Pre ordering is a tool that was meant to be used for good, for example if you all pre orders for games like battlefield, it gives you a pretty good idea of what your servers are going to need to handle on day one. Pre ordering can also allow for some games that would have had to cut some content due to lack of funding to actually make money early so they can do more (like what some developers do with crowd funding). However these are examples of it being used correctly, unfortunately recently developers have been sending put crappy games which have sold simply because of pre ordering, examples of this are things like assassins creed unity, which people would not have bought as soon as reviewers said on day one that the game was broken. However people are quick to jump on the band wagon and say that this is all the fault of pre ordering, when in fact that is not the case, it is the fault of the individual developers for using the tool in a negative way. A hammer is a very good and useful tool, it helps build homes or take down old pieces of wood that need replacing, however if a person goes and uses a hammer to attack someone and harm them, does that make the tool a bad thing, no it is the individual who is at fault, not the tool. We dont say hammers should be done away with because people can use them for bad things, we say that the individual needs to either change or be locked away. So it is not the tool of pre ordering the necessarily needs to be done away with, but rather the individual companies need to change, perhaps some rules are needed in order to keep companies accountable, since they have been showing us lately that they lack accountability to their customers.

UltronEagle did a fine job, and yes I saw your reply to him but he makes the most universal case....if a developer gets a lot of money before the game even ships (Destiny) then they don't have to worry about making the game groundbreaking, they already have our money. But if people didn't pre-order, developers would be forced to make their games of really high quality to ensure people buy the game and ensure that the developer can make sequels. I can assure you if no one pre-ordered Destiny, it would not have the figures it did on release, using that game as the most relevant example.

I only preorder a day or two before release if I know for certain I'm going to buy the game regardless of reviews or hype. If I'm definitely buying it, preordering may give me whatever extras come with it. I will not preorder months before release though.

And to trick you into biting the game, you get free dlc!!! Or weapons!!! And after you played the game than you notice that you only get the weapons sooner than others. -blam!-ing trash

Pre-ordering used to be a thing when stores only got limited copies of a game. So a pre-order would guarantee you a copy. These days, big chain stores get so many copies that it's not worth pre-ordering because you're just making a commitment to buy something that's not even out yet. Pre-orders are bad because it's handing over money for a product that's not out yet.

The idea is that if no one pre-ordered games then the practice of "ship now, patch later" would collapse because reviewers would be able to warn players of shoddy games. This is in response to games that are flat out broken at release. Then there's the Pre-order season pass package that some claim allows companies to lob off sections of a completed game and sell them later. Under this theory Destiny ends up costing gamers $90 instead of $60 because everything up to HoW should have been available at launch.

Pre-ordering is killing the gaming industry, paying in advance means that the developer has no need to innovate and make their game worth buying because they know you will pay anyway. The argument that they need that money to make a quality game is bs. That pre-order adds to the money for their marketing if anything. The argument that they need you to preorder so they can ship enough games is now defunct, you can buy games a few days after release from shops, they never run out. If you live in a small town/city you can order from online retailers so you will still get your game. Also with digital downloads there is no need to pre-order anymore. No one said do not buy games but after recent years pre-ordering is counter productive. When the next AAA title comes out incomplete or broken, pat yourself on the back and say well done.

Why is pre-ordering bad? Because IMHO, it sets a dangerous precedent.

[quote]I don't see how no one preordering games will fix any of the problems people attribute to preordering[/quote] If people stop pre-ordering games it will force the developer to make a more rewarding experience worth of the $60 price tag many games have. If people keep pre-ordering they are already giving money to the developer even when the game hasn't been completed, which leads to lazy development cycles and day one dlc. [quote]No one preorders movies and there's no end to profitable terrible movies.[/quote] There's a big difference there, Movies are a whole different medium, you see all these movies making huge marketing to attract the crowd, even then you pay at a theater to watch a movie and it comes complete, wether is good or bad that's another problem. Videogames on the other hand is a form of entertainment that needs to present itself in a whole different way than movies, it needs to show gameplay, story, graphics, mechanics, features and much more to attract the crowd, they cannot just throw some trailer and say "come and play it." They need to show the consumer what kind of game it is. Pre-ordering games take a benefit from not having to show much and yet deliver insane levels of hype (Ex. Destiny). In the end you payed for a product that wasn't finished or was made with laziness from the devs. [quote]Seems like people mostly preorder for convenience or are fans of a series. I'm sure plenty of people preorder because of marketing hype but... so?[/quote] Yes, but even those fans know how risky it is now. Gears of War judgement was pre-ordered a lot from both fans and other gamers, In the end it was a really bad spinoff that took all the good things about GoW and threw them in the air for grabs. In this current generation of games pre-ordering is damaging games, devs are throwing lazy ass excuses to cover them up (Watch dogs), cut content to do dlc (Destiny), Release unpolished games with plenty of bugs (Assassin's creed unity) and release games that lack content at an unfair price (Titanfall). [quote]How does someone else "wasting" money on a terrible game effect you patiently waiting and buying games after you've read reviews and made an educated decision?[/quote] It's hurting the gaming industry, if those people keep pre-ordering it means devs can just throw anything and call it a game because they already have their money, even coming to the point of cutting the game's content to release it later as day one dlc. [quote]Besides, doesn't overhyped garabage help fund riskier projects? Isn't that a good thing?[/quote] It doesn't