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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsYes, we know some stores have Cataclysm release dates
by Michael Sacco 
Dec 11th 2009 at 10:00PM
Here's the rub. Blizzard hasn't yet divulged a release date for Cataclysm, probably because they have no earthly idea when it's coming out yet. Until they do, any release dates from stores are, at best, speculation or, at worst, outright lies.
But why would retailers list a release date for Cataclysm if one doesn't exist yet? Simple: to take your money. Many game retailers (Gamestop especially) stock their stores based solely on preorder numbers, only getting a few extra for the teeming masses that never thought to go to Wal-Mart to get a guaranteed copy without putting money down first. In the meantime, you get to ... not have that money. Not a good deal.
Preordering is a process designed to get money from you without getting anything in return for an inordinate amount of time, so wait until Blizzard announces a date before you plunk any of your hard-earned money down. And, again -- we know when the sites say Cataclysm's coming out. You'll know just as soon as we do when it'll actually be available.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
Thearchermage Dec 12th 2009 1:12AM
You miss the point. they win, but -you. don't. lose.-
You're still being provided a service, basically for free (far as you're concerned) and they make some money on the side, but it's not out of your pocket, unless you were gonna put that 5 bucks in the bank because you wanted the interest which I highly doubt.
you win, they win. even the greenest BA students know what that's called - damn good business strategy.
And I get my cataclysm when I want it, not after the restock a week later (people are stoked enough about this that somebody who didn't preorder stands a good chance of getting shafted and waiting a week for their copy). I don't see a downside here.
slstafford Dec 12th 2009 1:05AM
This site is crazy when it comes to Gamestop. Some of the readers comments follow this pattern as well. I'm an avid reader but you guys get on my nerves when you start bashing them over their preorder process. Who gives a crap that they want to take preorders on games. You fuss over this simple thing that helps them stock their stores and in return make money and you support walmart who shuts down mom and pop stores left and right and causes companies to take extreme measures to just cut the cost of a product. It's a joke and makes me laugh every time.
Richard Dec 12th 2009 1:34AM
It's just like the WoW Magazine! :P
Except I got suckered into "pre-ordering" that. :(
CMC Dec 12th 2009 2:30AM
Well I think I would be taking the dates offered up by major retail chains over the word of a couple fanboy bloggers here who have no real connection to Blizzard or to the gaming industry at all. Nor should you be giving your opinion about pre-orders.
You're supposed to be a Wow news site. However, there's way, way too many tools here who seem to think their opinions matter about gold selling/buying, pre-orders, and following the EULA as if it were the ten commandments. If we want idiots telling us how we should approach these things, err okay we don't want idiots telling us that. Write Wow news.
Angrycelt Dec 12th 2009 2:45AM
Preorder if you live in a smaller area where there aren't dozens of stores competing against each other. Got 2 retailers in town? Don't take chances if having it on Day 1 is important to you.
Live in a major city with a Gamestop every 10 blocks, 4 Best Buys, 3 Walmarts, 6 Targets and a Fry's? Don't bother. Chances are you'll be able to find it. I walked in to a Best Buy at midnight for WotLK, no lines, all the preorders were being rung up, and I picked up my collector's edition for the release day sale price along with in-store promo swag.
As for being a "free loan" for preordering. Yep. They're a business, it's what they do. It's not illegal or even questionable. It's just an optional convenience.
Powerstar Dec 12th 2009 3:29AM
Exactly on Wrath launch night I went to a 24 hour Wal-Mart at about 12:45. There wad still A huge line at the gamestop 3 doors down. I walked in past Abigail fat guy in a horde shirt, grabbed some munchies and a copy of LK off a giant display of about 200 sitting right in front of the registers. I was in there maybe 10 minutes an on the way out the guy in the horse shirt had moved maybe 6 feet in the line.
Say waht you want about Wal-Mart (BTW for the guy above GameStops a big corporate behemoth too ya know) but whether it's games, DVDs, or Harry Potter books i've always gotten them on launch night and never waited in a single line or paid for a single preorder.
