It's getting to the point I don't even care anymore, the only thing that will peek my interest is a release date.
I could care less what the next professions are and i don't ever want to hear the word itirate again.
You've had enough time ArenaNet, so if your not gonna give us a open beta and let us help you finish the game, shut-up and stop wasting our time.
I mean realy, the first couple times it was cute, but now it's just getting stupid. "It will be done when it's done"
Why do we have to go over the same information for months, I understand it's partly the stupid interviewers asking the same questions over and over, but you (ArenaNet) also have a responsiblity, as the information source.
First, if people can't understand "When it's Finished" why would you keep telling them, you look just as silly putting up with the stupid question as the person asking it.
Stand up for yourself and tell them if they ask about nformation that's already been released then they could loose interviews or inside info that ArenaNet will offer to somebody else who CAN READ!
Again, in the beginning it was cute, itirate, re-itirate over and over till it's right. (don't get me wrong i think you should take the time to get it right, but it's a phylosiphy, not a practice) You would think by now the company would know how do do things right the FIRST TIME or at least some of the times. Now your just starting to look like a bunch of nice people that don't want to hurt any feelings or, your a group that can't do anything right the first time.
And last.....I think your game has enough HYPE.....the more you peacock around and slather redundant info the longer it's gonna take to get this game to the shelf. The blog is a perfect way to inform players/fans without wasting everybodys time answering the same questions over and over at all your peacock sessions (gameconfferences)
Please Please Please ......some real info or go dark again and stop sharing.
Originally posted by mrw0lf If I were a betting man I'd go for 2012, but isn't that a good thing? Or even 2013?
no. no it's not .. i want it *veruca from charlie and the chocolate factory voice* NOOOW!!!
Currently Playing: Perpetuum MMOs Played (most time spent to least): World of Warcraft (BG/Open world PvP focused), Lord of the Rings Online (PvMP focused), Warhammer Online (BG PvP focused), Global Agenda, Age of Conan, DC Universe Online (PvP focused), Runes of Magic, Allods, Aion, Fallen Earth
Guild Wars 2 will go into 1st CBTesting in the 2nd half of 2011. Its official.
Ahh beat me to it. Yeeah there was an article of an interview with the leading developers and they said their on track for closed Alpha and Beta before the end of the year and wouldn't comment on open beta's atm. So yeah expect early next year for the game it seems like. Which is fine by me as it gives me time for Skyrim and Heroes of Might and Magic VI, end of the year gaming time will be busy with those titles.
It's getting to the point I don't even care anymore, the only thing that will peek my interest is a release date.
I could care less what the next professions are and i don't ever want to hear the word itirate again.
You've had enough time ArenaNet, so if your not gonna give us a open beta and let us help you finish the game, shut-up and stop wasting our time.
I mean realy, the first couple times it was cute, but now it's just getting stupid. "It will be done when it's done"
Why do we have to go over the same information for months, I understand it's partly the stupid interviewers asking the same questions over and over, but you (ArenaNet) also have a responsiblity, as the information source.
First, if people can't understand "When it's Finished" why would you keep telling them, you look just as silly putting up with the stupid question as the person asking it.
Stand up for yourself and tell them if they ask about nformation that's already been released then they could loose interviews or inside info that ArenaNet will offer to somebody else who CAN READ!
Again, in the beginning it was cute, itirate, re-itirate over and over till it's right. (don't get me wrong i think you should take the time to get it right, but it's a phylosiphy, not a practice) You would think by now the company would know how do do things right the FIRST TIME or at least some of the times. Now your just starting to look like a bunch of nice people that don't want to hurt any feelings or, your a group that can't do anything right the first time.
And last.....I think your game has enough HYPE.....the more you peacock around and slather redundant info the longer it's gonna take to get this game to the shelf. The blog is a perfect way to inform players/fans without wasting everybodys time answering the same questions over and over at all your peacock sessions (gameconfferences)
Please Please Please ......some real info or go dark again and stop sharing.
you are the only one out there who wants them to stop sharing updates.
Most memorable games: AoC(Tryanny PvP), RIFT, GW, GW2, Ragnarok Online, Aion, FFXI, FFXIV, Secret World, League of Legends (Silver II rank)
Does anyone else feel that the rash of open beta's have hurt the industry more than it has helped them? Let's be honest open beta's have not been used to improve games recently, it is more of a marketing tool.
All right, everyone. Seems that this investor call got a few people worked up, so I wanted to reiterate information about beta and the business model.
