Today MAG got a patch..I went to see the notes..and well 
 
 First up is the availability of our pre-order bonus armor! Originally offered as part of our incentive plan to those who purchased the game prior to its release on January 26, these special “medium improved” armor types and their faction-specific camo (Spyder for Raven, Hazard for SVER, and Bulldog for Valor) are now accessible to any and all MAG players in North America starting today, March 11.  
 
 
SO..what...me pre ordering when the game got iffy previews meant nothing?  
 
This is another thing I noticed for BFBC2 pre order and get nice weapons on release..guess what!!!! The service to get said items does not work.  
 
Can we now expect all pre order "Bonuses" to just be released as DLC? (Or for BFBC2 Not even work?)  
 
Edit (Review=preview) 

1. I'm mad at you for stealing my avatar. You probably joined the Giant Bomb community before I did and had the avatar before me, but still.....it's the principle
 
2. IMO, there are very few preorders these days that mean something. It's almost sad how bad it's gotten. They offer cheap bonuses that tip the balance of the game, offer entire game modes to a select few (which doesn't make any sense because LESS people will be playing that mode), offer DLC that they will later offer for free or charge a ton for.  One of the Persona games did something really cooll. If you preordered it, you got a crap ton of extra goods. A shirt, cd, art book, plushie and some other stuff. All for free just because you preordered. Stuff like that is what I find cool. It's something you can ONLY get if you preorder. It may be offered somewhere else, but you'd have to pay for it instead of getting it free. Preorders don't have to be physical goods, but they should at least be something that only those willing to pay early get. It shouldn't mean 'early access.'
 
Btw, I'm running on 3 hours of sleep and just got back from a physics exam so I'm not entirely sure if I'm forming cohesive sentences lol

I was here long before you Prime. And ive used this Avatar and name for a nice long long wile.  
 
Anyways. Most pre order stuff now seems pointless. (Infamous is another example) 

All pre-order stuff is pointless unless it's something physical, and even then it's only if you're into collecting stuff.

Yeah all pre-order stuff you get at Gamestop you can get for free if they still have codes available. Most of the time they do. I managed to get all kinds of codes and I didn't pre-order the game.

I think pre-orders are cool if they don't effect the game. I don't think it's fair to reward players for buying the game before it's even out and punishing players for buying the game after it's release. If I buy it Day 2, I shouldn't get a broken copy of the game. Posters, T-shirts, CDs, art books, are the way to go.

I would say pre-orders have more meaning now than ever before. Still not much, though.

I don't think pre-orders should mean all that much to begin with...

If the armor is actually making a difference to the balance of the game then it's appropriate to release it so that everyone can use it.   If it was just a player skin then i could see some reason to complain about it.

pre orders shouldnt mean anything at all.... infact in most of europe and other countries outside the USA dont give any bonuses for preordering. should be that way.

Maybe for getting free crap they mean something, but I  don't know where you would live that you have to pre order just to get a copy of the game.  I usually walk into bestbuy at 3 in the afternoon, and they'll have a billion copies still of whatever game just came out.  Even a game as big as MW2.

Preorders have become for the most part nothing more than incentives to buy from XYZ location (gamestop *cough*) and beyond that hold no real relevance.  Nothing that is available as a pre order will ever be all that useful to begin with most of the time as well.  For example look at Dragon Age.  There were multiple items you could get depending on where you pre ordered from but none of them were really all that useful once you got to any real length in the game.  So no they don't really matter and honestly the more common place they become the less and less they will.  The only companies that offer real incentives for pre orders are for example Atlus the people who release the aforementioned Persona series.  They give sound track CD's, weird collectibles, mini guides, all sorts of stuff.  However they are handled by the actual publisher and are not part of some contract with crapstop.  Sadly only small publishers seem to do this sort of stuff....

There is an actually reasoning to why preordering is important. Let Jools Watsham explain it.
 
 

I'm personally of the school of though that allowing a few months of exclusivity before giving out pre-order bonuses to the general community is the way to go. That way people who are really wanting the game get a little something early. Plus after a month or two the quick rush of sales is over.

" There is an actually reasoning to why preordering is important. Let Jools Watsham explain it.
 

@The_Laughing_Man

SO..what...me pre ordering when the game got iffy previews meant nothing?  

The most I have ever seen off for a game for pre-ordering has been $10. The money off thing seems to be rather common but only for games which they seem to think arn't going to do well otherwise. Examples would be Supreme Commander 2, Bayonetta, and the upcoming Monster Hunter Tri. Retailers being what they are they are going to try and get as much money out of you as possible on a popular game they know you are going to buy anyways.

I'm glad that kind of stuff no longer has meaning.  Giving you an incentive to pre-order by giving you early or free access to something in the game is one thing; making it so you cannot EVER get the item or bonus or what have you if you don't pre-order (like Bad Company 1 did with a couple of its guns) is absolute bullshit.

Pre-ordering is symbolic. It tells the publishers and the game stores that this is a game that you care about, so much so that you'll commit to purchasing it before it even comes out. This means that the stores are more likely to feature the game in their stores, as well as buying more copies. It's also a good way for publishers to approximate sales so they can report it to their corporate lords and masters. If you are passionate about a game and want it to do well, then pre-ordering a game is a very good thing, regardless of what throwaway incentives they give you for pre-ordering.
 
I pre-order games on Amazon for this reason, but only if it's a game I care about. Also, I like to know that Amazon will deliver it the day it comes out.

Pre-order never had a meaning.

Pre-order bonuses suck ballz