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NO love for Aussies then?
chryses
Member UncommonPosts: 1,453
I just got a glossy email from Bioware stating that the game is now open and there is a big 'buy now' button. I wasn't going to sub right now but I couldn't help myself.
So imagine the dissapointment when I click on 'Buy Now' and it tells me that all digital copies are sold out...and then when I try and purchase another way it tells me that the game isn't available in my region (South Australia) and I need to wait for further notice when it is.
I was over in the UK for 12 years and just returned to Aus. I am starting to feel like a second rate citizen and I am surprised they haven't let Aussies to log in at launch or at the very least adjust their communication. From what I can tell, Aussies are pretty massive fans of MMO's and tend to be the 2nd highest population on US servers.
So where is the love BW??!!!
Meanwhile I have to sit here bitchin how I can't buy their game... perfect.
Comments
while technically they aren't currently selling the game in australia, you import the game through some place like amazon and be able to play. there will not be any ip blocking or region blocking once in the game. just for buying the game through origin.
as for why, its not available there:
We know that publishers have a variety of problems when trying to launch a game overseas that range from regional politics, ratings boards, server infrastructure, localization, distribution, and more. Why did you choose not to launch in certain regions?
The answer is "none of the above." We didn't make that decision because of ratings board issues, localization or whatever else. What it ultimately comes down to is simple, but it is kind of a difficult concept to grasp: it is about quality of service. We know the level of demand for Star Wars: The Old Republic is pretty much unprecedented in MMO history. We know realistically the number of players we can deal with on launch day and the launch period. We made the difficult decision to say the player experience is paramount. We don't want them to have a bad experience on launch day. And that led inevitably to certain decisions and one of them was reducing the number of territories we go into at launch.
The process of putting a boxed product in any territory is difficult. The process of deciding whether or not we want to put regional services into an area is also difficult. So it is a combination of a lot of different factors, but ultimately it comes down to the two competing factors: one is demand for the game, and two is what we can supply at that level of service we really want to give. And this is the result. We understand many people want to play the game from all around the world, and we're absolutely going to get to as many territories as we can over time, but we're not ready to commit to a specific time frame on that yet.
http://www.darthhater.com/articles/swtor-news/16392-sdcc-2011-stephen-reid-answers-pre-order-questions
Thanks for that, explains a lot, kinda what I expected really. However they really should change their communication accordingly as its a pretty big let down getting an email saying 'buy now' then telling you your region is not open...
Guess I have to sit it out and see what happens.
It seems the Australians aren't alone ...
What it comes down is do you believe the "we can not garantee the level of service we wish to give our product" ?
Now would you find it strange if I find that as much a diplomatic as a very weird answer ? What it means is they are admitting they are unable to make a MMO worldwide. Which makes you wonder about either their technical possiblities or their policies regarding customers ...
Now, if it is a technical problem, they should have communicated it earlier and more clearly. I would have accepted that. In stead, we only hear it as a faint excuse. They should amend things in the fastest way and communicate a clear answer as to why and when about everything.
If they are making a difference on territory as such, I would regard that a lack of respect for the equality between customers. And I would be appalled as human being.
Rated M for Mature - May contain content inappropriate for children
Maybe becasue you Australians don't speak english properly and your ancestors have a shady past is why they don't dare to launch unprepared.
:P
Honestly, I have no idea why they make such a fuss, only complaint you guys could have would be lag, as there are no servers close.
And ... Americans have an even shadier past with Europe, lol.
What about the Belgians then ?
Rated M for Mature - May contain content inappropriate for children
I am in digital distribution. It's my companies power house structure.
Let me tell you this. I would rather not do business with Aussie rules. You have no idea how terrible they treat companies and how deep the red tape is to even distribute there.
It literally costs me 50% to even distribute digital copies to AU.
We have since stopped as it was a huge hemorage in terms of fee's and laws.
Fact: Even a game like Plants Vrs Zombies is a real pain in the ass to distribute there.
Nobody in the Digital distribution sector can deal with AU unless you have huge pockets to bribe your way through the goddamned ratings board.
Check this out though, and I am not sure if you will be serviced..... but try a proxy.
That could help you out some mate.
This doesn't surprise me. The rating system over here has always been a nightmare. Its strange how a country as laid back as Australia is so anal on ratings. I noticed games I bought in the UK are different to the same game bought in Austraila. Modern warfare for example.
