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

My biggest angst is that I had things in that Avatars account that now I cannot access like 50k and my candy canes and some cool new rares... I wish someone would have spelled that out a little more clearly, I wish i would have read it. I wish that the had more copy's. I wish I didn’t have to wait till June 30th, My guild wishes I would just get SE and CE when it comes out spending more cash as we cant join a faction. I wish I wish I wish.

I think after all this ANET Hate over the CE issue, its a good time for ANet to give those who are getting the delayed CE the rumoured extra character slot as compensation maybe lol. Throw us a bone here

Jking, SE buyers will go to the roof and burn the house down on the forums if this happens.

Usually when a major company even the gaming ones makes a mistake that impact gamers advsersly, they would make a public apology either over the internet or via newspapers. I remember hearing about Nintendo making a public apology over the shortfall delay of the DC to retailers and customers werent even flaming over forums lol.

Sending a representive to try explain your reasons for miscommunication via forums usually isnt the best option as shown via the many hate posts made after gaile's post. Worse is to sent non sensitive replies to those who email support about this and then tell them to post on these forums. (I really dont know what you are thinking here seriously).

In short to sum it up with a emote:

/Doh @ ANET.

Edit for humor and the usual bad grammer.

That was the main reason they didn't want to give out too much (like the extra slots) in the beginning. They knew people would do that. Several people in several threads warned people not to leave any valuables on their temporary toons. I have some on mine as well, but not nearly as valuable as that (I used storage and my other toons to keep valuables).

lol, of course that's Japan's culture (lived there as well as Korea). It's quite different and you could expect that there. I wouldn't expect anything near that from a Korean company (NCSoft, after all they publish, not ANet)..

EDIT: ArenaNet themselves did apologize in forums and on their website, though I still think it's more NCSoft's burden and not theirs.

My biggest fear about all of this is the effect its going to have on future chapters.

People are feeling betrayed and cannot trust Anet to their word. When the next chapter comes out the sales are going to be really bad because there are a lot of people leaving the game never to return. I myself am near that point. If you cannot come out and say what you mean and explian things in detail that is not something I want to invest in. That's very shady tactics and understand why people are feeling this way.

I feel that if I pre order the game I should have it in my hands on the day of release. I don't want to hear excuses or reasons. This problem could have been easily solved by providing the retailers with key codes their customer service reps could give out to verified customer's that had payed for their copy upfront. In the case of my retailer GameStop did request special codes to allow the players to continue playing the game till they could get the CE shipped out. Anet refused to provide those codes. This can be prevented in the future by providing online key codes BEFORE the game comes out. That is a VERY simple process. No need to worry about the key codes getting out early when the servers are not even ONLINE.

This is a big blunder that was made even worse by not holding to their word and without notice. I will not be buying chapter 3 on release. I'll pre order the game try it out but I am not putting any money down on it. Its a shame that I now have to pay an extra $5-10 to try the game out to make sure that I will like and cannot trust Anet with their word.

Anet has put themselves in a bad spot. If chapter 3's release is not smooth as silk we could see an early demise of GW.

Gaile
I understand your in somewhat of a position of power here. From within the game and this posting,(I am the "guy" that deals with the web content).

I would like to express my TOTAL displeasure with the way this release was handled. <not that I think it will do any good, but I need to vent> First of all I enjoy GW very much having played more hours then I probably should have in the 8 months I have had the 1st edition. I bought my first copy of GW played a few months and went out and bought a second copy and a CE copy for a total of 3. I purchased THREE copies of the Factioins pre-order standard edition FULL GAME on 2-18-06. I then purchased ONE copy of the Factions pre-order standard edition FULL GAME on 2-21-06, from EB Games. I then purchased ONE more copy of the Factions pre-order standard edition FULL GAME on 3-13-06 from EB Games, NONE of which were the CE edition. My thinking here, is I will get to play the pre order content AND have the full game avaliable to me ON THE DAY that it comes out so I can play with out interuption. <SILLY ME> It is now 5-3-06 and I sit here unable to play the game I paid for almost 2 months ago. Having bought the CE edition in the first chapter I didn't feel it gave me enough reason to buy it in Factions, glad I didn't. I have learned a VERY valuable lesson in this mess. My friends who walked into Best Buy and bought the game on 4-28-06 are now playing the new content, while I sit here and stew over not being able to play after spending over $250.00 on the game. I don't think I will do the preorder for chapter 3.

