Preorders = Bad? You decide!

[Duncan]

So, okay.

Like, a month ago, I preordered Warrior Within - which I would have done under no other circumstances - because there was allegedly some special offer where you get Sands of Time free with preordering.

So I go in today - Warrior Within comes out tomorrow here - for some reason I forget and I ask them when I'm getting this 'free game' and then I find out that I was supposed to get it way back when I preordered it. Not only that, but the offer has since expired and they don't have any copies of Sands of Time in stock. So now I'm locked in to Warrior Within, having already paid some of it.

Man, what the hell was the point of that? Oh, preorders are bad probably.

(Oh, first post: yay.)

[tabacco]

Erm... that's the point where I'd get pissed and demand to speak to a manager or something.

[Jake]

That's the point where I'd wildly brandish a confusing MS paint picture of Duckman at them while demanding to speak to a manager.

Pre-orders are lame. Getting reamed by a poorly handled pre-order transaction is even worse. Demand your money back, or a free copy of any $20 game, involving the king of the cosmos and giant sticky balls, of your choice.

[Duncan]

Man, do I want Katamari Damacy, but living in a PAL country apparently means that won't happen soon.

Honestly, I don't understand the whole pre-order deal. I mean, unless you want Halo 2 or something, you can still buy the game the day it's released, right? Lame indeed.

[ysbreker]

I got one word for you, duncan: GREED

Greed is one of the biggest sources of all trouble on earth.

Oh and welcome to the forums! Steer clear of the idle banter forums until you're settled in a bit, then the shock won't be too big

[nsps]

Pre-orders could be considered useful in the case of a game that you already know rocks or at least have a solid hunch will rock, because the store might decide to stock the game because they see that there's a demand for it based on pre-orders.

I don't, however, know whether or not VG stores do inventory based on this, it just seems like a logical business move.

That's all I got, otherwise they're pretty damn pointless.

[Duncan]

Pre-orders could be considered useful in the case of a game that you already know rocks or at least have a solid hunch will rock, because the store might decide to stock the game because they see that there's a demand for it based on pre-orders.

I don't, however, know whether or not VG stores do inventory based on this, it just seems like a logical business move.

Stores stock games that are widely known to rock anyway, though, right? I mean, with something like Half-Life 2, I don't think any stores needed to be aware of a pre-order demand for them to order more than a couple of copies, and I wouldn't have thought anyone would have needed to pre-order it either.

I do see where your example would work in the case of something like, say, Psychonauts, which clearly has a pretty devoted following but isn't that widely known.

Also, I too have no idea how this works, so this is possibly irrelevant.

Oh and welcome to the forums!

Thanks! :tup:

[Simon]

It sucks when you've pre-ordered because of an offer and then the store goes back on that, but if you know you'll want a game when it comes out there's no harm in it, and you're safe in the case that it does sell out. In most cases there's nothing to worry about though. I don't know why they have things on the release charts in shops saying 'Pre-order to avoid disappointment', when the vast majority of games will be stocked.

I pre-ordered Pirates! on the Internet a few months back because I knew I'd want to play it, and it was a really good price - but I hadn't actually pre-ordered anything in long time before that. It's never seemed necessary. A lot of people I know had pre-orders down for GTA: San Andreas, which makes sense. That was flying off shelves. In the first week, I didn't see it at all in my local HMV.

[Metalmickey]

Oh and welcome to the forums! Steer clear of the idle banter forums until you're settled in a bit, then the shock won't be too big

Heh, I've hardly made any posts except in the idle banter section Pre-orders, yeah. I only ever pre-order if it means I get a bonus offer or heavily reduced price. No other point as far as I'm concerned as I don't care if the shops don't have any stock of a game I need till a week after the initial release date.

Only exception so far is for (the Euro edition of) World of Warcraft, where demand for initial copies seems could be significantly over their planned server capacity so if they sell out, they simply won't ship any more unless they get more servers in place in time.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

So, okay.

Like, a month ago, I preordered Warrior Within - which I would have done under no other circumstances - because there was allegedly some special offer where you get Sands of Time free with preordering.

So I go in today - Warrior Within comes out tomorrow here - for some reason I forget and I ask them when I'm getting this 'free game' and then I find out that I was supposed to get it way back when I preordered it. Not only that, but the offer has since expired and they don't have any copies of Sands of Time in stock. So now I'm locked in to Warrior Within, having already paid some of it.

Man, what the hell was the point of that? Oh, preorders are bad probably.

(Oh, first post: yay.)

Ask to see a manager. If they are a manager, ask how you contact the owner or the district manager. If that fails either make a giant scene (works best if there are alot of people there) or tell them you'll be calling the BBB (if you're American) about their questionable sales ability.

[nsps]

Duncan wrote:

Stores stock games that are widely known to rock anyway, though, right? I mean, with something like Half-Life 2, I don't think any stores needed to be aware of a pre-order demand for them to order more than a couple of copies, and I wouldn't have thought anyone would have needed to pre-order it either.

I do see where your example would work in the case of something like, say, Psychonauts, which clearly has a pretty devoted following but isn't that widely known.

Yeah, I was referring to lower-profile games like Psychonauts.

