Beta Characters, and a WoW Group?

[Maegtelluma]

First, a question. Do we get to keep all of the characters used in the Stress test into Open Beta, and from there into the release version? Will Closed Beta accounts be used right away? I'm not sure that I want to be starting at release with my level one with level 55's already around...

Secondly, would you guys be interested in maybe organizing a WoW group of sorts? Kinda like how people do the "game nights", we could organize to go around in WoW every other week or something. We wouldn't need huge groups, and I think it would be pretty cool. I've got a couple of guys who might be getting the game (open beta will have a lot to do with that), and I think we could have some fun. Only issue would be alliance/horde, but we'll see what happens that way :). I think that I'm going to be alliance for Open Beta.

[spastic-ninJa]

I never realised that Blizzard would be conducting an open Beta test for WoW. Do you know if it's N. America and Europe only, or would I be able to play in it, living here in New Zealand?

But I find it hard to believe that characters from the Stress test will actually progress into the Beta, however I could be very wrong.

Perhaps Closed Beta testers will be able to purchase a copy of WoW earlier than normal, so that they can progress quickly, thus reducing the congestion of the newbie zones. They did this with some game, but I cannot remember which.

Someone please feel free to clarify, because I am just making assumptions based on tidbits of information I have received here and there.

[Garlyle]

I think you might be able to keep your characters.
Reason: so the game has some high lvl characters to help newbies and so so.
Or they might not so everyone gets to start on an even scale ^^

[Exedore]

All beta characters will be wiped before retail. Beta characters have accumulated far too many changed items, etc. to be balanced in comparison to new level 55's and later 60's. However, some may be incorporated into the world as NPC's if they're a reknowned character.

[Graeme]

As for whether Blizz will even be conducting an open beta . . . that's kind of up in the air. A lot of the stress tests were done via the semi-open fileplanet endorsed testing. In the past, MMOCompanies have used the open beta as a means to conduct stress tests, but since Blizz has already done this (and according to that recent article, they have a pretty good idea of how the servers will operate), I'm doubting we'll even see a full-fledged open beta.

The rewards it would reap would be quite minimal at this point.

[Maegtelluma]

I'm almost sure they said somewhere that there would be an Open Beta at some point...maybe they meant stress test, but I don't think so.

http://blizzard.com/wow/faq/faq_beta.shtml

As of 6:00pm PDT, the World of Warcraft stress test beta has come to an end. The past week and a half proved extremely helpful to us in evaluating the performance of our game infrastructure under heavy loads, and we hope that all of the stress testers enjoyed their sneak peek of World of Warcraft during that time.

With the end of the stress test beta comes the end of the stress test contest. We'll be notifying the 576 winners (top 3 players of each class, of each faction, on each of the 12 stress test beta servers) as soon as possible, and in addition to those winners, we will also be selecting as contest winners not just the 48 players who would have won had the contest ended at the original deadline (top 3 players of each class, of each faction, across all stress test beta servers), but an additional 96 players who were next in line at that time (next 6 players of each class, of each faction, across all stress test beta servers).

Should any of the players who would have won at the original contest deadline also be among the 576 selected based on the updated Sunday deadline, we will select the next person down on the list to avoid having duplicate contest winners. That makes a total of 720 players moving on into the closed beta test! All contest winners will be notified by Blizzard as soon as possible, so please do not contact Blizzard to inquire about the contest results. Thanks again to all of you for participating in the World of Warcraft stress test beta. We look forward to seeing you again online in either the closed beta test or the upcoming open beta test, as well as in the retail version of World of Warcraft when it launches later this year!

Looks like they'll do it from that post, but I see your point. Hopefully they will, but i'll probably buy the retail anyways. I had such a great time in the Stress Test...:)

-Maeg

[Sunstrider]

we need to make a guild!!!!!!!! how many people do we need to make one?

[Graeme]

we need to make a guild!!!!!!!! how many people do we need to make one?

The minimum number of signatures required to create a guild in WoW is set at 10.

[Sunstrider]

how many we got?

[Graeme]

Well, I won't be joining a Warboards guild, as I'm already part of a guild ^_^. However, if you can get the support feel free to start one up.

What I imagine will end up happening, though, is we'll have a thread around here with the names//servers of all the people playing WoW. Then people can just add anyone on the list to their buddy list and we'll stay in contact that way. At least that's how I'm playing it . . . :).

[Maegtelluma]

Do you think that one server will be more "popular" than all the others? I don't want a high level character on a realm with no one around x.x

[Exedore]

I don't see certain servers being more popular than others. Most players will choose a server with less people because it means less lag and less waiting for monster spawns. Following that principle, all should fill up relatively equally.

[Whiteknight]

I don't see certain servers being more popular than others. Most players will choose a server with less people because it means less lag and less waiting for monster spawns. Following that principle, all should fill up relatively equally.
Which pretty much means the chance of playing with your friend, unless you plan ahead of time, is almost nil.

Which brings up another question, will you be able to transfer your character between servers? If so, then disregard my statement above.

[Graeme]

Well, I mean, chances are people will plan ahead for what server they're playing on. And it's not really hard to recreate a character on a different server ^_^.

Anyway, originally Blizzard intended players to switch from server to server, mainly due to popular demand. I recall reading a few articles way back when about this issue actually. However, with the way WoW has been created (largely faction-based), and the way the servers will be made (themed - pvp, pve, etc.), I really can't see server-switching as a very feasible idea.

Imagine someone levelling up a super-uber character in PvE in half the time it would have taken in PvP, and then switching to PvP. Or imagine people hear that there's a giant raid in the PvP server so that server gets flooded with people and crashes. There are far too many situations where server switching would cause imbalances and unfair gameplay.

[Exedore]

Blizzard has the ability to transfer characters across servers. They did this for the stress test winners. Whether or not Blizzard will allow it is the question. Currently, there are two types of servers: PvE and PvP. On the PvE servers, you can make a character of any race. However for the retail PvP servers, you're limited to one faction (alliance or horde) per server. However, as long as your character move preserves the server type and server faction you've selection, I don't see Blizzard having issues with you moving the character once. Constant moves, however, will probably be restricted. Most of this is speculation though.