Official - 10 Day Grace Period - from gw's site

I've also worked on both sides of software development/support as well, and I really don't remember the last time I ever got treated this poorly. Yes, ANET had issues beyond their control. However, the professional response would have been to provide coverage for those left without service due to ANET directly failing to meet their target deliverables. However, they chose to collectively punish both CE-customers along with Preview-only buyers instead of formulating an alternative plan.

The above strikes me as very unethical, but then again, I only work in the financial sector, so what do I know?

Can someone please clear this up coz eveytime i write to anet they dont really explain.
I got a pre order key & have pre ordered CE. Now i cant access factions. I took my original ascended character to factions. Will i lose any factions progress by waiting for CE to come out? If so how long have i got?

You should've bought HL2 around the time it came out. Maybe I'm being generous, but the comparison between the two definitely weighs positively for ANet.

However, I will say one thing about a little unprofessionalism I've noticed, particularly with this comment: "If you would please re-read, your expectations coloured what you saw, but you assuredly did not see us promising 10 days of free play."

I'm okay with news updates telling me what I can and can't do, but neglecting to add "we promise" to the article and that suddenly being the point of argument when a service isn't being delivered is borderline unacceptable.

Although deep down, I knew time was ticking anyway. I suppose I should be grateful I had leeway past the Day of the Tengu.

Hmm. I, too, believe the professional response would have been to provide good service to dedicated customers, even at the expense of a few days tolerance of 'abusers'. (And I, too, have spent more than a little time in the software industry.)

But, that aside - the issue I face now is explaining a further 3 or 4 days delay in establishing us in a faction and setting up our alliances to my ~100 guildies. Oh that I had I not misread the extension as permitting me to go ahead with my CE purchase. Any suggestions? (Apologies for straying off topic.)

Anyway, i think that anet already given enough courtesy for extended head start event..personally, i think that anet do a mistake at CE..but i just wondering..there are some people who make the order MONTHS ago..i mean, anet should have known the demands for CE quite some time ago right??..anyway, i would not mind if there are no CE..SE works the same for me..i am content as long as i can play the game..i just hope that anet will fix the bugs in GW:F and give us a more stable game..i mean that i really prefer one STABLE game per year than two BUGGY games per year aight?..

and errr, i would prefer a more direct and 'easier-to-understand' announcement in the future..=D..i mean no offense and i really hope that GW will make a future in the MMO industry..

I also got kicked out of the game at 12:00 AM. I was wondering about this, checked the site, etc. The website wasn't very informative and the "grace" period made it seem like we, with the pre-order discs, could play until May 8th without having a retail key. Does this seem correct? That's what I assumed.

Unfortunately, since I'm waiting for Factions CE and refuse to buy a regular edition of Factions, I don't think I'll be able to access my Lev 20 Assassin anymore, just when I was about to buy new armor and found a build that worked out. Irritating? Very.

I'm confused with the rest of you: What's anet going to do? I don't know, but they really need to explain the situation or push out a few hundred thousand more copies of Factions CE so those of us who really want it won't miss out.

I'm pretty sad about this as I did want to play.

Anet, help us!

When i get my real cd-key somewhere around september, do i have to start from the begining in Cantha or are all the missions and outposts that i've been in unlocked?

After supporting you by preordering 2 months ago now I learn that I am potential abuser, my Canthan characters are locked and I'm being denied access to Cantha. Thank you for spitting in my face, lesson well taken.

Oddly enough, I feel exactly the same way.

Why would people abuse this $10 pre-order key? Seriously. You can't do that much in 10 days. People need sleep, and I don't care how much of a power player you are, but you'll need sleep eventually.

Riotact and tONYY

I believe this line in the announcement

We will not delete your new characters, items, or skill unlocks after the 10-day grace period.

means that you will not lose any progess made during the headstart period, by waiting to add a retail key.

yeah seriously.... you guys go nuts and cant even wait a few more days.... you payed your money for something and youll get it, sheesh. btw i preordered the CE so yeah. Also its definately a good idea to remove that grace period thing, some people thave don't go outside and sleep on there chairs will just.... you know.

Then let's be glad you don't work at areanet then, avarre.

I think it's just they haven't made it all that clear WHEN we'll get CE. There was a message on the GW american main site saying that the next batch of CE would be dispatched june 30th, and then on the GW EU main site they have a list of dates when the CE will be dispatched.
And the two versions of the 10-day grace period weren't very helpful either, one saying our characters would be deleted, one saying they wouldn't.

