Beta
Betas (and alphas) represents the earliest opportunity for players outside the development team and a handful of selected "friends and family" to experience a game or expansion. This often makes betas a very exciting time to be playing a game, with testers able to experience new features and explore new content months ahead of other players. As well as providing an advanced preview of the game as it will be released, betas typically see extensive changes and developments, often including repeated iterations of major features, reworking and remodeling of zones and instances, and myriad tweaks and adjustments to player abilities. New abilities may be introduced, found wanting, and removed, without ever seeing release; while others may see a striking range of possible implementations before a final model is settled upon. The developers often use betas to try out outlandish new ideas, often expressly warning testers that the changes may well be bad ones.
Access to features and content within a beta typically expands from a very limited starting point, until full (or nearly full) access to all planned features is available. For example, expansion betas usually start with players only able to access the starting zone/s for the new expansion, with further zones slowly added over weeks or months. Major features and systems are sometimes only added late in the beta, and more trivial aspects such as terrain detailing and critter spawning often come only near the end of the beta. For these reasons, testers are often reminded for much of the beta that the full picture has not yet been revealed, both in terms of tweaks to existing features and the addition of entirely new ones, with testers and indeed players without access to the beta, reading reports on its development, otherwise wont to get an inaccurate picture of the state of the expansion. Nonetheless, feedback is often essential from testers long before balancing and adjustments have concluded.
Beta testers also get the opportunity to witness some interesting and unintended bugs, including minor graphical glitches, broken events, quest lines, and instances, and more extensive problems such as broken systems and server crashes. Some, such as terrain glitches causing player ghosts to spawn underneath graveyards (thereby trapping characters without hope of escape) may cause annoyance to all, while others, such as a broken ability allowing hunters to summon dozens of pets at once, may be gleefully exploited by many testers. Bugs may be frustrating, entertaining, or both, and often provide some of the most memorable moments of any beta test.
Stages
- A Warcraft game or World of Warcraft expansion typically starts in its early alpha phase where the game is available only to the development team.
- The next stage, alpha, is when the game will open to friends and family.
- Once the game enters its beta phase is when the game opens to a more broader player base to help test features and content. This would be the final stage until the game enters the "release candidate" stage and will shortly be released to retail.
Beta access
The most common form of beta access is receiving a beta invitation from Blizzard Entertainment. Other forms include:
- receiving a key from content creators or fansite giveaways
- conventions possibly providing access such as BlizzCon
- limited time offers guaranteeing access (Annual Pass)
Some games will include "beta access" during its pre-order period, allowing those who pre-ordered the game to participate in the beta. The first expansion to offer this was The War Within. For BlizzCon 2019, attendees and Virtual Ticket holders were provided beta access to Warcraft III: Reforged.
Timeline
Game/Expansion | Alpha | Beta | Notes | |
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World of Warcraft | Before March 2004 (start) | See its section | |
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The Burning Crusade | October 12, 2006 (start) | See its section | |
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Wrath of the Lich King |
|
See its section | |
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Cataclysm |
|
||
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Mists of Pandaria |
|
| |
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Warlords of Draenor | April 3, 2014 (start) | June 27, 2014 (start) | See its section |
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Legion | November 23, 2015 (start)[1] | May 9, 2016 (start) | |
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Battle for Azeroth |
|
April 24, 2018 (start)[3] | |
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Shadowlands |
|
See its section | |
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Dragonflight | September 1, 2022 (start)[9] | See its section | |
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The War Within |
|
The Epic Edition provided beta access. See The War Within beta timeline. |
Classics
Game/Expansion | Closed Beta | Open Beta | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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World of Warcraft: Classic | |||
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Burning Crusade Classic | March 23, 2021 (announce, start)[15] | ||
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Classic: Season of Mastery |
|
||
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Wrath of the Lich King Classic | June 22, 2022 (announce, start)[17] | ||
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Cataclysm Classic | Originally planned for Winter/Spring 2024.[20] |
Others
Game/Expansion | Closed Beta | Open Beta | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | Initial wave of approximately 5,000 players. Battle.net beta disc was sent out to these testers. (See gallery) | ||
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Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne |
|
10,000 participants in the initial phase. | |
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Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft | August 16, 2013 (start) | January 21, 2014 (start) | |
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Warcraft III: Reforged (Multiplayer beta) | October 29, 2019 (announce, start) | See its section | |
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Warcraft Rumble | October 17, 2022 (start)[24] | December 10, 2024 (PC release)[25] |
World of Warcraft
Starting before March 2004, Blizzard started signing up Closed Beta Test testers from an unknown pool of people using an undisclosed method of selection. The Closed Beta Trial ran for about 7 months ending in more widely available stress test and then an open beta before final release around the end of November 2004.
The "Closed Beta" was the first phase of Blizzard's stress test. There were three servers and virtually no lag existed. This closed beta was also known as the "First Stress Test". The servers were split up into the following:
- PvE Server (Original Closed Beta Server)
- PvP Server (Added near the end of Closed Beta)
- Beta Server 1
- Beta Server 2 (PvE)[26]
During the closed beta, content was delivered in various "pushes," beginning with the Human push. This was followed by Dwarf, Undead, Night Elf, Horde (orcs, trolls and tauren) and then the open beta. During most pushes, only the newest push's content was available -- human characters were unavailable, for instance, while players were testing the undead character experience.
The Burning Crusade
Starting late September 2006, Blizzard started signing up Closed Beta Test testers for the first expansion, The Burning Crusade, from different playing areas. The plan was to introduce additional players to the beta test in subsequent waves, thus people that didn't make it in the starting lineup still had a chance at a Burning Crusade beta spot prior to launch.[27]
The Closed Beta started on 12 October 2006. They were split into two servers: Hellfire (PvE) and Blade's Edge (PvP).
