So I went into EB games in Toronto on July 22, 2011 at 4:39 pm. I put down a deposit for the CE edition of the game. I went right after teaching summer school as soon as I heard it was possible to pre-order the game. Anyway the guy behind the counter took my deposit and I thanked him and walked out.
I wasn't offered a pre-order code or even told that I'd need one. Anyway finished summer school and backpacked through south east asia for a month. Came back a few days before school and got absorbed in the madness that September is for a teacher, and students for that matter. I started thinking of SWTOR again when I got the beta invite.
After perusing the website, I called EB games to inquire about the code when I realized there was an option to upload one onto the web-site. I entered my code on October 4, 2011. Now I will say that I still love the game and I'll still play when I get early access. In the grand scheme of things, it's two days missed, big whoop. It sucks that I'll be an underdog for the first few days but realistically speaking there were always going to be people out there levelling faster than me.
The one criticism I have is how vendors were ill-prepared to properly ensure pre-orders were being sold by the standards Bioware/EA set out. I mean if you're going to take people's money up front then ensure they are well educated about the procedure involved. This could be all on the one fella who was standing behind that counter that day, or it could go all the way up the ladder to the company that decided well after the fact that using the pre-order code early would be the means by which individuals gain Earlier game access.
Anyway, this is just me sympathizing with others who are dying to get in at this point. It's also me saying that there are bound to be people short-changed by either the company as a whole or just simply by a person who's earning his/her paycheque for the day. It's also me saying that maybe I just didn't have the sense of urgency to get the code loaded asap.
All that being said, I noticed that Oct 2, 2011 was the latest pre-ordered allowed access. I redeemed on Oct. 4, 2011 and I have a half day tomorrow!!!!