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.
Tags: beta, beta-opt-in, blizzcon, european, keys, mmo-champion, tweet-this, wow-site, wrath-of-the-lich-king, wwi-08
Filed under: Realm News, Patches, Blizzard, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King
Jul 3rd 2008 at 12:45PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Willypiggy Jul 3rd 2008 12:54PM
Sweet! Just opted in :D
Lets hope a large amount of people are chosen to participate!
Ikarus Jul 3rd 2008 1:31PM
Anyone have any idea on how many people they use for a beta?
Fleas Jul 3rd 2008 12:57PM
Sweet!
Elmo Jul 3rd 2008 1:02PM
Might it be smart to wait 'till they officially open this option?
in other words, if it's still there tomorrow I opt in.
don't want my account to be excluded from beta because I was early :
Meira Jul 3rd 2008 1:03PM
Opted in too!!!
I really hope i get a beta key, i'm kinda the news reporter on my guild (linking all the worthy news in forums and wowinsider, screenies and descriptions of the ptr...)
Who am I kidding, i want to roll my Death Knight, get my mage to 80 and see all the new content XD
"Lets hope a large amount of people are chosen to participate!"
I hope too, crossing fingers ^^
Azzura Jul 3rd 2008 1:04PM
It is on the American servers...when I ordered a Bliz Authentication device - I got to choose to Opt In for Beta.
Rihlsul Jul 3rd 2008 1:07PM
Ditto. Call me a greedy jerk, but I hope folks that jumped in on that early get weighted more likely to nab an invite. (Again, no blame for a "stfu mr 'i haz authenticator'")
Vlatch Jul 3rd 2008 1:09PM
This was a generic opt-in for all Blizzard games. The one that's being discussed by this post is found in your account management section after you login to the worldofwarcraft.com site.
Prauche Jul 3rd 2008 1:56PM
GRRRR I guess I ordered my Authenticator too early, as it was NOT available when I ordered.
Vlatch Jul 3rd 2008 1:07PM
Drysc is reporting that the beta opt in will be available on the US Servers "Super Soon."
As of 1:06 pm EDT, Thursday, July 3.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7736594202&sid=1&pageNo=2#37
Rinaquenon Jul 3rd 2008 1:08PM
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7736594202&sid=1
Eyonix reporting the US Beta Opt-in is "Super Soon"
I'm guessing within the next hour or two we'll be able to sign up!!!
Muse Jul 3rd 2008 1:11PM
Arg. I had opened the account management page, then tabbed out to talk in WoW some, and now the server has 503ed.
Gror Jul 3rd 2008 1:18PM
I just opted in too.
darkra Jul 3rd 2008 1:19PM
Seems like the rumors about july 3rd were true, just the German CM or the guy from the WoW fansite that reported it, in the whirlwind of activities of WWI didn't understand correctly.
My bet is beta starting in 2-3 weeks :)
Lab Monkey Jul 3rd 2008 1:21PM
I don't want to see the Beta. Why are so many people excited to spoil the content they'll just have to repeat, likely with multiple toons, upon release?
darkra Jul 3rd 2008 1:24PM
Cause some of us are boooooooooooored :D
Gief beta!
zappo Jul 3rd 2008 2:36PM
haha, I'm even lazier than that. I'm just going to putz around doing hardly anything during the first week after release until people start figuring out the quests and posting on thotbot.
BitterCupOJoe Jul 3rd 2008 2:44PM
Among other things, I'm curious as to A) what changes between then and now B) what's the deal with paladins, since there's been very little announced and C) whether DKs solo well enough that I'm going to want to grind yet another character up through Outland.
Lab Monkey Jul 3rd 2008 1:23PM
Why are so many people so eager to rush in and spoil all the new content before release? You'll just have to repeat it all again, right?
Gulbrandt Jul 3rd 2008 2:41PM
Part of it is seeing the content, but the whole point of a Beta is to have many players in the game to find as many bugs/problems/issues as possible, because Blizzard alone can't do it.
Should I get an invite, I'll poke around a bit with the mindset of *trying* to break the game. Do stuff you wouldn't necessarily do in-game, make sure you don't get stuck in the landscape, make sure all mobs are responding appropriately, make sure that talents are doing what they should, and gear is doing what it should, etc.
In a Beta version of any program, I find it's safer to assume it's "broken" until proven otherwise. :)
Once the really huge, obvious bugs and problems are fixed in Closed Beta, then Blizzard might go with the next step, which is Open Beta. The general public gets to test it. Now, any bugs or issues in the game tend to more subtle, hidden, or harder to find. Players and users tend to do things the programmers weren't expecting.
Once that Beta is approved and cleaned up, then I imagine we'll see the release candidate/final. :)