Our release date remains "When it's done" and our current beta timing is still closed alpha/beta this year, with public beta and release to be determined based upon feedback from closed alpha/beta.
The business model remains subscription-free (buy the game, no monthly fees) with microtransactions, which you have long known about. Other games charge a subscription fee to provide ongoing game content. As you know from Rick's posts on the forums, microstransactions in Guild Wars 2 are going to help sustain the game and provide you with ongoing game content.
So, really, the investor call revealed nothing new to fans who have been following the game closely. For investors, the call was informational and provided status updates for them. Unlike fans, investors don't constantly hit F5 on the blog or the Guild Wars 2 website to track every single minute detail.
I could easily see them doing a Rift-type CB late in the year for a month or two of heavy testing (Trion had alpha testers on 24/7 and a slightly targer pool of CB testers select weekends), then open preview weekends I.e. "open beta" early 2012 for a month and then release Jan/Feb. In fact, this seems very plausible to me. I would love to see a late 2011 release, and while I do not think it impossible, it might depend on a perfect storm of variables like NO issues coming up in CB so OB can begin earlier than planned, etc. And nothing ever goes BETTER than planned .
As for what has yet to be released information-wise, we are nearly full up on info, even if ANet were to go dark again after the convention season. At one profession every 6 weeks or so (and the 7th heavily hinted for this week), a race week per month, and really only a week each needed for PvP, underwater combat, guilds and social networking, remember we have four months at least of steady info to come in.
The NCsoft conference call stated that the CBT will be by the end of 2011. No way will we be seeing GW2 in 2011.
1) NCsoft said it. Not ArenaNet.
2) It said testing will be done during the second half of the year. Thats about a month away. Also, ArenaNet have been testing GW2 for nearly as long as its been in development.
Originally posted by SaintViktor The NCsoft conference call stated that the CBT will be by the end of 2011. No way will we be seeing GW2 in 2011.
This has been the party line since the first 2011 call, and across 5 months of interviews. We have gotten no new information here to suggest a change or delay in relase plans, unless the argument is being made that we should have gotten news that testing/development was going faster than expected?
For them to have adequate testing, they practically have to start Alpha like.....today.
for start of 2012 is my best bet. Along with possible SWTOR as well
Alpha was already started probably one year ago (or more? who knows), the build you see in the demos is the alpha version, the thing is, until now all the testing had been done by the QA team...like usually it is, have not seen many games that calls players to alpha test their games for extensive times...
2011 or 2012, it matters little...
What really matters is that they WILL launch someday
"It has potential" -Second most used phrase on existence "It sucks" -Most used phrase on existence
The NCsoft conference call stated that the CBT will be by the end of 2011. No way will we be seeing GW2 in 2011.
1) NCsoft said it. Not ArenaNet.
2) It said testing will be done during the second half of the year. Thats about a month away. Also, ArenaNet have been testing GW2 for nearly as long as its been in development.
While I admire your optimism, it's actually also Flannum and Jon Peters from ANet themselves that spoke about this too in an interview:
Beta release still on target for this year?
We are definitely on target for a Closed Beta this year. We’re going to do a closed Alpha and Beta test and we’re totally on target for those things. Whether there’s more than that? We’ll announce that stuff when we get closer. We’ve said we will have an open Beta at some point but we’re not going to know when we’re ready for that until we’re much closer to it. Things are looking good for closed Alpha and beta this year for sure
They say that things are looking good for closed alpha and closed beta this year, they're not even talking about open beta let alone a release for this year. This combined with NCSoft's news make it sound highly unlikely that they'd release this year, like a 99% chance unlikely kind of thing. I know that with GW the first open betas were at the Fall and the release in May the year afterwards. I doubt ANet would suddenly go for a 2-3 month period between closed beta and actual release.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
The NCsoft conference call stated that the CBT will be by the end of 2011. No way will we be seeing GW2 in 2011.
1) NCsoft said it. Not ArenaNet.
2) It said testing will be done during the second half of the year. Thats about a month away. Also, ArenaNet have been testing GW2 for nearly as long as its been in development.
While I admire your optimism, it's actually also Flannum and Jon Peters from ANet themselves that spoke about this too in an interview:
Beta release still on target for this year?
