This is asburd, I only just found out that you can't even buy a Normal version of the game in Australia. You can't even use A DIGITAL STORE to buy a DIGITAL CLIENT DOWNLOAD because they don't want to sell it to us. EA this is pathetic. Why could I buy Warhammer online, which was a failure, and the disk was corrupted in the australian release (google it), but can't buy SW KOTOR, one of the biggest games coming out, which is considered a sequel to TOR, just, what, WHY?

Only US and EU is a slap to the face for the southern hemisphere. Go look at WoW or any other games Oceanic servers (Australia, Asia, NZ) they are always full. This is a big mistake Bioware and EA, and yes to the dumb people about to type "oh you can get it imported" is not the point and it actually isn't worth doing, if GW2 is going to have retail copies readily available and also on Steam.

EA is just dumn, and has lost loads of potential sales because of some corporate schills decision. GW2 wins guys, it is available world wide, has innovation, no monthly fees, NOT RESTRICTED FOR WHERE YOU LIVE. I predict SW KOTOR dead within the weeks of launch.

I'm guessing on this, but it sounds like they might be planning on regional releases in the future.  If they want a slice of WoW's numbers, they must think globally.  The restrictions would be to provide territories for the localized versions.

The issue I see with this is all the voice acting.  That's going to be a bear to localize.

normally its us peeps in the EU that are classed as second class low lifes by these gaming companies,seems as if you guys have now taken the title of us m8..sorry to hear that..just shows how pathetic these gaming companies really are.

    You sir, need to calm down.  They have already talked about this.  You can buy it through pretty much anyone unless that specific company is refusing to sell it in your location for some reason.  They are not IP blocking either.  I've talked to friends in South Africa, India, Japan, South Korea, and several in various parts of Europe that have ALL pre-ordered the game through on-line retailers with no problem.

So funny to see a other part of the world screaming in terror this time around, normaly its us(europe) who gota make angry I hate you post.

Fact Australia has ridicules digital laws and a minor population/gamers in comparison to the whole of Europe and US,

22,856,000 vs 900,000,000 (4us+5euro) so you can guess were more gamers are. excl australia and a few smaller islands you have this big chuck of world population on the main continent but those dont pay and play like we westerns do, they will get their own servers in time compleetly seperated from the western market while Australia is put in whit the westernmarket and can play on a US or EU server if they would prefer so.

the US and Europe are fairly egual in numbers these days (gamers) somegames like guildwars do actualy better in europe then in the US so those two need a near simultaneous release, you realy dont wana piss of those two markets to much.

ofc, It would be nice if they let you guys atleast buy the game and play on the us server till then but seem they got a reason not to ,being it service to the US folks or other reasons. 

[Mod Edit]

Ahhh, I was missing he australian complains. Now this is an MMO release "comme il faut".

as others have said, there are no plans for region or ip blocks so if you are willing to import a hard copy you can play

StephenReid

08.07.2011 , 02:39 PM
Hello again everyone, Since this thread began we've seen a lot of posts, a lot of opinions and a lot of discussion. I'd like you to know we're reading your feedback. We understand that there's been a desire to gain a definitive 'answer' to why this decision was taken. As I've said before, you already have your answer in the very first post of this thread. It was a decision made to ensure the highest quality of game service in every territory in which we launch, regardless of when that launch occurs. I'd like to recap on a few other key questions and answers: There are no plans to 'region lock' or 'IP block' players from the game. You may experience some latency issues if you're not playing in a launch territory. Anyone who pre-orders The Old Republic and redeems their pre-order code will be eligible for Early Game Access. Those eligible for Early Game Access will be able to download the game client before it starts. There will be a period after launch day in which those who have pre-ordered will be able to continue playing before entering their Game Code. More information on this will be made available closer to launch. We will accept credit card payments for subscriptions. These seem to be the key questions for those who choose to potentially import the game, and hopefully we've answered those. We understand many of you are also interested to know the timeframe for release of The Old Republic outside of the initial launch countries, but unfortunately we cannot give you a definitive timeframe right now. As we get closer to our initial launch, hopefully that will change and we'll be able to give you more details.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8064577#post8064577

You can buy the game from Amazon or another third party retailer and still play on US servers on day one. Plenty of people from the UK have done just that, and are eagerly awaiting there chance to play like the rest of us in the US and Canada.

