Announcing Pre-Orders = Bad for Gamers

[jubei]

I think announcing game pre-orders is by far the WORST type of news post any site could ever make. Unless you're working for the gaming industry and that is the last thing a "journalist" should be. I understand that you are trying to bring attention to a game that you think is a worthy effort and that a game from a secondary studio could use the publicity but still I think sites should NEVER do that.

Why?

The potential of pre-orders forces retailers to ask publishers: "When is the game going to be released and available for orders?"
That in turn makes the publisher ask the studio? "Hey, when is the game gonna be finished? Hurry up already"
That puts pressure on the developers and makes games go out the door unfinished, full of bugs and in general, makes studios produce crappy games. (CoD MW2, BF BC2, same soccer/NFL/hockey games over and over, the sims extended ultra-crappy edition etc).

Pre-orders serve to create a hype and interest to an un-finished product. That hype only serves the game publisher and nobody else. We've seen it before. Publisher creates hype about game. Stupid-gamers rush to pre-order. Obedient journalists get invited all-expenses-paid to exclusively review the game before it's even complete. Blah blah... I'm TIRED of this.

It's the same as advertising. Makes gamers want to buy a game before just by the title. Before they even see screenshots or read reviews or comments from others who have played it. It's BAD! Perpetuates this eternal culture of consumers who mindlessly consume, pre-order everything the studios and the press dish out to them.

my 2 cents.

[sirdilznik]

The potential of pre-orders forces retailers to ask publishers: "When is the game going to be released and available for orders?"
That in turn makes the publisher ask the studio? "Hey, when is the game gonna be finished? Hurry up already"
That puts pressure on the developers and makes games go out the door unfinished, full of bugs and in general, makes studios produce crappy games. (CoD MW2, BF BC2, same soccer/NFL/hockey games over and over, the sims extended ultra-crappy edition etc).

If you are referring to Oil Rush then much of your argument doesn't apply here since we're taking the pre-orders from the developers themselves, so retailers and publishers have nothing to do with anything here.

Second no one is forcing you to download an early unfinished build of the game when you pre-order. Some may be pre-ordering simply to show support to the developer and to help fund the game. Getting to play an early build is a privilege not a requirement. It states quite clearly when you download the early build that it is an unfinished product. If you go into playing said early build with the illusion that you are getting a finished product then you need to learn to read. I can't speak for others but I knew damn well that I was going to be playing an unfinished product that's rough around the edges when I downloaded the pre-release build.

Besides the whole request for taking pre-orders started in the forums where a lot of people were asking the developer if pre-ordering would be available. Many of us, myself included, mostly just wanted to show our support to the developer. The fact that we got an opportunity to play a pre-release build is a bonus. I'm not Michael so I can't say for sure what his motivations were behind putting up an article about pre-ordering but I imagine it was to let all the Phoronix members who have been inquiring about pre-ordering on the forums know that the pre-orders were available.

And last, what's so bad about letting people test out unfinished builds? What's wrong with people beta testing early builds and being able to give feedback to the developer about bugs and shortcomings? Community involvement and testing is pretty much how all open source software gets made, and many proprietary companies (such as Unigine here) have also partly taken the approach of letting the community test out pre-releases (albeit without access to the source code). What's so evil about being able to support a company and helping them iron out bugs?

[jubei]

No one is forcing you to download an early unfinished build of the game when you pre-order.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I wasn't talking about oil rush. I was talking about retail games in general. I didn't even know oil-rush made an unfinished build available to people who pre-order.

Besides the whole request for taking pre-orders started in the forums where a lot of people were asking the developer if pre-ordering would be available.

My thread is addressed to those people exactly. In addition to the harm pre-ordering does to gamers by producing crappy games, it's not healthy to be looking forward to something so much that you can't wait to pre-order it. It means your life is unbalanced and you have nothing else that gives you joy.

Many of us, myself included, mostly just wanted to show our support to the developer.

You can support the developer by buying the game after it's released and reviewed by journalists.

And last, what's so bad about letting people test out unfinished builds? What's wrong with people beta testing early builds and being able to give feedback to the developer about bugs and shortcomings? What's so evil about being able to support a company and helping them iron out bugs?

Excellent! Do that in the company's public or private beta. There shouldn't be a need to pre-order to help them out. It's like you're paying to help. lol.

Don't get me wrong. I too want to suport a company that makes a game available on linux from launch. But eventually when they get big like EA games, you think they will remember our help? You think they won't do everything in their power to squeeze every single cent out of you? (varies among companies) When it's no longer a team of friends but a bunch of shareholders running the show then they too will become like every other company.

So my point is, pre-ordering is a bad practice that empowers publishers who are essentially middlemen. Of course you are free to use your own judgement to decide whether or not you want to pre-order a game directly from a studio who does the publishing as well.

[sirdilznik]

My thread is addressed to those people exactly. In addition to the harm pre-ordering does to gamers by producing crappy games, it's not healthy to be looking forward to something so much that you can't wait to pre-order it. It means your life is unbalanced and you have nothing else that gives you joy.

You can come down from your pedestal now.

You can support the developer by buying the game after it's released and reviewed by journalists.

The problem with that is that some games from smaller companies will never be able to complete their game without help from donations or pre-orders due to lack of funding.

[crazycheese]

It heavily depends on situation.
Microsoft, ea &etc crap do not really need preoder. And they have been pushing workers already. There is HUGE amount of burn-out cases in EA and microcrap.
But smaller studios DO, because it will ease the financial situation up.
If the game is 90% finished and all credits exausted, preorder may bring those 10% very quickly.

And as always with any cooking - timing is important. Cook to long - no one will eat already, cook too short and you find the meal too raw & possilbly unfinished.