DiabloFans

I disagree with the comments of the beta test being limited to 5-7 hours and then you're finished, with nothing to do.

There's plenty to do - a blue post (or a few) have stated that they are open to feedback on gameplay, systems, and potential bugs/exploits found.

I don't look at the beta as a way to get a quick fix, but as an opportunity to give feedback with potential to make it better for everyone.

D2 beta became more than just Act 1. Maybe the public beta stress test was limited to that act only, but the testing worth getting your name mentioned in the credits eventually went through Big D.

Use the time your given wisely.

I participated in the D2 beta and want to make an important comparison to D3. Some of this is also a soap box having been there, done that.

D2 beta was focused testing, per act, with level caps for internal testers. The entire game was not unveiled all at once, but in pieces. There were frequent down times due to hotfixing, resets (particularly when revealing new acts and classes) or game breaking issues with corruption in the player database. Again, it was very focused testing.

We've seen a tremendous amount of polish. Closed testing should begin SOON and not end of the quarter. This isn't internal knowledge, or even rocket science. It comes from playing these games and understanding the playing field as a developer and a customer.

Why we don't have a date yet? It's honestly a moving target. Until all teams are ready to collect the data they need, it will get pushed a day, two days, three days, until the right tools and limits are in place. They simply don't have a date yet. Frustrating as that might be, it's the reality.

Don't expect the entire game. That's not going to happen. You can't focus on and fix bugs when you are dealing with the entire game and a small pool of users expected to run through the content over and over without adding weeks/months to launching the final product. It's also a nightmare to prioritize and punt bugs.

If you've WoW'ed and ever begun on a new server, you need around a thousand players per faction to get enough item generation and AH activity to see how the micro-economy functions. That means some testers will make it to level cap and through the first act once, other players like me will do it as many times as allowed, multiple times per class. Beta doesn't mean everyone is hard core, some just got lucky, and some with beta keys won't even play.

Forget the terms internal or external. Focus on CLOSED and OPEN. Right now, this is a closed beta test. Invite only and will start out focused. OPEN is where they accept applicants and just modulate the flow of how many get to download and play with the game. You can't run a real economy unless you keep introducing new variables (items, players, time). The closed testers will be your higher level veterans, the open testers will be your nubs thrown into the mix.

I would say between 4-5000 invites will go out including those to BlizzCon attendees, opt ins from BNet accounts, press/VIP invites, and friends/family of employees invited in. That should net around 2,500-3,350 active users you can count on and at least 2,000 at prime time hours on at the same time to test and break everything thrown at the testers.