I'm done pre-ordering TT games...
I know this might sound bad, I love these games. I have pre-ordered every Sam and Max series, as well as Monkey Island. It seems that with a little patience, every game Telltale sells eventually goes on sale for a ridiculously good price. Sam and Max seasons for $10?! Seriously, I have only played 2 episodes so far in Devil's Playhouse. I should have waited. I know Monkey Island has been on sale for great prices, and if I buy them on sale from this site I can still pay to get the DVD. For Monkey Island though - to get the whole series for $5 last week on Steam, I would have forgone the DVD. I think a little patience will pay off - I want Back to the Future, but in all honesty, I probably won't play it close to release, and if I wait I can get a sweet deal. I know that Telltale probably uses those pre-orders to work from, and they help the company - but after seeing the ridiculous deals pop up, I'm going to be waiting from now on.
Although...if they do another Monkey Island series I might change my mind...
Although...if they do another Monkey Island series I might change my mind...
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Well also when you pre-order you get to have access to the amazing pre order forums, you did when you pre-ordered TDP and ToMI, I think those and the limited edition Cover-art. I think it's well worth it, well to me anyways.
Of course, it's common sense that the price of things will go down over time but it happens so often and so quickly with Telltale games that it makes some of the most loyal customers - those that order a game first thing - feel kinda like suckers six months later. Especially when the only preorder bonus is an early forum or a special dvd slipcase that everyone else ends up being able to get from the store anyway.
Not that I really have any ideas. Maybe more sales on merchandise other than games? Or better yet, how about giving people credit for a future game when they pre-order, rather than a free episode of a game they likely already have? Or some piece of merchandise that's genuinely exclusive so we won't feel like suckers for pre-ordering when the price drops a few months later.
The power is YOURS!
I haven't ever pre-ordered Telltale games but I think that comes from the crippling lack of money that every grad student has to deal with. I definitely would if I did have the cash for the simple reason that by doing so, I'm helping to ensure they keep turning out good games in the future. Really, any purchase does that though, so it ultimately becomes 'how much do you want to spend on TTG?'.
I think preorder is for people who want to play the game right at the first minute the game is out. If you bought it that way and then play the game a year a later....well i don't know why you preorder in the first place.
I paid $19.99 for Out from Boneville, and $12.99 for The Great Cow Race. (You can buy them both as a bundle for $14.95 now). I have to say I am pretty proud to have contributed to Telltale's current status. When those games came out, no one knew if Telltale was going to survive the first year. Now they are a pretty huge company (relatively) and those of us who bought those games at the beginning are a big part of that (I would like to think).
So if you feel like $25, or $35 is a fair price for a 5 game series, and you can afford it, you should pre-order them to keep Telltale the great company it is. If you can't afford it, by all means wait for the deals. But, make sure you thank those of us doing the pre-ordering!
And that's a HUGE difference - the pacing is really different.
Where do you find NEW games for $25?!
Don't be so cheap man
Back to the Future is not going to be available '1 month at a time' for purchase. It's going to be much like The Devil's Playhouse was.
So... the first chapter is going to be Available so I can taste it and see if I upgrade?
No, Back to the Future is only available as a season purchase, and it's only $24.95 so it's already a great price and a dollar of every pre-order goes to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
The 121GIGAWATTS Free Episode can act as your 'taste' of the game but it's not upgradable.
Hehhhh. Thanks for the tip.
It's not like I'm saying is expensive, it's just I'm not really a Back to the Future Fan and I wanna know first if I'll like it if I can. Plus, I said to myself I'm not going to buy anything from Telltale until my last order arrives. And it's still backordered ^^U
Which item did you order?
The Devil's Playhouse DVD
That's pretty close to being ready to rock.
Personally, in most cases, I tend to go for the latter. I figure I can wait a few months to save some money. With Telltale, however, I enjoy everything they do and respect them as a company, so I don't mind giving them more of my cash. There's also the fact that their games tend to be cheaper than most other games at retail, so it's like saving some money anyways.
But, I will admit I was a little let down with The Devil's Playhouse pre-order bonus. "Special offers" for preordering turned into one 20% off coupon (not that that is shabby), so I'll probably be a little hesitant in the future letting something like that encourage me to preorder.
One you could mix with!
*Fixed my text*
These last two releasees, Devil's Playhouse and Back to the Future, are like this. Is this how Telltale is going to be doing their games from now on?
I guess with the first episode being made so readily available for free, the price is dropping a bit to $25 to make the full season seem better to bite. But like I said, I can wait - I'll keep an eye out for sales a few months after the last episode is out.
Because TTG specialises in Digital downloads, they don't have any stock to clear, so they can get away with setting the price as low as they want: they didn't buy anything, so as long as they break even on the money they spent on developing, pretty much every sale, no matter the price is profit.
So they can cope with these sales which bring in new customers. If you don't like it, then wait. It's what everyone does with Hard copies of games, if they don't want to pay launch prices.
Whilst it would be nice to have some more pre-order incentives, The fact of getting the game the instant it comes out is enough for most people.
If you preorder, you get a little incentive and can play the games as soon as they are available. From a business point of view, giving away too much wouldn't make sense, as you somehow buy it anyway, and afterwards they try to get those on board to whom the games for some reason or another weren't worth the full price and as there are no costs involved a reduced sale is better than none.
Comparing it to tools the preorder discount could be a little bit more attractive but then again it would collide with what i wrote above. I think a major reason of the bonus game is that you give it away and introduce new players to TTG.
Regarding the pricing for BTTF i think it's okay, dunno if you have to add taxes to the price as well. The licence for adventure gamers isn't as strong as Monkey Island or Sam&Max and therefore they offer some compensation. Secondly there are also some strong titles beeing released. We'll see if the game will be worth it. Anyway, for some the problem remains, that it's just BTTF, which might be a plus for other people as well.
Wise words! For some forum members, however, the price tag is just dropping too fast. In times of the internet, that might be justified, but still it sometimes feels wayyyy too fast.
I don't mind pre-ordering, because while I know it's going to cost less later, the pre-order deals usually justify it. I'm happy with my free Puzzle Agent, and I've gotten free Wallace & Gromit episodes off past pre-orders. It's not like you're being ripped off anyway, and it's the full price purchases that allow Telltale to keep making these games.
Aside from that, what I think people aren't understanding here is the economic concept of a durable good. You buy it early KNOWING that it will be cheaper later, or buy it later at a lower price, but losing the benefit you would have gained from playing the game as soon as it came out. They aren't forcing you to take one option or the other, but they easily give enough incentives for a full price purchase. Plus, BttF is $10 cheaper than their usual games, which is pretty awesome as well.
You are my favorite lurker.
You have many favorites these days.