Originally Posted by magerette
I agree. Did you see the post by Stanza in the HG:L thread where he linked to an eBay page showing someone had paid over $157.00 for a pre-release copy? That's enthusiasm!

That's just sad, really. The only reason a person would spend that much would be to obtain some bizarre sense of bragging rights that he had the game first.

I myself have learned patience after years of pre-ordering collector's editions and then realizing I had nothing special in hand but a big bill. I like to wait now for a patch or two, some post-release reviews(which are usually a bit more realistic) and some forum feedback before I buy.

Yep, exactly (though forum feedback can be tricky, you're likely to read spoilers). Mind you, this really only applies to the big major releases, not indies. Indies that I'm interested in I will buy on release (or as soon after as is financially feasible).
But big games, no way, it's wasted money. The price will drop, some games you just know will get expansion packs that will inevitably come in a bundle soon enough, reviews change as you pointed out, and so on.