Powerstar Dec 12th 2009 5:47AM
Did anyone see if 7-Elevens release date was 2 days earlier. :)
Deadstar Dec 12th 2009 4:30AM
It all depends on where you pre-order from. Some Gamestops are reputable, some aren't. Same with Best Buy, Target, etc. It's all in location. Some areas will sell out completely while others will have a ton left. At my local Wal-Mart, which is where I always buy mine since I work there and get 10% off, we typically either sellout, or come close. Now the problem with my local store is that sometimes our employees are incompetent and fail to put said game or movie out, or in some cases just never got it. Again, it's pretty much your location and your local stores reputations. Some places it is very worth it to pre-order if you want your collector's edition. If you want the standard edition, most places you can get away without any sort of pre-order or waiting in line. But not all.
I've never put any stock into Gamestop or Amazons release dates they throw up. Not because I oppose them any, but I look at them as what they are: a placeholder.
perderedeus Dec 12th 2009 5:07AM
What's hilarious is that when I read the article title, I first thought of Gamestop's "release date" for Duke Nukem Forever. ;) Glad to see the first comment was referencing that bit of vaporware.
Zii Dec 12th 2009 5:12AM
Most comments talk about if preordering is good or bad..
But the problem here is not preordering, but that those shops set a date as if they know something while they can not posibly know the date yet.
Tri Dec 12th 2009 5:43AM
You'd think that - considering this is the 3rd expansion - people would start to understand that: No official release date from Blizzard = every other rumor of release is just that - rumors.
That said... I usually preorder the expansions since I just must have them on the first day! This time I won't preorder till they've annouonced a collector's edition though... I loved my wotlk CE and hate that I didn't get vanilla or TBC CE's!
Valt Dec 12th 2009 7:21AM
"You'd think that - considering this is the 3rd expansion - people would start to understand that: No official release date from Blizzard = every other rumor of release is just that - rumors."
Not only that.
You'd think that they would learn from ... oh? EVERY. SINGLE. major realease GAME. on amazon.com had their "Amazon reveals release date?" news since dawn of time. EVERY single game. They are NEVER correct, just random number they throw there. This has been the case prolly since the website figured the business of videogames/movie releases or something like that.
Camaris Dec 12th 2009 6:01AM
Haven't people learned by now? We've gone through all this 2 times already.
Josh Dec 12th 2009 6:15AM
Agreed. I pre-ordered Wrath MONTHS before the release through Best Buy and was GUARANTEED that a copy would be delivered to me on the day of release via UPS. To my surprise, it was almost over a WEEK before that copy ever arrived! Angered when the UPS guy skipped my place on the day it came out, I went directly to the same local Best Buy where I had ordered the game and again, to my surprise, found dozens upon dozens of the copies IN STORE! /sigh. I amend my own witness that pre-order is nothing but a scam and should be avoided at all costs.
Urza Dec 12th 2009 7:28AM
"Preordering is a process designed to get money from you without getting anything in return for an inordinate amount of time"
Must I really point out that almost EVERY game "worth" a preorder comes with a preorder bonus these days?
Throkk Dec 12th 2009 8:31AM
Whenever I've preordered anything in the UK I've never had the actually pay until they send it to me. Am I missing the point here?
tramonti Dec 12th 2009 10:27AM
NEWSFLASH. Amazon does not charge your card until the item ships. Not all retailers use preorders for making money ala Gamestop.
Athinah Dec 22nd 2009 10:37AM
I preorder wrath collecters editon and i didn't have a problem with it, but the thing is, i'm smart enough to know that the gamestop dates are just a guess, if you notice its about the same time wrath came out.
Zmidponk Dec 12th 2009 4:46PM
'The difference is that you're getting something right away for your money, in that it is paying directly for a subscription. You get nothing when you put money down on a preorder, except a "guarantee" that you'll get it release day, which doesn't pan out about 50% of the time, at least at our gamestop.'
Well, I can't speak for Gamestop (wrong side of the Atlantic for that), but, where I used to work, we'd take preorders for a sought after game, be assured by our head office that we can still take preorders, and we could still safely promise to fulfill them on release day, then, when it came close to release day, we'd suddenly be told that we'd only get enough of the game to fulfill about 50-75% of our preorders on release day. This happened quite a few times until the manager decided enough was enough and we would no longer take 'preorders', per se, but put folk on a waiting list, and phone them to ask if they want one before putting any out for free sale - but that resulted in our head office sending us very little stock because we had no preorders and the manager getting disciplined for it.
dkhar Dec 12th 2009 5:19PM
Well I haven't pre-ordered anything in a long time(don't see a point when I know I can get it from the hundreds of stores around here on release date) but I know that when you USED to pre-order you usually got it cheaper, so did that change?