How did the Guild Wars (1) Beta Work?

I've been curious about this for a variety of reasons. Whether it is to see how the GW2 beta might work, or just simply what it was like back then (I.E. Lions Arch district one only having 2-3 players in it becuase there's a limited number of people in the entire game)

Anyhoo;

How did the GW1 beta work back in 2004-2005? How did you sign up for it? How many people were allowed to partake? How much of the game were you able to play? Those kinds of things. I have looked all over the internet, but I can't find a single mention of it, other than that it existed. I'm just curious.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Beta

I used "beta" in the search..

That's about all I'll do for ya...

That's it? I thought there was much more to it though.

I'm not saying that's it, I just don't want to search more than that...

Well, I took part in all the beta weekend events, so I'll tell you what I remember.

The first beta event, E3 for Everyone, took place in May 2004 and was open for everyone. This was followed in September with the World Preview Event which was also open for everyone, I think.

Subsequent events were a mixture of completely open and requiring readily available keys from various sites or the key from the preorder pack. Each lasted a weekend (3 days to cover all timezones), and were spread 1-2 months apart.

Because the events were spaced apart and short the districts were generally pretty full. It also meant there could massive changes between events, including character wipes. The events also allowed easy access to features that otherwise would take some time to obtain, such as allowing you to start at level 15 or 20 in Lion's Arch, or the infamous Unlock All Skills for PvP characters. There was a limit to how much PvE content you could reach though - I believe it stopped before the desert and sent you to the Tomb of Primeval Kings instead. It varied from event to event though, in the first event you could only do Ascalon, in other events you couldn't reach Ascalon. The Northern Shiverpeak missions were under-developed for most of the events, so people had to trek through the explorable areas to reach LA from Ascalon on some occasions.

Ah, good times. So much has changed, both in the game and in our understanding of how things work. Skill gems and skill rings, the temporary 9th skill slot, technicolor Moa Birds...

In addition to the beta weekend events, there was a relatively small closed beta group. I don't know the details of how things worked with it as I was part of it, but I do know they had regular times when all testers were supposed to show up.

Oh yes, its SO lame you couldn't play content that didn't exist yet. :rollseyes:

The only preview event I played was one that involved me playing in Maguuma Jungle. I was flare spamming the Wind Riders or something. Conjure Phantasm hurts greatly to a new player with a selection of a few skills. Fire Storm was a gift from the Gods back then. They didn't run out of it. Then I bought the game, barely played for a few months until I got my new computer and then finished Prophecies just in time for the release of Factions.

That might have been it, but those of us who experienced these Beta weekend events, it was.. magical. I fell in love with the game during the January BWE when I played GW for the first time. I still remember the last event before the release of Prophecies. Fireworks galore. Oh, and it's from one of the BWEs where a group of Gwens firestormed us all in town.

I just hope they create this kind of experience for GW 2.

yep, and maybe Gwen will try to blow everyone up this time

Maybe she could get raised by the Dragon of Orr and that's how she comes back.

Undead Gwen... hmmm