Head Start

[perfect]

So the Head Start (EGA; Early Game Access as they are calling it) was supposed to be a maximum of five days before Live, scaled to when you put in your preorder code. I had it in my mind something like this:

July = 5 days
August = 4 days
September = 3 days
October = 2 days
November and December = 1 day

Now they added two days to that so that the EGA starts 7 days in advance (on the 13th). That is all well and good but, wait for it, they aren't going to tell you when you can get in until the day you get in.

You read that right, you can't plan any vacation or time off, can't effectively coordinate what server you and your friends are going to play on, can't something else that sounds menacing. OK, it's just those first two.

Oh, and they aren't letting you know if you can play that day until 10am EST, so everyone but the West Coast (PST; and if you correct me by saying it's PDT, I will end you) will be at work by the time they let you know. Can't even call in sick cause you are already there!

I understand why they are spreading it out over seven days and gating who can get in when; I really like that idea and applaud it. I don't get why they aren't letting people know when they can get in.

Also also wik, they removed the grace period from the preorders. On the 20th, if you don't have a Retail CDKey, your access is removed. Too bad for people who are getting it shipped!

[AsheMan]

Also also wik, they removed the grace period from the preorders. On the 20th, if you don't have a Retail CDKey, your access is removed. Too bad for people who are getting it shipped!

That's EA for you. I think every major MMO that has done a head start gave their pre-order customers at least a few days grace period. Why punish those who showed such commitment as to pre-order your damn game?

I still haven't pre-ordered, and the closer it comes to release the more skeptical I am of the game and my desire to play. BioWare has gone from my most loved developer, to one that I'm actually starting to dislike. I own every BioWare game ever created, and I blow money on ridiculous games all the time, and even I skipped Dragon Age 2. Now I'm on the fence with SWTOR. Why BioWare, why?

[mmorpeegee]

I finally decided against too, mainly because my friends went back to WoW again :( I would have played this if they joined me but obviously they prefer... pandas?! Also the cost was a consideration. Here in the UK it costs about £45 which is kind of a lot. I decided I'll give Vanguard a shot over Christmas and even for two accounts to play as a duo it will only cost me about about £18. Not a huge difference but it's something, and I already bought a few games recently.

[Genda]

I don't see any reason not to give it a try. One or two MMO a year are released so cost isn't really a barrier for me.

[mmorpeegee]

I think if everyone says it's awesome, I might give it a shot in the new year. Depending on GW2 though.

[Fozzik]

GW2 is likely not until summer. The Secret World will beat it out the door, probably.

I'm going to play SW:TOR just as something to keep my mind off the wait. It's not great or awesome, but it's okay and has some neat aspects that I think make it more worthwhile than WoW to curb my addiction for the moment.

As to the head start...what a pain in the ass. I'm glad I decided to wait a few days after launch to hopefully miss out on a bit of the shenanigans. Let the raving lunatic masses get a few levels and get out of my zones before I start. :D

[perfect]

From what I gather, they got through one week of preorders yesterday (07/20-27). They got through two months today (07/27-10/03). Mine is 11/26, so I'm hoping for tomorrow.

[Fozzik]

Post your server when you get in. :-)

[perfect]

Post your server when you get in. :-)

Lord And Ass.

(Lord Adraas)

[perfect]

"We've been listening, and after doing another deep review of our platform infrastructure, we're taking action. Today, we're announcing a two day grace period for Star Wars: The Old Republic customers."

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=301753#edit301753

[AsheMan]

That was the plan all along. The only reason they said they would not have a grace period was to freak people out and get more digital preorders from their beloved Origin (vomit).

[mmorpeegee]

May the force be with yous.

[nuandy]

been on 2 days nowi am on Bloodworthy a EU english PVP server where my guild has set up home main toons name is Crazier only down side is so far i have been queued 3 and a half hours to get on.

It is nice to see a polished MMO on release for a change

i have managed to level my beast lord in EQ2 from 32 to 37 while i have been waiting

[AsheMan]

3 1/2 hour queue? That is not acceptable to me.

