Nov 17, 2011

Posted by in News | 26 Comments

Next Beta Weekend: November 25-28 – As Open As It Gets

Although not yet otherwise formally announced, BioWare has dropped a pretty strong hint on Twitter as to when the next Beta Weekend will happen:

@SWTOR:  We are targeting November 25-28 for our upcoming #SWTOR Beta Testing Weekend. Get a code via http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20111111-0

Senior Community Manager Stephen Reid followed up with some more clarification:

@Rockjaw: Everyone who signed up for #SWTOR testing (yes – everyone), including those redeeming keys from our partners, will get invited next week.

Yes, this is the big “everyone’s invited” weekend! If you were already signed up on SWTOR.com before November 11th, 2011, you will be invited. For those of you who weren’t, you just need to follow this link and grab a beta code from your favorite gaming site!

Here in the US, it’s Thanksgiving weekend which means many people will have extra time off to play. On the other hand, many folks will be traveling and/or have plans to spend time with family, so it could be a mixed blessing. Will you be able to spend time in what will be the biggest TOR test yet?

The countdown is on, my friends!

 

  1. This is freaking awesome, it’s going to be the highlight of my week. All exam and schools out and I can relax to some SWTOR testing. Perfect.

  2. I know a lot of people will be traveling and will be missing it. I on the other hand will not be traveling so I have the whole weekend to play.

  3. Lady Republic says:

    I’m sort of surprised they did go with the holiday weekend – even for those who aren’t traveling, I imagine many US folks will be tied up with family obligations.

    I will be out of town the entire time (after all, these are the most traveled days of the year coming up!), so no beta weekend for me. Ah well, it’ll be there at launch, right?

    • Rasmus Lauridsen says:

      Luckily there are plenty of people who are not American and still haven’t had a chance to beta.

      So maybe Americans munching on Turkey and sweet potatoes will let others get to the beta trough.

      • Plenty of Americans haven’t gotten to play either. Sucks for those who are going to miss their only shot at the beta.

        Everyone’s getting in regardless, so there’s no benefit to non-Americans as you suggest. If people can’t play because of Thanksgiving, it’s just rotten luck for them. No one is benefiting from it.

        I’m just glad I got in last weekend. It would be nice if I could be part of the madness, though. :)

      • Oh good grief, it isn’t like we have any say in who is or isn’t invited to Beta. Being American doesn’t mean that we have a way to hog the Beta slots.

  4. Grey--wolf says:

    Oh man I am officially moving in to my new place on the 26th
    hopefully have then Internet connected and can move the bulk before hand play swtor with no desk fun times

  5. Kryssprollz says:

    Thanksgiving being for US citizens only, if we count out the US citizens traveling this WE, count in those that will benefit from this extended WE and count in EU people, setting up the last beta WE tthis near the final release date will still be a big win for BW…

    I expect pre-orders to skyrocket after that…

  6. Wear stretchy pants? Check.
    Eat my own body weight in turkey? Check.
    Play SWTOR til I fall asleep in a pool of my own gravy drool? Big Check!

  7. Bioware have shown little consideration for dates, let’s be honest! Release date 5 days before christmas, mass beta invites sent armistice day (11th Nov), and beta active on American thanks giving!

    I’m English and not even had a sniff at a beta despite registering 2009, so even if it was Armageddon day it wouldn’t stop me trying to l

  8. VERY smart move by the BW team. I was in the last BETA weekend and I can’t wait to continue the story!! This is going to be awesome!!

  9. Shatterhand says:

    Over a holiday weekend? Really, guys? Ooo, well done. (/sarcasm)

    • Shatterhand says:

      And yeah, I realize it’s only a holiday weekend for Americans, or that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving the same way…but still, there had to have been a better option that would’ve been ideal for all.

    • It’s a double-edged sword. My guess is Bioware looked at the numbers and gameplay data and made a leap.

      On the one hand, people will miss out due to traveling. On the other, people will be off work or school and be able to play. There is no perfect situation in which everyone can win.

      In the end, they need people playing. This is a stress test so it’s all about raw numbers. Bodies, at computers, trying to log on to the game. Hopefully it will go smoothly. If not, hopefully they learn from it and launch will be smooth. It looks like they want nearly a million people in this stress test…so it’s going to be crazy.

      Possible that those who miss it will only miss out on some headaches.

  10. I may be able to play for a short period of time: I will be traveling until Saturday and have a important paper due the next Wednesday. But I’m not that concerned as the release date is a little over a month away.

  11. Wannabe Jedi says:

    Lucky me the only traveling I’m doing for Thanksgiving is a 10 minute drive to the other side of town :-D I will be able to play all weekend, yay!
    this will be my first time in beta testing. I must figure out what class to play in the beta.. I’m not sure I should play the class I plan on rolling as my main. I don’t want to ruin the story for the first 20 lvls or so..

    • Roll the mirror of it.

      I plan on making a Sith Warrior, so last weekend I rolled a Jedi Knight. Confirmed everything for me, DEFINITELY going SW at launch. It’s a good way to try out some mechanics and still have a fresh story ready for you next month.

  12. Think about how much time they have between the end of that beta and early release, 17 days to change things they intend to change to the client and make sure the servers are ready to go.

    If they waited to the weekend after they would only have 10 days so this was really their only option and it is pretty tight as it is anyhow.

  13. ArtfulDodger says:

    Wow thanks TOR for killing those of us that work retail by starting the Beta on Black Friday. Ahh well the game releases soon after and i will get to play then. Still i sell games for a living and am pushing this like crazy… a little reparation would be appreciated.

  14. Yes! Perfect Weekend! This weekend wouldn’t have worked cuz of projects and hw but YES! Can’t wait to test.

  15. Ratkinantics says:

    Hmm… I’ve just been told I have 3 days to book off before december…

  16. My question is. Is this the last beta weekend. I do recall there was to be a guild beta weekend. For guilds that have more then ten people. Does this count as the guild beta weekend. As well as the everybody beta weekend. Or is the guild beta weekend coming up some time in Dec.

  17. lookin good… last beta, here comes early acess… Thanksgiving weekend… great for taking a break from the chaos of inlaws and such…thank goodness Thanksgiving and Christmas are just once a year…. happy holidays 8)

  18. If I haven’t received an Invite from BioWare yet, should I try for one of the giveaway keys? I’ve been signed up as a Tester since that option was available on the TOR website, but have yet to receive an invite for the BIG weekend :(

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