Wow, what a period of 24 hours it’s been. Since the launch of the SWTOR pre-order scheme, with it’s exclusion of Oceanic areas, Asia and South America (as well as parts of Europe), it’s fair to say the reaction has been…animated. The official forums have a rather large thread on the issue, and there’s no shortage of activity on Facebook (including a protest) and Twitter. It’s always difficult to summarise a situation as fluid as this, but here it goes:
1. You can order box copies of SWTOR from online retailers in the US or anywhere willing to sell them. Reports are that the Collector’s edition is sold out across most online retailers.
2. Although Bioware’s Stephen Reid gave some encouragement on the abilility to play the game if you get a copy, he’s put some disclaimers around it in the past 30 minutes:
3. Oceanic retailers who have listed pre-orders appear not to have any basis in fact for assuming deliveries of the game at this stage.
4. There is absolutely no information on when there would be local availability and when full access to the game would occur.
So there you have it – it seems there’ll be no further update until around 24 hours time i.e. after another day of Comic Con is done. We’re devoting tomorrow’s Flash Point podcast to the issue and we’re investigating a live stream so stay tuned.
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Thanks for all the great work David.
For better or worse I have ordered the Collector Edition from Amazon. If EA/BioWare do choose to geo-lock us out of the game I have just heard the pre-order CE are now selling on eBay for upwards of $500 USD.
Love your work mate. I’m constantly directing LOTRO kinmates keen on the game to this site for updates.
Needless to say, the original decision to delay release was a big kick in the guts to all the keen Oceanic followers of this game.
If they then proceed to IP block the entire thing…..well, I can’t begin to describe how unhappy I’ll be about that, and I don’t think I’ll be alone.
I understand the reasoning behind this restrictive launch, I just think it’s monumentally stupid of Bioware to go down this track. The damage to the playerbase of the regions where the game ‘isn’t’ going to be launched is going to be substantial. The MMO world won’t stand still while Bioware gets their act together and you’re going to have a lot of subscribers looking for a reason ‘not’ to play your game.
I can only assume that maybe Bioware’s lack of experience in launching MMO’s is showing a bit here.
Confusing times. :
I’m so angry…
It just seems like no one really knows what is happening. The communication to the community and communication within EA and Bioware seems appalling! Different stories flying left and right. /DbleFacepalm
..just gobsmacked.
One thing I dont understand is why everybody is not referencing the post 1 hour before the one you posted.
First he said:
On IP / region blocking. Current plan is no blocking. However am going to do more research to be 100% sure. Also, this is mentioned in FAQs.
3 hours ago
THENN he said:
Sleep soon. Please understand on IP blocking stuff, I will investigate, doesn’t guarantee I am right or you will like answers.
Then he said
I am giving you the exact same answers as are in the #SWTOR pre-order FAQ btw. Please do read it. 🙂
The (most relevant quote in the), pre-order FAQ says:
“In which countries will I be able to pre-order….”
“Will Star Wars: The Old Republic be available for retail purchase in countries not listed above?
At launch, Star Wars: The Old Republic will be available only in the countries listed above. Details on additional countries are not available at this time, but will be released when available.”
As you can see, this quote ( on limiting) only refers to PURCHASE. all other quotations regarding play, assume that if you purchase the game you are enttiled to early play.
“What do I need to do in order to get Early Game Access?
The only way to be granted Early Game Access is to pre-order Star Wars: The Old Republic and redeem your Pre-Order Code at our Code Redemption Center prior to the official release of the Game. Once you have reserved your copy of the Game, redeem the Pre-Order Code you receive”
In my opinion based not only on verbatim quotes in FAQ but on the original twitter, they cant deny us. Maybe they will prove me wrong, lets wait and see.
Here is what i received when i questioned Bioware:
Greetings Humanoid,
I am Protocol Droid D3-A0, Human-Cyborg relations.
I have received your transmission.
{113}
We do not have region restrictions on our servers, so you will be able to play on the same server as your friends, no matter the location or country you are playing from.
If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us again.
Should you need further assistance with this matter, please do not hesitate to let me know. Galactic support is our specialty…
Sincerely,
Protocol Droid D3-A0
SWTOR Customer Service
————————————Transmission Ended————————————
— Original Message —
hello,
I am interested in purchasing SWTOR from Amazon.com but I am an Australian
user in Australia.
If I purchase will I still be able to play the pre-Access and then Go-Live.
ie will I be blocked from playing? In addition will you accept Australian
Visa cards as payment for monthly subscriptions?
Hey, thanks for actually following this problem. Seems like the other fansites are not posting anything about it on purpose.
We’ve started a protest page on Facebook for Oceania SWTOR members. Please support it. In this day and age, media companies tend to listen to FB pages with a lot of members. I know it’s a sad truth. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Let-Oceania-play-Swtor-at-launch/121481147945258
I wanted to say Thanks for mentioning us in the article! Cheers guys!!
@Brad Unfortunately I have seen at lrast three other posts from the same source as yours all saying the opposite.
It seems that outsourcing the support to India has not helped either with language difficulties impeding the message.
It seem that the only real source of information is the FAQ and that is too generic to answer the specific question being asked and so, to be helpful, the support staff are “interpreting” it as they see it and some are convinced that we can connect, pay and play and other are convinced that we can’t.
Only a definitive, confirmed response from BioWare on the Dev Tracker will allay my fears.
BTW: Just so everyone is clear this is not entirely a BioWare decision. They are the game developer. EA is the publisher. That means EA is responsible for distribution. While BioWare may have had a part in the decision and may even have agreed to it, it is only EA who can change it.
Just noticed amazon somehow restocked its CE preorders this morning so people can get it there..
I got mine from Gamestop only 10 mins ago so that is also an option.
This is square enix style A grade communication all over again
I don’t know about other online retailers but my boyfriend just bought a collector’s off the US Amazon 1/2 an hour ago and they appear to still have stock (as well as people trying to sell them for up to $500). Crossing our fingers we won’t be IP blocked.
There are sources stating EA have said that there will not be ip blocks, but we really won’t know until we see yellow on the SWTOR forums.
Agree with Septimus. once I see yellow I may mellow.
Via Stephen Reid’s Twitter:
“On region locking: right now things are unchanged, anyone can play #SWTOR from anywhere in the world on any server, but latency may affect.”
Specifically addressing the angry Aussies bombarding him with tweets.
I got my pre-order on Amazon.
Pretty sure they wont region lock its a pain in the ass to do and frankly they couldnt be that stupid to lock out years worth of overseas friendships! I mean who could be that dumb??…..(hang on its EA)
Ill at least sell my copy for PROFIT!!! lol
Well I am in the United States and in Virginia. The game says It does not allow play from my region ? WTF ?