Star Wars: The Old Republic early access begins

A few hours ago, in a galaxy awfully, awfully close, the Star Wars: The Old Republic early access program launched. Those who pre-ordered BioWare's MMORPG are now being invited in waves to sign up and start their space-wizard adventures.

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A few hours ago, in a galaxy awfully, awfully close, the Star Wars: The Old Republic early access program launched. Those who pre-ordered BioWare's MMORPG are now being invited in waves to sign up and start their new life as a space-wizard. Or bounty hunter. Or smuggler. Or... oh, the impossible question of which class to play first in a new MMO!

If you pre-ordered The Old Republic and have redeemed your code, wait by your e-mail inbox for an invite, as there's no way to tell when you will be granted early access. Invites are being sent out gradually, in waves, in the run-up to launch, in order of when players redeemed their codes.

EA is rolling things out very slowly, having already limited pre-orders, to help ensure the servers aren't overwhelmed. In spite of this, there's currently a queue to use even the official site's account management.

Star Wars: The Old Republic officially launches for PC on December 20. Subscription fees are the typical $14.99 per month, or a slightly discounted $41.97 for 3 months ($13.99 each), and a marginally more discounted $77.94 for six ($12.99 per month).

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 13, 2011 6:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Star Wars: The Old Republic early access begins.

    A few hours ago, in a galaxy awfully, awfully close, the Star Wars: The Old Republic early access program launched. Those who pre-ordered BioWare's MMORPG are now being invited in waves to sign up and start their space-wizard adventures.

    • reply
      December 13, 2011 6:16 AM

      "waves" - Hordes would also be a good word. Is there a collective noun for video game geeks? Other than just geeks, i mean. An exponent of video gamers soon to overwhelm the TOR servers...

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        December 13, 2011 11:08 AM

        they're sending the emails out in waves.. as in batches at a time...

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          December 13, 2011 1:04 PM

          he's making a joke...maybe you've heard of them...

    • reply
      December 13, 2011 6:19 AM

      While I enjoyed the game for the most part during my first beta weekend, I found that during my second weekend I wasn't enjoying it as much. In fact, I hardly played during my second beta weekend. In my honest opinion, I feel the game is pretty solid and enjoyable, but I do not feel the game is good enough to justify a monthly fee. I would by the game if it used the same model as Guild Wars (and the upcoming Guild Wars 2) where you initially purchase the game full price and then not have any monthly fees. As it stands, even as much of a Star Wars fan as I am, I will be passing on this game.

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        December 13, 2011 7:10 AM

        i played for only one weekend. i got invited for many more beta weekends but figured if i played levels 1-15 so many times before release that I wouldn't even be interested when it comes out.

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        December 13, 2011 8:27 AM

        I have buyers remorse. I played several weeks of the beta and although the "single player" was interesting, It didn't pull me in my willingness to spend the $15 a month. After awhile the cartoonish characters and the stereotypical aspects of the game get dry. I was expecting KoToR MMO, instead its almost childish in a lot of ways such as the looks, the way characters speak.... It felt like a game for ages 10+ kids.

        I do not foresee myself continuing this after the first month.

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      December 13, 2011 6:31 AM

      Wtf is this shit? My Origin has my early access code but my swtor.com says it's not entered but it won't let me enter it because it says it's already been used!
      Yay Origin?

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      December 13, 2011 6:35 AM

      my inbox remains barren *cries lone tear*

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        December 13, 2011 10:12 AM

        do you cry fresh water tears?

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        December 13, 2011 11:01 AM

        I registered my code at 12:21am July 21st from Origin. Last night I was waiting until 4:15 PST to get an e-mail, and decided to see if they had an updates to the download. It let me right on in, and I got a e-mail after I made my BH. So just try to log in if you think you should have been invited in the first wave.

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      December 13, 2011 8:22 AM

      because theres only limited quantities of software that can be downloaded an unlimited number of times!

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        December 13, 2011 8:57 AM

        Cant tell if serious...server stability, unknown influx of players, lots of factors coming into play when you're trying to setup a huge MMO, not learning from other failed launches would be stupid.

    • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      December 13, 2011 8:57 AM

      Waiting for mine, i had the digital deluxe ordered but canceled it. I get the color change crystal. But yeah don't see myself playing it unless it goes f2p.

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      December 13, 2011 10:39 AM

      Couldnt get into this game.

      -Cartoony aesthetic. Chars have exaggerated features.
      -Lots of outdated philosophy, especially when dealing with quests.
      -More borrowed ideas than innovation.
      -Dialogue falls flat or is uninteresting.
      -Subscription based with no rewards or incentives program.

      +It's Star Wars.
      +Light and Dark side decisions can be kinda cool.
      +Some quest and dungeons are fun.
      +Good graphics.

      Maybe its because the idea of paying for a mmo these days seems archaic, but I don't think TOR has enough there to warrant a $15/month payment. Why is all the progressive thinking coming from the F2P mmos?

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      December 13, 2011 11:04 AM

      I doubt I will get access today. I registered on Aug 1st.

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        December 13, 2011 11:10 AM

        I'd guess... tomorrow.

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          December 13, 2011 12:18 PM

          the forums are so hilarious right now so many kids bitching about not getting early entry while they didnt pre-order in july.

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            December 13, 2011 1:03 PM

            The thing is, if you live in Canada there was no way to get a physical preorder before August.

            I preordered the day it was opened up but codes didn't go out to stores until days after preorders opened :(

            • reply
              December 13, 2011 1:05 PM

              I can empathize with this

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                December 13, 2011 2:11 PM

                It's frustrating because I had today off too ;(

                Now I'll probably get in later this week and my coworker will get ahead because he has Thursday off!

                /spergin

    • reply
      December 13, 2011 12:27 PM

      Amazon might have updated your shipping info too,

      mine just changed from the 22nd to the 20th delivered.

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      December 13, 2011 12:38 PM

      Also Authenticators are up for purchase

      http://www.swtor.com/info/security-key

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      December 13, 2011 2:53 PM

      Too many codes and too many places to put them. I registered on August 11th. When did preorders start?

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      December 13, 2011 3:07 PM

      "Today's invitations for early game access have now all been sent. Please come back tomorrow, December 14th starting at 8:00am CST..."

      Comes up in the system alerts when you try to login. If you didn't get in yet (like myself), don't bother waiting... =/

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