[Fozzik]

That does seem pretty excessive considering the staggered release. I'm sure Bioware is aware that they are going to have a boom-bust in terms of players...they don't want to overbuy infrastructure...so they are going to try and get by with less servers then they really need right now.

[AsheMan]

I read their message that all pre-orders had been invited so I decided to pre-order. It'll probably take all night to download and then I'll probably still have to wait for my invite.

[AsheMan]

then I'll probably still have to wait for my invite.
They sent me my invite! Now I just have to finish the download and wait in queue for 2 hours (or so I'm hearing). I'm not excited for that.

[nuandy]

after waiting just over 3 hours to get on last night my broadband reset and a got booted to make things worse it ask me a security question i could not remember the answer to my account is locked and i have been trying to get through to CS for 4 hours now the last hour on hold

[AsheMan]

Ack! Nuandy that's a nightmare scenario. I was hesitant to do those security questions, but I did anyways. Does it lock you out if you miss a single one? I tried to pick the ones that were super easy for me to remember.

[Lonestryder]

Make sure to post what server you all choose.

[nuandy]

Ack! Nuandy that's a nightmare scenario. I was hesitant to do those security questions, but I did anyways. Does it lock you out if you miss a single one? I tried to pick the ones that were super easy for me to remember.

Only happens if the game dose not recognise your pc it asks one at random if you lock the account ask for a password reset then you get another go at getting it.

the stupid thing was the answer was SEx the CS guy had trouble not to laugh when he told me i set them so long ago i forgot.

I do not think you have a choice in setting them now

been in a queue all evening watched the Wigon chelsea football match then Thor on BD gone from 1689 to 450 in that time

[AsheMan]

I had a bunch of former lotro acquaintances who went to Kaas City server (PVE East Coast). I made a character on there for now. I'd probably prefer a West coast server, but I'm using their ventrilo, so kind of feel obligated to play with them, haha.

[nuandy]

from SWTor web site about queues

We know there have been questions about the queues on the servers, so we wanted to take a moment to give you some insight.

In order to ensure that the service would be smooth and stable, we staged how we brought people into the Early Game Access program, adding people in waves. As you know, there are a lot of folks who want to play the game right now and we want to make sure they have lots of people to play with. Balancing this with figuring out when to bring new servers online to help alleviate the size of the queues is part art and part science. On one hand, you do not want people to wait too long – on the other hand, you want to make sure that people have a dynamic, engaging community to play with for long after launch. Either way, we have one clear objective – to make sure folks have fun.

While we can’t promise that there won’t ever be queues, we can promise you that we are taking this matter seriously and constantly reviewing them to make sure that they are manageable and reasonable.

Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer – Live Services

[Lonestryder]

I'm in!

Thana Vesh server (East Coast PVE). I started an Imperial Agent named Shazo.

I'll post some thoughts on it in the late AM tomorrow.

[perfect]

OK, for all those complaining about queues: There are like five servers that have the long ones. Out of 200. Saturday afternoon, there was ONE NA server that had a queue and that was at 10 minutes.

The 'huge' wait times that have been reported are grossly overestimated *or* it was when they had the server caps down so low to make people roll on other servers.

[nuandy]

OK, for all those complaining about queues: There are like five servers that have the long ones. Out of 200. Saturday afternoon, there was ONE NA server that had a queue and that was at 10 minutes.

The 'huge' wait times that have been reported are grossly overestimated *or* it was when they had the server caps down so low to make people roll on other servers.
Queues a lot better this morning as for choosing amother sever i am on the one my guild was assigned

[nuandy]

Patch Notes 12/22/2011

General

Fixed an issue that caused some pre-assigned guild names to display incorrectly.
Players who are disconnected while in the queue to join a server now retain their position upon logging back in within a reasonable amount of time.

Could the acutely be listening to the players that would be a first amongst MMO developers

[Fozzik]

I've been in for a couple days...I joined my wife and her guild on their server... Mind Trick.

Characters are Grullen on the Republic side, and Suvina on the Empire side.