Wrath of the Lich King
Opt-ins for the public beta began on 3 July 2008; the beta began 17 July 2008.
Beta keys were given out to BlizzCon 2007[28] and Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008[29] attendees and Blizzard also gave out Beta keys to various organizations (fansites, etc.) for promotional reasons.[30] Warcraft Wiki hosted the WoWlympics contest with some beta keys available.
Warlords of Draenor
- Main article: Warlords of Draenor beta timeline
The alpha test was officially announced to start on 3 April 2014 which presages the beta test, but with no time frame given.[31] Closed beta invite cards were given out at the PAX East conference in April 2014.
The first beta testing began 27 June 2014.
Warcraft III: Reforged
The Warcraft III: Reforged beta was announced on 29 October 2019 and started that same week with invitations going out over the coming weeks. Initial invitations included those who pre-ordered the Spoils of War Edition with subsequent waves going to additional players such as those who pre-ordered the Standard Edition of the game.[32] BlizzCon 2019 attendees and Virtual Ticket holders got instant beta access.
Shadowlands
Shadowlands alpha testing invites started going out a couple days after 6 April 2020.[33] The beta for Shadowlands began on 15 July 2020 and more invites went out to a bigger variety of players. Many content creators received "access keys" where winners would get their account flagged by Blizzard Entertainment on 2 September 2020 if they won a certain giveaway/event that was setup by the creator.
Dragonflight
- Main article: Dragonflight beta timeline
Dragonflight alpha testing invites started going out on 14 July 2022.[7] The beta started on 1 September 2022.[9]
The War Within
- Main article: The War Within beta timeline
The War Within alpha testing began on 18 April 2024, with the first wave of invites going out the same day.[34] On 30 May, it was announced that the beta would begin on 5 June.[35]
Gallery
Beta invite cards for Warlords of Draenor from PAX East.
See also
References
- ^ Elizabeth Harper 2015-11-23. World of Warcraft's Legion alpha is now live. Blizzard Watch.
- ^ Alex Ziebart 2018-02-07. Battle for Azeroth alpha testing has begun. Blizzard Watch.
- ^ Anshlun 2018-04-24. Battle for Azeroth Beta Started. Wowhead. Retrieved on 2018-04-24.
- ^ Shadowlands Developer Update. Blizzard Entertainment (2020-04-06).
- ^ Perculia 2020-04-08. Shadowlands Alpha Build 9.0.1.33978 - Datamining Discoveries!. Wowhead.
- ^ Anshlun 2020-07-08. Shadowlands Beta Starts Next Week. Wowhead.
- ^ a b The World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Alpha Test Has Begun!. Blizzard Entertainment (2022-07-14).
- ^ Squishei 0202-07-14. Dragonflight Alpha Begins Today - July 14. Wowhead.
- ^ a b The World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Beta Test Begins Today!. Blizzard Entertainment (2022-09-01).
- ^ Sign Up To Test The War Within. Blizzard Entertainment (2024-04-15).
- ^ Anshlun 2024-04-18. The War Within Alpha Test has Started - First Wave of Invites. Wowhead.
- ^ The War Within Beta Test Begins June 5!. Blizzard Entertainment (2024-05-30).
- ^ Mark Your Calendars: WoW Classic Launch and Testing Schedule. Blizzard Entertainment (2019-05-14). Retrieved on 2019-05-14.
- ^
Kaivax 2019-07-03. WoW Classic Beta Update. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2019-07-03.
- ^ The Burning Crusade Classic Beta Has Begun!. Blizzard Entertainment (2021-03-23). Archived from the original on 2021-03-24.
- ^ WoW Classic Season of Mastery Coming Soon. Blizzard Entertainment (2021-09-30).
- ^
Kaivax 2022-06-22. Wrath Classic Beta Development Notes. Blizzard Entertainment.
- ^ Sign Up for the Cataclysm Classic Beta. Blizzard Entertainment (2023-12-19).
- ^ Cataclysm Classic Beta Now Live. Blizzard Entertainment (2024-03-07).
- ^ World of Warcraft in 2024 —The Road Ahead. Blizzard Entertainment (2023-12-19).
- ^ Warcraft III Beta Information Center.
- ^ Warcraft III Beta Information Center. Blizzard Entertainment (2002-06-24). “Warcraft III Beta to Close at 6pm PST Today”
- ^ Warcraft III: Frozen Throne Beta Site.
- ^ Warcraft Arclight Rumble: Arclight Surge Now Available in Beta. Blizzard Entertainment (2022-10-17).
- ^ Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct
- ^
Ordinn 2004-09-22. New Phase of Beta -- Part Two.
- ^ http://news.softpedia.com/news/World-of-Warcraft-The-Burning-Crusade-Beta-Signups-Underway-36603.shtml
- ^ BlizzCon 2007 goodie bag page: http://www.blizzard.com/us/blizzcon07/goodiebag.html
- ^ WWI '08 goodie bag page: http://eu.blizzard.com/wwi08/goodybag.xml
- ^ Official Wrath of the Lich King Beta FAQ
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment 2014-04-03. Warlords of Draenor™ Alpha Testing Begins.
- ^ Warcraft® III: Reforged's Multiplayer Beta Begins This Week!. Blizzard Entertainment (2019-10-29). Archived from the original on 2019-10-29.
- ^ Shadowlands Developer Update. Blizzard Entertainment (2020-04-06).
- ^ The War Within Alpha Test has Started - First Wave of Invites. Wowhead (2024-04-18).
- ^ The War Within Beta Test Begins June 5!. Blizzard Entertainment (2024-05-30).