We are definitely on target for a Closed Beta this year. We’re going to do a closed Alpha and Beta test and we’re totally on target for those things. Whether there’s more than that? We’ll announce that stuff when we get closer. We’ve said we will have an open Beta at some point but we’re not going to know when we’re ready for that until we’re much closer to it. Things are looking good for closed Alpha and beta this year for sure
They say that things are looking good for closed alpha and closed beta this year, they're not even talking about open beta let alone a release for this year. This combined with NCSoft's news make it sound highly unlikely that they'd release this year, like a 99% chance unlikely kind of thing. I know that with GW the first open betas were at the Fall and the release in May the year afterwards. I doubt ANet would suddenly go for a 2-3 month period between closed beta and actual release.
Closed Alpha has been going on since the beginning of development and they mentioned in a recent interview that they had some outside people doing some PvP. That only leaves the betas and don't expect any large marketing type closed beta that TRION used with Rift. Open Beta will be very short, most likely 1 month maximum and that leaves half a year if they start doing the closed beta soon.
It is still possible and plausible that GW2 will get released this year. If it does then it will most likely get released near the very end, but I never expected anything sooner than that.
The NCsoft conference call stated that the CBT will be by the end of 2011. No way will we be seeing GW2 in 2011.
1) NCsoft said it. Not ArenaNet.
2) It said testing will be done during the second half of the year. Thats about a month away. Also, ArenaNet have been testing GW2 for nearly as long as its been in development.
While I admire your optimism, it's actually also Flannum and Jon Peters from ANet themselves that spoke about this too in an interview:
Beta release still on target for this year?
We are definitely on target for a Closed Beta this year. We’re going to do a closed Alpha and Beta test and we’re totally on target for those things. Whether there’s more than that? We’ll announce that stuff when we get closer. We’ve said we will have an open Beta at some point but we’re not going to know when we’re ready for that until we’re much closer to it. Things are looking good for closed Alpha and beta this year for sure
They say that things are looking good for closed alpha and closed beta this year, they're not even talking about open beta let alone a release for this year. This combined with NCSoft's news make it sound highly unlikely that they'd release this year, like a 99% chance unlikely kind of thing. I know that with GW the first open betas were at the Fall and the release in May the year afterwards. I doubt ANet would suddenly go for a 2-3 month period between closed beta and actual release.
Just want to note that ANet has said they are NOT emulating their GW1 approach to beta, and that beta would be closer to release than with GW1. They are well aware of the "beta as marketing" phenomena.
Note: Trion had extensive alpha testing with Rift, and just a handful of closed beta weekends, then a couple weeks of OB. In 24/7 time, that's just around a month of closed beta. It would not be insanity for ANet to do the same, provided they actually have a highly-polished product to show off come Q4. That's a lot of maybes, though, and 2012 would certainly be playing it safe.
Also, you don't tell your investors you'll be bringing in a ton of money at the end of a quarter unless it's a sure thing. That doesn't mean a less than 30% chance.
I completed four years of college and this game still hasn't come out yet. Damn.
I was in a LTR when news of GW2 first broke with PC Gamer. Since then, that relationship ended, I met someone new, dated, got two new cats, bought a house and got married and have been living in the new house for nearly two years (oh, and also have had two different jobs of over a year each)!
I fully expect to have grandkids/grandkitties by the time GW2 finally launches.
I can't realy see Anet releasing the game in November, and to be perfectly honset i dont want them too either. In November gamers will have alot of games to put their hands on, like Skyrim. I expect a desember/january release, atleast Q1 in 2012. Anet has always stated that they want to make the best game they can make, so why rush it? NCSoft has given Anet the time table they needed to make the game they want, so i think they are right on schedual.
Wouldn't mind some CB videos on youtube though. Something to watch when SC2 and HON gets too boring.
My son. The day you were born the very staff of Blizzard whispered the name, profit.
How can ppl still expect a late 2011 release after the official statements about closed alpha/beta ? If they are on track to have closed alpha/beta at the end of this year, then no way they will release the game this year. And this is assuming that they stay on track.
How can ppl still expect a late 2011 release after the official statements about closed alpha/beta ? If they are on track to have closed alpha/beta at the end of this year, then no way they will release the game this year. And this is assuming that they stay on track.
"Guild Wars 2 will go into beta testing stage in the second half of this year."
"well definitely there will be a certain type of closed beta testing before the end of the year"
Closed beta testing is during the second half of the year and alpha testing has been going on since the beginning of development. The only people who said it will be at the end of the year are sensationalists or people who have misread/misquoted the conference call.
Closed Alpha has been going on since the beginning of development and they mentioned in a recent interview that they had some outside people doing some PvP. That only leaves the betas and don't expect any large marketing type closed beta that TRION used with Rift. Open Beta will be very short, most likely 1 month maximum and that leaves half a year if they start doing the closed beta soon.
