Pre-Order is a no go for me.
Buying a game only because the serie/dev has a good reputation before it was tested? Never again!
Oh, what a liar ;-)
I pre-ordered the Blackguards 2...and endless other games before.
Because i wanted the game? Maybe, but often i was sold by the goodies you could get.
I don't mean dlc. Those are the modern way for publisher milking the buyer with little effort.
I mean a nice retail boxed game with goodies like real artbooks or a statues.

Sadly the digital only is a real gold mine for publisher and good boxes are rare.

I mean a complete (!) copy of a finished and polished game. Fully installable and playable without any cloud connections or downloads, regardless where I am, in a language of my choice. That I would call a real "goodie".

Such goodies don't exist anymore in "PC gaming". Day one patches, loads of DLC, region locks, subscription accounts and DRM malware are the norm now.

I'm surprised they did that. When I was active member and resistant to that game at the time for supporting steam only, I and others complained to them for the direction. They defended steam usage then.. I wonder what changed?

Can't go back, my account is closed by my request. I was pretty steamed when I left. I haven't looked back. I choose to move on and for now CD projekt has my attention so long as they stay true to us.

Complete? AND without 1st day patch? Daydreamer!!!
We are the unpaid (first) testing objects of publishers (AAA publisher).
With costs in the 2 and 3 digit millions budged for AAA games its logical that publishers fears to release a new game.
Better be on the save side and make the next part in a serie. And till the next part hits the shelfs.....a nice dlc.
Ah, why waiting....dlc available at release date....rings any bells?
I hate it. And its one of the reasons why i don't buy NEW games till the GOTY is there.......only exepction are those
nice boxes with said goodies ;-)

So the first thing I saw when I logged into Steam today was an ad for Dying Light reminding me that it is the last chance to preorder the game to get an exclusive weapon which will apparently run out of stock if I don't. It reminded me of another thing I really dislike about this trend which are preorder exclusives, especially the ones that are not available for purchase separately after the release of the game.

There are even examples of games on GOG that are guilty of this, so for once I was glad to see that there aren't any preorder exclusives for Grim Fandango atleast to entice people with.

Like most advertising, the way it's worded entices one to make assumptions that aren't stated.

For example, that screenshot only shows that this is the "last chance" to pre-purchase Dying Light. It does not say the "exclusive weapon" is also "last chance". I would not be surprised if that "exclusive weapon" shows up again..

It is mentioned as a Steam Exclusive Pre-Purchase Offer on the game page when one "clicks for details".

Well, I haven't preorder Risen 2 once. Bought the game 2-3 days after release and was punished by Deep Silver cutting down part of the story with Disc Locked Content (Air Temple, Treasure Isle) which were already on DVD. I've learned my lesson well, surely will buy Risen 3, on sale at least 80% off with all DLC's included..

Time is on my side : )

And no, never preordered a game in my digital life and not going to. I have to agree with some of you however, some companies you may count on (like cdproject), deserves it.

I think per-ordering games is a really bad idea.

I did get sucked in to it a few times. Well and did regret it, every time.

TotalBiscuit, The Cynical Brit - describes pretty well why per-ordering is a bad idea.
in "Should you preorder videogames? " on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf5Uj4XIT1Y

Where can I buy your optimism? Mine's run out.

Unfortunately yes it is but only because the majority of people fall for it so easily.
There's no wonder why some (minority) consider that majority as being "sheeple" or "herd" or whatever entity consisting mostly of mediocre iqs at best ;( This is sad imo

BTW: Despite my defense of pre-ordering in specific circumstances, I certainly agree that the actual example quoted is ludicrous. That does not make all pre-ordering bad. Trust between reliable and consumer friendly developers/publishers that eschew DRM should extend both ways - pre-orders are a cheap way of rewarding such publishers/developers.

I know everyone will judge this,but there is no way in hell i would buy a game without trying it first.And since they intentionaly dont give you demo to try it out,i have to seek it on torrents,if i like it then i buy it...i mean i dont buy a car before trying it out do i?Why on earth would i give someone 50 € not knowing what it is?I know what it is...its pure gambling,thats what it is

I'm not judging you here, I can see your argument to an extent. I am similar with Kung Fu films, just because I've been burned so many times by them (sometimes they are just plain lying about their content). Then if they are any good I do purchase them. However for the games industry (and unfortunately not for Kung Fu films) there are now enough review sources that I feel you can get a good enough idea of whether you'll like the game without needing to play it.

I'm sure people will jump to correct me here, but I can't think of a game that has recently been released which (after release) could not have its quality determined, and even its suitability for a particular gamer's tastes, by reading enough reviews.