out it was a valid question all along.

 

[george_us]

I can tell I will like a game by watching gameplay videos of it. Its that simple. And there's a plethora of those about pretty much any game on the internet.

Also, other easy advices to follow:

- Never pre-order
- Never buy a season pass before there is an equal amount (in price) of DLC you want to buy that is already released.
- Don't care about reviews and metacritics too much
- See pre-launch hype/marketing as lies until you see gameplay videos.

The bolded is the biggest lesson I've learned ever since gameplay videos became a thing. These days I just assume any gameplay I see is bullshit unless it's being directly played by either press or gamers themselves.

 

[Jonm1010]

people who buy consoles and games at launch are all my personal beta testers, thanks guys.

Pretty much.