According to an EA spokesperson’s correspondence with Giant Bomb, it appears that the initial run of copies for Star Wars: The Old Republic will be limited, in order to get a better idea for server stability. Ostensibly, that’s the case, anyways. As Patrick Klepek points out in the article, it could very much be a plan devised to create a more fervent demand on release (even if the title is apparently breaking pre-order records for EA).
Does that mean that some folks who pre-order possibly won’t get to play their game on launch day? That hardly seems like a plan to keep consumers happy, if that’s the case. Or, does that mean, if enough players pre-order, that there will be only a scant few copies (or digital downloads, as those are also being limited) available at launch?
I do feel that the idea behind this plan has some merit, if genuinely for the benefit of the players. I’ve never played an MMO that hasn’t had an absolutely terrible launch day, if not an absolutely terrible launch week. World of Warcraft, despite Blizzard believing they’d be prepared following a lengthy open beta stress test, still had its servers hammered hard by the onslaught of players and was nigh unplayable at times.
I’m genuinely curious as to how this entire plan is going to roll out, and how staggered the number of copies available will be. Especially if EA is unable to predict how many plan to pick this one up on launch day.
