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When will the beta start?
The beta is expected to begin in Q3 (sometime between August and October), and it will be done in stages. That is all the information we have at this time; please watch the World of Warcraft site for any news regarding the beta.
It shall be here soon, I'm guessing December.
I admit; I have a poor track record at beta-ing. I only played Fallen Age for about two weeks (sorry 
), and stopped playing TFT after about three (I just wouldn't get around to it).
But I really think this will be "the one." 
If not, my beta-ing days are done.
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Sentow, Maybe's account was hax0red to write:
I'm going to explode
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Elvish Crack Piper thought about the meaning of life:
Just lie about your beta expierience or something:/ Mention the D2 open beta for sure! And proclaim your love of bill roper!
Generally previous Blizzard Beta Testers that actually did their jobs are first to be picked.
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Nwizzle Fo' Shizzle had this to say about Punky Brewster:
I don't get why they don't just release the Beta. I understand holding the actual release until it's 100% finished, but Beta? It's supposed to be broken and buggy
Exploits and Balance issues are probably what they're trying to stamp out in Beta. [ 08-05-2003: Message edited by: Skaw ]
If they were smart theyd keep it a very closed & tight beta until the release date.
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Reynaring:
I wish they'd just keep the beta testers to a very small amount of people up until the stress test. Too many people look at the beta as just a free chance to play the game & leak out information.
Not only that but they act like it's the final product
SWG anyone?
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There was much rejoicing when Reynar said this:
I wish they'd just keep the beta testers to a very small amount of people up until the stress test. Too many people look at the beta as just a free chance to play the game & leak out information.If they were smart theyd keep it a very closed & tight beta until the release date.
Lucky for me that I'm not like that.
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ACES! Another post by Reynar:
I wish they'd just keep the beta testers to a very small amount of people up until the stress test. Too many people look at the beta as just a free chance to play the game & leak out information.If they were smart theyd keep it a very closed & tight beta until the release date.
This is Blizzard we are talking about. They always have huge betas. It is what they do. Also, they know that alot of people look at it in a fashion of whether or not to buy the final product. That is part of the reason why they always go to beta so late. I don't know this but that is what I'm seeing from their past history.
My guess is that when WoW goes to beta it will be on par in terms of gameplay with EQ a year after release, and in all likelyhodd will probably be better then that. That is of course if they manage to work their magic with MMORPG like they have with virtually any other genere they decided to look at. Now that I have said this though it will probably tank and I will have to eat my hords. So it goes.
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Maradon! had this to say about Cuba:
Not only that but they act like it's the final productSWG anyone?
Probably because just about everyone who's played alpha says it's ready for release.
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Reynar attempted to be funny by writing:
I wish they'd just keep the beta testers to a very small amount of people up until the stress test. Too many people look at the beta as just a free chance to play the game & leak out information.If they were smart theyd keep it a very closed & tight beta until the release date.
I could've sworn I read somewhere that they're not going to have a really huge beta, aka, not every person will get in.
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Katrinity had this to say about (_|_):
Addddddy! Where is that Sigpic from? I like! ^.^
<shares a cookie with the Muffin Queen>
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Everyone wondered WTF when Katrinity wrote:
Thankee! ^.^<shares a cookie with the Muffin Queen>
Yay for cookies! *munches on eet happily*
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Addy's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
Yay for cookies! *munches on eet happily*
Back on topic you two
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Vorago probably says this to all the girls:
Back on topic you two
Hijack cookie jihad! <rushes Vorago with Delicious Cookies!>
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Vorago wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
Back on topic you two
Okay.
Will there be cookies in WoW? Or muffins?
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There was much rejoicing when Naimah said this:
It's Blizzard though. The game is probably already 90% done. It just dosn't have that polish that they are oh so famous for.
You're forgetting the fact that Blizzard is also famous for its long delays and development times. While they do put a lot of care into their projects, its not necessarily because its well "polished;" a lot of it is just delays.
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This is Blizzard we are talking about. They always have huge betas. It is what they do. Also, they know that alot of people look at it in a fashion of whether or not to buy the final product. That is part of the reason why they always go to beta so late. I don't know this but that is what I'm seeing from their past history.
Except they've never had a MMORPG beta before. You're thinking they'll treat this like all their other betas, but because its a MMORPG they really can't. You can't do as much in-house testing with WoW as they did with any of their previous games, so they'll have to have a semi-public beta much earlier in the process. WoW is far more complex than any of their previous games and thus will have to be handled differently.
