The site is very clear that all pre-order bonuses, including the mount, will be available “at launch” for the physical CE. So no plans at this point for the proof-of-purchase system, it seems.

They didn’t offer that for Summerset either - they actually retracted the ad that the physical CE would get the mount immediately on pre-order. They set up the proof-of-purchase system later because players were going to miss the launch date for the chapter.

If there’s enough of a snafu with shipping the physical CE, we might see that submission system return, but they’re doing whatever they can to avoid it.

Actually the fix wouldn't be all that hard all they have to do is change the ship date of the Physical Edition to a week before Early access release date, so that the package that has the redemption code on it is delivered to the purchaser

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Vandellia wrote: »

but the physical buyers will have to wait till the item is actually shipped to obtain their key... yea it may only be a couple of days after early access is allowed , but that is still aggrovating.

Let's hope your shipment doesn't get delayed by third parties too.
Is it so hard for ZOS to discover who's receiving the physical item and unlock it on their account or email them a code?

You've hit the nail on the head, at least from ZOS' perspective. That's a resource investment they don't want to have to make except as a last resort.

SAbor_Duskhunter wrote: »

No it is easy for them, they have done it before, I know as I have purchased each physical edition as they have released it and all I had to do was send them proof of purchase. @ZOS_GinaBruno can we please have this again it seems like such a simple gesture to give the community.

Just because they've done it before doesn't mean it was easy. It's a big time expenditure and takes staff away from the thousands of tickets they receive each day (easily 4-5k/day, probably in the neighborhood of 1.5-2 million per year). For one person to submit a proof-of-purchase is easy for the person, but for a company that has to handle so many requests every day, adding thousands more to the pile is not easy, especially since each one has to be verified by an individual support agent rather than an automated system.

Vandellia wrote: »

Actually the fix wouldn't be all that hard all they have to do is change the ship date of the Physical Edition to a week before Early access release date, so that the package that has the redemption code on it is delivered to the purchaser

This would probably be the best solution for the future (and they're supposedly doing exactly that for console release this year), even if changing the release date for this year now that it's been announced might be problematic. So this would require setting three discrete dates: for the physical CE release, for the PC live launch, and for the console live launch. If they could do that, then this sounds like it would work well to help stave off late delivery issues.

The other caveat about this approach is that retailers already seem confused about what the release date is supposed to be for the physical CE this year and are confusing their customers as well - a lot are still saying that the release date is June 2, despite what ZOS has promised, and if they don't get their ducks in a row on that, both the retailers and ZOS are going to have a lot of upset customers on their hands. So once the dates are set, Zeni has to ensure that the retailers act on that info appropriately, but that's true no matter what.