beta-opt-in
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Breakfast Topic: Mists of Pandaria beta's lack of NDA
Blizzard surprised the community last night with a Mists of Pandaria beta announcement, revealing the beta is beginning very soon, invitations will be sent out on a wave basis for Annual Pass subscribers, and there will be no NDA attached. No NDA means we here at WoW Insider get a nice breadth of content to show you, discuss, and help refine through the beta process. What content are you most excited to see and hear about once the Mists of Pandaria beta begins? Will you want live streams of dungeons? Cool quest videos? Monk guides? If you're in the beta, what's the first thing you'll do? It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria beta opt-in and official FAQ
It's 10 p.m. Pacific, and the fine folks have a little surprise for us all of a sudden: the Mists of Pandaria opt-in and FAQ has just been posted on the official Battle.net blog. While there are over a million Annual Pass subscribers eagerly awaiting their chance to get into the beta, the developers may still need a more diverse spread of testers throughout the beta. To opt in, you will need a Battle.net account with at least one Blizzard game attached to it -- I'm sure everyone reading this has one of those, right? You can read the full FAQ on Battle.net or behind the cut below. This FAQ does detail how and when Annual Pass holders will be entering the beta, so those of you who have signed up for that should take a look.
More beta keys sent out
Several people, including many WoW Insider authors, have received Beta Opt-In keys for Wrath of the Lich King in the last 24 hours. This latest wave seems to be quite large. In previous waves I've known 1 or 2 people that have gotten in, where as this wave I know at least 16.There is some speculation that this might be an attempt by Blizzard to thwart the release of Warhammer Online, which is set to come online next Thursday. Warhammer has received some mixed reviews, with many comparisons to World of Warcraft, including one by Michael Zenke of our sister site Massively.Nonetheless, those that have received keys are enjoying the thrills of the beta. New levels, the Death Knight, and servers crashing a few times an hour. Good times had by all!
[UPDATED] More Beta invites to be sent out *after*August 1st
My favorite blue poster in the Customer Service Forums has to be Belfaire. He's always got something smart and funny to say, usually in response to annoying forum trolls and others trying hard to be upset about a game. Besides his witty and crazy remarks, he also likes to drop all of us little bits of information here and there. Such is the case in a post today.Belfy confirmed that the next round of Beta invites will be sent out "around" Friday, August 1st "and on." This is another chance for more people to get into the beta. With some luck you might be able to run around and explore the wonders of Northrend. All previous waves of invites have included both BlizzCon, WWI, and Opt-In people.Check your email on the 1st! And check it often! You might just get one. And if you haven't yet, be sure to sign up for the Beta Opt-In.EDIT: Belfaire has issued a correction: "I need to reiterate there that I'm not confirming an August 1st distribution date. I'm confirming that a wave after August 1st will be the one that incorporates the remaining BlizzCon, WWI, and Dell Beta Club invites."
Blizzard confirms Beta invites to opt-ins on their way
Blizzard poster Belfaire has confirmed over at the forums that the first wave of Beta keys for subscribers who have opted in have been sent out. If you opted in, you might want to check your inbox for a Beta key as Blizzard has said that the invites are random. If you're one of the lucky few, you just might be roaming the new (but not necessarily improved -- we hear there are lots of bugs, and not the Silithus kind) build of the Beta. If you didn't get a Beta key, fret not as Belfaire also mentioned succeeding waves but did not give an ETA. You can check out WoW Insider's extensive beta coverage while you wait.
