No Open Beta for Burning Crusade
Lucipher from Burning Blade asks on the forums if there will be an open beta for Burning Crusade, and Eyonix says, pretty unequivocally: Nope.
Well that's kind of a bummer. If you haven't got a beta key from Blizzcon, aren't rich enough to buy one, and don't know anyone who works at Blizzard, you're pretty much out of luck. In one sense, it's not really a bad thing-- playing in an open beta, especially for an expansion, is like reading a gigantic spoiler of a movie you can't wait to see. But as Lucipher says, it does mean no demo for the Burning Crusade. Either you'll be paying full price to check out the new talents, dungeons, and races, or you won't be playing them at all. Then again, are there still people out there who haven't decided whether they're getting the expansion or not? I would guess that by now you know what you're going to do once that box hits stores.
Of course, you could go the cynical route. Tyrus from Executus points out (not uninsightfully), that "open beta will be the 6 months after BC goes retail of course." It's funny-- because it's probably true.
