I never pre-order, there is no benefit.
Early access is misleading, there are games which are “released” and would barely count as early access and vice-versa, so I just treat them equally.
The criteria for me is that based on reviews or some gameplay footage it seems like I can get £1/hour worth of enjoyment out of it. I tend to look for how many hours do people have when they leave reviews and how many have they played since, rather than just what they say. If I’m unsure if I’ll like it and there is not enough videos or reviews to give me certainty, i may take a risk on £10 and below games depending on how bored I am at the time.








They absolutely were, without them there’s no rhetoric of “oh the other right wing party left us without money so we need to raise taxes to pay back debts”, they’re then also free to do all the unpopular shit to make sure they’re not re-elected and there’s money again to steal. It’s a back and forth team effort.