Want to Get Early Access to Star Wars: the Old Republic?

Pre-ordered SWTOR? On the very first day?
Let me tell you the secret to getting into the early access. It’s simple. First you have to realize that while BioWare is doing their absolute best to get people into their game in an orderly fashion. Look at it like this. In the past, on Black Friday when Wal-Mart used to let their customers pile into their stores to start shopping at 4am in the morning it was complete chaos. Like many other major retailers this actually led to a few casualties in both employees and customers alike. Nowadays on Black Friday, major retailers have begun to adopt the human “queue-line.” For example, instead of opening the doors to every customer outside leaning on them like a pack of ravenous zombies, retailers have opted to let people inside five at a time. This allows for a much more fluid experience for both customers and employees minimizing the possibility of injury or other safety hazards.


How does this relate to the SWTOR early access and the upcoming launch of the game? Servers crashing due to a free-for-all access to them is an unacceptable reality that EA/BioWare are not willing to undergo due to the nature of their business strategies. Early access to EA is not viewed an inconvenience to potential customers who can’t get into the game at this very moment. It is viewed as a controlled method to get their game online before the official launch. When the 20th rolls around, EA wants the rest of the world will be able to get in and enjoy SWTOR with the rest of the community. Don’t be up in arms about this. Personally, I think it’s a sound approach, but I could be wrong. We’ll have to see. This could be one of the smoothest MMO launches in the history of the genre.

Everyone seems to forget all the other MMO launches. Personally, I would rather them send emails out giving us access to the game than have to wait in a legit queue clogging up BioWare’s login servers. I think other companies should look at what EA is doing with SWTOR and give them a little credit. We as customers should give them a little credit. Stop being assholes. There are always going to be problems when it comes to launching a title of this magnitude. Compatibility issues. Unannounced maintenance. Server hamsters taking a giant shit. Black Friday lines are typically a first-come-first-serve kind of thing, but there’s always going to be a few people from the back of the line that get in before you. Nothing is perfect. Don’t expect this launch to be, and you won’t be setting yourself up for disappointment.

Just because you bought that $150 collector’s edition monstrosity doesn’t mean that someone who bought the standard edition shouldn’t be given the same opportunity as you to get early access to the game. That’s just like saying that “My money is better than THEIR money.” It sounds ridiculous.

The secret to getting into the early access, is time. Go to work. Read a book. Dig a hole. Walk your dog. Watch Battlestar Galactica. Play To the Moon! Or sit in front of the computer and stew all day that you didn’t get into the first day or two of early access. It’s your choice. You’ve lived through much difficult things before you can live through this. Don’t be a miserable little bitch. It’s contagious.