Originally posted by gaou

as others have said, there are no plans for region or ip blocks so if you are willing to import a hard copy you can play

 

StephenReid

Joined: Oct 2010

08.07.2011 , 02:39 PM
Hello again everyone, Since this thread began we've seen a lot of posts, a lot of opinions and a lot of discussion. I'd like you to know we're reading your feedback. We understand that there's been a desire to gain a definitive 'answer' to why this decision was taken. As I've said before, you already have your answer in the very first post of this thread. It was a decision made to ensure the highest quality of game service in every territory in which we launch, regardless of when that launch occurs. I'd like to recap on a few other key questions and answers: There are no plans to 'region lock' or 'IP block' players from the game. You may experience some latency issues if you're not playing in a launch territory. Anyone who pre-orders The Old Republic and redeems their pre-order code will be eligible for Early Game Access. Those eligible for Early Game Access will be able to download the game client before it starts. There will be a period after launch day in which those who have pre-ordered will be able to continue playing before entering their Game Code. More information on this will be made available closer to launch. We will accept credit card payments for subscriptions. These seem to be the key questions for those who choose to potentially import the game, and hopefully we've answered those. We understand many of you are also interested to know the timeframe for release of The Old Republic outside of the initial launch countries, but unfortunately we cannot give you a definitive timeframe right now. As we get closer to our initial launch, hopefully that will change and we'll be able to give you more details.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8064577#post8064577

Thus, Chinese gold farmers WILL be allowed on the servers....

The only problem I see with this, is that if they launch local servers for Asia and/or Australia that someone that had early access, has a toon stuck on a US or EU server. So ppl outside EU/US regions have the choice to either chose early access, or wait and play on locally based servers after these have been introduced.

Originally posted by Fearlessbro

This is asburd, I only just found out that you can't even buy a Normal version of the game in Australia. You can't even use A DIGITAL STORE to buy a DIGITAL CLIENT DOWNLOAD because they don't want to sell it to us. EA this is pathetic. Why could I buy Warhammer online, which was a failure, and the disk was corrupted in the australian release (google it), but can't buy SW KOTOR, one of the biggest games coming out, which is considered a sequel to TOR, just, what, WHY?

 

Only US and EU is a slap to the face for the southern hemisphere. Go look at WoW or any other games Oceanic servers (Australia, Asia, NZ) they are always full. This is a big mistake Bioware and EA, and yes to the dumb people about to type "oh you can get it imported" is not the point and it actually isn't worth doing, if GW2 is going to have retail copies readily available and also on Steam.

 

EA is just dumn, and has lost loads of potential sales because of some corporate schills decision. GW2 wins guys, it is available world wide, has innovation, no monthly fees, NOT RESTRICTED FOR WHERE YOU LIVE. I predict SW KOTOR dead within the weeks of launch.

The failure is on your part.  "Why could I buy Warhammer online, which was a failure"...   so, you want them to model their game and rollout on Warhammer?

The game is coming out intially in limited markets.  They have explained this over and over again, how they want to have the release go as smoothly as possibly, to make sure that everyone who plays gets an amazing first impression.  In order to make sure this happens, they're willing to limit the number of pre-orders, and even limit the regions into which it is initially released.  Finally, a gaming company thinking things through and making well calculated decisions!

Australia is a tiny market in the grand scheme of things, especially when compared to US and Europe.  They are focusing on the largest markets, and that is what makes the most sense.

Originally posted by Eladi

So funny to see a other part of the world screaming in terror this time around, normaly its us(europe) who gota make angry I hate you post.

Fact Australia has ridicules digital laws and a minor population/gamers in comparison to the whole of Europe and US,

22,856,000 vs 900,000,000 (4us+5euro) so you can guess were more gamers are. excl australia and a few smaller islands you have this big chuck of world population on the main continent but those dont pay and play like we westerns do, they will get their own servers in time compleetly seperated from the western market while Australia is put in whit the westernmarket and can play on a US or EU server if they would prefer so.

the US and Europe are fairly egual in numbers these days (gamers) somegames like guildwars do actualy better in europe then in the US so those two need a near simultaneous release, you realy dont wana piss of those two markets to much.

ofc, It would be nice if they let you guys atleast buy the game and play on the us server till then but seem they got a reason not to ,being it service to the US folks or other reasons. 

