Tips and tricks:
(For those outside "
zone 1") Unlock the game early: Sign up to
VyprVPN's free service and, after connecting to an AU/NZ/Asian server, restart Steam. Due to the 500MB bandwidth limit the free service has, it's best advised to switch to Offline Mode while you wait for the game to unlock in your region since disconnecting from the VPN mid-session will cause your in-game status to cease, which breaks Steamworks functionality as the game is no longer communicating with the client.
Note: Any other instances of Steam must be closed in order for the region switch to take place -- this includes the mobile app as well as the client.