In areanet's atempt to make up for their miscalculation on the CEs, and not making the clearest sense to all, many have become confused, and so, further angered by it all.

I'm annoyed by the lack of CEs in my house, yes, but i think all of this anger and annoyance was started by confusion, but i do think they've gone about it the wrong way. In the e-mail i got, telling me my CE would be delayed, i got an attachment .txt file, which made 'subtle' hints thast i should buy the regular edition if i want to continue to play factions while i wait for my CE.

we pay more... pre order months ago and are considered abusers

I have to admit the launch of Factions was not as smooth as it should of been.

The extended message was not worded clearly, I too was one of the one's that misread it. Having your FAQ still stated about the deleted after x time isn't helping either.

I'm not going to scream, shout, yell, etc. The reason's to lock us out do make's sense mind you a bit fustrating. See you in Cantha when EB sends me my CE.

Gaile, thank you for being far more direct then normal, I know being in your shoe's is a bit hot at the moment. Most companies are not even this direct with situation's like this.

All this hatred over backup dancers, its pretty sad really.

I am dissapointed too becasue I ordered the CE, which I thought later was a bad idea because usually CEs come out months after the standard, but then I heard that they would release at the same time. I too did not cancel my order because I read the website wrong and thought I would be clear till the 8th, I should get my CE on the 5th and all is well.

If I had read the website correctly I would have decided that I don not need backup dancers for classes that I probably wont play and save myself $30, but its too late for that now, Im locked out of Cantha and I will be locked out until Fri. and honestly I am not too convinced that I will get the CE by then.

I want to say that Anet has done a wonderful job on everything in this game, and unfortunately something like this happens, but I dont want to focus on that because there is still PLENTY of things that they added to Tyria to keep me busy until the 5th.

I will be working on my Protector of Tyria title along with Tyrian explorer and I still have some content left in Tyria. So Anet I thank you for adding these new features to keep us occupied. But I have to agree with a lot of other posters here that this should have been handled differently, we should have access to the new content and if we "burn" through the game and decide not to buy the expansion then you bite that loss, but I garauntee people will buy the expansion so that they can have the factions skills that will be beneficial to PVP, I dont see a reason not to extend access to the Canthan content until the CE ships.

SHAME on you Anet,
here in Italy (still European Union I hope...) we will receive Factions, Regular edition on May, 05 (that is Friday, so no delivery until Monday). Obviously i preordered it, as many other unlucky people here, so we overpayed an item and we will be penalized not playing until the May, 08 and having a reasonable risk to exceed the "grace" period. This is an unfair treatement towards those people who trusted you and preordered factions from the online stores on your web site (already paying those copies in full).
SHAME on you Anet

Maybe you should try living somewhere where even good shipping channels take a week more than anywhere else, and you'll start being grateful for the generally high standards we've received so far.

Being temporarily blocked from Cantha is not a penalization. You are not losing your money's worth. If a game is so critical to you that you can start flaming over a technically minor delay, then I'd advise quite a lot of things that would be considering flaming.

That said, it would still show Anet in a better light if the pre-order period was extended to buffer the CE release. There still isn't a need to complain to this extent, I feel.

well, the extended head start is over. It doesn't matter how much peaple think we complain. CE people paid more, and are pushed back. ANet should have just pushed the Head Start till May 5th, instead of pushing the players back. They would have probably gained a few more players too, those that have nothing to do with the CE might have wanted to continue playing after they had invested more time in the game.

They have money, I don't see why they can't do it.

Look, the situations sucks and we that pre ordered the CE can all agree on that. Simply cancel your order and purchase the regular version. I was planning on getting two CE copies, but they lost my business and I purchased the SE - I've moved on and saved myself $40... Oh, and I got a free t-shirt with the SE.

This has been handled incredibly poorly by ANET when the solution would have been so simple - the CE is delayed, so allow those that choose to, to buy the standard edition and when the CE arrives and that key is entered give a refund on the cost of the standard key or at the very least allow it to be reused on a 2nd account/passed on rather than lost as happens now. This would let those happy to to wait and those that want to carry on do so.

As it stands, my decision is simple - i'm cancelling the CE and using a standard edition to finish what I've started in Cantha then looking at other online games with better CS and waving goodbye to GW.