[Mod Edit]

According to the Census taken in 2010, the US only had a population of 308,745,538.  I'm not sure how the US could possibly have 400,000,000 gamers then.  

Use real numbers if your going to use them at all.

There is already a long topic going on this subject, we don't need anymore.

Fact is, Australia will get it eventually when SWTOR starts actually making money. Australia isn't a big enough playerbase for them to worry about right away.

Originally posted by Kost

You can buy the game from Amazon or another third party retailer and still play on US servers on day one. Plenty of people from the UK have done just that, and are eagerly awaiting there chance to play like the rest of us in the US and Canada.

I don't see the point in playing the US early release if you live in Europe. You'll stop playing there as soon as the game releases here and all the time you put into your toon will be lost.

Originally posted by Scambug

Originally posted by Kost

You can buy the game from Amazon or another third party retailer and still play on US servers on day one. Plenty of people from the UK have done just that, and are eagerly awaiting there chance to play like the rest of us in the US and Canada.

I don't see the point in playing the US early release if you live in Europe. You'll stop playing there as soon as the game releases here and all the time you put into your toon will be lost.

If you stop playing, choosing to start all over elsewhere at EU launch, then so be it.

Not everyone will take that route though, many UK'ers who purchased will remain on the US servers. It is a very simple choice to make, and is your only option if you are based in the UK and want to play from day one.

Take it or leave it, just a suggestion.

Originally posted by Kost

Originally posted by Scambug

Originally posted by Kost

You can buy the game from Amazon or another third party retailer and still play on US servers on day one. Plenty of people from the UK have done just that, and are eagerly awaiting there chance to play like the rest of us in the US and Canada.

I don't see the point in playing the US early release if you live in Europe. You'll stop playing there as soon as the game releases here and all the time you put into your toon will be lost.

If you stop playing, choosing to start all over elsewhere at EU launch, then so be it.

Not everyone will take that route though, many UK'ers who purchased will remain on the US servers. It is a very simple choice to make, and is your only option if you are based in the UK and want to play from day one.

Take it or leave it, just a suggestion.

Im not familiar with the preorder and collectors edition deals. But just starting on one server and then starting over on a different server might not be an option if you cant take your preorder/CED goodies with you. It especially sucks for any region that wont have a locally based server during early access. It kind of shits on the whole idea of early access.

Ok heres something I found interesting.....

Have a look who LucasArts distributor/publisher is in the Australian region....

Virtual imaginary cookies for anyone who gets it.

Originally posted by Kothoses

Ok heres something I found interesting.....

 

Have a look who LucasArts distributor/publisher is in the Australian region....

 

Virtual imaginary cookies for anyone who gets it.

Is it really Activision?  If thats true then I'm seeing a potential conflict of intrest.

Originally posted by someforumguy

Originally posted by Kost

Originally posted by Scambug

Originally posted by Kost

You can buy the game from Amazon or another third party retailer and still play on US servers on day one. Plenty of people from the UK have done just that, and are eagerly awaiting there chance to play like the rest of us in the US and Canada.

I don't see the point in playing the US early release if you live in Europe. You'll stop playing there as soon as the game releases here and all the time you put into your toon will be lost.

If you stop playing, choosing to start all over elsewhere at EU launch, then so be it.

Not everyone will take that route though, many UK'ers who purchased will remain on the US servers. It is a very simple choice to make, and is your only option if you are based in the UK and want to play from day one.

Take it or leave it, just a suggestion.

Im not familiar with the preorder and collectors edition deals. But just starting on one server and then starting over on a different server might not be an option if you cant take your preorder/CED goodies with you. It especially sucks for any region that wont have a locally based server during early access. It kind of shits on the whole idea of early access.

The preorder program, for both CE and SE or DDE, is only available in specific regions. So anyone who has preordered, from any retailer be it digital or physical, is planning on playing on the US servers and will most definitely get early access like everyone else who preordered.

It doesn't shit on early access at all, and if someone is planning to start on the US servers and then move to EU then they should be prepared to lose whatever they had. It is the nature of the beast when it comes to rerolling, which is essentially what would be taking place.

Please see this thread : http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/326908/Should-Aisa-Pacific-Boycott-Starwars-the-Old-Republic.html

Locked.