Does Pre-Ordering Digital 5.0 instantly upgrade ARR to Stormblood before release?

[Spawk]

Title says it. I've searched and can't find anything.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

It does not as you don't get the code until release.

Early access does not give anything in regards to old expansions.

[Rongway]

Early access does not give anything in regards to old expansions.

Early access does. Pre-order does not.

Early access gets Shadowbringers four days before Shadowbringers launch. Pre-ordering Shadowbringers won't get you the old expansions right now, but previous expansions are a part of Shadowbringers, not a pre-order bonus, so you do get them when early access starts.

It's also worth noting that pre-ordering the 5.0 Complete Edition doesn't get you anything until ShB official launch; not because expansions aren't included but because the complete edition just doesn't get early access at all.

[milovan]

they addressed this on the pre-order japanese stream. they mentioned that if you want HW and SB content now, you may purchase the SB expansion while waiting for ShB.

[Spawk]

Thank you all for answering. Maybe my friend will level veeeery slow

[Dustytome]

I'd think it would work more in their favor if they gave the option to immediately activate the pre-order code so people could progress while waiting. It adds more value to the pre-order for those without the other expansions and it gives them a reason to subscribe for additional months before the release of shadowbringers. This is actually what Blizzard did with BfA and what got me to pre-order. I didn't have the Legion expansion, but since it was at the tail end, I was just going to wait until it became part of the battle chest (battle chest = initial game content + all expansions except the newest) so I wasn't paying twice. They offered up immediate access to Legion if you pre-ordered BfA, which netted them my money immediately, plus a few months of subscription money they would otherwise have been without.

[Xaeth]

It does sound like a legal grey zone since you usually can return a game within a couple of days if you don't like it and if they gave you access to current expansions before Shadowbringers launch, you can't really return Shadowbringers since you've been playing the other expansions (which is part of the product) already. Not Sure how to handle that without either counting the days from when you get access to the current expansions or giving up your chance to return the game at all. Also cancelling the preorder would definitely be out the window since you already have access to part of the product.

Just a quick thought on the subject