I can't believe people thought they could play for 10 days!!!

There were whole threads about this, speculating that characters would be deleted after the 10 day grace period (they are NOT going to be), and wondering what the point of the Grace Period is for (to take advantage of the bonus slots - which weren't going to be offered anyway!).

But I thought it was pretty clear, after the Head Start was over, you would not be able to enter Cantha or use Canthan born characters. They even extended the head start 3 more days!

Honestly, Anet has gone above and beyond. Here's what another company would have done:

Offered no "Head Start." No access to Cantha until you buy the new Chapter.

What everyone here has been doing is playing the new content for free. Oh, you paid in full online? Say, when you order another game online can you play it before you recieve it? No.

Why would anyone expect Factions to be different?

How would they keep track of who bought the CE and reg. ed. in order to get the refund?
Uh, no you're not. You're still buying Factions! You're hooked for life. So, you don't get the bonus dances. Take a deep breath, realize it's not the end of the world, and deal with it.

What do i care if they extended the "free" game time. They still didnt manage to get the game out when it was supposed to. Atleast not here.

I have read this thread ... sometimes in disbelief, sometimes angry... but never pleased.

My situation is very odd, so you will understand I don't speak out of frustration... I speak out of anger and not being able to understand how come anet is making us pay for their screw ups. I have pre-ordered CE a long time ago (guess what, people that don't like GW like most of us do, won't be ordering CE) and, as most of us, I realized I wasn't going to receive it by the end of last week. I was really desperate to play factions and decided to go to the shop and get a normal version (after I read in GW website that new CE would only be dispatched in July) that I would use as a second account or to activate factions in my regular account (so, as you can see I'm not writing because I can't play GW!!!).

So, everything is pretty much ridiculous (sorry for the strong words)... first Anet says that they are not going to have any more CEs until the summer (and they were expecting people not to cancel the order???), second they realize their big screw up and they extend the head start (head start for a very small number of lucky ones that actually got their hands into a pre-order key)... and guess what... in ended up like this: People that didn't pre-ordered the game, were playing it before people that did! Really stupid thing to happen... but things don't finish here! They then write an article that nobody really understands what it is saying... but people, for a brief moment, think that they will have more time to use their pre-order keys. This made me happy... satisfied a little bit with Anet for knowing how to deal with their mistakes...

But it comes to the great finale... someone from Anet writing in this thread and apologizing and saying something like: It's sad but we can't lose money and bad luck!
Well, guess what... this is absurd! People that bought CE did it because they like GW enough to go the extra mile. And how does Anet says thanks to the people that do this? Depriving them of factions… This is unacceptable! And I’m sorry I’m not sad because people in Anet don’t have access to the CE. I couldn’t care less… Anet is the sole responsible for what is happening and it is the only “entity” that should be punished for this! I certainly will never understand how come I have to pay for screw ups of companies that already got my money for their products (by the way, factions is great!!!!), no matter how much you try to explain it to me.

I would like to end by saying the final product is great (Factions) and that this makes it even more difficult to cope with all this extreme lack of professionalism. For the ones like me, this won’t make a difference… (guess what, I bought CE because I really liked Prophecies, not because I’m sadist and like to spend more money to get a given product) but what image are you passing to the people that just started playing it (wait… those probably didn’t buy CE and are playing happily as we speak)…
Oh well… I’m really disappointed with all of this!

I see how people are confused now, ok, so it says:

Ten-Day Grace Period Explained 1 May 2006
The grace period mentioned in an earlier news post will end at 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 8. During the 10-day grace period, if you have a Prophecies account and have added a Factions pre-order key, you can create a 5th or 6th character. After the 10-day grace period, if you have not added a Factions (retail) key to your account, you will not be able to create a 5th or 6th character. We will not delete your new characters, items, or skill unlocks after the 10-day grace period. However, you will need to add a Factions (retail) key to your account in order to play with any Canthan characters after the end of the Extended Head Start Event.

People are getting mixed up with 10-Day Grace Period and Extended Head Start Event. Guys, those 2 are different things.

I did actually, type up this whole massive post, then noticed as I was quoting it along, it said Extended 'Head Start' event, which was actually the 24-Hour thing, so I deleted my whole post and re-typed it now.

Guys/Gals, we only got till the end of our 'Extended Head Start Event' untill were locked out of Factions, which was, Monday. We stil gain access to our 5th and 6th slots untill the 8th of May untill we add a Retail key of Factions.