My suggestion here is two fold. FIRST off, DO NOT SELL $10.00 preorder versions with out the FULL GAME. Cuts those power gamers who blow through the game in 3 days off at the knees. You paid for the FULL game, if you throw it in a closet in 3 days, your choice. Second, make sure your loyal players who have paid for the game in advance GET THE GAME BY RELEASE DATE. I won't sit here and tell you I will not play GW anymore because it is a GREAT game I enjoy VERY much, and look forward to releases in the future.

It would be nice to have an online way to buy both versions .

Thanks for listening to me vent, hope my game gets here soon

As upset over the fact that I'm unable to play Guild Wars -despite- having pre-ordered Factions, I have this to say:

Get over it.

I also have this to say:

Stop bitching about it. Anet dropped the ball. They've admitted they've dropped the ball. They've apologized for dropping the ball. They extended what should have been a two-day head-start event to a five-day head-start event. Despite the bitching suggesting the contrary, Anet -would- have stood to lose money because, despite -our- bitching, we're probably going to come back, whereas someone -new- to the game who -did- preorder who -isn't- used to the game mechanics would probably go "wtf level 20?" and never come back without realizing how truly awesome Guild Wars is.

Just stop with the wahmbulancing.

Everyone--including the Anet staff--knows this sucks. Imagine pouring your time and energy, PERHAPS EVEN YOUR HEART AND SOUL, into a product, and when you turn around and release it, everything that could go wrong does go wrong. I'm pretty sure Anet understands how much this sucks, considering this is THEIR product. They -want- you to enjoy it. They -want- you to tell your friends. They -want- to read your posts going "HOMG YES WTF ROX!!"

They wanted this to work as much as we wanted it to work. Hell, I'm willing to bet they wanted it to more, considering this is their "baby."

Someone, unfortunately, crossed the wrong wire in the CORPORATE MACHINE, and the shit hit the fan. Anyone who works for any manner of corporate machine should not only be able to understand this, but also should be able to empathize with this. For everything that large businesses do, it still falls upon the shoulders of a guy with a 9-5 who's probably dicking around on the internet half the time to do his job.. and, invariably, that guy screws up, ruining it for someone else.

This time, someone else just happened to be.. a lot of us.

Just bear with it. Only a few days longer. ;(

.. and, like the previous poster:

I hope my game gets here soon.

'cause I was weak today, and I almost bought the SE. Luckily, the girlfriend kept me in line.

- EDIT -

The post I was replying to is no longer there... and then I did a second edit to make my point more precise.

- END EDIT -

Gaile explained it right there.

It's not that the content is shallow.

As you and me both recognize (I hope), the standard MMO presents a very tried-and-true method of what to expect when entering the MMO universe: run around, kill shit, level up, run around, kill shit, level up, ad nauseum to about.. sixty?.. more if it's a Korean MMO. And it works. Because people love the ding. Because people love that feeling of accomplishment. Because people like being rewarded for running around on the treadmill. Psychologists trained in behavior modification eat this shit up, 'cause that's what it is. People have been trained to be rewarded with the treadmill.

Guild Wars, however, presents a different angle. Anet doesn't want us to playing Guild Wars to level--and they've made this crystal clear with how easy it is to do exactly that with Factions. Instead, Anet wants us to play for the story, for the farming (as long as there're no bots!), for the PVP options. So on, so forth.

