I love gaming and I love to talk about games, but most subs annoy me soooo much because of this kind of stuff. I still read this particular sub quite often though because I have never once seen anything that wasn't mature and interesting and related to in-depth discussion of unique and thoughtful issues... until this. Not only has this been circle-jerked over infinitely in a thousand places, but it's sooooo silly.
Businesses have been using tactics like this since business was invented, but I've never seen any group of people complain even 1% as much as gamers. Restaurants, every type of retail store, service businesses, banks, car dealerships, and a million other business types have "exclusive benefits for early subscribers/patrons/etc" and "special membership club privileges" and "limited time offers" and "pre-order bonuses" and "limited time sales" and "happy hour" and on and on and on. I rarely, maybe never, see or hear people complain about this stuff with other businesses as if it's morally wrong or they're sincerely pissed off. If anything, I hear mostly positive things from the people who were able to take advantage of the offer. Occasionally I'll hear someone upset that they missed out, but almost never upset AT the business or industry for using common marketing tactics that have been used for literally hundreds of years - they're just disappointed that it didn't work out and they move on.
Why is this a thing with so many gamers? The publisher IS NOT hurting you by doing this, any more than a restaurant having a one-day-only special that you didn't get to try, or getting free refills at gas stations because you bought some limited edition sports mug that will never be sold again. It honestly boggles my mind.
There have been a few rare cases of the "dissected something major from the base game at the last minute and made you pay for it as DLC". I believe Mass Effect 3 did something like this(someone correct me if this isn't the right example) and a few others, but that's an entirely different situation. Not every DLC or pre-order bonus is something that's "supposed" to be part of the base game just because some gamer says it is.
Does anyone agree with me that this complaining get ridiculous? I personally LIKE pre-order bonuses. I haven't been in a financial position to get many for probably 10 or more years(btw, it started WAY before Halo 3), but I always see them and think "Cool. That might be fun if I was able to."