Lord Gay
Emperor
I was talking about this yesterday, how game designers don't finish games any more (ETW, anyone?) and sell the Beta version, effectively making the customer the Beta tester without knowing it.
I figured this out a long time ago; it's why I have my one-year rule. It's a personal rule that I won't buy any game until it has been out for at least a year, if not longer.
Waiting this long allows me to ignore all of the obnoxious advertising, propaganda, campaigning and hype that companies try to create for their usually POS game. It allows me to see if the game is any good by reading reviews and posts by other gamers. It allows most of the bugs to be fixed, and if they aren't, not be disappointed having waited for a year for promised bug-fixes that never came. It usually allows the price to drop, and for moddable games now, let's me see what kind of mods are out there and how large and active the game community is, thus giving me an idea of potential mods of the future. It lets me see how the devs have responded to issues and their attitude towards their customers.
Following this has made me a lot happier about buying games, without having been psyched-out by false advertising, unrealised expectations, disappointing flaws and poor design decisions. Now I have a much better idea of what's for sale, and whether I will pay N dollars for a game.
I only violated my rule once, and I was sorry for it. NEVER buy a game hot off the press. (*mumble* stupid alpha *mutter*)