Guild Wars, in short, is different. Guild Wars is breaking the mold--and, when it comes to money, this is dangerous.

While we all understand what Guild Wars is and tries to do, someone unfamiliar with Guild Wars doesn't. They want to see levels. They want to experience the treadmill. It's all they know. So, when they try Guild Wars out for the first time, they won't be looking at all the neat things we know exist, but instead what they've been trained to recognize as "good" gameplay.

To compound this issue, it's also a new game, and what do people do when they play a new game?

Eat, drink, game, eat, drink, game, toilet, drink, game, game, eat, game... sleep... then more game.

And he'll be doing all of this in that "run around - kill shit - level up" mindset.

That being the case, it benefits Anet -none- to allow people who are used to WoW or L2 to burn through Guild Wars and leave without really discovering what Guild Wars is about. Instead, Anet stands to win more by simply allowing them the taste of what they're used to--and, once they come back, letting them discover how truly awesome Guild Wars is, that a MMO doesn't have to be about endless treadmilling, but instead something more.

On a lighter note, I really can't play other MMOs -because- of Guild Wars.

I try to convince my work-buddies to come play with me, but I always run into arguments about how "the level cap is only 20" and "what about that level cap" and "this game lets me get up to level X." It's very frustrating.

can someone please tell me If you still get the extra slots if u dident/couldent pre-order factions or if u cant buy it within the 10 day grace period? ive asked ncsoft about it they just confused me more with their reply I think its a rip off if u dont get the extra slots if u buy the game after the 10day grace period cause I have all four of my prophecies slot takin up plus it would be unfair to the players who cant afford the game when it came out and after the 10 day grace period we shouldent be punished for bein unable to afford to preorder the game or go out and buy it right away. Please answer my question

TY Joiya Byir I alos got another message from another guild wars support team that confirmed it

Sure you will get 2 extra slots if you add the retail key to your existing account. I can't believe ncsoft support guy has told you something different.

i cant believe people say stop whinning ...

if someone have to wait till june for a game he aready buyed it really sux ...

in italy i payed a preorder box (for some reason at full price , they will give me the retail for free when its out) the game in italy is not comming before 05-05 so i not playing faction for 3 days (from head start end).

i can survive.

BUT

my friend gonna keep playing while i have to pug or hencies through mission until i reach them.

All my faction are useless again.

i wont able to test in pvp the new build etc etc.

apart from the first probrem all other are nothing to worry about since i have to wait only 3 days.

i just cant wonder the affliction of CE buyer.

i suggest people stop saying "Stop whinning" if you dont have any probrem.

I just read what Gaile had to say about the people at Anet not having CEs. Well... I'm real sorry that you don't have a poster to hang on your wall. I'm equally as sorry that you aren't currently able to enjoy the book, mousepad, and map of Cantha. But I'll bet my baby nephew that if you want to go to Cantha RIGHT NOW, and take your ritualist and do a li'l dance with your backups, YOU CAN! So don't whine to us about not having CEs. We just want the GAWD DAMNED KEY!

Lord..

IMO it's just really bad execution up and down the line.
Lots of bugs with NPCs even ruining missions, and is the alliance system even working yet?
12v12 'alliance battles' which doesnt use the alliance, alliance chat, or even an ability to talk to your other 2 groups of 4?

No help with individual or account storage (so we lost 2 characters and any help there), is that still coming yet? And still no good system to unload what we can't keep. And now even more to keep track of and keep. I guess next time before I plunk money down I'll have to hear that we ARE getting these things rather than hopeful chat for months

And I still think the ultimate slap in the face is really to your CE fans (thankfully I decided to plug that money sink-hole and put the $20 to buy back my character slots a while back...) - I'm not effected but sheesh, couldnt you have a model where they use a regular key and then give you $20 later for their back-up dancers and extra goodies in another box? Maybe that is too much I suppose, but yeah better luck next time :b

As far as those zooming through it some already have yeah - it's that short of a game story and pve-wise. A lot seems to be built around the battle on both sides of the map which seems needs a bit yet (ie 12v12), guilds cant even pick a side yet in a lot of cases (stuck with 1 faction for the other side), and those elite missions are just for the guilded/allied elite, WoW-like.

