Guild Wars 2 to 'officially enter closed beta' this Friday [Updated]

@Seffrid

Sounds like you follow SW, not GW2. Otherwise you'd know that they've always been open about their alpha, closed beta and open beta plans; and more importantly, that their fans have been begging to know every last detail whether it directly affects them or not. I suppose they could blow off their fans out of respect for whatever company is releasing the SW game, but they chose to accommodate their fans instead. Aside from being MMORPGs, the games have pretty different target audiences and why should one audience be denied information they actually care about?

It's not like there's some sort of quota on the amount of information that's out there, or that GW2 news will have any impact on whether or not people have interest in SW. People are either interested in both, one or the other, or neither but there's room enough on the internet for all of us.

@Seffrid

You know, I remember companies used to do non-public closed betas all the time. They weren't just friends and family, they just invited people from the community without any official sign-up page that anyone could register at.

@Seffrid
Alpha and beta phases have little to do with who is testing it. Beta means that the game has reached a period where all of the features are complete and the game can be tested as a whole.

Testing cycles are not for us, or for the purpose of letting us know when we can expect to get our hands on the game early.

@Seffrid

Considering we've known since the NCSoft conference call earlier this year that there was going to be a closed beta by the end of this year, and they have made perfectly clear in the past that this was going to be a CLOSED beta, there's no reason for anyone to act upset, surprised, or as if they're just doing this to try to screw over TOR.

And being available to the public has nothing to do with whether a product is in the alpha or beta testing phase. It refers more to how close to "completion" the program is than anything else.

@Seffrid

I will also add...I believe ArenaNet has previous said, they would only send out formal public invites when it's in Open Beta phase. Yes, that's a little diferent from how most game companies do it...but it doesn't make them cynical as you claim, just prudent.

@Irem "Alpha and beta phases have little to do with who is testing it."

On the contrary, while the meaning of such phases has become distorted over the years, traditionally alpha testing is done in-house by the development team and those close to it, while beta testing is done externally by people wholly independent from the team.

However, as I have said such definitions have become distorted over the years, as has the meaning of "open beta" for example, which tradionally has meant unrestricted open public access but is now often held to mean an extended closed beta that is still by invitation only.

I don't believe this announcement relates to anything different to that which has been happening for some time, it certainly doesn't relate to beta testing in the traditional meaning.

I don't say any of this coming from the direction of SW, as alycat suggests, I have not followed that game particularly and anticipate it turning out to have been grossly over-hyped as all new MMOs tend to be. I simply don't see what is new in this announcement or how it takes us any further forward, the timetable for GW2 has been well known for ages, and this doesn't change anything in that respect. It's simply a timely reminder of what is happening.

@Seffrid

"On the contrary, while the meaning of such phases has become distorted over the years, traditionally alpha testing is done in-house by the development team and those close to it, while beta testing is done externally by people wholly independent from the team."

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nclu0/im_a_guild_wars_2_developer_ama_about_professions/c381y5x?context=3

"We will officially enter Closed Beta Testing this Friday. It will be marked with an increase in our pool of testers. To clarify, this phase of testing is still under NDA and is not open to the public."

"Its invite only. That doesn't necessarily mean f&f only. :)"

So what part of this suggests that their closed beta is really still an alpha like you originally claimed?


You claim to just be wondering what's new when the answer is obvious. What's new is that the game is entering closed beta Friday and select people will be getting invites. Just because they're not accepting sign-ups doesn't mean all testers are internal.

@Utakata Agreed! Not every single person needs closed beta access. Lately, a lot of MMOs treat even closed beta as a "demo game" period for people. I think it is definitely prudent to work with small groups at first, and work up as needed. I liked how in WoW's Lich King open beta, everyone got in to try it out a couple days early. That's good enough! Betas being "closed" and yet open to the masses is quite a new development.

@Nenene All hail Balthazar!

@Nenene ALL HAIL MELANDRU

In all seriousness, love the song reference. Reminds me of the Christian rock CD commercials that came on at like, 2 AM about 5-7 years ago.:P

@Zax19 Alpha to beta is different that's how.

The difference is compared to you sitting home on your ass, compared to sitting on your ass driving to work.

@drunkingamebar Well, as I said, for the regular gamer it doesn't seem like a difference. If they came out and said "we're recruiting approximately 50 000 people from the social groups such as..." I’d be ok with that. What they said seems like a cover up after the explosion of SWTOR beta and release. Bioware did a good job releasing information week after week and keeping the hype alive. GW2 feels like it's going to release in 2013 at best.

@Nepentheia

*dramatic music*

4 years later.....Open beta!