Stephen Reid (@rockjaw) Confirms There was a 6d/3d Plan in Place

Source: Torwars.com

Starting at 2:32 Stephen Reid confirms that there was plan in place to base your head start on the edition of the game you purchased.

He then goes on to state that this idea was scrapped in favor of the current "first come first server" system that we now have.

Now you might be asking yourself "Stitch why is this a big deal why should I care?" and the answer is that this entire launch has started off with an incredibly bad decision on Bioware/EA's part.

It appears as if the decision was made very last minute as it was only days, even hours before the launch that pre-order sites from across the internet had leaked the pre-order information, some players even reporting that Bioware customer service had sent them emails verifying the information.

This entire plan seems to have last minute changed which accounts for the confusion in so many retailers. If this "first come first queued" plan had been in place with any significant time, companies would have had time to prepare for the time sensitive requirement of the preorder codes. But it appears Bioware/EA did not make this as clear as they should have.

The blame for people getting late access to the pre-order code rests squarely on the shoulders of EA/Bioware and coupled with the changes to companions dying and ac switching players should be vigilant and hold Bioware/EA accountable for massive last minute game changing choices.

Edit:
Stephen Reid recently had an interview with Darth Hater and further explains the issue with retailers:


Pre-orders seem to be going pretty well to the point that certain retailers are having problems keeping up with demand. Any advice or things that fans should take note of regarding receiving and redeeming their pre-order code?

Stephen Reid: Fans are not having a problem getting their pre-order code redeemed because when they redeem it, they redeem it on swtor.com and we haven't had any problems there so far that I'm aware of. Some retailers like Amazon.com sold out of the Collector's Edition but they are actually getting re-allocated with extra stock so they will have stock later on.

We had a few issues with retailers in a number of territories where they didn't necessarily understand the idea of giving out a pre-order code. The difficulty for us is... everyone was briefed at the regional or corporate level, but that doesn't necessarily make it down to every single store clerk in every single store. Unfortunately, if you went in and did a pre-order, and they didn't give you a code, you should basically ask them to give you a code. And if they won't give you a code, then feel free to pre-order somewhere else or take it up with a higher chain of command. We're certainly trying to reinforce that as much as we possibly can down the chain. In addition, some retailers are a little slow in terms of sending out their codes, especially via email. We're working with them to accelerate that process as well.

Something that people are concerned about is when they redeem their code, and if it will affect their Early Game Access. The truth is that right now -- even though we had a lot of codes redeemed -- we're not even at a point yet where people wouldn't be more than a day one or day two. It really is not that bad. The incentive for us to get people to redeem their codes is obviously so we can keep track of how many people are getting ready for pre-order. But at the same time, we're trying to prevent a situation where people pre-order and they actually redeem their code months later, and at that point they would be at the back of the line. That is the reason why we are pushing people to redeem their codes, but there really isn't any reason to panic.

For the full interview and to see the original please check out the full Darth Hater interview