Anyone who gets into the beta will be under a very strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA), under this NDA you will be unable to talk about the contents of the beta to your family, friends, co-workers, electricians or fellow BDSM dungeon attendees. You won’t even be able to mention that you are part of the beta. This level of security is totally understandable from ArenaNet; they are letting an undisclosed number of lay-people play around with their unfinished product totally free. If we started spreading screenshots or secretly recording it could totally ruin the whole release plan which I’m sure the guys in Seattle have been planning for years. There will probably be the unscrupulous few who break this agreement, but I’m sure the retribution will be swift and merciless!
What will be interesting will be the time when people start being notified of their acceptance into this stage of the beta. All the joyful madness which began last night will suddenly stop as people go from gleeful twitter-fuelled anticipation to tight lipped NDA-controlled silence. Awkward silence punctuated by the occasional excited squeak which might leak between fingers clapped over mouths. All of a sudden the beta will drop off the radar, as if it never existed – beta? What beta?
The beta only exists between the time when you log into the client and when you log off. Even if I could tell you that you fought well against that Centaur Lord last night, I wouldn’t be talking to the same man. Who you are in the beta, is not who you are in the rest of the world.
After all, the first rule of the Guild Wars 2 Closed Beta Test is...
