I only ever preordered 3 times (non GOG). Borderlands 2 , Xcom Enemy Unknown & Football Manager 2013. BL2 and FM2013 i am very happy with. XCom game i was underwhelmed. Having said that, i actually might be in minority in terms of - i don't mind preorders - why not? get stuff other people cant get later or having to pay more for. In many cases the preorder bonuses are overpowered or unnecessary items anyway so why do ppl get their knickers in a twist at times over it?
People KNOW what they are getting into when preordering - the bonuses but also risk game might actually be shit. Its the chance you take. Its just unfortunate the Aliens CM debacle has scared people off preordering games :/.

I agree, please don't.
I do like Collector editions where you get an exclusive figurine for example, but the game should be the same for everybody. And I especially think this should be the case for GOG.
For some reason I feel like it goes against the spirit of GOG.

... you realize GOG already offers retailer exclusive content? The soundtracks, making of videos, extra games... all that stuff isn't available at say, DotEmu or Steam.

I've only preordered two games in in the last several years, Bioshock Infinite and Arma 3. In the case of Bioshock, the only reason I preordered it was because XCOM had already been unlocked as a bonus, and at the time I believe it was still $40-50, so it made financial sense to me to get two games I wanted to play for the price of one. I'm a bit on the fence as to whether or not it was worth it.

I bought into the early access for Arma 3 because $30 sounded a lot more attractive to me than $60 later. And I got to start playing it 6 months before it was released, so that was nice.

Other than those two times, however, I have generally been against preordering, and day-one purchases in general. It's getting harder and harder to justify spending $50 or $60 on a video game. Hell, I only paid $20 for Max Payne 3 and I think I got ripped off. If I wanted to spend money and not enjoy myself, I can just go out to the bar with my old co-workers.

The Future. DRM Babies.

Pre-order your set of twins by sep 25 and receive up to 25% off your food rations for 2 months!

Your child software was released incomplete. Here is the changelog for your baby...
fixed bug where no personality developed
fixed bug where child spontaneously combusted
CTD when trying to feed child no longer an issue, please reset baby to start over

New baby DLC!
Arms and Legs!
Kidneys!

(consumer) but babies should come with arms in legs. Its in their genetic code already, the work is done, why am I paying for something already part of the main thing.


Coming to a civilization near you!

Its stupid, yes, but so is the state of the industry. This is why I buy my babies on sale most of the time, usually for a GOTY baby.

sounds like some one got stung by the Mass Effect DLC saga...

Remember when hard work resulted in getting these items? When everyone had the same opportunity to get everything?

It's so dumb. GT6 pre-order for PS3 get a million in credit to build your dream garage. Sigh. What's the point then?

A pre-order should be a figurine, poster, maybe a bonus game or store credit. Actual game content should never be touched.

Everyone does it. I won't buy Star Trek: Into Darkness on Blu-ray until there's a massive discount. Why? The first one JJ Star Trek on blu-ray had tons of special features not exclusive to anyone. This time around special features are plentiful, but only if you buy five copies from five different stores. Content common to all is actually pretty sparse. It's garbage.

Basic logic suggests that well-designed exclusive content is something people might want. As such, making its availability a time-limited offer is disgusting.

The dealer exclusivity Kabuto describes is also shitty: it screws over fans. Now, from an outsider's pov, fans basically exist to be milked; from the fan's pov, collecting paraphernalia fulfills an emotional need. And no one is going to get excited over five dealer-specific cheapass bluerays.

I absolutely love the Imperial Edition, though. The valid idea behind preorders is sorting people who trust your game to be good without browsing letsplays or letting friends take the plunge first from the rest. To reiterate: if you feel you have to be tricked/persuaded into preordering by bonuses or a marginal discount, then the offer - the ethical side of it, anyway - is not for you. It's for people who hear "Larian is making a new game" and start throwing money at the screen. And if you were late to the party by dint of being broke or underage or both, the content is still available.

The exclusive katana sounds ickier, but if it is GOG-exclusive, not preorder-exclusive, I'm also fine with it. The game isn't likely to be "out of stock", it will only get cheaper as time passes, and it's digital, so it isn't wasteful and unfun the way 5 almost identical bluerays are. Eventually, even people who don't keep themselves warm by burning piles of money will be able to get the game on GOG just for the katana, if they're so inclined.

I don't think it's that bad. The preorder stuff ist just useless little things not worth being mentioned. So every one who pre-orders makes the main part of the game cheaper for the rest. Therefore I say:

Please, please do pre-order everything that is interesting, so I can get most of it cheaper at a later time!
It wouldn't be exclusive if it wouldn't be time-limited or limited in any other way. I don't find it disgusting but just something that is inherent to our economic system and nothing bad per se. It just depends on how it is used.