This weekend beta, only for those who pre purchased ?

[Syro]

Is this weekend s beta only for those who prepurchased or is it open for the public also ?

[vicious796]

Pre-purchased and, chances are, all of them will be that way.

[Syro]

Pff thanks for the answer, off to uninstal the client then

[Deleted]

Slight correction, everyone who has pre-purchased as well as anyone who has gotten a beta access key through the various giveaways the past... week?

[Squirrelbanes]

Yes...those are the only legitimate ways to get in.

[Deleted]

for all those who have an account

so people with beta keys

[Deleted]

I think that if they do an open beta, it'll be the last one before release.

ANet is treating the beta as a beta, not a demo. Hence why this weekend, I'll be doing my best to break the game in as many ways as possible.

[Brewski]

I don't know why anyone would not pre-order the game if they plan on playing it. Its not like there's a monthly fee, might as well get beta access too.

[Collected]

I don't know why anyone would not pre-order the game if they plan on playing it. Its not like there's a monthly fee, might as well get beta access too.

Well I guess it's a bit like saying why would anyone download a demo of a game they're interested in buying. To find out if it sucks before they pay their money. The beta is effectively the demo here. So some people will have entered the beta giveaway contests for that reason.. perhaps not ready to part with their money just yet. The developers know this of course, which is why they've given out so many keys. They want to convert more people into pre orders.

[rhandric]

Well I guess it's a bit like saying why would anyone download a demo of a game they're interested in buying. To find out if it sucks before they pay their money. The beta is effectively the demo here. So some people will have entered the beta giveaway contests for that reason.. perhaps not ready to part with their money just yet. The developers know this of course, which is why they've given out so many keys. They want to convert more people into pre orders.

Except at this stage, beta really is beta, not demo. Sure, it's in a great place, but since they're still working on refining systems as well as performance, they're not going to open it to the public. I could see them possibly doing a public beta as the final BWE before launch, though ironically for the GW1 beta it was the first beta that was open and every subsequent that was closed.

[Collected]

Except at this stage, beta really is beta, not demo.

Technically you're quite right but I do believe when developers give websites hundreds of keys, it's with an eye on promotion and trying to gather new interest in the product. That's why there is no NDA and they're encouraging you to tell your family, friends and strangers, about your beta experience. It's all designed to promote the game.. to try and win over new interest.. spark people into buying it. I'm sure they have plenty of testers on their books without having to hand websites keys to giveaway. It's all good publicity.

[Syro]

I'm sorry but why would you download the client then ask at the last minute if it was open beta?

Well, since posts about the upcoming event were everywhere, i tought it s open... then i read more thuroughly and i was like oh wait ...

Also today is the first time i find out prepurchase is out for GW2. Oh well have fun everyone.

[Phoef]

tl;dr.
Yes, but there were alot of fan sites handing out loads of beta weekend keys.

[rhandric]

Technically you're quite right but I do believe when developers give websites hundreds of keys, it's with an eye on promotion and trying to gather new interest in the product. That's why there is no NDA and they're encouraging you to tell your family, friends and strangers, about your beta experience. It's all designed to promote the game.. to try and win over new interest.. spark people into buying it. I'm sure they have plenty of testers on their books without having to hand websites keys to giveaway. It's all good publicity.

Yes, they are giving out keys for publicity. However, the main intent is still testing and getting feedback, which doesn't happen in demos/fully public betas, because at that point players cba to give feedback because they're worried about figuring out if they like the game, not improving the game. The same might be true of those who get the free keys, but since the vast majority of players are still prepurchasers, not to mention the feedback popups for events and hitting x0 levels, that data will still be generated and analyzed. Plus, before ANet fully opened it to the public they'd want it to be fully polished, in gameplay, systems, graphics, performance, which it's not yet.

[terrih91]

id say keep the client untill you know beta is over. they do them for people with keys aswell and the last weekend might be an open beta so chin up.

[Syro]

id say keep the client untill you know beta is over. they do them for people with keys aswell and the last weekend might be an open beta so chin up.

Thanks for encouraging me, i will probably go prepurchase the game when my paycheck arrives. I bought all 4 GW 1 games and never felt let down by any (Nightfall was amazing) so i am prety confident they will make a good game.

[terrahero]

They given out a whole bunch of keys for this upcomming BWE. Through various websites, blogs and whatnot. Might do it again in the future, but a truely open beta. I wouldnt count on it.