I agree it won't be as big as Frozen Throne was but it is still going to be large compared to other MMORPG just because of improved net and server code. And Blizzards past habits.
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Naimah obviously shouldn't have said:
Ok, so instead of have 300,000 in the beta they will only have 50,000. In all actuallity it depends on their server capacity on how high they are going to push the beta. They are going to want it to be at roughly 50% for the first stages then want to push it up to 110% or even 140% to see how well their code can handle it. They also may decide to run one server for awhile then start up a new server after a month or two to see how an economy develops after players have an idea of what they are doing.I agree it won't be as big as Frozen Throne was but it is still going to be large compared to other MMORPG just because of improved net and server code. And Blizzards past habits.
Let me get your numbers right here. You feel than the initial beta phase will have 25k people? Then they'll up those numbers to 55k and 75k for the normal testing? You do realize that the initial beta phases usually have only dozens at most testing. Then it goes to hundreds and a couple thousand for normal phases. Normally, only once you hit the larger more open phases does it push those higher numbers.
You're making assumptions based off games that have totally different testing situations than a MMORPG does. Why is Blizzard different from every other company who's made a MMORPG? What makes them able to have more people in their initial beta phase than some MMORPGs have totally? What is this magic "improved net and server code" you mention? Honestly, don't you feel a little bit like a fanboy?
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Naimah had this to say about Robocop:
Sorry, for basing it on my previous experiances in the beta world.
Um, I'm basing it on my previous experiences too. Your numbers and assumptions just don't seem right to me. *shrugs* I bet Drysart can come in here and smack both of us around with proper info though.
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Check out the big brain on Talonus!
You're forgetting the fact that Blizzard is also famous for its long delays and development times. While they do put a lot of care into their projects, its not necessarily because its well "polished;" a lot of it is just delays.
Yes, because Blizzard is certainly not known for the level of polish in their games
Sort of like how SOE is known for their completely bug free retail releases of their MMOGs
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Vorago thought about the meaning of life:
Yes, because Blizzard is certainly not known for the level of polish in their gamesSort of like how SOE is known for their completely bug free retail releases of their MMOGs
I really don't like SOE, more of a Mythic fanboy if anything.
Anyways, there's a level of fanboyism that has to drop to realism in this thread. Just because its Blizzard doesn't mean they're going to have some bug-less, highly finished, beta with thousands upon thousands of people.
I don't doubt the game will be good, but some people in this thread have some overboard expectations of Blizzard and WoW. They're still just normal people, not gaming gods.
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Verily, Talonus doth proclaim:
I don't doubt the game will be good, but some people in this thread have some overboard expectations of Blizzard and WoW. They're still just normal people, not gaming gods.
They who made SC:Brood War are nothing less than gods 
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From the book of Vorago, chapter 3, verse 16:
They who made SC:Brood War are nothing less than gods
And this is what I was referring to. Then again, its been pretty obvious you're a fanboy. No offense of course.
Go go RQG.
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Check out the big brain on Talonus!
And this is what I was referring to. Then again, its been pretty obvious you're a fanboy. No offense of course.Go go RQG.
Hell yeah. I have been waiting and will most likely be waiting until Starcraft 2 for a RTS better than SC:BW
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Vorago got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
Hell yeah. I have been waiting and will most likely be waiting until Starcraft 2 for a RTS better than SC:BW
Meh, I prefer WC3 over SC. Not a big fan of Sci-Fi
We will see how Blizzard fairs when it comes to class balance on a major scale.
I have high hopes for them, but this is something they've never done before.
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Nwizzle Fo' Shizzle had this to say about Optimus Prime:
Meh, I prefer WC3 over SC. Not a big fan of Sci-Fi
I could care less about the setting, Warcraft is an inferior RTS when compared to SC:BW
Warcraft is still a great game, far better than the other crap RTSs out there right now, but it doesn't begin to scratch BW. I have yet to find anything that does
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Naimah got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
Sorry, for basing it on my previous experiances in the beta world.
You ever been in early MMORPG betas?
SWG Beta 1: 500 people initial invite, no more than 50 on at once during hte 8 hours a week the servers were up.
Asheron's Call Beta 0: 250 people. 100 microsoft employees, 150 people hand picked by devs.
DAOC Beta 2: 250 people, IIRC. I was at times the only person online. ALOT.
So, early betas are less people and are used to test the basics (I.E. Interface), while later betas are to balance and stress test.
