If you pre order a game, basically you're having to tell yourself it's worth it. It becomes almost impossible to then find a rational argument why upon release that decision was flawed. You either double down and defend the game to oblibion, or you cry foul. NMS is a prime example. The most rational discussions I've seen is from people who held off the hype train.
The last post quoted is particularly problematic. They're telling themselves (and others!) that they'll be satisfied with their pre orders. Sure, that sounds fine but leaves no room for self reflection after the fact. What if you aren't satisfied with a game you pre-ordered? Can you even bring yourself to admit you made a mistake? Telling yourself that you only make good decisions limits your ability to actually judge a game critically and to be honest, telling yourself you've enjoyed something is different to actually enjoying it.
Sure, it is possible to have a good strike rate with pre orders, but frankly, given the availability of games digitally nowadays? The risks are worse than the rewards now.
Since you called out my post specifically as problematic, I feel I need to respond here.
First, I preordered No Man's Sky. I had not been hyped for the game, I wasn't particularly invested in it, but I did feel that it was a game that actually lived up to it's standards it would be best played on Day One to be a part of the community in discovery (much like Souls games are Day One purchases for the same reason). So with the information I had, putting down a preorder and being able to play it on the first day seemed like a reasonable idea. Knowing what I know now, would I have pre-ordered it? Probably not. But I did get a good amount of playtime out of it, I streamed it on twitch for my friends and had fun talking about it with them as I was playing it. Is it a top 10 game for me this year? Nah. Do I think it was a bad choice to preorder it? Yeah, probably. Do I regret my decision? Nah, it is what it is.
Second, you seem to be generalizing anybody who preorders anything into this giant massive blob of people who suddenly throw all rational thought out the window because they knew they wanted something in advance. I'll preorder an album from a band I know I love or a book from an author that I know I enjoy reading. Is sometimes the album shitty and not as good as other albums? Yup. Is the book sometimes not as good as previous books? Definitely. Does me pre-ordering them because I'm familiar with their work mean I am immediately going to defend my purchase to the death just because I pre-ordered it? Fuck no.
Do you know how many people pre-ordered Star Wars tickets last year just because they wanted to see it opening weekend? Do you think every single one of these people defended the movie 100% completely and didn't look at it critically due to some pre-order influenced Stockholm Syndrome? Doubtful.
There's this view that pre-ordering is some sort of video game exclusive phenomenon and gamers are some sort of addict waiting for their next pre-order fix. It's not. How many iPhone 7s are on pre-order right now do you think? Yeah, the "pre-order bonus" is kind of a video game exclusive thing but you weren't talking about that, you were talking about the games themselves. And I never pre-order to get a specific skin or level or stupid shit like that - I only pre-order if I want the game itself.
I'm capable of learning from mistakes, too, since you implied I think I only make good decisions. I pre-ordered Brink way back when and man was that a mistake. So I didn't pre-order Overwatch because I wanted to make sure a multiplayer-only game had decent console community support and wouldn't die out after two days. See how I thought critically? See how I don't defend Brink as some sort of shining bastion of gaming?
I am perfectly capable of choosing what I want to pre-order because I'm an adult with disposable income and know what I'll enjoy. The only time I regret pre-ordering something is if I never use it.