Pre-orders: Faith/No Faith, FOMO/No Risk

[Jojoya]

Do you intend to pre-order when they start on Tuesday, wait until later, or don't plan to pre-order at all?

What is influencing your decision?

Do you have faith in the developers that you will enjoy the expansion and so have no reservations pre-ordering as soon as possible?

Do you not have faith in them and so have no desire to pre-order?

Are you a collector/completionist only pre-ordering because you will go crazy if you miss out on the pre-order bonuses to fill those collector/completionist impulses?

Will you only pre-order because there is no risk to you and so why not?

I'm pre-ordering because I have faith in the development team. I've no doubt that Dawntrail will have its flaws just as each expansion has had some but I'm also confident I will still enjoy playing the expansion.

[Sebazy]

No need to preorder a digital edition whatsoever beyond publisher summery and the physical CE's haven't been worth the money in the longest time.

If the Dawntrail media tour shows some effort being put into healer gameplay, I'll jump in. If it shows the same complete lack of attention and effort as Endwalker did then I'm likely out unless my old static miraculously starts playing again.

[Absurdity]

If the Dawntrail media tour shows some effort being put into healer gameplay, I'll jump in. If it shows the same complete lack of attention and effort as Endwalker did then I'm likely out.

Pretty much this, but expanded to the gameplay of all combat roles in general.
I can not deal with another 2.5-3 years of "Shadowbringers, but somehow even worse"-gameplay.

[Infindox]

Preordering because the only way I will *not* enjoy Dawntrail is if they drastically change the gameplay, which I doubt. Not really any risk for me because I just enjoy *existing* in the game world, so new areas and things to collect = yes.

[Jeeqbit]

I plan to pre-order. Why? Because I know exactly what I am getting and that I will play it. Some people like it, some people hate it, but SE is consistent and has the same "formula" for every expansion going back to Heavensward, with changes being very rare, very minor or very logical (ie. upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit), so I'm in no doubt about what I'm getting.

Contrast this with Windows 11. I do not install new versions of Windows until the previous version is about to lose support from Microsoft and developers. Why? Because I don't know what I'm getting or that it will be good. In fact, I don't have confidence it will be good until a lot of people experience problems with it and they get patched/improved.

To anyone who thinks pre-orders are some sort of problem: don't pre-order then if you're not sure about it. It's meant for people who do have enough confidence in the game or the developers and are certain they will play it regardless.

[Carin-Eri]

I'll be there at 8:59 ready to pre-order myself.

Personally, I'm all about the MSQ above all else, and since this is MSQ content I always intended to jump on the pre-purchase.

I also think that the fact that this is will be the first time I've been around for an expansion launch is probably influencing my lack of hesitation. I started playing a few weeks after Endwalker launched and missed all the pre-launch/launch hype.

[TheMightyMollusk]

I'll probably preorder, but whether or not I go for the digital collector's edition will depend on what's included with it. I can skip the physical edition, I don't particularly care for statues.

EDIT: Okay, actually looked up the CE bonuses. A Wind-up Garnet minion and an Ark reskin of the Cruise Chaser mount. Yeah, okay, I'm in. IX is still my favorite single-player FF. Still skipping the physical box, though.

And the preorder bonus is a Wind-up Zidane. And also the typical earrings, but since all of my jobs except BLU are already at 90 anyway, that doesn't mean a lot to me. (Yes, ten levels of viper and pictomancer will go a little faster, but that's not a deal-maker.)

[Jeeqbit]

I'll probably preorder, but whether or not I go for the digital collector's edition will depend on what's included with it. I can skip the physical edition, I don't particularly care for statues.

I'll skip the physical items too. Just a waste of space and a bigger burden whenever I move house.

I will probably get the digital collector's edition though. The collector's edition is virtually just a "mog station mount" and I normally avoid these, but I like getting the collector's mount just for "hype" and the "excitement" factor since it's typically themed on the expansion itself ie. the grani for a "Dark Knight" in Shadowbringers, or an armored horse for a Paladin in Endwalker. When you see others with it too, it shares in the hype.

[DiaDeem]

I've preordered every XIV xpac ever.

I'm glad that the digital items don't appeal to me cause I can stick to just the base xpac once again.

[Rokke]

I enjoy playing 100% "blind" in EA so I'll p/o the digital version eventually. SE's statues/figures are all over the place quality-wise and I don't really like Viper's AF so I'm not going to bother gambling on the box set.