Honestly, this is a capitalist society and the answer is money. People that ordered online paid for shipping, and those that got their CE yesterday paid for overnight shipping. People that ordered from a store didn't pay for shipping costs, and so the retailer is simply only rushing the product through the system in the cheapest manner possible that guarantees the product will be in-store on 20th. I understand that it might not be "fair" from the perspective of us people that bought in stores but I'm sure that's how Gamestop is doing it.

You cared enough to read this thread and post in it....

My CE is sitting in a position of honor on my desk at work right now, arrived about half an hour ago

You predicted that an MMO would have queues at launch? Wow dude, you're psychic...

Fail starts with inability to read.

^ This.

This is so fail. You paid for access starting the 20th. This is when Bioware starts taking your money. They gave you early access. It's free, you did not pay for it.

^ This. It was awesome playing today on not-full, non-laggy servers, being able to enjoy the game and not have to fight over mobs / spawns. Great job Bioware!!

Stephen Reid has explained at least twice (before the forums were wiped and after) both how the staggering process will work and why they are doing it this way. He has even stated numerous times why they will not tell people in advance when they will get access. It's not BioWare's fault that people don't choose to read these explanations. You can say you don't like it but BioWare and EA have communicated the reasoning behind it.