I understand you're in the business to make money.
I just hope you realize you have a lot of fans who can and will take their money elsewhere if not only continually disappointed, but nickled and dimed as well. I know I'm still waiting on some inventory help (if the suggestion is buy mules for that I'm done here) for the storage, expanded bags, etc.

You generate a lot for us to keep track of, but in lieu of Holiday storage, keyrings, did we need 3 different 'monstrous' items for armor etc etc, cmon.

And a real trade system/utter lack of one remains a glaring omission compared to other offerings and again, brings our inventory woes full circle.

I applaud the art and some of the thought for Factions. But it remains incomplete, buggy, and a lot of what has been brought up just left on the table. I know as a customer I'd REALLY appreciate some concrete information as to what to expect down the road BEFORE chapter 3 in regards to improvements to the game regarding not only Factions but the basic game.

Respectfully,
CKaz

Howdy,

I have a problem. I pre-ordered a CE. I have no CE. I'm not playing Factions while all my friends are.

I am, in other words, a CE buyer suffering from the affliction you've mentioned.

And I've already told people to "stop whining."

I say this because I work in a large corporation, I understand how one tiny thing can make everything go wrong, and I understand--as someone who likes making things for other people--that while it's awful for us on the receiving end, it's probably even more awful for all those people who -made- the product and -want- us to enjoy it, and they can't make that happen.

Sure, we have to wait until June 5th to enjoy the product. What about Anet, though? They're stuck waiting for June 5th for us to enjoy that product. They stand to lose the most from this problem--not us.

They realize that. Both their artistic and business aspirations are teetering 'cause someone dropped the ball.

So, again, all we can do is wait.

And I'm doing exactly that. -_- While all my friends play Factions.

This kind of problem affects the players more than Anet. How many people have been turned completely off to GW because of this? How many people are going to buy future chapters with this kind of problem? How many people are going to trust Anet when they say something now?

One simple answer much less than there was before. This affects us the most because this game is supported by selling copies of the game. If no one is buying because of release blunders then the game is going to fail and servers will shut down once they start losing profits. They have investors they have to make happy. I don't think an investor gives a damn about if the game survives or not long as he is making money. If they start losing money they will bail and GW ends.

Don't take this situation lightly. This is a HUGE problem for future chapters of GW.

I do know Anet is not going to ignore this situation and do learn from it and make it up on C3. The real question is how permanet the damage is. Me, bit ticked but will get over it and do understand there was a mess up somewhere and there busting there butts to get it fixed and still plan on buying chapter 3.

Dunno. I've seen the ritualist CE dances in-game, so a few folks must have the CE already--maybe they're Anet employees. It's nothing special...the sort of thing you'll notice the first time you see it, and then blow by from that point on.

Glad I bought the SE--came with a great t-shirt, I'm not locked out of Factions, and I didn't blow an extra $20 for dubious benefits. I can understand why you're all pissed. I would be too. Preorder means you get the game as soon as it's released, not after everyone else gets it. Those who are defending Anet might not mind the shabby treatment, but most customers expect more when dealing with a company. If I were all of you folks, I'd cancel my CE order and get the SE. I mean, what does the CE give you--a mousepad you don't need, a pad you don't need, a poster you don't need, and a special dance that nobody but you will care about. Strike back where it counts--at Anet's bottom line, plus you'll be able to resume playing TODAY.

No hate here, but I will definitly not pay for a CE again. Why can the CD keys not be mailed to customers like the pre-order keys?

- Xeeron

They were giving away keys (at least in my case) EBgames sent me a "key" via e-mail and sent me a sealed package for the pre-order... and I already had a BB preorder key on my acount.