Its a pain in the arse!
so there blows the myth of swtor being an AA game worth its sub fees. for me, any game claiming itself of that quality has the mony and resources to go global. especially in this day and age. while not upset at being left out (swtor is on my "yeah, i'll play it, but not in a hurry" list anyway), even rift was open from day 1. to me, this has been an awkward and amateurish performance on behalf of EA.
Move Australia closer to US. Problem solved.
Or get off your arse and get new laws passed in your country that do not impede your current bandwidth and the sale of video games. Other than that- you are dearly loved by many studios. Except that country way north of you that wants to take you over. Those guys are not full of love. They even have crazy hobbits living in their country.
The Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS) was an Australian Government program that subsidizes ISPs that provide approved broadband services to consumers in rural and remote areas at less than specified prices.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is a fibre to the premises (FTTP) network currently under construction in Australia. A government business enterprise, NBN Co Limited, has been set up to design, build and operate the open network.
The NBN will provide extremely fast download speeds to 93% of Australian homes and businesses. The remaining homes and businesses will be covered using wireless and satellite technologies. When completed, the NBN will be the largest single infrastructure investment in Australia's history.
The roll-out began in Tasmania in July 2009 and the first services went live a year later, July 2010.
Exactly. It is actually making no sense. It is awkward, very awkward indeed.
Furthermore this unearthly neglect of the most basic of business sense makes the display of good intentions of the devs sound sarcastic. Which I am sure, they did not mean, they don't need and is a real pity.
Take for instance the fact that if you ticket a problem such as these and you get a answer with: "I am droid ...."
I mean really ... *shruging my shoulders*
Rated M for Mature - May contain content inappropriate for children
"The Harbinger" is the unofficial Aussie PVE server. Go there. Good luck with the queue though
hopefully it will die down soon
Edit:
Of course, if I had read the full OP I would have seen that you couldn't get a copy of the game. Oh well...when you do...
http://f.cl.ly/items/3n15423i0G2i111y3c2b/computer.gif
Some really useful info people, thanks.
I gave up and just ordered a copy from Amazon. Its turning up on the 28th and I don't mind that, hopefully the hordes would have moved on or they will sort queue problem. However when I was on testing I had zero lag and zero wait to get on and it seemed to be packed everywhere so not sure if that is a gauge.
Anyway come on the 28th and I can feel like a valued citizen again.
Still think they should have it spelt out when Aussies get their shot at this game.
If you can get the software somewhere many Aussies have bought just game keys and are currently playing.
Another option for you.
UO beta, etc etc ---> present day.
Currently in LOTRO while waiting for another DAOC to arrive!.
pfft.
that's a bit on the silly side. by then, we'll either have been forced to play "illegally" or the hype will have gone to zero and we won't be bothered playing. march? meh.
mind you, with all the disappointing reviews, i'm kind of glad i haven't shelled out my cash on it yet. now i'm kind of happy to wait a few months to see if there's any improvement or whether i'll just be playing for cutscenes. in which case, maybe someone can just start posting them on youtube for us?
in the words of alf stewart..."Flaming Mongrels"
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
i'm not overly disappointed. while i did want to play swtor over xmas with my wife, i can live without it. i find it bewildering, though, that in this day and age an mmo will have a restricted release. more so with one touting itself as AA and worth the sub and all that gas and it doesn't actually have the resources to go global at launch? on the internet? i can kind of understand a few days. maybe a week. but half a year? pfft. given the dwindling hype on this game, i think there won't be much of an explosive launch from australia in march. i think ea may have lost a nice chunk of cash they would have got if they'd launched global. amazing. i wonder if their shareholders know?
as for the droid, well. maybe they copied too much from blizzard, including blizzard's "support" desk? *smirk*
Just a quick update. I ordered on amazon and they said its already shipped so it should be here by the 28th, so this looks like the best option for Skips. I am still confused how Australia can be looked at 3 months later though. Like the last poster stated, the key hype period would have been over and a lot of sales lost. I don't mind forking out some dosh for the game because my expectations are that I will play for 3 months and enjoy running through the missions and scenario's. Its not a sandbox but the money spent is enough to warrant the amount of time and fun I get from it. Kind of a shame that after 12 years of playing MMO's I have given up looking for a true MMO persistent world. But that is another topic for another thread...