Is it safe to preorder games and expansions?

[Russiah]

I was looking to preorder my first game ever (well, expansion: Dragonborn), but I've heard some folks on here complain that their content and games never appeared in their Library after buying it.

[tmwfte]

In terms of getting the product of a pre-order? If you buy it on Steam, you're guaranteed to receive it. It may not necessarily unlock when the product goes live, and you'll have to restart your client when it does, but it's perfectly safe to buy it.

[Spawn of Totoro]

You will get it when it is released. Some people seem to think it will download right away instead of on the reases date.

[Tito Shivan]

Never had an issue with a preorder.

Opprinnelig skrevet av Spawn of Totoro:

Some people seem to think it will download right away instead of on the reases date.

Or fail to realize about the existance of a thing called 'Timezones' for release times.

[Tsundere Kanojo]

It's because those people you are referring to aren't very bright.

[[UFO] rad87gn]

I've pre-ordered multiple times on Steam and has always worked like it's supposed to.

[PKB Mac]

The item shouldn't ever "not appear in your library". All pre-orders I've done have been added immediately, with a "Not yet released" message in the status column (in list view).

[dirrtymartini]

OP, of course it's safe. Valve isn't going to take your money and run. When you pre-order stuff, it WILL appear at some point. Timezones and such might factor into the exact time your pre-order becomes available but it will get there.

Now, there is a risk to pre-ordering. If the game is buggy or awful, you really won't know until you play it. People who don't pre-order can read the forums, user reviews, and first impressions to get a gauge of whether the game is good or not.

[LazyFly]

I've never had trouble preordering from Steam, always as advertised.

But... I prordered Starcraft from Gamestop and pumped the full balance into the preorder (meaning the game was 100% paid for so all I had to do was pick it up on the release day). One afternoon I received a call from Gamestop offering me to upgrade my preorder as Blizzard announced the collectors edition- I'm a Starcraft nut so I decided to stop into the store and do just that.

I arrived at the store and explained my situation to the cashier who then could not locate my initial preorder in the system- 30 minutes later they'd looked up my account using every bit of information I felt comfortable with providing and still no preorder; it disappeared along with the money I had put into it. I said screw it and decided not to preorder.

Gamestop then announced that the local store would have a midnight open for the game- this was nice because even though I didn't preorder I still would've had a chance to pick it up upon release. I arrived at the store at 12:05 and they were closing the grates and told me I'd have to come back the next day, "Sorry, bro."

Last time I ever bought anything from GS, true story.

[FattyMooMooMan]

Used steam for many years and never had an issue with a perorder not appearing in my library.

My only problem with preorders has been that I have preordered in my excitement at a new release then found out the PC port was rubbish (ghost recon:FS i am looking at you) so you might want to research the game itself before putting money down. That isn't valves fault though :)