: Like I said, I would agree with you if it wasn't for the circumstances. I am
: all about being straightforward, direct, and honest.
: How about I try an analogy: I say I'm going to stab Jim with his own
: screwdriver; assuming Jim didn't do anything that horrible, what's better,
: doing what I said I would do, or not stabbing Jim?

Releasing "E"xclusive content for fans != physically stabbing anyone. Your analogy is inflamatory and inappropriate.

: It's not about making amends, I don't want compensation or whatever, I want
: them to not do this.

And as I said, I can accept releasing or not releasing Exclusive content, or releasing time-exclusive content. I cannot support a developer releasing "Exclusive content" and then falling back on that label making it no longer what it was called. That is not integrity.

: Did you read my post from before? An announcement doesn't do any good if you
: don't have the money when it comes out, or if you were too young to get it
: then or weren't even born yet.

That's an entitlement attitude. That's the attitude saying that if someone else can get it but I can't, it's not fair, and I should be able to get it. The world doesn't work that way. Sometimes you can't get stuff you want - whether from money or if it was before your time. That's exactly the same argument as "There was a week-long 50% sale on that HDTV last month but I couldn't afford it at that price during the sale. I can now, so I demand that you sell it to me at that price now." or "You sold that console with MGS as a free bonus last year, but I couldn't buy it then. I demand that you give me MGS with the console since I'm buying it today." Please. "Exclusive content" should A) remain exclusive, B) be some form of Limited or Exclusive-to-a-degree content, or C) not exist at all. If you can't get "Exclusive content" - too bad. The devs will have hopefully decided that any negativity aimed at them by people who can't get Exclusive content is acceptable to them, given the benefits of rewarding people who can get it.

: what? you don't want them to stop doing exclusive stuff? why not?

1) Because I can accept that if *I* can't get something that's called Exclusive, then I lose out (some people can't accept that). I won't demand that said Exclusive content be released to me later freely or at some reduced price, because it reduces the value of it for those that DID get it, and it reduces my respect for the word of the dev/publisher, eg for future Exclusive content, if it can be trusted to remain what they said it was). If they choose to, awesome!, but I would not be surprised if people erupted at the fact that the Exclusive content is no longer Exclusive, and it I would remember that falling back on their word next time they release "Exclusive" content.
2) If I *can* get something that's called Exclusive, while it's available, then Hooray! and much <3 and gratitude for the devs.

: I guess my issue is that it's not so much bad as it's not good, i.e. it
: doesn't help the majority of the buyers/players, plus it seems like a cash
: grab a lot of the time, which puts it in questionable territory,

Subjective. If your opinion is that it's not worth being exclusive, well then who cares anyway? If you don't want it, you don't need it, you shouldn't demand that it become non-exclusive at some point so that you can get it. Who cares if you don't think it's worth buying while it's available exclusively? Who cares if you think it's a cash grab? If people see it that way, and people don't buy it, that's a negative result that will fall back on them. If I don't think something is worth the price someone is selling it for, that doesn't mean I have any right to access it other than at what they are selling it for. I would rather they keep their word, even though I'd love to have what they're selling (or be willing to accept the consequences of falling back on their word - like angry mobs of fans who trusted their word beforehand, and people who may not trust their word as much in the future). It happens all the time. Bad marketing decisions.

: and although I don't pirate or reverse-engineer things or otherwise break
: copyright law (even when it's ridiculous), I do believe to a large degree
: that information should be free.

Information != Product. "Information should be free" does not mean "I should have access to everything everyone makes at some point for reduced or no cost".

Creators of a game can release bonus content exclusively to whoever can get it, if they want, at whatever limited accessibility they want (eg permanent exclusivity, or timed, or at some other line), described as such to retain integrity of their word and public perception. And they should be prepared to accept the net result of whatever negative and positive outcomes spawn from that decision. No one has a right to access content they aren't allowed to access by the creators of that content. If they plan to make it available, they should announce it that way at the beginning so as not to deceive current and/or future customers.

I'm not saying devs should always release Exclusive content. It's clearly a risky move. I don't care if they do or don't (but I prefer that they do, and I think most see that there is more benefit to releasing whatever-exclusive content for fans). I only care that it is and remains what they say it is, if it even is. And I think that is what others in this thread were also saying.
That's all there is to it.