No Open Beta for Burning Crusade
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 30th 2006 at 8:03PM
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.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
boneyard Aug 31st 2006 7:52AM
aha, i already wondered why some people seemed to be so sure it would happen. but apparently they just guessed it would and are now proven wrong. not too odd i guess, blizzard doesn't need to advertise more for their game (something open betas are usually used for), as it is doing more than fine already.
Duwanis Aug 31st 2006 7:46AM
Would you rather they set up a mirror server for every realm so that everyone can play the beta? People are having enough trouble with the current realms as it is...
Beside that, look at how they picked people to participate in the closed beta. They didn't do the normal hardware checks, they picked people who could spend time and were good at some specific aspect of the game. They've got all the testing they need, it seems.