^ Hope that helps.

Stop imagining things. I paid the local supplier(not online) full price for a SE box(not CE). Their words are ncsoft(not anet) has send them a letter about delaying the shipment for unknown reason. How's that playing for free?

And I don't need fanboys posting how everything is pink, I need ANet's PR person that showed up with some nonsence about abusing and then disappeared to explain why I am being cut off.

So shipping mishaps and lack of units for sale even if you pre-order is not uncommon.

Look at Microsoft when they released the Xbox 360, My brother in law pre-ordered, and he cancelled it. He didnt get a call back that it was available till February.

Nintendo had MASSIVE shortages when they released the DS Lite in japan.

Global releases tend to be very difficult and require a LOT of resources. A flat tire can ruin your day. Bad weather can delay a flight. Broken machinery at your factory.

Yes it sucks very much. I'm really sorry for everyone who didn't get their CE. But damn, grow up and deal with it. If thats the worst thing thats gonna happen to you this summer, then be glad. Theres far worse things going on in the world. You're not starving, you're not unemployed and homeless. All that happened is your game is delayed. >.<

Then why, on the Head start day did I see 7 different people using CE?

I've (along with lots of my guldies) ordered normal retail version, payed up front, got pre-order key, and now my retailer informs me that they are doing everthying thay can to ensure delivery on friday, and that some copies are indeed shipped to them (our retailer).

My hopes are set on monday.

Being an optimist, I also hope that someone in ANet will fix all those bugged missions till then, add bigger storage, and other stuff that was supposed to happen with release of Factions.

My optimism is also helped by the fact that Gaile just called me and my guildies potential thieves in a post in this thread.

Nice PR...

This is exactly why:

1. I never pre-order, no matter what the incentives are.
2. I never order the CE, for bugs alone.

I am assuming that none of this will impact those of us who haven't bought Factions yet (waiting for the promotiional sale prices to trickle in a couple of weeks) - we'll still be able to have 6 slots, right?

I love Guild Wars (all chapters). I preordered my CE as soon as it was available.

Now that the head start is over, and it's apparent I may not get my CE until Friday, maybe even longer, I'm disappointed. A little delay (like to the end of this week) will be fine, but I'll be really disappointed if I can't get my copy until July. I was one of the hard core folks who lined up as soon as it was possible to preorder.

But, as long as my characters, my progress and my Tengu masks are still there, I'll be disappointed but Ok. If Anet didn't have the policy it announced, I would be livid. I would be ragequiting.

So, while I applaud Anet's efforts, giving me a couple of extra days to play while I wait, and at least not deleting the progress I made, I think it's Ok for folks to be a bit disappointed. We were, after all, some of Anet's biggest fans, and we just want to play without having to give up on the CE.

Just my $0.02.

For what it's worth, the Xbox 360 issue was planned.

.. and since my thread on the matter has been effectivelly killed, I'll post it here instead.

-

Being that Anet has reported they are coming out with extra character slots, how about this as a solution:

If one merges a Factions SE and a Factions CE, one is awarded four slots. Being that the slots have been said to cost about ten dollars, and the SE costs forty dollars, people who'd be buying the SE and the CE wouldn't so much be buying a useless SE, but rather an extra four accounts.

Just a thought?

This wouldn't even have to be ready by the time I pick up my CE, hell. Just as long as I could have some confirmation that it would be done, I'd rush out and buy my SE right now.

In conclusion:

I want a CE.

There's no reason for me to buy SE.

However, if buying a SE + CE would net me four extra accounts, that would be svweet.

She is right guys. I was one of the first ones to post a misinterpretation. I apologize. I'm glad they did give me until last night as opposed to the original 48 hours. That was enough to quench my thirst a bit (over the weekend), and as such will finish mapping Tyria until this Friday. Friday I'll buy Factions in one form or another.

Gaile, you mentioned elsewhere that you are working with retailers to have it on the shevles on the 5th. Could you elaborate on which ones may have those? I doubt it will be EBGames/Gamestop since they are backlogged on pre-orders, but some of the other retailers are first come first serve. If I can't find it on Friday I guess I'll go with the standard, but I'll wait it out..

Thanks for the extra time added to the original 48 hours. It was appreciated..

I have a Rit that is still in the monestary and as of this morning, I cannot access her. It gives me a message that my account is not authorized to play factions.

