Reader Ian C. wrote in with an interesting thought. He says that if he was offered a spot in the Wrath of the Lich King beta tomorrow, he'd probably decline. With the news that the expansion is in alpha and that an open beta is probably not too far off, it seems like everyone and their brother wants in early to Northrend. But not Ian -- he says that he'd rather experience the content on the live realms.And I mostly agree. I never played in the BC beta, and generally I like to stay away from the PTR if possible -- any progress that you make on test or beta realms is completely lost when the beta closes, and while yes, there are some fun reasons to jump onto the PTR or a beta realm, I'd rather experience the content as its meant to be played when it comes out.
Everyone else might be excited to see the beta, and of course we'll have lots of information as it comes out about Wrath (which means if I'm invited to the beta, I'll probably load it up just to see what's there and try out the Death Knight mechanics), but playing on a beta realm isn't the real thing. Any progress you make there is more or less a waste of time -- I'd rather see Northrend in a finished form, through my character on the live realms.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
4-23-2008 @ 6:04PM
Zeplar said...
I'd like to argue that it's a "waste of time." If you think you're "accomplishing" things on the real realms, you're addicted man. The point of the game, any game, is to have fun, and I don't think anyone can deny that trying out the death knights + inscription + northrend will be fun.
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4-23-2008 @ 10:24PM
Ant said...
Why is it addiction if the fun for some people is setting goals for themselves in game?
Everyone has fun with the game in a different way, don't be a hater towards those who like to do so with some direction.
4-24-2008 @ 12:03AM
Frostybolts said...
I had a blast during the BC beta, but it wasn't nearly as much fun later on when the actual game came out.
Plus it kind of ruined raiding Naxx for me when I saw that I could replace everything in Kara and a few items in level 70 5 mans
4-24-2008 @ 3:29AM
Thijz said...
@Ant: That's not his point. His point is that the writer of this article says that doing stuff on the PTR/Beta is a waste of time because you don't make any progress in the real game.
However, this game is about having fun. If you're having a blast fooling around on the beta by trying out some of the new stuff (why would that be any less fun than testing it out on the live realm?) why would you consider that a waste of time?
4-24-2008 @ 10:19AM
Spockette said...
Not everyone is an alt-o-holic. Doing things twice -- the first time not counting towards a more permanent reward as far as character progression goes -- is to some of us, a waste of time.
4-23-2008 @ 6:04PM
Horixon said...
/agree
I only went on the PTR once for about 10 minutes, and it wasn't my thing. I like to wait and see everything the way it's supposed to be.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:08PM
BlueDragon666 said...
A friend asked me the same question, and I had the same reply as Ian...I would wait for the real thing. I would rather experience the new content with my buddies and be able to save my progress vs. it being wiped out in a beta and seeing things all alone. The Deathknight mechanics would be interesting to see first-hand, but I would much rather read about it from sites like wowinsider or any other gaming site and then experience it on a live realm when the final version of the game is out. No matter what though I can't wait for WotLK!
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4-23-2008 @ 6:14PM
Nick S said...
yeah, i'll take your beta invites, guys. :-P
i'm a sucker for new shiny.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:19PM
Draele said...
I would totally take a beta spot, but only for limited testing.
IE I'd love to test/give feedback on the new Warlock talents & abilities and test the Death knight class, but I would *not* want to spoil any content, IE I might only level to 72 or so.
So I'm interested in testing the purely mechanical parts of the expansion but would rather save the actual content to do with my guildies.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:23PM
Adam said...
Yeah, I don't want to see any new content. I just would really like to see new talents/spells. I really wish they would release more information about this like they had before BC (lists of the new spells/updated talent calculators) but it's probably too early yet.
4-23-2008 @ 6:23PM
Rich said...
I'd take the beta invite to see if I want to stay for the expac.
I might be in the minority but so far the WotLK hasn't inspired any sort of excitement.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:23PM
Balgair said...
I was in the TBC beta and personally found the experience fantastic - I'm very much hoping I'm lucky enough to get into the WotLK beta.
I appreciate that some people prefer to experience it for the first time when it goes live, but for me, what made the TBC beta experience so special was being able to experience the new content without having to compete with 500+ other people all doing the same quests. Sure, it'll be better spread out in WotLK, but even so, there will be crowds everywhere the first few days/weeks, and I find it immensely frustrating trying to get anything done like that.
In the TBC beta I could fully appreciate the new zones without all the crowds getting in the way - I shall never forget my first sight of the Exodar, for example; not full of a million level 1 naked draenei as it was on day 1 on live, but with just a few people around it, leaving me able to fully appreciate the tranquil beauty of the place.
Plus it's really enjoyable seeing how things progress - whenever I pass leftover relics of quests that were in the TBC beta but removed during the testing process, it reminds me of the fun I had there, and it's nice knowing the story behind those things.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:34PM
Kyle said...
I want to be in the beta simply to see how badly beaten the hunters will be with the nerf bat.
4-23-2008 @ 7:00PM
Pallish said...
I couldn't have said it any better...
4-23-2008 @ 6:28PM
Milktub said...
I'd pass. I prefer playing things in a relatively final form. I'm not big on having to pick up on bugs and issues.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:44PM
Kaphik said...
If I get a beta key for going to Blizzcon, I plan on only playing Deathknight, to learn the class, and playing on Alliance. Since all my live realm characters are Horde, I want to have a fresh game experience when WotLK comes out.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:49PM
Iwanttobeasleep said...
I wonder what kind of a set-up there would be for characters going into Northrend. I wouldn't want to play my one 70 there, but if I could get a, say, pre-made, Northrend-ready priest? Sign me up, I'd pay for the privilege of testing their game.
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4-23-2008 @ 7:05PM
Kyle said...
They didn't have pre-made characters for TBC, so I wouldn't expect them for WotLK either.
Anyway, I went into the TBC with a few self-imposed restrictions (1. Don't play a BE, save it for release. 2. Don't play a Draenei, save it for release. 3. Don't level to 70, save that for release, only level to about 65 or so).
Well, I broke all three, heh. I really held out on the Draenei, but in the end caved. And I enjoyed myself, even with all the changes to and fro.
I particularly liked the placeholder text.
If I get a beta-key for WotLK, I'll participate. Probably try to restrict myself again, but I doubt I'll manage, heh.
4-23-2008 @ 6:56PM
Jay said...
You say you would turn it down, but if it came to it and Blizzard gave you a beta invite, you wouldn't turn it down. Curiosity would get the better of you and you'd be running around Northrend in no time.
Also I think blizzard will do another race thing like they did for BC, level up 5 level 25 chars on the PTR. I don't understand what that has to do with beta testing. Yeah, get all the people to test out the PVE content, only to find out that the PVP content is broken.
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4-23-2008 @ 6:57PM
Eternalpayn said...
I personally would like to beta test for a few reasons:
1) As a developer, I understand how crucial all beta feedback is, and I believe it would also help me with game design lessons by telling them what worked and what didn't.
2) I'm impatient.
3) There are 2 starting zones. I wanna know which one is funner, so I don't waste my time trying one out that I don't like when the real thing hits, when it will take 10 minutes just to get there with all the lag.
4) I would like to get a feel of what quests go where, so I'm not completely lost when the expansion comes out. This is similar to number 3, but I don't want to be the noob going "LOLZ WEREZ DIS GUY??" in general chat.
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