Oh, sweet summer child...

I haven't been.

As long as the early access game in its current form is worth the sticker price than there is no issue.

the last game I bought on launch day was no man's sky. I'm done playing money to be a beta tester for half a game, you'll get my money when it's an entire game that works or not at all.

For me, it depends. If the developer has a good reputation and is doing early access to present a better game at its full launch, I definitely don't have an issue with it. Unfortunately, devs and games like that are uncommon.

Nah. I propose instead you watch YouTube gameplay videos before buying games. Plenty of “completed games” are trash and early access titles absolute gems. Also regardless, you’re buying incredibly complicated software that people sunk countless hours of labor into developing for pennies on the dollar so like whatever. If a game is bad I won’t play it. If it’s janky I will move on with my life.

Correction: Completed game under $20. 🧐

Don't look at me. I learned my lesson back with Batman: Arkham Knight.

The only game I ever considered pre-ordering was Hogwarts legacy. I've always loved the world of Harry Potter, and it looked like everything I've ever asked for. I was going to pre-order it, but I wasn't able to, for financial reasons. Then the game came out, and after watching a video I was like... Oh, this is boring. I learned my lesson.

It's like when you buy something half finished with a big IOU stapled to it, you don't know what you're actually buying or something 😱