Cataclysm Beta...

[Benggal]

Will be starting within the next month barring any major setbacks.  Make sure you opt in through your Battlenet account page if you want a chance at getting in.

I'm expecting patch 3.3.5 to be hitting Test servers shortly as well.

[Benggal]

The Friends & Family Alpha for Cataclysm has started, which means the beta can't be that far behind (within a month or so).  The Alpha is protected by an NDA, so don't expect to see TOO much new info coming out of it.  However, people are always thumbing their nose at authority so there'll probably be a few leaks here and there.  I know for a fact the image of in-game Deathwing has already been datamined and posted around, so there's that, at least.

Anyone excited yet?

[papalovebear]

Now all we need to an RTC to land a key to the beta..... anyone know anyone? :)

[Benggal]

Well as I mentioned in the first post everyone can opt in for a chance to get a beta key by going into their battlenet account.  Beta invites haven't gone out yet, and won't until beta has actually started.

In other Blizzard news...Starcraft 2 is out in July!  Whee!

[Zanzier]

I'll start checking thier site on a regular basis (once in the evening and once in the morning) at the very least. If no one else has posted that it has officially started, then I'll post (after I put my name into the hat, naturally) ;D

[Benggal]

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

If you don't want to see a metric shit-ton of screencaps from the alpha of Cataclysm, do not click the following link:

Cataclysm Alpha news

These are not the finished product, but they'll give you a good idea of how the world is going to change come the Cataclysm.  Also included are a handful of the new achievements and a BUNCH of new tradeskill recipes (but without the stats).

Also included are maps of several zones as they will be in Cataclysm.  Look at Northern and Southern Barrens.  Looks like half the zone is getting taken over by the Alliance.  Bastards!  Then look at Thousand Needles.  Holy shit, they weren't kidding.

[Zanzier]

Goblin car.........wonder if that's engineering-made or what.................I know SOMEONE who'll be foaming at the mouth to make it, if they are player-made. :-X ;)

[Benggal]

Not player made.  It's the goblin racial mount.  Which means that anyone with exalted goblin faction will be able to ride one.  So guess what faction I'll be working on first in Cataclysm? :P

[Benggal]

Well Blizz made several sites take down all of that info/pics that were out for Cataclysm, so if you didn't see it before, you'll have to wait until Beta, at least.

Which may not be too far away!  Blizzard just made an announcement on their forums saying that people who wanted to be considered for their beta tests should make sure they're opted-in via their Battlenet accounts.  I'm taking this as a good sign that Beta is nigh.

[Dave]

Grrr, that means I'm almost out of time!  I still need to get Charona to 80 and decked out in decent gear, and have Herbert crank out more heirloom tokens to finish equipping the four alts I plan to roll as soon as Cataclysm hits.   ;D

[Zanzier]

Just a head's up. Blizz has started passing around the perverbial hat to toss names in for beta testing.  Go to the main website where you will log into battlenet and download a small program that will give Blizz your computer specs and check off boxes for Diablo3, StarCraft2, and Warcraft beta testing.

I'm already signed in for all 3, so get hopping now if you want your chance at a WoW beta key. Good luck.

[Benggal]

Zan fails at reading. :P

[Zanzier]

<Shrug> We've all been guilty of that, at one time or another. Some more than others. I'm just adding my fair share.  :P

[Zanzier]

Here's a question that might be a little silly, but I'll ask anyway. Dealing with Blizzard and their methods of selecting candidates to participate in the beta-testing, do they notify out of game/e-mail ONLY or is there an in-game notification as well for those of us who do not check their e-mails on a regular ( even semi-regular) basis?

Anyone who has been in Blizzard beta-testing for any of their products, please reply.

Thankyou.

[papalovebear]

Friends who have been in them in the past got online out of game e-mail notification.  However, I would assume that on the opt-in website there's some sort of FAQ sections that would have a question about notification because it seems like a pretty legit and popular question.