It is still possible and plausible that GW2 will get released this year. If it does then it will most likely get released near the very end, but I never expected anything sooner than that.
Your statements about Closed Alpha is contradicted by ArenaNets Eric Flannum who writes on the guru on 6 of may
"Hey all, just wanted to clarify something. When Jon mentions something being pre-alpha you shouldn't draw any conclusions about how far into development the game is. We've stated that we will have closed alpha and beta tests this year and we are most definitely on track for that."
it is a made to a comment that is made by Jon Peters where he finish commenting a gamming sesion with the words
"It was at this point that I stopped and realized the game is still pre-alpha."
We have No way off knowing when he had his Pre-alpha experience, but I think it must be safe to conclude that Closed Alpha has NOT going on since beginning of development.
That ArenaNet is developing a game where the qualities are so obvius that many other game compagnies would just have called what they have done so far, closed Alpha, is another talk
Your statements about Closed Alpha is contradicted by ArenaNets Eric Flannum who writes on the guru on 6 of may
"Hey all, just wanted to clarify something. When Jon mentions something being pre-alpha you shouldn't draw any conclusions about how far into development the game is. We've stated that we will have closed alpha and beta tests this year and we are most definitely on track for that."
it is a made to a comment that is made by Jon Peters where he finish commenting a gamming sesion with the words
"It was at this point that I stopped and realized the game is still pre-alpha."
We have No way off knowing when he had his Pre-alpha experience, but I think it must be safe to conclude that Closed Alpha has NOT going on since beginning of development.
That ArenaNet is developing a game where the qualities are so obvius that many other game compagnies would just have called what they have done so far, closed Alpha, is another talk
This.
Other MMO companies would maybe have considered if their game and testing was at the stage GW2 was in as alpha testing or beta level, but that's clearly not how ANet people see it themselves, as they keep referring to a "pre-alpha" stage GW2 is in. It just shows how rigorously dedicated they are in delivering a game product that is polished to the bones.
As for what the quotes say, all the already mentioned quotes and quotes like this
"Starting from year 2012, we believe substantial growth will be driven by new blockbuster titles like [Blade & Soul] and Guild Wars 2. Also, Guild Wars 2 will go into beta testing stage in the second half of this year." says NCsoft's Jaeho Lee
the far likeliest chance is that GW2 will launch in 2012. Speculating or saying that has nothing to do with trolling but everything with looking at the available info objectively and realistically. I don't like it either, I'd hoped and wished that they'd release this Spring already, but even more do I wish that GW2 lives up to the ANet designers' own quality expectations. If that means that GW2 needs continuous rigorous testing until late this year and release in 2012 as NCSoft and ANet people themselves seem to expect, then so be it.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Comments
It's getting to the point I don't even care anymore, the only thing that will peek my interest is a release date.
I could care less what the next professions are and i don't ever want to hear the word itirate again.
You've had enough time ArenaNet, so if your not gonna give us a open beta and let us help you finish the game, shut-up and stop wasting our time.
I mean realy, the first couple times it was cute, but now it's just getting stupid. "It will be done when it's done"
Why do we have to go over the same information for months, I understand it's partly the stupid interviewers asking the same questions over and over, but you (ArenaNet) also have a responsiblity, as the information source.
First, if people can't understand "When it's Finished" why would you keep telling them, you look just as silly putting up with the stupid question as the person asking it.
Stand up for yourself and tell them if they ask about nformation that's already been released then they could loose interviews or inside info that ArenaNet will offer to somebody else who CAN READ!
Again, in the beginning it was cute, itirate, re-itirate over and over till it's right. (don't get me wrong i think you should take the time to get it right, but it's a phylosiphy, not a practice) You would think by now the company would know how do do things right the FIRST TIME or at least some of the times. Now your just starting to look like a bunch of nice people that don't want to hurt any feelings or, your a group that can't do anything right the first time.
And last.....I think your game has enough HYPE.....the more you peacock around and slather redundant info the longer it's gonna take to get this game to the shelf. The blog is a perfect way to inform players/fans without wasting everybodys time answering the same questions over and over at all your peacock sessions (gameconfferences)
Please Please Please ......some real info or go dark again and stop sharing.
no. no it's not .. i want it *veruca from charlie and the chocolate factory voice* NOOOW!!!
