Agree completely with OP.

I don't want to be penalized or feel like I'm not getting the whole game because I wanted to read reviews before I buy something.  I don't want to feel like I am missing parts of the game because I bought from X retailer instead of Y retailer, etc.

I totally respect Stardock for the way they do business.

The only punishment is what you're inflicting on yourself. I mean if you pass up the optional sun roof on a car do you come away feeling punished?

The Civ 5 bonuses are a good example of the publishers loading "freebies" into a deal for perceived value which aren't actually as good as they appear. Free maps? Assuming you have a map of the region you can probably recreate them in an hour or so in the map editor, but then this being Civ it's pretty much a given that anything Firaxis come up with will be superceded by those smart modders and their NASA satellite imaging anyway. Also consider that if it follows previous Civ's, all one needs is the map files which will likely be available shortly after release in the first place.  The free DLC may or may not be worth it, depending on the quality of the DLC and the price difference between D2D and everyone else (another good trick to watch for; if D2D are a couple of quid more expensive than anywhere else then odds are you're simply paying for the DLC up front). And of course, presumably you could always buy the DLC later should you so wish.

TBH I thought Bioware had the best approach with Dragon Age. They stuck all of the pre-order bonus materials up for download from their website a couple of days after the game was released.

Personally I don't mind cosmetic changes. If for example the devs stick in a T-shirt for the ingame avatar with a different logo depending on where you pre-ordered that's fine; it's when they start offering actual game content it starts to get annoying.

Lol!!! So the first Civ5 DLC will have 2 new civs + a scenario...buttload of new content...

Bonuses are lame. Everyone who pays full price later and doesnt get them, will feel cheated. Not a great way to treat gamers.

It depends on the game. If I'm playing, say, Fallout: New Vegas, missing out on the preorder bonus is no big deal. It doesn't affect the gameplay as a whole.

If I'm playing Civ, and I don't get to have one or more Civilizations because I did not pre-order or I pre-ordered from a different location, then I have every right to feel cheated, given the style of game.

Those types of things are not incentives, they greatly affect the gameplay as it is intended, and it's really pretty crappy that they're pulling that right now. In an FPS, or an RPG, or whatever, sure, it's not a big deal, because the core gameplay element is unchanged. Losing AI opponents or options for which Civ you're going to use is a serious issue in a game that is based on replayability, as the replayability is reduced dramatically by each additional constraint of less Civs to be surrounded by.

Edit: As an addendum. I have no issue with them releasing pre-generated maps as incentives. That IS an incentive in a strategy game that the core of involves randomly generated maps. More power to them on that. Releasing Civs as a preorder/retailer bonus, though? That's a crime against their customers.

Except we're not talking general content. The maps are cool incentives. Getting a credit from the retailer to a DLC download is a cool incentive. Leaving out CORE FUNCTIONALITY if you don't order from a particular retailer is not an incentive, that's a pretty poor business decision.

This is also not "wanting everything for nothing". I want to have access to the same Civs that everyone else that paid the same amount of money I did. If I spent $50 and you spent $50, we should have the same core features. Now granted, your retailer may have given you a DLC credit which I would have to pay for, that's fine by me, that's incentive. You may have a few maps that I don't have, also fine, the core feature is the random maps, not the pre-generated maps.

But you have Babylon and I don't because I bought it off a retail shelf and you bought it digitally, even though we paid exactly the same? That's a core feature I don't get while buying the same thing at the same price. That is the problem, not a sense of "entitlement".

Now if it were the Collectors Edition, we might have a whole different debate going on. When one person is spending $80 and the other is spending $50, you'd expect to get more for your money. But at the same price?

What you're arguing is unrelated to what people are making the complaint about.

Edit: Example time. You go to Loews, I go to Home Depot. We both buy the same Power Drill for $50. You would expect both Power Drills would be functionally the same, and in fact identical Power Drills. Let's say Loews had a sale (incentive) and offered a cigarette lighter adapter with it. I have no reason to complain, because functionally, our Power Drills remain identical. Now let's say that the same situation happened, but since I got it at Home Depot, it did not come with a power cable or battery in the original retail box, but the one at Loews did. For the same price. I would have every right to complain about the business practices being involved here.

The first one is what people are complaining about, the second one is what you're arguing against. It does not apply here.

@clockwerk

Their bottom line will suffer if I buy another game instead of the one they are selling. The problem is that it is impossible to really know how a game would have sold without the bonus. Since everybody else is doing it, nobody (of the large games anyways) dare sell without it seems.

Oh, I agree.  But, perhaps these vendors are paying companies to produce exclusive content.  As a consumer, are you going to use Steam to buy vanilla Civ5 or are you going to use D2D to purchase Civ5 with two extra civs?  Assuming that the prices are the same and you are not a fanboy of a certain services, you're going to purchase it from D2D.

Exclusive items and bonuses are bothersome.  In fact I hate them....I always want them all.  I loathe DLC's, It makes me just want to go "shiver me timbers" and pirate the whole thing, invasive copy protections.....grrr...

That's why I love Stardock and their business ethics

Steam gets 1 Civ (Babylon) which D2D also gets, but D2D gives you a credit that the first DLC (2 civs + some scenarios and stuff) is free for you. If you buy the Steam version you will still be able to buy the first DLC, but with D2D you get it free. This, imo, is good retailer incentive (D2D is obv the one taking the hit here), as the DLC is available to everyone, but some people get it as a bonus for buying from retailer X because they have a special sale.

The issue with Babylon is there has been no indication anywhere that they will be released as DLC near release, much less ever. That, imo, is really the crux of the problem. How much do you lose out by wanting to have a nice, hard copy box to put on your shelf? A lot? A little? something you can buy later?

These types of things are what cause the consumer to get screwed.

Erm, you're not. The Collector's Edition for Civ V is what comes with Babylon, alongside a behind the scenes video and the soundtrack. The pre-order bonus is the Mesopotamia map. The Collectors edition is £10 more than the standard edition (which as a pre-order bonus you get the map). Presumably the Deluxe edition will include the same extra Civ, video and soundtrack no matter where you buy it from, at a same hike in price.

 The only pre-order bonuses are the Mesopotamia map or the DLC credit on D2D. Since it is DLC credit, it argues that the same content will be available for purchase by those who didn't get it at some point.

Best thing to do with Civ 5 which seems to be going with lots of DLC's is to wait for the "GOTY" edition which will be cheaper then the initial release and would most likely include all the DLC's so you won't get ripped off.  Still have to deal with Steamworks but that is another thread.