Pre-orders (Official Thread)

I think that's a bit of a myth, at least in the Manhattan purchase story. But even if not, the value of the beads may be different in the eye of the buying beholder.

But top score isn't always something you are competing for, as there is (as of ME3MP) no bonus for getting the top score, nor a tracking system of total scores.  The only "leaderboards" were the N7 Score and the Achievement Score, which had nothing to do with individual match scores.  Also, for support characters (i.e. Volus) score didn't matter as much because the only way to get points was objectives and (more prominently) killing enemies.  Not to say of course that some people cannot Solo Platinum a Reaper round with a Volus, because some certainly can, and outscore anyone else if they were on a team.  I'm just saying that the score didn't gain you anything, unlike how it does in COD or other competitive games.  If they change the scoring system so that the points DO matter for achievements or credits earned or anything else, then I might agree with you.  But the absolute fact is that the only benefit came when a match was completed and if you survived the final wave to be extracted.  Missile Glitch is cheating because it is playing the game as not intended by subverting the system put in place (limited Cobra Missiles).  Other hacks and taking advantage of glitches are cheating because they do not play by the intended rules of the game, they violate the laws of the system.  But paying extra for more packs that might get you to a slightly better weapons moderately faster by playing less of the game is NOT cheating.  It's within the rules of the game, the intended framework.  

Do the packs come at a rate one per week independently of you playing MP during that week? I am a slow player, so I am likely be stuck in the SP campaign for a bit before starting MP. I know it is always advantageous to start ASAP, but I think it will be too much for me to handle both at once. So, will it be completely pointless to pay extra for the packs? Or they will just pile up on the Account and I can open them all at once before starting to play and have a bit of starting gear/characters?

I'm hoping, since these packs are paid for in advance, that it isn't "use it or lose it" and that they'll just pile up. But hope is all we have for now, no solid info either way. Worst case scenario, you go to the mp menu, claim your pack and you're back in sp in a minute.

I haven't looked too closely, but all it says is "Own co-op play with weekly Premium Packs (for a 20-week period) that will deliver an ongoing boost to your progress." on the Origin storefront and I don't think it has been mentioned elsewhere.  So I take it as they would pileup after you purchase the game or after the game launches.

While I may not agree with you, I commend you for sticking to your principles and effectively defending your opinion.  Good show, sir!

I had a really old $100 store credit for a collector item at the Bioware store that was never released so I pre-ordered Deluxe edition and all the fixings! Only had to pay $6 tax! Hehe!

I'd say Deluxe, since that way you get all the SP stuff and out of game goodies for only $10 more. The Super Deluxe only gives you MP packs that are random for $30 more than Deluxe. 

If you are on console, that makes it easy since it is only Regular or Deluxe. 

I believe all retailers do.

Must be perspective.  To me, results earned through time invested inside the game is different than results earned through purchases made with currency earned through time invested outside the game.

As I was saying to maximusarael020, unless it's egregious it's not going to significantly affect my enjoyment of the game.  And I'm sure it helps the enjoyment of some gamers who are lacking in skill, through lack of time available to "git good" or otherwise.  But considering there is more likely to be a positive correlation between spending money and time available than a negative correlation, I'm not sure it improves the balance!

My answer might not be correct since I play on the PC, but the pre-order bonuses are already associated with your account when the game goes live just like the game would be.