Wrath of the Lich King Beta FAQ
Blizzard has posted the official word that the Wrath of the Lich King beta invites are going out via email even as we speak. I'll be checking my mailbox compulsively. They have posted an official Beta FAQ on the website. The entire text of the FAQ is posted after the break, but here's the short version: You can still opt in for the Wrath of the Lich King neta Beta testers will need to create a temporary Blizzard account You can copy up to 4 characters to beta, or make a new one (Death Knight) Beta play has no impact on the live realm status of your character You are expected to report bugs and leave feedback There is no non-disclosure agreement for the beta
WotLK Alpha NDA lifted
Nethaera posted in the beta forums that the NDA for the Wrath of the Lich King Alpha has been lifted. In response to a question asking if people could share things from the Alpha, Neth says "Feel free to discuss at will." This is great news for everyone that wants to talk about the alpha material legally. Those who've been part of the Alpha will get to post troves of information and stories that they've collected. I'm sure some of them will be going up on WoW Insider soon enough, and these will only expand as beta invites become more active.The Alpha NDA was a source of tension for a lot of people, especially those in the Alpha. Several set up or contributed to sites like DeathKnight.info and WotlkWiki.com. It was very difficult, if not impossible, for Blizzard to enforce the NDA. However they were successful in forcing WotLKWiki.com to relocate.It will be interesting to see what the repercussions of the lifted NDA end up to be. One thing is for sure though, and that's that we're starting to see new and exciting information about WotLK come out minute by minute. Stay tuned!
Wrath of the Lich King Beta forums open to the public
You can now get your beta discussion going on with Blizzard via the Wrath of the Lich King Beta Forums, which have been made open to the public. This means you do not have to be in the beta to view the forums, but you do have to have to be in the beta to post in them. This is great news for those of us who want to keep track of all things Wrath, with comments and discussion happening right from Blizzard. They'll surely be a treasure trove of knowledge during the upcoming testing phase.It's turning out to be quite an exciting beta night. Stay tuned for more.
[UPDATED] WotLK European Beta invites NOT going out
Edit: This beta e-mail has been confirmed fake by Nethaera. Sorry for the scare, ladies and gentlemen. You can disregard the rest of this post. A few trusted Alpha testers are just having fun, apparently. That'll teach us! -AlexAccording to Deathknight.info, European beta invitations are being sent out at this very moment. This is great news for all of our friends overseas! Please be sure to check your email to see if you've received one.The above photo is from Deathknight.info and is an example of an email they have obtained. It would stand that U.S. invites are soon to follow, and that will mean those lucky enough will get to explore new areas of Northrend very soon.Click the image for a high res view.More Wrath of the Lich King information as the night goes on...Edit: I want to share an interesting fact a friend of mine found out during the wait for the U.S. Beta Opt-In to start a few weeks ago. He noticed that the Beta Opt-In accessibility started at 12:00 p.m. (noon) France time for the European servers. He then predicted that they would start in the U.S. at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time. He was correct. European beta invites appear to have started going out at 6:00 a.m. France time, and we can venture a guess as to when U.S. invites may begin: 6:00 a.m. Pacific time. Again, this is only a guess, but a good one.
WotLK Beta patch notes and other news
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Patch_notes_are_live_for_the_WoW_Wrath_of_the_Lich_King_beta'; Take a look at the Wrath of the Lich King beta patch notes after the break. WoW Insider believes these to be the real thing. With the activation of the beta downloader and beta site, it seems like there is quite a bit of activity at Blizzard tonight. Expect to hear more as the night goes on. If you haven't signed up for the beta yet and wish to do so, you can head over to the beta opt-in page and make your intentions know to Blizzard. It is rumored that the first round of invites will begin shortly, and we're all waiting on pins and needles for the emails.Additionally, any information gained through the beta does not have an NDA attached to it, so expect to see a lot more information in the hours and days ahead.
WotLK Beta test begins to ramp up
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/World_of_Warcraft_Wrath_of_the_Lich_King_Beta_Is_Starting'; The beta test is beginning to ramp up. Tonight we have word that the beta downloader is in action and delivering data to those that have access to it (via WotLK Wiki). This is an obvious indicator that Blizzard has switched over to the beta testing phase, and that they are getting ready to send out invites.Additionally the beta page at beta.worldofwarcraft.com now shows beta information and activity. If you do get a beta key, you can use this page to sign up and gain access to the client files. It would be a good time to start keeping and eye out for a real beta invite, and let us know if you get one if you're one of the first lucky few. However at the same time, please be very careful not to fall for any beta scams.WoW Insider will keep you posted throughout the evening on this breaking news.%Gallery-5525% Hungry for more Wrath of the Lich King Beta news? WoW Insider has a slew of articles for you including a walkthrough of the new Achievement system, the new Death Knight Runeforging skill and maps of Northrend. Keep checking the site for more class analysis and insights to the changes.