Aka they would be giving away 1 copies of the game.

Read Gaile's response. Even Anet employees don't have the CE yet. The CE dances I saw were from people in Denmark, I believe.

I honestly can't believe people thought the "Head Start" would last 10 days! That's just crazy to think that... 5 days, and people were already posting pix of finishing the game and Ritualist FoW armor.

As for not warning the slots would be locked: I warned people myself with a Post the day before the Head Start started. But, I guess it's my fault people don't read...


Just to clarify: the head start was only supposed to last two days. It was very clear, after that, Cantha characters would be locked.

Next time, Anet probably won't even offer a head start b/c of all the complaints. So, thanks a lot people.

.. that's the point, man.

That doubt effects Anet's profit. That's why it's more their problem than our problem. They stand to lose a lot more from this than we do. They stand to lose us.

-We'll- always have a game to turn to. There's no shortage of them out there.

Anet only has so many customers, though. And word of mouth is still pretty effective advertising.

And when it does go wrong, you come up with a solution that will allow your customers to use your product in a timely manner. What these people need are keys. They don't need all the extra crap right now. Yes, things go wrong. What separates the good companies from the bad ones is how the company responds when they go wrong. Telling customers that they'll just have to wait, while everyone else enjoys the game, is a less than stellar response to the situation.

I believed the "Head Start" will be extended for those who preordered after it was clear keys are late. It's not my fault they sold some cheap keys and now are shaken by the possibility of people rolling their "epic storyline" in two days and be gone then.

I actually work with shipping and receiving at my Best Buy--so, assuming Gaile was being honest (and I have no reason to believe she's a liar) in saying that the problem was distribution, I can totally understand how something like this can be snafued.

One guy can really screw it up for a whole bunch of people, as well as a thousand-dollar transacation.

We do our best to remedy the situation. Sometimes, we'll bend over backwards, but this depends on the circumstances. Normally, all we can do is apologize, say we're on it, and press a button--because that's all that needed to be done in the first place.

As for what ArenaNet is doing, the problem is supply and distribution. They've already said they have a second release for May 5th and a third release sometime in June. I think they're doing all they can do right now, short of, say, letting us all play for free, and.. as much as I'd like that, I don't think that's a good idea.

So, your suggestion is keys?

Are you suggesting that Anet create a system in which keys can be sold on their website--and then, at a later date, the CE belonging to that key would be shipped to the proper address?

Being that this sytem isn't even in place at the moment, they'd have to create said system, tweak it, test it--not only the internet protocol, but also a system of distribution for this particular procedure (it obviously isn't in-house), as well as a method of linking the purchased key to the purchased CE..

.. or we could all wait for the May 5th release of the CE?

It's already been reported that Best Buy's have shipments marked for delivery. They're not -in- delivery. They've simply been allocated for shipment.

It was extended! By three days! Honestly, people, Anet has gone above and beyond.

Now, if Chapter 3 gets screwed up as well...

(BTW, I've already decided to buy the chapter 3 CE to make up for missing this one. I expect that it will go much smoother...)

Yes, we've all acknowledged that things can go wrong. That's not the issue.

No, I'm suggesting that there had to be a better response than, "Just wait." There are various ways they could have allowed people to continue playing. For example, the ten-day grace period would have worked just fine if it was indeed a ten-day grace period that allowed you to continue playing Factions.

Again, it's not the fact that something went wrong, but the response when it did.

Registration of a GW store would solve all the systems problems of matching keys to orders. You go to site and register with your information. Pick the things you want to buy. Pay with credit/debit card or checking info (routing # and bank account #). The key will be sent to the email address that was registered on their site.

This is a very simply system to install and run. Most of the management is done automaticly and can be just overseen.

