So I pre-ordered Destiny 2 a few months ago. I thought it would be a physical copy (I like having the boxes and pamphlets that come with the games) with a digital deluxe code, but turns out it’s just the digital deluxe version of the game. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have even bothered. I would have just pre-ordered it on PSN.
Problem is, they never sent me my code, and there’s only a few hours left in the day, so I might not even get to play on release day, which defeats the whole purpose of pre-ordering. I checked the Best Buy forums and this is EXTREMELY common. The game was just released today and there’s already a thread with 75 pages of posts, and that’s not including the other threads that just aren’t as popular.
When I went to the forums, another previous problem popped into my head. When I bought my GTX 970, Best Buy was running a special where you get a game with it for free (can’t remember which, but I think it was a AAA shooter). They were supposed to send a code to my email for that too, and that never came. I went to the forums and talked to customer service and about a week later I finally got it.
So for this one, I called customer service and the rep said they sent another code and I should see it within an hour. It’s been about 20 minutes now, so I guess I shouldn’t complain just yet, but the fact that I had to call them in the first place is extremely frustrating.
Needless to say, I will never buy anything that requires a digital code from Best Buy again.
#DON’T_PRE-ORDER_GAMES
These assholes are constantly screwing over those who pre-order. Delaying games, taking stuff out (only to later make it DLC), totally changing the game from what the developers said it would be (WoW, Shadowbane, and almost every game in the last 20 years), etc. They have your money and no longer care about you.
Your first mistake was pre-order a game (though you may not have been burned yet) but outside of that, that is completely unprofessional of Best Buy to do something like that and I would recommend taking your business elsewhere.
Just reminds me walking buy people in Bestbuy being mad that there copy of Zelda BotW is not in on day one. well i just grab a copy off the shelf and leave.
Also everything is digital now so why bother. And no i dont care about plastic crap and art books you wont care about in a week and the in game content will be junk in a month.
@NetBandit - Wrong about what? I’ve already pre-ordered the game, therefore it is too late for me to not pre-order it. Also, my pre-order issues in this case have nothing to do with DLC or paid-for cheats. The issue I have is Best Buy’s inability to properly manage the codes they send to people to download games.
@anon69321716 - I very rarely pre-order, and because of that I have never been burned. There’s hardly anything that I’m actually excited to play these days. Destiny is one of the few games I was looking forward to, and I will definitely pre-order whatever Elder Scrolls game comes out next (TES VI, not an ESO expansion or that card game off-shoot). That’s the frustrating part. The whole point of pre-order is to ensure you get it day one. In this case, the game didn’t even need to be in stock because it’s a digital copy (although I thought I was getting a physical copy). All they have to do is send me a code in an email, and they failed. Hell, it still hasn’t come through and there’s only about 45 minutes left of release day. I can only hope that it comes through while I’m at work tomorrow so I can hop on the PS app and enter the code to buy the game so it can download and be ready to go by the time I get home.
@billgatez - I unintentionally got a digital copy, so I couldn’t just return it (according to the rep I spoke to), otherwise I would have just done that and gotten a box from the shelf. They weren’t sold out, which makes it even worse because I could just go grab one but I don’t want to have to buy it twice. If I would have known the version I was getting was digital only, I would rather have just pre-ordered it from PSN so I know there’s no delay in getting the code. As for your second point, to each his own. I like having a physical copy and a box. I like the action of swapping out discs. If it comes with posters or a map I’ll hang it on my wall (I have all the Elder Scrolls Maps, GTA, an EVGA poster, etc).
Although I have no experience with their game pre-orders, I would rather rip out my own fingernails with a pair of pliers than go to Best Buy for anything. I have had a consistently bad experience with them over the years.
Dont get me wrong, I know, depending upon where you live, your options may be limited as to where you purchase electronics at a brick and mortar store. I may also be shopping at the worst Best Buy in world.
If I were in your shoes, I would be pissed. Hope they make this right for you.
I get that. But sine that article was written in 5+ years ago, you chose to ignore it when you ordered. You dove in head first without checking the water. That’s irresponsible and foolish. And I have no sympathy for your plight. All you had to do was google for pre-ordering and you would have found out it’s bad idea that reinforces the worst behavior of software developers and publishers.
That article has not relevant to the issue I’m having, so it wouldn’t have changed my mind. I already know about the pre-order issue when it comes to DLC and whatnot. The only thing that would have changed my mind is if Best Buy would have advertised that I was buying a digital only version of the game, because I’ve already had problems with them in the past with not sending the codes in a reasonable amount of time.
If you have no sympathy, that’s fine. There’s a reason I put mini rant in the title. I already know most people probably won’t care. I’m just saying your reasons for not wanting to pre-order (according to the article you referenced) have nothing to do with my original post.
It was definitely an inaccurate assumption, but I don’t think it’s an unreasonable one. Whatever game I pre-order next I’ll just have to make sure it’s a physical copy, and if that option isn’t available I’ll just cut out the middleman and get it on PSN.
The base version comes with a physical copy. Collector’s might, I’m not sure. On Best Buy’s website it says it includes the base game, but doesn’t specify whether it’s a disc or a code. Doesn’t matter much at this point, so I’m not going to dive too deep into it.
The problem with the physical copy is that sometimes nowadays, all it does is unlock the game; without having any of the game on it. And you would still need to download it anyway.
I think that expecting physical copies of games to run; offline, on consoles is no long a valid expectation to have.
That’s true. The disc is pretty much just a method of authentication. You still have to download the game, and the game is installed to the hard drive instead of running off the disc.
However, there are still some advantages to it. One being that if you end up not liking the game you can return it (depending on where you bought it from), or sell it later on or at the very least you can trade it in. You can also let people borrow it because the disc isn’t tied to your account. The disc just tells Sony/Microsoft that you have a tangible copy of the game, and therefore you are entitled to play it.
One thing I find extremely frustrating about Steam is I have so many games that I bought, that I had every intention of playing, but I don’t have time to play most of them. I just don’t care about them any more, and now I’m just stuck with them (as far as I’m aware). That’s one reason why I just don’t buy games as much as I used to in general, and also why I’m starting to slowly fade away from PC gaming.
With a digital copy, the only way to share it would be to give out my account information, and that ain’t happenin. I don’t even give passwords to my girlfriend.
That doesn’t help me with the games I no longer want to play.
A non-issue for you, sure. But that is an over-simplicfication for me. I’m complaining that I have too many and I want to sell or trade some that I know I won’t play, but I cant as far as I’m aware, unlike physical discs which I can very easily. Personally, I’d like to sell or trade them in so I can get some cash to put towards other games.
