So last night, with my computer newly upgraded, I decided to pre-order The Old Republic and check it out, since (as I've heard) the early access to the game had started.
If TOR were sold by Steam or by Blizzard there would only be around three button presses (and some loading time) between me and playing a game. EA has been constantly talking up Origin, even withholding Battlefield 3 (likely their biggest release of the year) from Steam, their biggest competitor. It's clearly their big new corporate initiative, so I imagined some similar level of polish. Oh no. What I got was a convoluted eleven step process :
1. Retrieve Origin password, I don't remember it because I never use it
2. Log in -- on a different page.
3. Try to navigate back to the TOR pre-order page, but can't find it. I don't see it on the front page of origin either (!). Finally I have to search for it, and find it.
4. Pre-order TOR.
5. Now there should be a button on that page, that downloads Origin (that would download the game). Nope. Check your email.
6. Email has a code, you enter it at the TOR website.
7. Can't log onto the TOR website, account is separate from Origin. Have to reset that password too.
8. Enter the code on the TOR website. Nothing happens or downloads.
9. So I find the download link for Origin on EA's website. Run it and TOR shows up in Origin, but I can't download it in Origin.
10. Search around on the internet (EA's help site is "down for maintenance"). I need to download the client from a link on the TOR website, not through Origin. So I do that.
11. Game client loads, so I'm ready to log in and play, right? Evidently not. As a Sane Person, I thought that if I had "Early Access", and "Early Access" has begun, then I would be able to play. Of course that's not the case. "Early Access" is actually a series of rolling first-preordered/first-served invites. So as a "last-preordered" sort of guy I'll surely tuck into TOR at least several minutes before it officially launches.
Horrible.