Somewhat mystifying that a game like this doesn't have a preload. That's going to be a bitch when this hits.
I wonder what holds developers back from doing a preload, even if it's just the day before. Even if you wanted to work until the last minute, presumably the dev could just issue a day one patch (without forcing everyone to download the full 20+ gigs the moment of release). I wonder if Valve charges them for it.