Someone just told me open beta is going on right now?

True? Not true? He told me to read guru, and I asked questions that he could answer yes or no to and he just kept saying "go read guru" so I am just like, well fuck you too then, you could have typed a lot less just by saying "yes" or "no" so I don't know if I should believe you.

I'm just wondering if there's anything interesting to know about....

No its closed beta right now

It's closed private beta right now. It recently got opened up from closed internal beta (ie. ANet and friends of ANet) to its current level which is an invite-only, NDA-laden beta stage for (most likely) the Guru admins, e-peeners, perennial ANet ass-kissers, PvP stars, etc.. Those types.

ANet still has plans to open it up eventually and have a public beta, but as of yet there is no timetable. That the beta stages have progressed at all is a very positive sign, however. GW2 definitely looks like it will hit a release date sometime in 2012.

Okay, that makes sense. The dumbass was saying his friend was an admin (though didn't say where) and I honestly still didn't believe him, but I was wondering what the stage of it was. Maybe he thought it was in open beta because his friend or whatever was able to get in (if that's even true). I knew it was in closed, and I figured you'd post something about open beta when it happens, so I was very much like "um, I don't believe you dude, but okay," just to shut him up.

Planning has begun for an Open Beta!

http://www.vg247.com/2012/01/17/arenanet-plotting-guild-wars-2s-open-beta/

Quote:

“Planning has begun for an Open Beta. It’s all extremely exciting, and the game is coming along smashingly,” ArenaNet’s Angel Leigh McCoy told Nevermet Press. The designer and writer also hinted that Guild Wars 2 is, as an imminent open beta suggests, close to complete. “It really is like magic when it all starts coming together and you see what an enormous accomplishment you’ve contributed to,” she said. The anticipated MMORPG sequel has been in closed beta since mid-December but has no release date.

Keep in mind that this doesn't necessarily mean an open beta is around the corner, but it is a great sign that the private closed beta period is going well enough that they are starting to look forward, not back.

sweet deal

Woo! Exciting!

ANet has CONFIRMED on their blog that March/April will be the start of the public betas and that GW2 will in fact be releasing "later this year":

http://www.arena.net/blog/dragon

Mike O'Brien wrote:

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! Today is Lunar New Year’s Day, and according to the Asian zodiac system, the first day of the Year of the Dragon. It’s an auspicious omen for all of us at ArenaNet, as we get ready to make this our own Year of the Dragon. According to tradition, the dragon embodies passion, independence, and ambition. We think it’s a perfect analogy for what we’re trying to accomplish with Guild Wars 2. We’re a company full of MMO and RPG fans, and we’ve set out to fundamentally rethink how you deliver an RPG experience online. So this year, the Year of the Dragon, let’s usher out old thinking – the tired old quest model, stiff repetitive combat, and monthly fees – and usher in the new. Guild Wars 2 has captured the imagination of gamers and media all over the world with its action-oriented combat, its living world full of dynamic events, its highly personalized role-playing experience, and the handcrafted artistry that suffuses every element of the game. Last year, thousands of you joined us at shows and events all over the world to try Guild Wars 2 for yourself. This year, you’ll finally be able to immerse yourself in the vast, diverse world of Tyria. We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events. In February we’ll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate. And of course, this all leads to the release of Guild Wars 2 later this year. So stay tuned to our official Guild Wars 2 website, our Facebook page, and this blog for more information about how to participate in an upcoming beta event. It’s been an incredible adventure over the past five years, working with our community and our team of dedicated artists, designers, and programmers to realize this vision. This year, the seeds of that work come to fruition. We can’t wait to play the game with you. So welcome to the Year of the Dragon – the year of Guild Wars 2.

Granted, it was becoming pretty obvious that GW2 was going to make it out this year, but it's still great to hear actual confirmation from ANet themselves. No specific release date for GW2 has been announced. I'm thinking ANet has a general idea in mind of when they want to release it but the progress/status of the public betas will determine the specifics. I wouldn't be surprised if we got an actual release date sometime during this public beta period (probably as it winds down and ANet contemplates their remaining workload).

ANet's Martin Kerstein clarifies the upcoming plans in the Guru 2 Year Of The Dragon thread: (Post #652)

Martin Kerstein wrote:

Ok, to clarify a couple of points: We purposely didn’t use the term “Open Beta”, we mentioned Beta Events. To some people Open Beta means unlimited access to the game and everybody on the interwebs can play it. This is not what we will do. We will do Beta Weekend Events. Those of you who played Guild Wars might already be familiar with the concept. It means that many of you (like the blogpost says) will get a chance to participate in specific Events, but access won’t be unlimited – there will be some kind of selection criteria and the beta period will usually start on a Friday and end on the following Sunday. I hope this helps.