Release Date clarification [ Edited ]

[harneyden]

@holger1405i get that and totally appreciate that.

However all the Australian advertising stated the 14th as the release date. This was the case up until yesterday, only to have that date change dramatically.

1am on the 15th is not even remotely close to the 14th as a release date. That's literally another day. 

And as I said above I could walk into a store at 9am AEST on the 14th, buy a physical copy on PS4 or XBONE be home by 9.30am and be playing it by 10am but somehow PC has to wait for another 15 hours?

I don't have either console so that scenario is not possible for me. 

It's just poor management, and disrespectful to an entire hemisphere of people.

[holger1405]

@harneyden 

Yes, different platforms and a different way of distribution, it has nothing to do with disrespect, only with logistics.

I see questions like that for 10 years now, it is nothing new and it will not change.
Even the EU developers set release times that are convenient for the US market, and there will be no additional times for different regions because that would introduce entirely new problems.

That EA could have communicated the Australian PC release date better is no question but as said, it is not new and you will have that in the back of your mind in the future I guess.

[harneyden]

@holger1405 disagree completely, you must live in the northern hemisphere in a big region and have never experienced the disregard for an entire region of people.

Logistics as an excuse makes zero sense, it's lazy and an apologist attitude for bad management.

PC being 100% digital should be able to match the physical release date of the product, "logistics" has nothing to do with it, press the button and open up PC at the same time for that region.

I get that you have a vested interest in EA given your position on this forum but please don't insult my intelligence by tossing aside my comments by saying "10 years ago" etc or "it's nothing new", as if I don't know the state of the gaming industry, especially in my own country. 

I worked in a brick and mortar game store back when ME1 was first released as an Xbox 360 exclusive.

At the time we waited ages for releases to make it to Australia, Smash bros Wii was literally 6 months delayed in the Australian region.

Yes there have been improvements with "Simultaneous releases", however when that release occurs for other regions at times that are completely unreasonable for the average person, that is in and of itself, disrespectful.

Doesnt matter if it's EA, Activision, Nintendo whoever, it sends a message to everyone in that region that the company does not really care about the experience people in that region have at launch.

And I do understand that position as well, Australia is tiny compared to UK, Europe and USA.

Profits are much smaller here.

Doesn't excuse it, doesn't make it better and doesn't mean we should just accept that as  the way it is and it's not going to change.

[holger1405]

@harneyden 

"Logistics" as in the difference between PC and Consoles. 

I live in Germany, so the release for me is 5PM on the 14th.

I guess I could complain to that the Console players have it before me or that the US players can play all day and I only a few hours.

Instead I wish them happy gaming.

Have a nice day.

[harneyden]

@holger1405

As if I don't wish others happy gaming because I want things to be fairer in my country?!

Good try, mate.

Peace. 

[mcsupersport]

I can give a good reason to have the release time for Central Standard time mid morning....Because that is where Bioware is located or close to it, and thus that is where and when people will be on the job to handle launch issues for PC.  I imagine the consoles have certain rules they must follow and the Console companies(microsoft/sony) get to choose when games are unlocked as far as time frame goes, basically they tell Sony game releases this day, Sony says ok we will unlock it at this time per our system. 

Do I know this as the 100% truth, no, I work on cars for a living, but it is one very possible set of reasons for their actions that I can see.   Will this issue ever change, well yeah, it has already changed as you noted with digital releases limiting the delays for people to get games.  One thing to also consider is check your Government in Aussy as to what issues they throw up in releasing games.....

[frauzet]

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@mcsupersport wrote:

I can give a good reason to have the release time for Central Standard time mid morning....Because that is where Bioware is located or close to it, and thus that is where and when people will be on the job to handle launch issues for PC.  I imagine the consoles have certain rules they must follow and the Console companies(microsoft/sony) get to choose when games are unlocked as far as time frame goes, basically they tell Sony game releases this day, Sony says ok we will unlock it at this time per our system. 

Do I know this as the 100% truth, no, I work on cars for a living, but it is one very possible set of reasons for their actions that I can see.   Will this issue ever change, well yeah, it has already changed as you noted with digital releases limiting the delays for people to get games.  One thing to also consider is check your Government in Aussy as to what issues they throw up in releasing games.....

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I always assumed this is the main reason for the timing of releases/updates/maintenance.

[GrimReaperTaken]

@holger1405 you make a very solid point but im going to make a very very weak argument to counter it :P

Back when launches were different days in different regions I was too young to really understand the internet and had limited access. I only ever knew about my local release date that retailers told me about.

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Now that internet usage has become more common and release information is released generally online first i'm more affected by it when it isnt clarified for different regions. It's like if your local shopping centre said you could get this limited time food you love on the 14th and then you get excited for it and they tell you oh we didnt clarify? we are a multi national company, we meant the timezone of our headquarters on the other side of the world, see you tomorrow :D It would suck right? It's such a minor inconvenience but back then you got told you would get the game 3 days later than other regions so you were ready for the correct day in your locality, now we get implied to get the game same day and then we actually get it at a different time. 

Also i should point out that a 1am unlock isnt gonna be played at 1am lmao, best believe ill be snoring till my normal wakeup time so its a whole other day than was advertised.

@harneyden I want to point out that while we are in the southern hemisphere the release date of ME isnt actually disrespectful to an entire hemisphere. The Timezones run vertically across the planet (east to west) while the hemispheres are just north and south. People in Western Australia who are 3 hours behind AEST will get it at 10pm on the 14th. As far as I know there are very few places that it will release on the 15th, namely New zealand, the east coast of australia, maybe some countries in the northern hemisphere too. 

@mcsupersport made a good point though about launch being when developers are in the office.

[harneyden]

@GrimReaperTaken too true, I was hyperbolising for sure.

And I understand the points made by everyone else here.

It just feels a weak given its a single player game, if it was a multiplayer game with servers etc for the staff to monitor and maintain I respect that decision more.

I suppose they'll be watching for day 1 bugs etc or DRM issues given the spread of hardware variances, which is valid.

But also, with the physical release on consoles I'm sure there will be staff monitoring those releases all the same. 

Oh well the point is moot, the game comes out when it comes out.

I will play it on the morning of the 15th when I wake up, I cancelled my pre order and will purchase post release.

I will bear the loss of an annual leave day I scheduled for this release based on the information provided in Australian based advertising, I will still enjoy my day off, albeit a little deflated.

It just always feels like Australia gets the short end of the stick when it comes to gaming.

[harneyden]

Also I don't mean to be rude and standoffish, and I'm sorry for being heated towards @holger1405 please accept my apologies.

Mass Effect is really special to me, I know it sounds lame, I'm just really keen to jump back into that universe and the delay upset me.