SWTOR retails early in Europe and retracts "grace period" for pre-orders.

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

In short, people are upset that they have to wait several days to get their hands on a game that they're going to be playing for several years. (If they like it, that is. If they don't then all of this complaining will be wasted effort.)

Learn some patience, people. It's not like Bioware did this deliberately just to make people angry.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

I'm an american and I say good for Europe, why shouldn't they get this first. I pre-ordered my collecers edition first day and I know I'll get the game before the 20th so I'm happy. Anyway if I got this any-day of my college finals I would be a touted soul.
For a reason that their doing Europe first is possibly that less people over there bought it so for a soft opening it would be easiest to do a area where less people will play?

 

[tharglet]

In short, people are upset that they have to wait several days to get their hands on a game that they're going to be playing for several years. (If they like it, that is. If they don't then all of this complaining will be wasted effort.)

These are people who've pledged to fund the game, in exchange for the bonus they can get a head start and be the first. If there's no grace period, this benefit is rescinded, as they'll fall behind on the levelling curve to those who bought on release, owing to the potential day(s) they get locked out of their account.

Not to mention, even if it is temporary, it's kind of annoying when you get locked out of playing a game for a few days.

Most of the preorder retailers around here seem to post things early, so hopefully not too many will be affected (no idea for preorders on Origin tho)

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

In short, people are upset that they have to wait several days to get their hands on a game that they're going to be playing for several years. (If they like it, that is. If they don't then all of this complaining will be wasted effort.)

These are people who've pledged to fund the game, in exchange for the bonus they can get a head start and be the first. If there's no grace period, this benefit is rescinded, as they'll fall behind on the levelling curve to those who bought on release, owing to the potential day(s) they get locked out of their account.

Not to mention, even if it is temporary, it's kind of annoying when you get locked out of playing a game for a few days.

That's what I don't understand. I thought that the preorder headstart was just a way for people to get to play the game a bit earlier as a bonus, but apparently people want to use it so they can race to the top faster than anyone else. You're not supposed to do that in this game, you're supposed to enjoy the story. (Well, personally I'd say you're not supposed to do that in any MMO, but that's just me.)

I can understand people being mildly ticked about it. But people on the official forums are changing their sigs to "RIP SWTOR 12/7/11." It's mind-boggling.

 

[tharglet]

I can understand people being mildly ticked about it. But people on the official forums are changing their sigs to "RIP SWTOR 12/7/11." It's mind-boggling.

Lol, there's always some overly-dramatic people. I'm not a "race to the top" sort, but for some people get a big kick for being the first to max level, so I just leave 'em to it and enjoy the levelling process as I prefer it

 

[Kragg]

Wait, I am confused. I preordered the Collector's Edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic. I live in America. Are you saying I won't receive my copy until 23rd or later? Will I also not able to start the game up on the 15th? I had one-day shipping. You, sir and/or madam, have confused the utter hell out of me.

depends

if you entered pre order code already you will get a mail soon with your starter date for early access, you will be able to play from that time (somewhere between the 15th and the 20th) till the end of early access, the 20th, after that you will have to wait to play again till you receive your actual code from the game, which is at the soonest on the 20th

 

[Kayweg]

For me this is much less about any "grace period". As others have said, what's a few days considering you'll potentially play it for years ?
No, for me it's this backpedaling by EA once again on stuff that was previously promised....and JUST before release they give ya the middle finger.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

What about people who bought the physical copy of the game, but it also can be downloaded through Origin? Can I get my serial without having to redownload the entire game (I played beta, I'm up to date already) or do I have to download through Origin first? or worse do I have to wait for my game to come in through snail mail?

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I think it's a pretty poor business decision, overall it's just plain bad for PR if nothing less. Of course so was making it be origin exclusive AFTER releasing a preorder on STEAM, so that people buyin it through steam got suckered into using origin... why oh why did EA hafta try and make a shit copy of steam rather than just continuing to use steam to distribute titles... also a bad business decision.

EA is just FULL of bad business decisions this year aren't they?
Battlefield 3 launching out of a fucking BROWSER, Origin trying so pathetically to compete with steam, even though it's not even open for international game sales, and pretty much made of spyware(which you accept in their EULA, as well as forfeiting your abillity to launch a class action lawsuit against them if they fuck you over too hard)...

pretty much sums up why I won't be buying anything they make origin exclusive. kinda sucks for me in a way but y'know, I have plenty of selection on steam to keep me busy.

 

[Kragg]

What about people who bought the physical copy of the game, but it also can be downloaded through Origin? Can I get my serial without having to redownload the entire game (I played beta, I'm up to date already) or do I have to download through Origin first? or worse do I have to wait for my game to come in through snail mail?

afaik you are ready to play early access with what you have now, but im pretty sure you can not get a key through origin like that.

i suppose you could cancell your physical copy if possible and rebuy it on origin.

i figured this would only affect people buying collectors edition

 

[Kragg]

I think it's a pretty poor business decision, overall it's just plain bad for PR if nothing less. Of course so was making it be origin exclusive AFTER releasing a preorder on STEAM, so that people buyin it through steam got suckered into using origin... why oh why did EA hafta try and make a shit copy of steam rather than just continuing to use steam to distribute titles... also a bad business decision.

