Um, I just pre-ordered the game from Gamestop.com via the link on the pre-order page, and they are not providing a cd-key. How do I get a head start in the game, or better yet - how do I do a lifetime subscribe for a Borg toon without a pre-order cd-key?

The pre-order ID is 1714147 - though I doubt that will mean anything on this end.

Bring your recipe that you hopefully printed (you should still be able to print it even if you didn't print it when you bought it) to your nearest gamestop. Once there show them recipe and you should get your key. Do its TODAY. The 1st is the last day to get lifetime subscription with borg char. After that you lose borg and the price increases by $60.

Personal note. Get the game from amazon. Its cheaper and theres no tx so your total is $47. You also get a better pre-order bonus, borg bridge officer, and if you order with amazon prime you can get it on release day. You can try amazon prime for a month free so do that. The pre-order bonus from gamestop sucks its a free ship that becomes obsolete very soon after starting the game.

The tax depends on the state you live in and if amazon has any warehouses in your state. You could also go with newegg. That way you won't pay any taxes (as long as a warehouse is not located in your state) or shipping. The lag in time will give Cryptic time to fix some of the bugs before you play the game.
For me, since this would be my first mmo, I think I'll wait about a month or so for them to fix most of the major and some minor bugs.

It takes a few hours for the key to come in after you order. If you do not see it in about eight hours call up gamestop.

Just an update - I'm boned apparently.

I talked to their customer service today, they said they were only giving pre-order cd-keys out up until Friday. I asked why their website didn't say that and the lady I spoke to said she didn't know why.

So I am out of luck. I put in a request to cancel the order, and we'll see if that will even work, but I know this is petty, but I really was only interested in the game cause I wanted to see what a Borg would be like. oh well

Wrong... I hate when reps give bad info... call them back and talk to another person. They can e-mail you a code instantly after talking to you.

An alternate solution which worked for me was to pre-order with store pick-up and I took the receipt to the store and they gave me a card with a pre-order key on it.

Awhile later they emailed me a key as well so my son was able to play the beta.

I preordered from D2D, had my preorder code in seconds and was then able to get a lifetime sub for my borg toon. They are cool looking, but they aren't overpowered either. In fact my Vulcan arguably has slightly better racials.

I was going to call back, but last night I had put in an email to their customer service dept. and just a few minutes after my call received this in my inbox:

Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting GameStop.com.
If you did not place your order by Friday 1/29/10 you will not receive access to the headstart. Please note that we removed this offer from our website Friday evening.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to respond to this email.
Best regards,
Tamara
Customer Service Agent

edit: it's not really worth anymore of my time to keep messing with this. I'm sure an expansion will come out that will allow players to pick a Borg and I'll just tag along then.

I've got my Gamestop preorder key and it is active, however cryptic will not let me buy a lifetime subscription. Says its not currently available