Originally Posted by
Indra Echo
I'm going to disagree with everyone here and even myself. We have one way only to ever change things and to ever be sure games are good and deserving of our money. Don't ever pre-order anything again. Resist the urge to get the special super powered cool looking stuff you get from collector's editions of anything. Don't buy special or limited editions. Don't pre-buy anything. Buy it when you see actual gameplay videos or better yet, try demos before you buy.
Then if you like the game and DLC comes out, buy it as it becomes available and never buy Season Passes (the name devs give to most DLC bundles these days). If you don't like the game, insist until you are told with all finality otherwise, on a refund. Don't accept crap. And don't just accept the word that no refund is allowed. Mass Effect 3 showed that if enough people are mad enough, companies will issue refunds-at first some retailers, but others will have to follow.
Don't assume franchise games will always be good and don't accept it if they are not. Also, expect DLC that is new and fresh and if all you are getting is some new content with a lot of old, rehashed crap open your yap and complain about it. But be specific and constructive. Don't just say something is a PoS and this is the last time you're going to buy from them. Most devs are not so concerned at keeping current customers--that means you're expendable. They're looking for the uninformed new guy to come play a cool looking game casually. Far better if they can get someone who really doesn't love the game they've made. It helps to get others who don't care so much so they'll spend $100, play for an hour, use the servers sporadically, and then move onto something else. Demand, yes demand better. Expect better. And yes, be "entitled" to something better than games devs don't expect you to play much, let alone finish.
If all you keep saying is something like "this game sucks" then people tend to tune you out. People considering buying a game just think you have problems (some may read what you say, but people wanting to have some fun, don't tend to think much of random meaningless "I hate you" threads). Be informative.
And don't be this person who is just certain that any new cool-sounding game that might be released a year from now will be the best thing ever. You don't know that, but your hype will mean less work for the devs making it. If everyone says the new Bomb Blasto 3 will be the best game ever known to exist and will be super special and do everything right, the devs don't have to say anything good about it (so they won't be accused of lying), and they don't have to make it as good as it could be. They know you're buying it, anyway.
In short, adopt a wait and see attitude. Games and some electronics are the only things that seem to have people imagining what they'll be like and then buying based on what they've imagined. If you wouldn't buy carpet that way then it's probably best to not buy anything that way.
I've broken these rules myself.