EA is just FULL of bad business decisions this year aren't they?
Battlefield 3 launching out of a fucking BROWSER, Origin trying so pathetically to compete with steam, even though it's not even open for international game sales, and pretty much made of spyware(which you accept in their EULA, as well as forfeiting your abillity to launch a class action lawsuit against them if they fuck you over too hard)...

pretty much sums up why I won't be buying anything they make origin exclusive. kinda sucks for me in a way but y'know, I have plenty of selection on steam to keep me busy.

what i am now wondering is, does a swtor forum ban result in an ORIGIN/everything EA ban?

 

[zumbledum]

well only thing that has changed for me is i can get it days earlier. being in England and not having it pre ordered, so im happy ill get to play for a few days before i go visiting the folks

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

What about people who bought the physical copy of the game, but it also can be downloaded through Origin? Can I get my serial without having to redownload the entire game (I played beta, I'm up to date already) or do I have to download through Origin first? or worse do I have to wait for my game to come in through snail mail?

afaik you are ready to play early access with what you have now, but im pretty sure you can not get a key through origin like that.

i suppose you could cancell your physical copy if possible and rebuy it on origin.

i figured this would only affect people buying collectors edition

Yea my wife got me the collectors edition for Christmas so there is no way to go pure digital.
I did get one day shipping, so I guess it wont be too bad. Bah the game hasn't even come out yet and I'm already addicted to it.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

*snip*

what i am now wondering is, does a swtor forum ban result in an ORIGIN/everything EA ban?

Well an EA forum ban does. But I think the swtor forums are bioware propperty, so maybe not?

 

[Lawyer105]

"Waiter, there's a spider in my soup!"

"Sir, children in Africa are being raped and starved to death, and all you can think of is a spider in your soup?"

"Be that as it may, I'm still not going to eat this soup!"

Protip: Referencing starving people around the world cheapens your argument even more than Godwin's Law. Not because we don't care, but because it's a conversational fallacy. After all, why are you complaining about nerd rage on the internet when there's starving children in Africa? (Answer: It's not relevant.)

If an MMO is a seven-course meal, then getting the grace period taken away with no chance of acquiring your preorder the day of release is very much like a spider in one's soup. Imagine if you invested hours into something you enjoyed, only to get blocked out of it for five days. Tell me you wouldn't be thoroughly annoyed. TELL ME.

I'm going to have to disagree with you. While the comparison is neither similar, nor relevant, the point I was trying to get across is that getting overly annoyed about something like this is petty.

Every single person, every single one, has bigger problems to worry about than something this. And if you don't have something more important to be worried about, then there's your worry right there!

And in answer to your question - no, I probably wouldn't be "thoroughly annoyed". "Mildly miffed" would be as far as I'd go for something like that at best. It certainly wouldn't worry me enough to justify all the nerdrage.

Just look at this as a final opportunity to get out of the house and experience life or something (whatever it is that you choose to do) before the sucking abyss of an MMO consumes another two years of life!

They're raging over what is arguably actionable false advertising. Moreover, this was almost certainly some middle management drone over in EA freaking out at the thought of unpaid game time and that they might 'lose money'. So the proper thing to do would be to first call up the BBB, and second file in small claims court, especially if you bought the CE. Doing these things on a large scale would cost EA much more money than they'll ever have saved by nixing the grace period, thus possibly getting middle management drone #21 fired and making the world a slightly brighter place.

Then what they're really raging over is that they didn't read all the fine print properly. I've yet to see anything released by a games company ever that didn't come with so many caveats about service performance etc. that you couldn't wallpaper the average house with the printed version.

And promoting multiple court cases over this?? That's a perfect example of the kind of overreacting that I was talking about. Chill out, have a beer (assuming you're old enough) and go catch a movie or go on a date or jump out a plane or whatever works.

When all's said and done.... it's just a game, not the Second Coming or something.

 

[Aroth Khashar]

I would like to clarify a few points in regards to this situation.

First, players in Europe will NOT be playing the game before before the rest of the world. The game retailing on the 15th simply means they can pick up their copy a few days early (and it will ship early for those who ordered online) and thus have their product key available and ready for when the game launches at 12:01AM EST on the 20th.

Second, the biggest issue with the retraction of the grace period is that it amounts to false advertisement. We have repeatedly been told outright that there WILL be a grace period and then they change that 2 weeks before launch. If you read the thread I linked, and the multiple others that have popped up on the SWTOR forums, there are numerous people who have stated they were misled into believing it safe to purchase a physical copy of the game, especially the $150 Collector's Edition, because they would still be able to play at launch while they wait for their game to arrive with the product key. Worse still is that some countries were forced to import physical copies because Origin would not let them purchase the Digital Deluxe version due to their region. Those folks will not get their games until close to the 1st of the new year because of overseas shipping times.

In short, the majority of the complaints about this are not of the nature "oh boohoo I can't play for a few days (or weeks) because I bought a physical copy online" or "this sux, those brits get to play before us" (they don't, they just don't have to worry about waiting for their key). Most of us are upset because we were lied to, and in many cases mislead into spending more money that we would have if we had known their would be no grace period. THAT is something worth complaining about, and worth reporting to the BBB and even maybe filing in small claims court (though I personally agree that might be overreacting, even if it would get things noticed).

Before anyone else flames me for complaining about missing a few days of playtime, I work a job where I don't have the luxury of taking time off work just to participate in the launch, so I likely wont be playing very much that first week anyways because of queue times. In addition, I pre-ordered mine from a brick-and-mortar store and will pick it up at midnight so it wouldn't affect me even if I was able to take time off. That doesn't mean I can't get upset about being lied to or feel sympathy and get upset about how my fellow gamers are being treated.