So, are there any gimmicks that you absolutely loath when it comes to companies selling games? Recently, I think mine has to deal with pre-orders and the "perks" that can be unlocked by the # of sales.

Pre-order crap is definitely at the top of the list. I've never pre-ordered any game nor shall I ever. Why the hell would I bother? I've never encountered a situation where my local stores ran out of copies of the game.

I only ever pre order for the "speicial" or "limited" editions, and that's only if they have good stuff. I do mostly pick up straight from the store, unless I'm busy that weekend then I'll just purchase online and wait.

I only pre ordered once and that was halo odst and thats about it for the most part I don't care what comes with the sales and pre orders.

Same. There are a few exceptions when I'll pre-order a game, and that's mainly for the special editions/Collector's Edition version. Though I'm not too fond of Fallout: New Vegas, I would pre-order the CE again because there were some great items in it. The only game I regret... "wasting" money on is the CE of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Resident Evil 5 is probably a not too distant second, but I got more gaming out of RE5 than SWTOR.

What made me mention this at the top is a semi-new trend i'm seeing on Steam. Some games have a progression line for pre-orders, essentially urging people to buy the game early to unlock things.