Quote Originally Posted by Ath192 View Post
I have a 4090 Jeeq. I just wanna see the damn benchmark and character creation lol. Nonetheless, the point stands that the benchmark should be out at the same time or earlier than pre-orders are available so the consumer can make an informed decision. Defending the delay helps noone.
Or the wise consumer will compare specs announced at Pax East today and make an informed decision.

The 'benchmark' is a marketing tool, not an analytics engine. It is also something that most other MMORPGs tend to skip entirely in their marketing campaigns.

Consumers can also wait until the marketing tool is released and still pre-order the expansion. It's not like Square Enix is going to prevent you from pre-ordering in late May or early June, although the physical collector's edition will most likely sell out within days of release, like it did last time.