Hi, I have a cautionary tale for you today!
So Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is a game that is supposedly being developed. It was supposed to release in 2020, you may recall. Well I loved the original so much I pre-ordered the deluxest Blood Moon Edition (version with upcoming expansion and any other extras) from Voidu because they were offering 20% off and I wanted to play it release day. 72 bucks US.
Well I saw yesterday I had a notification from the VTMB2 Official discord which turned out to be their community manager saying "Hi we just want you to know we're refunding all physical collector's edition preorders because the stuff in them might change. If you pre-ordered digitally and you want a refund, contact the people you bought it from."
So I log into my Voidu account and huh, that's weird, my VTMB2 order isn't there. My other ones are. Well, I went to the email receipt and clicked the link to the order and got a 404. When that didn't come up I typed the name in the search box. Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is no longer in Voidu's store.
So I emailed Voidu support with the email receipt and the PayPal statement of my purchase attached and said "Hi I see you've removed any records of this product but I bought it from you in 2019 and here's the proof. I'd like a refund please". Three days later Voidu emails me back and says "We don't have that order in our system, anything else I can do for you?"
I tried making a PayPal claim for my money back but sadly those are only good for purchases 180 days old or less.
So take it from me, a sucker. Don't preorder and risk a delayed release keeping you from consumer protections. But even more so: stay away from Voidu. Just aVoidu them. Voidon't du it. Ok lol that's it
Genuinely curious why people pre-order. Is it because of the initial excitement and FOMO kicking in? Or is it a true belief that pre-ordering will support the creators to produce a better final product?
Edit: Punctuation and spelling.
I mostly do it for games I know I'm going to want day one no matter what as a present to future me.
Why not add it to a wishlist, then purchase it when it launches, or when it goes on sale?
I have never pre-ordered anything, because it always felt like I would immediately lose my money, but yet I can't use or have the item I paid for. Maybe it's just my insecurity when it comes to finances.
I just like the feeling of a game launching, I go to buy it, only to realize that I already did and don't even have to think about downloading and enjoying it.
Only time I pre order is about a day before launch if reviews come out early so I can preload/get the physical copy on day one.
That makes sense actually. Not a bad idea at all.