Pre-ordering Civ6 and then finding out it wasn't finished and having to wait for a few patch cycles before it feels complete doesn't bother me...I think there is more at stake.
If it was a one-off mistake then it wouldn't bother me either, tbh. The thing that bothers me is more the "planned failure". You know, when the devs say, "It's not ready!" and the corporate fat cat says, "Release it anyways, now, I don't care, fix it later if you must. These peasents won't know the difference. Take their money. Mwhahahahah. <lightning cracks in the background>" (Yes, this is an actual quote.)
That bothers me. A company that shows so little respect for me, my time, and my money that they do things like that. They know full well that I will lose hours to in game bugs, that I will invest hours in to a game only to have the AI do something stupid and ruin the game, etc. That really ticks me off. It isn't even the money, it's the time. Just who the hell do they think they are?
What bothers me is enough people holding off purchasing before or at release for the revenue numbers on Civ6 to drop because the bulk of purchases are made later and at discounted rate.
I think this is good. I want this. I know because if the game is good, really good, then everyone who didn't preorder won't wait for a sale. Let's be honest. If the internets are raving about Civ6 then people are going to buy it. But they will buy it after it is released.
On the other hand, if the internets are raving at the fail of Civ6 then people won't buy it.
The corporate fat cats know this (hence preorders - they don't have to worry as much about it). So if no one pre ordered they would have to be damn sure that the internets raved about it.
What bothers me is for the suits at 2K to look at the revenue for Civ6 and say, well that wasn't the best use of our investment dollars, and then either delay or cancel any expansions or even Civ7, or (my greatest fear) use the drop in revenue to start to put pressure on Firaxis to make future projects appeal more to the great masses of casual gamers.
I don't fear this, and I'll tell you why. I'd be curious to know if this waylays your fears (even a little).
Lets say that no one pre ordered Civ6. Closer to release it got some reviews from reviewers that you respected/shared similar interests with, and it was universally reviled. It was launched on time to near universal negativity. I mean, lets say even hear on Civ Fanatics there was a rare moment where everyone on the forums agreed that yes, this was a terri-bad game. As a result the sales were terrible.
The thing is that fat cat corporate overlords want to make money. They often sacrifice aspects of a game to do it, but the goal is to make money. So if they pushed out a Civ title that this unlikely chain of events happened to then they wouldn't make as much money. Its all about cutting it as close to the line as possible: Give us what will part us from our money - nothing more.
And that's fine. I don't begrudge them that - they are fat cats and it's what they do. However, left unchecked the fat cat will continue to cut, and cut, and cut and give less, and less, until the game you are playing may have "Civilizations" on the box - but it is anything but a shell of it's former glory.
That's what I fear the most (thanks for helping me articulate it). Civ6/7/8 become an unrecognizable pablum of the gaming world. The only "power" the franchise holds is in it's title, and as the next generation comes through that will be lost as well. Even people that throw down their money at the mention of the word "Civilization" will eventually come around. But if we wait that long then think of all the hours of Civ-gaming we would have missed!
The Civilization franchise is one of the exceedingly few "brilliant" games out there. I would hate to see that happen.
In that scenario, eventually, because Capitalism, another company would make a game called "Nations". It would be the true spiritual successor to the original iterations of Civilizations. We would all buy it. EA would then aquire them. They would promise it wouldn't change anything, but it would, And then the whole thing would happen again.
The alternative to this bleak, dystopian future is that we say "No, the line must be drawn here" to the fat cats. They, recognizing that their precious money is at stake, then surrender - let the game be uncut - and remain content with their earnings.
Don't kid yourself. These fat cats are smart. They rely on us being passive idiots to make more money, but if we say, "No" they still make money.
At the moment we have a pretty nice balance between, what is still with Civ5, a satisfyingly complex strategy game and, what is also, a game that appeals to, and is fun for, the casual bulk of purchasers.
This is where we have the disagreement the most I think. Civ5, for non-game related reasons I went in to elsewhere, should have been the red flag for all of us. Even if you love what Civ5 has become there were bad business (fat cat) decisions in the mix.
I could get in to how it has become too casual, or the like, but that is all personal opinion and irrelevant to the discussion.
Any campaign that reduces the revenue for Civ6 (as any successful attempt at discouraging pre-purchasing inevitably would) will, in my opinion, have the exact opposite effect that OP intends.
I would challenge your assumption. If you are hell-bent on buying anything and everything that has the "Civilizations" title on it because of the title alone then you are having the exact opposite effect. How long will it take for business people to catch on to this and stick the label on a steaming pile of crap? I have more respect for the Civilizations franchise then to let that happen.
In anycase - I enjoyed your point. All the best.