Quoted from Nexyss:My game purchases started out with whatever was cheap and local. Then when i could afford games that I actually wanted, I bought based on what I enjoyed playing at shows. I don't think I have ever made a purchase based on discussions on Pinside.
Yeah, not a large percentage would buy a game just because someone says it's the best game ever, but if we had a poll and people were honest I think there would be more than a handful that put down a pre-order or bought a game based in part on what someone on here said about it.
If you were new and you saw a for sale thread for a game you think you'd like and everyone was saying it's a great game and a great deal, wouldn't those comments lead you to contact the seller? I liked the Houdini theme and enjoyed it when I played it, but I didn't pull the trigger in preordering until watching sdtms stream with the designer and seeing how awesome they think it was.
Its all just my opinion