Guild Wars 2

First and foremost, I wasn’t in the first GW2 beta, so forgive if this is what it was like the first time.

But will ALL the betas be just beta weekends and not the betas where the server is open weeks or months on end?

I don’t know for sure if it will be the same for HOT. But for GW2 it was usually beta weekends, with a few days of (6 hour stress tests?) sprinkled in the mix.

Yes, that’s how they run their betas. They’re called “Beta weekend events.” There were three before the release of the core game, and IF they decide to do what they did with those three (though sadly it doesn’t sound like it will be) it’ll be capped off by a unique world wide event.

I missed the first Beta weekend, but it was something like a white bunny that killed everyone? I’m sure it can be youtubed. The second Beta weekend was capped off with The Shatterer dropping branding stones across the Charr starting area, those who died from the branded or otherwise (I actually had a stone land on me, killing me instantly!) turned into a branded creature and fought those remaining. The third capped off with a Hunger Games like event, where you slowly lost health, and had to fight for rations and weapons and hide out. They were pretty neat! Hope they do something like that again!

Pickles.9436:

But will ALL the betas be just beta weekends and not the betas where the server is open weeks or months on end?

Anything without an NDA will be just like the stress tests we have seen or these weekend events. At least that was the way it was for the original launch (as in they had a closed beta, with an NDA, and these open events for pre-purchasers that lasted at most what constitutes a long weekend).

One BWE for the original launch was extended by 24 hours I think due to technical issues, but that is about it, they did pretty good holding on to announced schedules.

There has been no whiff of any kind of closed beta for HoT (outside the one lacking NDA when we first saw Verdant Brink), so there is even a chance that all their beta testing outside of these events will be paid QA. But of course, without leaks there is no way to tell if they have a test with players running that have signed an NDA (because said NDA can forbid talking about being part of such test).

Considering the pre-purchase info specifically said beta weekends I think it’s safe to assume there won’t be any long-running public tests.

And speculating on what they may or may not be doing under NDA is pointless IMO because no one involved would be allowed to talk about it and no one who isn’t involved would even know. We could guess at how many focus groups, top-secret servers for hardcore PvP guilds or whatever other rumors there’s been but it’s all guess work.