The Daily Grind: Is a tiered launch the way to go?

I'm sure you know where I'm going with this one. Star Wars: The Old Republic launched earlier this week, and if you pre-ordered the game, you were allowed to play during an early access period before retail launch. This meant that early adopters were rewarded for their loyalty, but not all at once. Early access was granted according to pre-order date... for the most part.

We can only imagine BioWare decided to do this to prevent the massive server queues that have recently plagued triple-A MMO launches like RIFT's. While it may have toned down the intensity a bit, server queues are still a problem. After all, those who got in early didn't mysteriously stop playing on retail launch day. The traffic seems to be consistent, but it's the players' locations in the game world that seem to have benefited the most from the tiered launch.

So we want to know what you think. Did BioWare set a new standard for MMO launches, or was this whole experiment a flop?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!