I'm not going to make excuses for Anet this time. The retailers did request special codes to let their customers keep playing. The agreement to accept the code by the consumer would be a non refundable, transferable, or cannot cancel agreement. If you accept the code you MUST pay for your copy of the game upfront and cannot cancel the order later.

Anet refused to give those retailers any kind of help or support for their customers. Not only did Anet cost themselves money they made other companies lose large amounts of money. Don't think that retailers are very happy with Anet and probly will not be buying the game in large quantities like they may of done before.

Oh yeah, big corporations FEAR the word of mouth. They would much rather throw you a bone to prevent you slandering thier "good name." Spending Millions on advertisement to have 1 person tell 10-20 other people that its not a good idea is exactly what companies do not want.

Twicky, where did you hear all this?

I don't think Anet will have any problems selling out their CEs (except maybe the second run). The reg. ed. was almost sold out of EB Games...

The still have my money, Cantha is still locked and retail key is still missing. Can I have your key please, I'll give you mine when/if it arrives? k.tnx.bye.

I talked to a Manger Rep from the customer support department for my retailer. I myself being a customer rep I know how to work the system to find information. They disclosed that they have requested special keys to let the retailers customer's to keep playing until the CE could be sent and received.

Anet refused to disclose the keys or give any kind of support in that kind of manner.

I didn't meant to suggest that a system for delivery was impossible or hard. Rather, I meant to say, given the current schedule of deliveries for the CE, it doesn't make sense to create a new system -right now- specifically for -this- CE problem, 'cause you'd have to create it, test it, implement it, and connect all the distribution wires.

Yes, it's a great idea, and I wouldn't mind seeing something like that used. Just, right now, the best that Anet can do is what they're doing right now.

As for your thoughts on "word of mouth," I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

As for a ten-day free trial, it's already been discussed. <-- this is for Felinette.

As for the issue of Anet and special keys, I remember people abused the shit out of DDO online when it was selling pre-order keys. Despite the no-cancellation agreement, people bypassed it because of something to do with a Visa checkcard?.. and how you could simply call your bank and have them stop payment on it and they would?.. don't really understand exactly how it worked, simply that it -was- working.

I'd also wager that the creation of special keys would again require a distribution network all of its own, not to mention the creation process for said keys. You'd have to have a little box, at the very least, some artwork on the box, the card for the box--and then the distribution.

Said materials, of course, would have to be shipped to wherever the items would be assembled.

Or we could all wait for the May 5th release--and, if we miss that, hopefully the June release will actually be closer than stated.

I have trouble enough having an order placed for a box or two of garbage bags, and the system for that is already in-place. Unless ArenaNet has a warehouse of empty boxes, artwork, cards pre-printed with special keys, I can see why Anet shot it down: the CE will probably be out by the time the special key boxes made it to the shelves.

And even then, one also has to consider that assembly of special key boxes would probably effect production of actual CEs.. ;P

Here is where they screwed up the most...

"Response (Ben) - 04/29/2006 04:13 AM
Hello [Venomios],

Thanks for the contacting us regarding your character issues.

We regret the inconvenience this has caused. If you do not activate your current game account with a Guild Wars Factions Access Key before the grace period is over, any Factions characters in temporary slots will be automatically deleted once the grace period is over. You will have the character slots available to you once you have applied a Guild Wars Factions Access Key to your game account.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know.

Regards,
The Guild Wars Support Team"

Now, is there anywhere in that message that says, "Mr/Ms Customer, we feel for you, and these are the steps we're taking?" No. I've worked in retail for years. It's all about customer service. If you get an upset customer and just throw him out angry, it's true you'll never see him again, but you'll also lose his business and his friends' & family's too.

However, if you go the extra mile and create a solution for him, that may not be perfect, but satisfies most of the concerns, he will come back to you personally for all his future needs. It's not the product that sells a store or company in the long term, it's the care and level of customer service.

Same thing with Guild Wars. If GW didn't have the streaming updates that fixed things people in the forums complained about, and we were still playing GW 1.0, I bet you the game would have died by September of last year. But no, the customer service was excellent, and people acknowledged it.

