BioWare Declares SWTOR WILL Have a Grace Period; Also Upcoming Maintenance

It’s been a whirlwind ride so far this week as Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Early Access period began and players eagerly (and angrily) awaited their chance to log in to the game. While BioWare’s policy of a staggered launch (inviting people in a number of waves each day) ruffled some feathers, they were also dealing with backlash following the announcement that a previously implied grace period for purchasers would no longer be in effect.

That changed yesterday, with everyone who has pre-ordered gaining a 48 hour window in which to receive or pick up their boxed edition and enter the relevant code. Crucially, this gives folks a little leeway when it comes to the delivery of the game, as we all know the postal system isn’t exactly sterling at this time of year. So long as you enter your game registration code by 12:01 a.m. EST on December 22nd, you’ll be able to continue playing Star Wars: The Old Republic with no interruption.

Less exciting is the announcement of schedules maintenance. It had to happen, and for the most part the maintenance periods are fairly unobtrusive. Servers were down last night from 3:00 a.m. EST for approximately two hours, and will be down from 7:00 p.m. EST on December 19th until approximately midnight. Finally, the servers will be down once again at 3:00 a.m. EST on December 22nd for an estimated three hours.

You can view the official post regarding the grace period in this thread at the SWTOR forums, and find the announcement regarding scheduled maintenance here.