Release Date and early entry for pre-order

phatkat1972 · 01-17-2007, 01:30 PM

I have paid for my 2 pre-orders, and I see that you get into the game early if you did so, My question is, are they going to send those games out to all the stores a week in advance for those of us that did pre-order so we can play for what i would assume the weekend before the actual live release? next friday is the 26th, does anyone officially know or have anyone seen on any site what they are doing with this. or will we have to get the digital downloaded preorder to actually get in early?

Elrar · 01-17-2007, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatkat1972

I have paid for my 2 pre-orders, and I see that you get into the game early if you did so, My question is, are they going to send those games out to all the stores a week in advance for those of us that did pre-order so we can play for what i would assume the weekend before the actual live release? next friday is the 26th, does anyone officially know or have anyone seen on any site what they are doing with this. or will we have to get the digital downloaded preorder to actually get in early?

The pre-order key (the one for open beta) is what will give you early access to the game. You will not have to reinstall the client, just patch anything that needs to be patched when the servers go live and go at it.

If you have not downloaded the beta client yet, then you will need to in order to play during the early access period. Unfortunately for those that didn't digitally download their retail copy, you will have to leave the house

Hope that answers your question

phatkat1972 · 01-17-2007, 03:14 PM

So if i've been in beta since Beta 3, all I need to do is activate the box with that same account info? what about buying the game in the full version that it says you have to do? I bought retail version pre-orders from game stop, won't I have to prove that I am buying the whole game when it comes out? I dont forsee them just letting me in because i have the pre-order box in my grubby little hands? what proof will they have that I'm buying the whole version before official live date?

Taronn Anvilmarr · 01-17-2007, 03:33 PM

i think you are trying to say that while the pre-order box has a key, there are many people that were in, playing the game before the pre-order came out.

1. Shouldnt the retail (full version) game have its own key that will override the pre-order key?

2. How will that effect the (last beta - three days early) start that was extended to the player base?

3. Is the three day beta cancelled? if it is not, how is the early start going to be arranged/scheduled/handled??

lol just wondering myself...

Aikur · 01-17-2007, 04:13 PM

I believe how this is handled from past experiences, is that you enter the pre-order key either from an Online order (Emailed key) or from and instore preorder retail box (Key with CD). You must install the game from a download, info from the preorder email, or from the CD. This will then allow you to get into the game "up to 3 days early" and play on the LIVE servers.

You will then get your retail key upon release of the game which is then added to your acct info. In past games there has been a layover time from the offical launch and the time you needed to enter the retail key to allow for shipping. Hope this helps alittle on the questions you had.

Taronn Anvilmarr · 01-17-2007, 04:17 PM

that makes sense, thanks

just worried a little about the timing of it all...

phatkat1972 · 01-17-2007, 10:30 PM

My other question is, is this really going live on the 30th, I know the official site says it is, but typically they shut down beta a week or two before launch, and I'm still beta testing as well as thousands of others and there has been no mention of a shut down. are they going to roll over the beta servers to live with a character dump one day and live server the next?

Kiril · 01-18-2007, 08:49 AM

I think they are pushing it to the limit to get everything in and working, so I say you will see the servers down for a week before the 3 day headstart, to get a final client version on cds so no annoying launch day patches. If you have already downloaded the beta client then a little patch will come out to update it to the live client and you are good to go aslong as you have registered the perorder key as said above. Also I don't think the beta servers will be the live servers, they will more than likely use them for testing futher stuff.

Aikur · 01-18-2007, 02:47 PM

Would have to agree a bit with the 1 week idea. Although with the changes rolling in on a daily basis, we might just see those beta servers up until a day prior. With 12 days left until offical launch anything is possible.

tehgeek · 01-18-2007, 06:44 PM

With the amount of things they are still working on, and the amount of patches they have been pushing (sometimes multiple patches a day), I wouldn't be surprised if they are going to be putting the same patches on the "Live" servers this whole time as the beta servers are not the live servers. So then as they patch the beta servers they also patch the Live servers. This way they could run beta right up till the "3 days early" if they wanted. Come the first day of the early birds they just swap over to the real servers and away everyone goes.