Currently Playing: Perpetuum
MMOs Played (most time spent to least): World of Warcraft (BG/Open world PvP focused), Lord of the Rings Online (PvMP focused), Warhammer Online (BG PvP focused), Global Agenda, Age of Conan, DC Universe Online (PvP focused), Runes of Magic, Allods, Aion, Fallen Earth
No evidence, but being realistic it probably is 2012....
Ahh beat me to it. Yeeah there was an article of an interview with the leading developers and they said their on track for closed Alpha and Beta before the end of the year and wouldn't comment on open beta's atm. So yeah expect early next year for the game it seems like. Which is fine by me as it gives me time for Skyrim and Heroes of Might and Magic VI, end of the year gaming time will be busy with those titles.
you are the only one out there who wants them to stop sharing updates.
Most memorable games: AoC(Tryanny PvP), RIFT, GW, GW2, Ragnarok Online, Aion, FFXI, FFXIV, Secret World, League of Legends (Silver II rank)
Does anyone else feel that the rash of open beta's have hurt the industry more than it has helped them? Let's be honest open beta's have not been used to improve games recently, it is more of a marketing tool.
"Onward to adventure".
From Regina:
All right, everyone. Seems that this investor call got a few people worked up, so I wanted to reiterate information about beta and the business model.
Our release date remains "When it's done" and our current beta timing is still closed alpha/beta this year, with public beta and release to be determined based upon feedback from closed alpha/beta.
The business model remains subscription-free (buy the game, no monthly fees) with microtransactions, which you have long known about. Other games charge a subscription fee to provide ongoing game content. As you know from Rick's posts on the forums, microstransactions in Guild Wars 2 are going to help sustain the game and provide you with ongoing game content.
So, really, the investor call revealed nothing new to fans who have been following the game closely. For investors, the call was informational and provided status updates for them. Unlike fans, investors don't constantly hit F5 on the blog or the Guild Wars 2 website to track every single minute detail.
I could easily see them doing a Rift-type CB late in the year for a month or two of heavy testing (Trion had alpha testers on 24/7 and a slightly targer pool of CB testers select weekends), then open preview weekends I.e. "open beta" early 2012 for a month and then release Jan/Feb. In fact, this seems very plausible to me. I would love to see a late 2011 release, and while I do not think it impossible, it might depend on a perfect storm of variables like NO issues coming up in CB so OB can begin earlier than planned, etc. And nothing ever goes BETTER than planned
.
As for what has yet to be released information-wise, we are nearly full up on info, even if ANet were to go dark again after the convention season. At one profession every 6 weeks or so (and the 7th heavily hinted for this week), a race week per month, and really only a week each needed for PvP, underwater combat, guilds and social networking, remember we have four months at least of steady info to come in.
The NCsoft conference call stated that the CBT will be by the end of 2011. No way will we be seeing GW2 in 2011.
Before the end, not by the end, that's an important difference. But I agree 2011 is becoming more and more unlikely.
1) NCsoft said it. Not ArenaNet.
2) It said testing will be done during the second half of the year. Thats about a month away. Also, ArenaNet have been testing GW2 for nearly as long as its been in development.
This has been the party line since the first 2011 call, and across 5 months of interviews. We have gotten no new information here to suggest a change or delay in relase plans, unless the argument is being made that we should have gotten news that testing/development was going faster than expected?
Alpha was already started probably one year ago (or more? who knows), the build you see in the demos is the alpha version, the thing is, until now all the testing had been done by the QA team...like usually it is, have not seen many games that calls players to alpha test their games for extensive times...
2011 or 2012, it matters little...
What really matters is that they WILL launch someday
"It has potential"
-Second most used phrase on existence
"It sucks"
-Most used phrase on existence
While I admire your optimism, it's actually also Flannum and Jon Peters from ANet themselves that spoke about this too in an interview:
Beta release still on target for this year?
We are definitely on target for a Closed Beta this year. We’re going to do a closed Alpha and Beta test and we’re totally on target for those things. Whether there’s more than that? We’ll announce that stuff when we get closer. We’ve said we will have an open Beta at some point but we’re not going to know when we’re ready for that until we’re much closer to it. Things are looking good for closed Alpha and beta this year for sure
They say that things are looking good for closed alpha and closed beta this year, they're not even talking about open beta let alone a release for this year. This combined with NCSoft's news make it sound highly unlikely that they'd release this year, like a 99% chance unlikely kind of thing. I know that with GW the first open betas were at the Fall and the release in May the year afterwards. I doubt ANet would suddenly go for a 2-3 month period between closed beta and actual release.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Closed Alpha has been going on since the beginning of development and they mentioned in a recent interview that they had some outside people doing some PvP. That only leaves the betas and don't expect any large marketing type closed beta that TRION used with Rift. Open Beta will be very short, most likely 1 month maximum and that leaves half a year if they start doing the closed beta soon.