As for my old Tyria characters, I had my mesmer in House Zu Heltzer as of last night and when I started this morning it ported me to Ascalon and I have no option to travel to Cantha from the boat.

As I stand, unless I get my CE soon, then I'm just stuck in Tyria which is not very nice since I really need to play in Cantha but I do not want to get the regular edition.

I was in EB yesterday (Canada) and they told me that they might get it today or tomorrow but I wont believe it until I have the box in my hands.

Anet should have an option that if you can show a prof of purchase then they issue a key for you to be able to play.

They said that aditional CEs would ship June 30th then that key should stay active untill early July.

I'm hooked on GW and will play it does not matter what but this situation might turn off other players and they would stop playing.

My 2 cents.

Gaile you have no need to aplogise ok so the orders are very late its hardly your fault, these things happen all the time, and though people will get angry about factions maybe you should focus on factions now and have a small team on guild wars... beacuse tho it is a very good game there are still alot more needed to be done to make it into Game history.

Guild wars has the potiental to be the next Gaming classic such as your previous work with Diablo and Warcraft. However I think you should defintly keep you eyes on this forum and look at the ideas that people come up and put them in the game, as were trying to make this game even better to.

You defintly need to work on Factions alot As i've been looking at this forum and there are complaints about one of your main selling points 12v12 and other promises such as trade house.

Ok people are going to be annoyed with Collectors edition and yes you've lost alot of money from that so I think now is time to get cracking and upgrade factions as much as possible make it even better than the orignal Guild wars so we can tell are friends how good it is not its ok.

As for people who are still waiting for CE to come threw well im sorry that it hasn't come threw but look at what you get from collectors edition and think about it, You might not want CE. Im sorry Gaile but if you want your fans to wait till June for the game then get a cd key at July well there is no point in shipping them, unless you got some real hardcore players and if thats case you should reward them in some way like I don't know give em a gaile mini pet lol

And as for the 10 day pre-view all I can say is that take it on board and learn from it which im preety sure you have.

I have great belief in your work and when ever I come up with an idea I will allways think about it and then put it on this fourm. So lets all work together and make the best MMORPG ever

Collectors Edition = $20.00 Extra Money, Does not show up on release date, A horrible tease from anet by giving you a few days tease time.

Regular Edition = Cheaper, Walk into store and buy on release date, Get a Free T-shirt from Best Buy, Enjoy the game without ever having to worry.


I learned my lesson last year when I pre-ordered Guild Wars from Gamestop and I never got jack diddle from them. I'll never order from Gamestop, or pre-order any game ever again. Just too much to go wrong. I know Gamestop isn't the blame this time. But my expieriance last year with GW was enough to keep me away from any Pre-orders ever again. I feel for you guys that pre-ordered CE. You are getting screwed. You should get some extra loot in your inventory or something for having to wait.

PS, My T-Shirt fits great

Sad to say, but I'm just going to cancel my CE and get the standard

Lesson learned might as well move on since I want to unlock more titles and beat the game at least two more times. I understand the reasons behind closing the 10 day grace period but its sad nonetheless. The end all of this is I want to play the new content, and who doesn't?! I find it quite dissapointing for people who always want to throw blame or throw hate speech at others for situation that may or may not be under their control. Its useless, but never the less people who want to play will either wait for CE or just go pickup the SE and keep playing. I've made my decision and hopefully you can make your own and be constructive in the process.

I bet the CE dances will look better on my ritualist than the t-shirt looks on you.

This is what I get for pre-ordering CE. Thanks anet, it really shows how much you care about your more loyal customers. Now I have to wait till who knows when just to go back to cantha. Gaile said they are worried about people who will rush through the game in 10 days and never look back and called this a bad business opportunity; I would understand except that THIS GAME DOES NOT HAVE A MONTHLY FEE!. All this for some stupid alien dance that gaile keeps going on about how neat they are. I saw them in town and to be honest, it looks like your getting abducted.

nice poke.. To be honest I haven't even got it out of the plastic bag yet. I'm going to most likely give it away to a guild member for one of our contests.

It's an XL which is a bit big for me. Not what you expected I assume

Why did you pay in full for something not in stock? And how are shipping delays Anet's fault?

She did. If the fact you are being so ungrateful makes me a "fanboy", fine.

I guess other people who post on a forum site about not being able to play Factions for 10 straight days without actually having the product aren't...