Okay, I'd like to talk about pre-order packs. This isn't one of those topics where I'm asking which pre order pack you chose or trying to decide which to get for myself. No, no, this is more of a wall of text and my thoughts on the topic at hand. Mostly on the simple question, is this a good thing? Let me explain.

First off, let me be honest. I like pre-order packs. I do! I think it gives gamers a good reason to reserve the game and gives you some neat stuff in the beginning. I like that. The thing that bothers me, however, are the lack of 'second chances'. I know of a few games that have awesome pre-order gear, but if you didn't get it, you never will. Some of the coolest stuff in games are pre-order gear. Now, I get the fact that it's supposed to make people act quick, and usually I can understand it, but New Vegas has pulled something a little...well...dirty.

I like choice. I get that Fallout is all about choices. I love that. However, I can't say I love what the pre-order packs are. Yes, you get to pick your character's history. That's awesome. But why do we only get to choose one? There is no reason that the designers couldn't have bundled these four choices together and let us have them all. I mean, instead of just picking which will be fun, I've found myself downright regretting my choice because I'm not going to be able to have fun with the other packs. It's going to turn into 'I should have bought from the other store.' The grass is greener on the other side every time.

The one way I could understand this is if they're going to release the other packs as minor DLCs and by pre-ordering, we pretty much got one for free. Heck, I'd definitely fork over 5 bucks to get the other three packs. Maybe even 10. It just pisses me off that there's a good chance that people will only be allowed to have one.

The pre-order packs are not worth much IMO. You can get virtually EVERY item available in EVERY pre-order in the regular game. The preorder version just add a fancy adjective, probably also slightly improved stats. I guess when you very first start out it will dictate your role-playing, but not worth it. If you want, and are playing on the PC, you could add the regular versions to your inventory right away.
Also the reason why you don't get all of the is because its all about marketing. Each of those pre-order companies paid them money.

I really wish they had let the gamer pick the pre-order pack that they wanted from the store they wanted to get it from. It could have been a simple In Game choice when the process to get the goodies in the game happens.

I mean the pre-order pack I got from Amazon is fine, but I won't use any of it for most of my characters. I will build one at some point that is more Melee focused. The other pre-order packs suited my typical Shoot First, Ask Questions as they Bleed Out or Let Me Charm You Into This characters better. I ordered it from Amazon, because, well, it's easier for me. And, I am on PC.

I also wonder if the reason that Amazon still has Collectors Editions is because the Tribal Pack is not the most popular choice?

Perhaps it's about marketing, but still, I like each set of armor and I'd like to be able to play the beginning of the game with entirely different strategies. My question is pretty much, are these packs going to each be released as DLC when this is all said and done, or are the things I didn't choose going to be gone forever.

PC version with mods, GO!!

That's why they call it pre-order exclusive content . but its not like you don't get the full game, for most games those contents are just insignificant extras .

Well, like others said, the reason packs are location specific is quite simply marketing.

As to why we cannot have them all at once, I think the main reason is, When you start the game, you're weak, and the game is sort of encouraging a chance to explore and become powerful on your own, but by simply being given all these powerful items, it really cuts back on that umf to say 'huh, this little pistol I found on the poor bloke lying by the road is crap, I need to find something better, lets go hunt one down' With all the Pre-orders, you can go 'Whoop got a better weapon here, hehehe'

Eh, my PC isn't good enough to handle New Vegas' awesome. Here I am just hoping that these will be released as DLC or something.

They don't have to give them all to us. Let's say that it is the Doc who hands us this package. All he has to do is offer up a conversation where we tell him what we want somehow, so that we get one of the packs to start each game. This way, we only get one, and are not over powering from the start. Then, when we restart, we get to choose the same pack or a different one. It can still be a pre-order deal.

Exactly. Or when you select 'new game', a box comes up asking which of the packs you want to use. You still are only allowed to use one of them for a character, but now you have a choice and can try them all with seperate chars. I would love that.

Huh, a good point, I'd have no arguments to that, the problem is,alot of people seem to feel we should have them all in one go, which is, in my personal opinion, utterly ridiculous.

The pre order packs will be distributed via a code you put into the game. You can read this at the retailers who are offering them. This means they will be up on ebay for like .99 or 1.99 just like the Bad Company 2 and Mass Effect 2 codes were.

I dont know why anyone would want to start with multiple packs. It would remove any challenge the game has to offer. Even one pack is going to make New Vegas considerably easier.

I'm lucky in that the local Gamestop (where I pre-ordered) is managed by a long time friend of mine. So on release day I'll get 10 codes for the pack and trade the codes to others for the other packs. I'll be left with 5 codes that I plan to give away to people (that weren't lucky enough to get their packs) on release day.

As I understand it, you could add multiple pre-order packs to one game and somehow (possibly through the menu's DLC area) pick one at a time. Acquiring each of these, however, might be a little bit trickier As someone mentioned, eBay might work out, or you could maybe buy 4 copies then return 3? Somehow I doubt the workers at Wal-Mart would know to take it back, or even care.

For the OP, I feel your pain on this.

On one hand pre-order bonuses are sheer marketing genius. You get cool starting stuff for a game you are planning to buy anyway, all you have to do is pre-order it and the publishers and retailers get their money faster and are better prepared to supply the demand for any given "hot" title.

I usually like to play a demo, or read a few full reviews, sometimes I'm even more patient and wait until a title become a "Greatest Hits" title and has the lower (usually $29.99 or even $19.99 US for the current gen systems) price point, so needless to say this has skewed my buying habits slightly.

Where it really becomes a problem is where you are a die hard fan of the series and you really want to collect everything, but can't because seriously, how practical is pre-ordering and buying 4 copies of the same title from 4 separate retailers? Unless you really have that much disposable income it's practically insane.

I totally agree to a DLC pack that offers all of the pre-order packs in a bundle or even sold separately sometime in the future (maybe when the inevitable GOTY bundle comes out) and hey, why not give each respective retailer a cut of the royalty? You will be making a bunch of money for a bunch of "1s and 0s", and you will be giving us console players who have no modding alternatives a chance to buy what we couldn't get during the time of the actual pre-order...

Exactly. And seriously, it's take all of...maybe an hour or two for the devs to code an option for this? It seems like easy money and a way to make everyone happy, but I still am almost certain it won't happen. So here I am, when I should be getting psyched for the game instead trying to make a choice and knowing no matter which one I pick, I'll regret it because I can't try them all. I really hope the devs are reading this. Please release them as DLC. I'll be a very happy penguin.

My only problem with the pre-order packs is that seeing as the pack you gets depends on the store I can't help but feel cheated because the closest place I can order from is a gamestop and not that I mind that I just feel like it really svcks that the place you order from depends on the pack I would like to be able to chose which pack I can get because the inconvenience that other per-order places are for me.

the pre order packs aren't that great really.

Unless you're a [censored] that MUST HAVE ALL THINGS FALLOUT then you're really not going to need them.

Well, if we're talking about things we 'need', then we don't really 'need' Fallout, video games or electricity. I'm just talking about something I think it would be nice to have and something I'd like to see.