Guild Wars 2

Hello. I ordered a GW2 CE from Game UK, to give a friend for his birthday, next month. I received the box and the pre-order code (described as “1-day early access”) but no other code since then.

Will that code work when my friend installs the game next month? Arena Net’s posts suggest that it won’t, and that Game UK should have sent me another code, but they didn’t, and haven’t replied to any of my e-mails.

Naturally, I didn’t register the code, since the game is a gift (so I can’t say for sure if it works or not). I just want to make sure that when my friend opens the box, the correct code is inside it, and not some “expired” code.

Can someone from Arena Net check (via PM or e-mail) if that registration code is valid ? I’ve contacted support but so far no reply.

Can anyone from Arena Net clarify this? Is there a way to check if the code is temporary or definitive without actually registering it? Surely you must have considered that some people will buy the game as a gift for someone else…

The code for the game should be in the CE box. Preorder key expired already and will not work.

If there’s a final code inside the box, why is Arena Net saying that people who pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition “must go back to the retailer to get the final code” ?

According to Arena Net’s post, only pre-purchasers of the CE got a definitive code (but there was no pre-purchase option for the CE from this retailer, only pre-order).

Cause when you go to retailer to get the final code you get the box too..and in the box is the code.

I really hope your retailer hasn’t lost your box like they did with mine … But I could see how this applies to pre-order as well. I suggest you go pick up your box if you haven’t done so. If there’s no code in there, update us here.

Fogeltje.2341:

I suggest you go pick up your box if you haven’t done so.

I have the box, I got it by mail. It actually arrived before launch.

SirCag.8914:

Cause when you go to retailer to get the final code you get the box too..and in the box is the code.

Would anyone buy the CE and not get the box? If that is the case, why doesn’t Arena Net simply say “use the code inside the box, that is the final one” ?

I’d like some official confirmation; I wouldn’t like my friend to open the box on his birthday and get a code that says it’s expired.

GaileGray.9587:

Please read this detailed post to understand better.

I had already read that post. The problem is this sentence:

When Guild Wars 2 launches, customers will need to return to their retailer with proof of purchase to receive the full Collector’s Edition box with physical items and retail serial code.

First, it’s not very clear if it’s saying that we need to go back to the retailer “to receive the box” and “to receive the code” (i.e., to receive two separate things) or if the code included in the box will always be the final one.

Second, that post says says “when Guild Wars 2 launches, customers will need to return to their retailer”. However, I got the GW2 CE box before the launch date (it was sent on the 24th and arrived on the 27th).

So, given the situation I described, do I need to “return to the retailer” (now, after launch) for anything?

All I’m asking you to do is confirm: Do all CE boxes come with a definitive code (that won’t be “expired” if registered next month) ?

Simply stating it in those terms on your website would be much clearer. “If you bought the Collector’s Edition, the final registration code will be the one found inside the box. If you don’t have the box yet, be sure to get it from your retailer.”

Telling me that I need to “return to the retailer after launch” isn’t very clear, because I got the box before launch. It just gives me the impression that the box comes with no code (or with a code that won’t be valid), and that the only way to get the definitive code is to “return to the retailer”.

I’m sorry Al Zheimer, I must have read your post wrong or mixed it up with something else I read. I guess you are safe as in this case receiving the box should equal to “return to the retailer after launch” as you need to do that to pick up your box (which in your case was delivered to you). But I can see how you can be confused about this. If you really truly worry, you could make an account for your friend, carefully open the box and apply the serial code to the account. You can immediately check and verify everything is in order. On his birthday you’ll give the box and the account details.

I don’t see why the code in the box should expire. It’s possible that not all CE boxes are sold that quickly. Imagine someone buying one in a store in a few months from now only to find out the code “expired”. I wouldn’t want to be the store clerk on duty when that customer returns raging

Fogeltje.2341:

I don’t see why the code in the box should expire.

Me neither, but Arena Net’s wording gives that impression.

If all CE boxes include a valid “final” code, then it doesn’t make much sense to say that people must “return to the retailer after launch”. They’d just say “the final code is the one inside the CE box; if you don’t have the box yet be sure to get it”.

Since they say “you must return to the retailer after launch” that creates the impression that CE boxes bought before launch came with a temporary code only.

To make things even stranger, Arena Net’s page says that everyone who bought the CE got access to the 3-day headstart, but when I ordered it I was given a code labelled as “1-day headstart access”.

Anyway, that last part is irrelevant, I just want Arena Net to confirm that all CE boxes come with a valid code, that doesn’t expire (in other words, that I don’t need to “return to the retailer”).

Sorry you are confused but it is clear they are saying people who preordered/prepurchsed from a RETAIL location need to go get the box. And the sentence you quoted is not unclear

When Guild Wars 2 launches, customers will need to return to their retailer with proof of purchase to receive the full Collector’s Edition box with physical items and retail serial code.

I bolded the key part the box comes WITH the physical items and retail code

To make things even stranger, Arena Net’s page says that everyone who bought the CE got access to the 3-day headstart, but when I ordered it I was given a code labelled as “1-day headstart access”.

That just means you had a pre-ORDER version and not a pre-PURCHASE version.

And Drintar, the way I understood the story, he had the actual CE box, that means he has the code. But reading again I start to doubt even that. Al Zheimer, what EXACTLY do you have? A DVD case with a code? Or a huge box with the statue an other stuff? If you have just a DVD case then you need to go to Game UK, with your receipt and the big CE box. The code in the DVD case will have expired by now as that was only there to make sure the one day head start access could be granted. It expired five days after the official launch on the 28th. I clearly hadn’t had enough coffee this morning when I was reading this topic again.

I have the full box, with the statue. It was shipped to me on the 24th and arrived on the 27th (possibly on the 26th, but I got it on the 27th).

Drintar.1246:

I bolded the key part the box comes WITH the physical items and retail code

Actually, that sentence can also be read as:

“to receive 1 = (the full Collector’s Edition box with physical items) and 2 = (the retail serial code).”

But either way, that’s not really relevant. My issue is the part about “must return to the retailer”. If all the CE boxes include a valid code, I think anyone would have worded it as “the final serial code is the one contained in the box; if you don’t have the box yet, contact your retailer”.

Surely they must know that some people got the box before launch, so to say “EU customers who bought the CE must return to the retailer after launch” is confusing.

Anyway, Arena Net can clear this up simply by saying “every CE box contains a final registration code”. That’s all I’m asking for. Official confirmation that I don’t need to “return to the retailer after launch”.

Naturally, if the game was for me I could simply try the code and check if it works, but since it isn’t, I would like to get official confirmation.

Fogeltje.2341:

That just means you had a pre-ORDER version and not a pre-PURCHASE version.

Yes, that would seem to be the case. But Arena Net’s page (link to above) doesn’t mention pre-orders for the CE.

Also, I received the game box before launch, so (unless they didn’t charge me until one day after I had the box, which is highly unlikely), this was effectively treated as a pre-purchase. They shipped the game to me on the 24th (the day I ordered it). That means they must have charged it on that day, which means it was effectively a pre-purchase.

In fact, every site I found selling the CE mentioned only pre-purchase, not pre-order, which makes it odd that I was sent a code labelled as “1-day headstart”.

Anyway, that part isn’t really relevant, since the headstart period is long gone.

I just want confirmation from Arena Net that I don’t actually need to “return to the retailer”, and that box I received before launch contains a valid code, that won’t expire.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask, and it shouldn’t be hard for an Arena Net representative to confirm this.

Or I guess not…