Famous WoW Players = Beta Key?

[Clicheman]

It's a conspiracy. You'll never get an invite because you aren't famous.

[nnelson54]

Hmm it's for famous people wouldn't we see Leeroy Jenkins running circles around deathwing?

I love when people talk about "famous people" in WoW and don't mention him. A lot of people may visit MMO-Champion and know who Boub is, but Leeroy Jenkins was a question on Jeopardy.

[Emaluri]

It's a conspiracy. You'll never get an invite because you aren't famous.

When I'm not famous, I stop being not famous and start being awesome.

[Kindahuge]

It's incredibly naive to say "It must be completely random because I'm not famous and I got one." How many superstars who always post news do you see griping about not having beta keys? The answer should be pretty obvious, they make sure to give them out to the people who are going to help hype the expansion, because lifting the NDA means it's time to give the world at large a taste and make them hungry to play. Of course there's still random selection among typical players, but it's more like 90% random, 10% reserved for those who will offer reliable feedback and spread the word.

[fallenangel61616]

i did not get a beta key to starcraft and haven't got a key to the cataclysm beta.


lucky bastard

lol, I actually didn't get one for Starcraft II either (as far as I know I didn't opt-in at the time). Just saying since, towards the end, beta keys were given out with pre-orders.

Also, good luck to you. Hope you (as well as everyone else) gets an invite.

[zaneosak]

It's random to a point. They obviously give them out to famous critics/ podcasts/ news sites.

TotalBiscuit got one, he bashes blizzard more than anybody but he's fair about it and he praises them when they do good stuff and he was in the ALPHA.

Go listen to a week of podcasts, pretty much 90% of the known podcasters got keys.

It sucks but its what they report and thats the way the cookie crumbles ~zing.

[Emaluri]

It's incredibly naive to say "It must be completely random because I'm not famous and I got one."

The real naivete is when people make assumptions, no matter the supporting evidence, that totally eliminates the possibility for any other result. "It must be completely random because I'm not famous and I got one."

But being naive isn't really a criminal sin or anything, so it doesn't matter all that much.

[Hellevad]

There is a large random component, but they can also do targeted invites. How else would they be able to hand out beta keys as prizes in fansite competitions and as lootbag rewards for cons etc. etc.

And as for the random bit - it's only random up to a point. The same goes for any lottery. If they were truly random the guy issuing the lottery could possibly have to hand out more first prizes then dud tickets. There are mechanisms in play that guides the rolls. Most of the mechanisms are binary - you need an ACTIVE account, you need to not be "flagged" (have serious disciplinary actions active against your account) etc. etc. It would be entirely possible to set up other mechanisms aswell - we need to have more low end systems running the beta to see that the city lag isn't rendering the game unplayable, or we need more computers running ATI graphics to try to get more data on effect X causing a lockup with those cards. Or they could have a database of players that have participated in betas before and provided solid and valuable feedback (greater chance of an invite) or have been determined to leak stuff from NDA-protected alphas (less chance of an invite), etc. etc.

Heck - they could have systems running to see what faction you play the most and try to ballance the faction load on the beta servers.

The first of those mechanisms (active, unflagged account) IS in place and controls the random distribution of beta keys. Most likely the others are not, but they could be ticking away in the background and noone would be the wiser. It's not as though Blizzard have to reveal their beta key distribution system to official controllers as they would if they ran an online gambling site where people were gambling for money.

[Knighthonor]

do we get a email or something?

[Emaluri]

do we get a email or something?

Yes, but it's better just to check your b.net account directly.

[Petal]

And soon fan sites will be giving away keys too...people will go to the site (increases unique IP's for ad revenue) and more people will get to see coverage OF said beta. It's win/win/win.

Blizzard isn't handing out 'keys' this time. They are flagging accounts via battle.net... keys wont be sold, bought or won. If I understand correctly.

[gulkeeva]

If you know people.. you can get in beta easy. (or alpha!)

[Róg]

I quite like the fact that people who make high quality YouTube vids like Panda get Beta access really. Not everyone can have beta access, so they give it to people who can share.

[Shiira]

Blizzard give beta access to a lot of the well known theorycrafters because they are far more capable of providing worthwhile feedback than most of us.