Now with this Factions fiasco, the excellent in-game customer service is being offset by very poor out-of-came customer service. I know a few people that have quit already. One was a leader of his guild. After he quit the game, that guild fell apart, and several more have quit, which has ruined the fun for everyone in that guild. It's a domino effect. People remember the bad things MUCH longer than they remember the good things... ask any married man. His wife can tell you everything he did wrong over the last X years in detail, but when it comes to the good things, she'll just say "yeah, it was good, but it went so fast, I don't remember everything." Same deal here. This will have huge reprocussions on the GW Community.

I agree. I'm on good terms with the local Gamestop manager, and he read me a memo the managers were sent that said Gamestop was working on getting set of codes for their CE pre-orders, and that CE people just had to call the Gamestop service 800 line and they could get a key from them. I called the service number, and the tech there said that unfortunitely, NC Soft has refused to accommodate the request, and said that NC Soft would be shipping the CE on it's original schedule (which at that time was June 30th).

It was this response that prompted me to contact NC Soft, and get hosed, shafted, and treated more poorly than I would if I walked onto a porshe lot and asked the guy for a test drive.

What was your original e-mail to Anet's customer service?

- edit -

Also, if the suggested system was simply for Anet to provide a set of special keys to those who had already pre-ordered..

.. then I misunderstood Twicky. I'm not entirely sure what would have been wrong with that system, besides the "let's cancel our order with our magical Visa checkard" thing--which is more or less the same issue Anet had with a ten-day headstart, that new folks unfamiliar with GW mechanics would race through everything in a WoW mindset, leave, and cancel their pre-order.

Woah. That goes against everything I've heard from Gaile and others. I would write another letter, showing where Gaile said otherwise in game chatlogs, etc. This is the first time I've heard of them deleting slots...

You never answered my question: Why did you pay in full for a game not in stock? I went and bought the reg edition on Sunday.

I doubt it. There had to be a way they could have allowed those who had preordered CE's to continue playing. Would some players have abused it? Possibly. But most who ordered the CE are LOYAL customers who love GW and want to support the game. So sometimes you have to take a little bit of a hit to gain good will with a greater number of customers.

And again, I'm amazed at people who are just willing to sit there and wait for the CE. Hopefully it'll be this week, but what if it is June? Just cancel the CE and go get the SE. It's available TODAY.

Ghibli you are correct that a system like that could not be operational before the shipping dates that have been set to get us key codes. They could have at least givin some support to the retailers in retrospect to this problem.

My point is in the future if something is not like this in place I will be very doubtful about ordering another game.

Bottom line is Anet does not want to pay merchant fees for those credit/debit card transactions. That's why a system like that was on in place to begin with.

This crap won't happen again. I don't know what system Anet will come up with, but seeing the grief they've caused, they will know better.

At least, they'd better!

The most exciting part of a game is the first few days of it. Everyone is exploring new areas, finding new greens left and right, figuring out the best way to do a mission, being to first to accomplish something ect...But with the people who pre-ordered CE, the 1 day head-start has turned into a 1 week late-start. They forced the people who were willing to put down 30 extra bucks for damn CE to miss out on all of the fun things that comes when a game is first released.

When the people that preordered CE start playing, everything will be discovered, people will be shouting spoilers in towns left and right, and we might become noobs because we do not know the proper way to do missions.

.. if it's June, I'm simply going to head with the SE.

It's frustrating to listen to my guildies explore Factions and all I can do is work toward my Tyria Protector badge, not because I want to, but because it's all I can do right now.

Twicky:

Here's hopin' they have a system like that, then. ;D

Because this was the only offer from the local retailer. Judging by posts in this thread this was the (only?) offer in other contries too. I trusted them so I paid, as simple as that. And now they are shitting exactly on the people who showed a bit more support than the others.