It's not a bluff, Origin pre-orders had the option for the $5 fee or to be paid in full. If you used a prepaid debit/gift card the full amount was charged right off the bat. I used prepaid gift cards for online purchases and I paid the full amount during my pre-order.

For you and others like you that keep highlighting the 5.00 dollar/euro/whatever mark as your right to EGA, that 5 is deducted from the final cost of the game. Nowhere in the order page, or your confirmation does it say 5,00 Euro/dollar is a fee that allows you X amount of days of EGA. The 5 is pretty standard for pre-orders. All that was said is if you pre-order(which the 5 was used for, basically reserving a copy of the game for you) you will get EGA.

The server status page is incorrect all the servers are at normal or low population.

Honestly, why did you take off for EGA when it has quite clearly been stated you were getting UP to 5 days EGA and no ETA was provided for your EGA start? You should have know if you pre-ordered in Nov that you most likely were not getting in Day 1(which at that time was still the 15th so technically you are still on schedule) The servers did get stress tested during beta, they compiled data to see how the servers responded. The way BW is handling the EGA is the best way to do it, stagger it out in waves, let the first wave get off the starter worlds and then invite the next wave. Future waves will probably move faster and have more people because of this. You didn't pay for early access, you paid for the game and game time , which officially launches on Dec 20th(NA) any time in the game before that is a bonus. It's a thank you from BW for pre-ordering and they are trying to get as many people as possible. If you are citing the 5.00 fee as "paying" for EGA that 5.00 is deducted from the final price of the game, so you are in fact, not paying for EGA.

If you read the sticky it is explained why they have not given people set days and times for their EGA. They are sending out waves of emails, letting people log in and monitoring how the servers respond and then send out a new wave when those first people have moved on from the starter worlds. Question: What happens if something unexpected occurs and they don't meet that day/time projection for you? Answer: The forums erupt and there is blood in the streets. Look at the amount of topics complaining about EGA now, now multiply that to the Nth dgree if they had given a day/time projection and could not meet it.

I'd say so. They haven't even made it out of July yet. Also the server populations showing as full are probably not accurate representations of the server population cap. BioWare probably capped the population for the day at a certain point. I recall them saying something like they did internal testing and each server could hold up to 100k+ of people. I'm not saying server populations will be that high though. You also have to factor in unguilded people, non pre-launch guilds and others going into a server for Day 1 which are inflating the population numbers. If these populations are accurate I'm wondering how BW is going to explain assigning my guild to a shard and then having the shard's population cap out before we could even get into the game.

Ahh, the true sign that someone has painted themselves into a corner in an argument and can't find a way out. I can see why you are avoiding answering the questions put forth to you by us, it only further weakens your indignation over EGA. If you had not included the post about how much money you make by doing the exact same thing EA/BW are doing or if your company reported itself to the BBB(which would be akin to shooting yourself in the foot) or you made an attempt to refund your customer's preorder fee or tried to get customers their copies of games they have left sitting in your store(you may make a halfhearted attempt, but you are a business and it in your best interest to keep that money); then you might have some credibility. Perhaps you can see why myself and others are having a hard time understanding why this has so outraged you when you are guilty of the exact same thing in your professional life.

It's all fine and dandy that you can provide bits of wisdom passed on and examples to further your stance on the issue but you keep skirting the fact that you do the exact same thing in your business but then claim outrage when it is done to you. I'm wondering what sets you and your company apart from all the other companies out there that you say do this or something like this. What makes you special in the regard that you do this but if another company does the exact same thing it invokes your ire and you call the BBB? I'm also wondering if you have ever read the definition of hypocritical.

I'm not disputing that people and businesses do their best to get the most amount of money out of you, it's a fact of life. My point is YOU contacted the BBB about BW and they way they are handling EGA and their wording of it, when YOU,according to your post, do the exact same thing at your business. So, do you report your company to the BBB or does your company somehow not meet the same standards of a "scam" that apparently BW/EA do?

The forums are available to view by anyone, but in order to post all you have to do is pre-order or purchase the game. EGA is nothing more than a head start.

So wait, you contacted the BBB about,in your words not mine, a "scam"that BW is running when you perpetrate this same "scam"yourself? This logic makes my head hurt.

If you read the sticky, you'd know why they aren't giving specific times and days for when you get in. They invite waves, then monitor how the servers handle them, then invite another wave. They aren't giving specifics because something may come up that delays a wave and people would be threatening to burn down the forums. Contacting the BBB and claiming false advertising is...a bit much and pretty much untrue.

Origin does indeed charge the full amount all at once. That being said, the majority of that price was for the game, which officially launches on the 20th(NA) and thats what you paid for, the actual game and its components and month long access from the 20th until the 20th of Jan. The 5 dollars was for your preorder and is refunded, so you have not paid for early access, it's a bonus from BioWare.

I know in the last beta build that people with ATI were having issues, it seemed they either had to update their drivers or roll them back to a previous one and it seemed to fix the issues.

This ^^ and not everyone is a native English speaker. English,especially American English, is so full of nuances,reductions and colloquialisms that it makes English one of the harder languages to master. I speak several languages and at times I still mistranslate or misinterpret phrases and words. It's important to remember before calling someone out for trolling that 1. Not everyone is American and 2. English is not the cradle tongue for everyone. 3. sometimes people can't be bothered to read all the information and just skim.

While it's certainly possible some hardcore people will hit 50 in a short amount of time, I do have to point out that 1-30 in a day is unlikely and that leveling does slow down at 30. To your point, it's the risk you take when rolling on a PvP server, you should be safe until your mid 20s so just keep plugging away. Do what I do, level 2 toons at one time, if I start getting ganked and camped, I log onto my other toon and level it for a bit then go back to the main when I think the gankers have moved along.

It does make sense actually, given some people's general sense of entitlement and "ME,ME,ME" attitude could you imagine if BioWare had said ok if you preordered on this week you will get early access on Day X and Time Y and they had unexpected delays meeting those times? The aforementioned people would be up in arms, setting fire to the forums and calling for blood. BioWare played it safe and smart and is staggering in the early access to avoid issues like this. Point of clarification: I am not saying the OP or anyone that posts in this thread is one of those people.

Hate to be the downer here and the forum police, but you guys should watch it with the name calling, infractions and more are most likely going to be handed out more frequently on these new forums as they will be more heavily moderated. I'd hate to see anyone get a vacation while waiting for launch. Just do what the sticky says and flag the post you believe is causing issues. if someone would help me down off this soapbox, I'll leave you all to it.

That 5.00 is refunded to you, so you aren't actually paying for early access but I can see how you would think so.