It is still possible and plausible that GW2 will get released this year. If it does then it will most likely get released near the very end, but I never expected anything sooner than that.
Just want to note that ANet has said they are NOT emulating their GW1 approach to beta, and that beta would be closer to release than with GW1. They are well aware of the "beta as marketing" phenomena.
Note: Trion had extensive alpha testing with Rift, and just a handful of closed beta weekends, then a couple weeks of OB. In 24/7 time, that's just around a month of closed beta. It would not be insanity for ANet to do the same, provided they actually have a highly-polished product to show off come Q4. That's a lot of maybes, though, and 2012 would certainly be playing it safe.
Also, you don't tell your investors you'll be bringing in a ton of money at the end of a quarter unless it's a sure thing. That doesn't mean a less than 30% chance.
I see most people saying it will come out in November.
It seems like every game comes out around the November time
I completed four years of college and this game still hasn't come out yet. Damn.
I was in a LTR when news of GW2 first broke with PC Gamer. Since then, that relationship ended, I met someone new, dated, got two new cats, bought a house and got married and have been living in the new house for nearly two years (oh, and also have had two different jobs of over a year each)!
I fully expect to have grandkids/grandkitties by the time GW2 finally launches.
2012? Please no!
But if they don't get Beta started by July or Aug this year my bet is early 2012 :-(
Oberon
I can't realy see Anet releasing the game in November, and to be perfectly honset i dont want them too either. In November gamers will have alot of games to put their hands on, like Skyrim. I expect a desember/january release, atleast Q1 in 2012. Anet has always stated that they want to make the best game they can make, so why rush it? NCSoft has given Anet the time table they needed to make the game they want, so i think they are right on schedual.
Wouldn't mind some CB videos on youtube though. Something to watch when SC2 and HON gets too boring.
My son. The day you were born the very staff of Blizzard whispered the name, profit.
How can ppl still expect a late 2011 release after the official statements about closed alpha/beta ? If they are on track to have closed alpha/beta at the end of this year, then no way they will release the game this year. And this is assuming that they stay on track.
"Guild Wars 2 will go into beta testing stage in the second half of this year."
"well definitely there will be a certain type of closed beta testing before the end of the year"
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/ncsoft-q1-2011-conference-call-t16778.html
Closed beta testing is during the second half of the year and alpha testing has been going on since the beginning of development. The only people who said it will be at the end of the year are sensationalists or people who have misread/misquoted the conference call.
Your statements about Closed Alpha is contradicted by ArenaNets Eric Flannum who writes on the guru on 6 of may
"Hey all, just wanted to clarify something. When Jon mentions something being pre-alpha you shouldn't draw any conclusions about how far into development the game is. We've stated that we will have closed alpha and beta tests this year and we are most definitely on track for that."
it is a made to a comment that is made by Jon Peters where he finish commenting a gamming sesion with the words
"It was at this point that I stopped and realized the game is still pre-alpha."
We have No way off knowing when he had his Pre-alpha experience, but I think it must be safe to conclude that Closed Alpha has NOT going on since beginning of development.
That ArenaNet is developing a game where the qualities are so obvius that many other game compagnies would just have called what they have done so far, closed Alpha, is another talk
This.
Other MMO companies would maybe have considered if their game and testing was at the stage GW2 was in as alpha testing or beta level, but that's clearly not how ANet people see it themselves, as they keep referring to a "pre-alpha" stage GW2 is in. It just shows how rigorously dedicated they are in delivering a game product that is polished to the bones.
As for what the quotes say, all the already mentioned quotes and quotes like this
"Starting from year 2012, we believe substantial growth will be driven by new blockbuster titles like [Blade & Soul] and Guild Wars 2. Also, Guild Wars 2 will go into beta testing stage in the second half of this year." says NCsoft's Jaeho Lee
the far likeliest chance is that GW2 will launch in 2012. Speculating or saying that has nothing to do with trolling but everything with looking at the available info objectively and realistically. I don't like it either, I'd hoped and wished that they'd release this Spring already, but even more do I wish that GW2 lives up to the ANet designers' own quality expectations. If that means that GW2 needs continuous rigorous testing until late this year and release in 2012 as NCSoft and ANet people themselves seem to expect, then so be it.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."