[Duncan]

Well, it actually worked out better than I expected - I went in today and it turned out to be a situation where one guy was stupid rather than the management making a concerted effort to screw me.

This one guy (not the guy who screwed up) actually went to another branch to get me a copy of Sands of Time, which was ultra cool of him, thereby restoring my faith in the store and also humanity.

Oh, I played a bit of Warrior Within, and the 'mature tone' is, indeed, pretty lame. On the other hand, the line "I am the Prince of Persia - and the king of blades!" is clearly hilarious.

[Bc9b]

^Goddamnit. Ubisoft has gone to hell. You make a great game with wonderful, original atmosphere and some of the best, most interesting characters ever in an action game, and since it doesn’t sell ten billion copies in five minutes you turn it into a carbon copy of every other game ever made and turned the main character into a flat, un-likable jackass. And not only that, but they call the character “matured”. Trust me, the original was still a little corny, but in a good way.

I, personally, don't preorder because I'm a cheap bastard who waits a year for the price to go down. I currently own only one game that cost more than twenty bucks, and I got that for Christmas. That and The Sims, I think they are still selling that for forty bucks. Not worth it.

[Moosferatu]

The Gamespot review seemed to indicate that there was just as much puzzling as in Sands of Time. Is this the case, or is as bad as some people here seem to think it is going to be?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Okay, obviously you guys don't do this correctly.

Duncan, don't ever pre-order any game unless you know you'll die if you can't get your greedy claws on it the day it comes out (backed up by a thorough examination by your doctor and no less than three psychiatrists). For one thing, pre-orders are never guaranteed to arrive on the day of launch, there are factors such as the publisher delaying the game, supply shortage, and others. Don't be so stupid as to try to be the first brat on the cyber block to get the damn game, what exactly are you to gain from that, tell me? You know you can always wait a day or two (a week or so for mega games like Halo 2), patience pays off, and it makes you look more mature and dignified to your friends . I waited at least a week for Half-Life 2 and, installing it, I never had to go through the crap the day it came out due to the overload of people in Steam.

If you do decide that you're a shamelessly desperate craven and pre-order anyway, ask to see the pre-order terms in written form that you can take home with you. Ask the sales clerk who helped you his name, make sure he understands the terms himself, and point out other special offers included (like that free SoT). Save all your receipts. Evidently you yourself failed to know that you're entitled to that free game the day you placed your pre-order. It's as much your fault as it was that dumb sales clerk.

Welcome to the Thumb.

[Duncan]

It's as much your fault as it was that dumb sales clerk.

...shut up.

Trust me, it's not like I make a habit out of pre-ordering things, there isn't any kind of arrogance on my part which makes me feel like I need the game right now, and if I did feel that it would certainly be for a game other than fucking Warrior Within.

Don't be so stupid as to try to be the first brat on the cyber block to get the damn game, what exactly are you to gain from that, tell me?

Well... a free game, in this case, one I actually want and one I think I would like.

For one thing, pre-orders are never guaranteed to arrive on the day of launch, there are factors such as the publisher delaying the game, supply shortage, and others.

Well, you're right about this, I pre-ordered Warrior Within back before it was confirmed that it would suck. Still, I am playing Sands of Time now, so I don't feel too fucked over.

Number one rule of engagement: You're not allowed to go on a defensive.

FUCK YOU TREP FUCK YOU

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

YES! EVERYONE!

Erhm.... How did I get here?....

[Intrepid Homoludens]

P.S. - I love you, Duncan.

[Duncan]

[Ninja Dodo]

I pre-ordered Half Life 2 off Amazon because Steam refused my credit card. It actually landed on my doorstep the same morning it was released, which eventhough I didn't actually have time to play it right then was kinda neat.

So yeah, uh... a on pre-ordering for me I guess.

Rarely do it tho...

[ThunderPeel2001]

Pre-ordering online is coolio, but pre-ordering in a shop (where you actually put money down(!!)) is dumbland: They have all kinds of special offers when things are first released, you may find a better deal elsewhere! Never, ever, put money down!

So says I.

[Wrinewind]

Also, you must do this all repeatedly or it will not work. Just remember, a service representative can never hang up unless you hang up first.

HA! That never stops me! If someone starts getting all pissy and shouts at me because they think I am the embodiment of all things troubling them, I hang up after a friendly goodbye.

[ThunderPeel2001]

HA! That never stops me! If someone starts getting all pissy and shouts at me because they think I am the embodiment of all things troubling them, I hang up after a friendly goodbye.

Good point! When I worked as a CSR we were able to hang up on annoying fucks, too!

[nsps]

Just thought I'd dig up this old threat to point out that Tim confirmed my theory that pre-ordering games like "Psychonauts" that aren't expected to be big events does help them.

Because the more pre-orders they get, the more advertising we'll get, and the more advertising we get, the more people will hear of the game and buy it and love it, and easier it will be for EXCELLENT GAMES TO ROLL OVER THE BAD GAMES LIKE A STEAMROLLER THIS YEAR AND EVERY YEAR FROM NOW ON!

Edit: Incidentally, "Psychonauts" is the only game I've ever pre-ordered, with the exception of some arcade ports over 10 years ago.