Beta opt-in F.A.Q.
More beta news for everyone to enjoy tonight. Bornakk has posted what Nethaera promised earlier in the day, a Wrath of the Lich King beta opt-in F.A.Q. The complete F.A.Q. is republished here for your convenience, and is definitely something everyone should read and re-read. Some of the key things to come out of the F.A.Q.: You are not guaranteed to get into the WotLK beta if you have a BlizzCon or WWI beta keys. These keys might go to another beta (like Diablo III). You can opt-in on multiple accounts, but each account can only opt-in once. If you get a key with one account, you can use it on another account of your choosing. However the key can only be used once. Opting in early does not necessarily mean you will get a beta slot early. Everything is random (as we previous reported). If you get a beta key from another source and are selected via the opt-in process, you can give your key to a friend or family member. Full F.A.Q. after the break.
Wrath of the Lich King US beta opt-in goes live
The moment everyone's been waiting for -- aside from a release date -- is finally here, Wrath of the Lich King US beta opt-ins are now available! All you're required to do is sign into your World of Warcraft account and make a couple clicks and bang, you're done. Do be warned that you'll only get an email if you're actually accepted into the WotLK beta and not a simple confirmation email for entering. We can't imagine that it'll be very long before the beta actually starts now that Blizzard is accepting both EU and US entries. Once the beta does begin information about what we can expect from World of Warcraft's next expansion should begin to flow even more freely. It's possible that we'll see the beta begin before Blizzcon 08, so make sure to get your submissions in fast, while the clickin's still good!
Beta selection is random, no emails yet
Nethaera has just come out and said that the beta selection process will be random. This is important for all of us to know: there will be no precedence or order associated with the opt-in. What does this mean? It means even if you sign up tomorrow you have a chance to get in, and that all of us who rushed to sign up when it just opened get no real benefit.Neth also lets us know that there are no beta emails going out just yet - and that they will "try" to let us know when they start sending out legitimate emails.We want to reiterate again: be careful with the email scams. They will be flying around today like wildfire. Don't get caught up in one. Read our handy guide on how to keep yourself safe for more information.
European registration for Wrath Beta now open
MMO Champion (and a few of our tipsters -- thanks!) is reporting that the European WoW site has opened up registration for the Wrath of the Lich King beta. I wasn't able to sign in with my trial account (created for the Dingstravaganza a while back), but there's no question that the page is up (inside EU players' Account Management menu) and accepting signups. Of course, this still doesn't mean that anyone is playing the beta, only that signups are taking place. We're also being told that it's an open sign-up, so it could be a long time before these signups are actually allowed to play, especially if one of the beta keys from BlizzCon or WWI are used to run a closed beta first.As for why this isn't happening on the main North American site yet, remember that one of the EU CMs was the one to break the news -- perhaps because WWI was local, they're starting things up early there (or maybe it's just a timezone thing, and the EU site has had more time today to get the signups going). No matter what, the wait is almost over -- there's no question now that we're closer to the Wrath of the Lich King beta than ever.Update: Eyonix confirms the registration on US side is coming soon.
New account management options: Blizzard Authenticator and Beta Opt-In
Many thanks to my buddy Taeous for discovering a new link on the account management page yesterday evening. Currently there are two new small items that are going to be of interest to nearly every WoW player out there: "Blizzard Authenticator" and "Beta Opt-In". We already know about the Blizzard Authenticator that'll be coming out soon enough. It is a little (optional) device that will act as a hardware based key which will be needed to log on to your account. This looks like the spot that you can associate one to your account with. However the Beta Opt-In link is really interesting. This is just in time for all the activity at the World Wide Invitational 2008, and those of us at WoW Insider are speculating that all those beta keys people are getting at the WWI08 will be used there (there will be a goodie bag handed out to each attendee). However hopefully this will also let others get into the beta as well. Right now the beta link points to the resurrect-a-friend program, and the authenticator link points to an un-published page - we'll let you know when they change over to a page with more useful information. Nonetheless, definitely something we all want to keep an eye on.
