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=Introduction=
[[File:Beta-d3-box.jpg|left|frame|Diablo III Beta box art.]]
The Diablo III Beta test began in early September, 2011, and is currently in was initially limited to "Friends & Family" testing, with the full . The closed beta test expected to begin any day now. Blizzard has not said how long the test will run, but they are still aiming to release Diablo III in 2011, which means began mid September and contains the beta test needs to conclude by early-November, at same content as the absolute latestFriends and Family testers were testing.
The Diablo III beta test consists of the first half of Act One, with some story elements and game features removed. The beta test is largely a tech demo, with little game content open to fan feedback; it is not intended to be a full game balance playtest, like many MMORPGs.
It was universally-expected that there would be a public beta test for Diablo III, and while Blizzard regularly hinted at it, the test was not actually confirmed<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-on-skills-party-help-and-beta-confirmationNon-Confirmation of Beta] - Bashiok, Blizzard 24/9/]10</ref>, with a release window of "third quarter 2011," until [[Mike Morhaime]] did so during an Activision/Blizzard conference call in May 2011.<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-details-announced/Confirmation of Beta ]- Mike Morhaime, Blizzard, Activision Blizzard First Quarter Calendar 2011, 9/05/11</ref>
The beta test got underway in early September 2011. It's unclear exactly when the test started; the Battle.net beta forums went onlineon September 2nd<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/official-diablo-iii-beta-forums-but-still-no-betaOfficial Beta Forums Open] on September 2nd- Bashiok, Blizzard 2/9/11</ref>, and visuals leaked around that time<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-character-creation-movieCharacter Creation Movie]- diablo.incgamers.com 2/9/11</ref> <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/the-first-diablo-3-beta-interface-shotsInterface Screenshots][http://- diablo.incgamers.com2/blog9/comments11</the-first-diablo-3-beta-screenshots]ref> <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-leaks-explainedLeaks Explained]- Various, Blizzard 2/9/11</ref>, and the Beta FAQ was posted on September 3rd<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/official-diablo-iii-beta-faq]. The first posts showed up in the Beta Support forum on September 4th[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/the-first-post-in-the-beta-feedback-forum-got-deleted], and got deleted while the Blizzard CMs continued to insist[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/battle-net-diablo-3-beta-avatarleaks-revealed] that the Friends and Family beta had not yet begun.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/no-beta-invites-this-weekend] The explained Official Beta download client was available during this time, enabling anyone who had it to post screenshots of the client install[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-install-client-screenshotsFAQ] and the options menus[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo- Blizzard 3-beta-options-menus], but those people could not play the game without Diablo 3 Beta access on their Battle.net account. Blizzard finally confirmed that the F&F test underway and the full test would begin soon, on September 6th.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-confirms-ff-beta-underway-closed-public-beta-soon][http:9/11</diablo.incgamersref>.com/blog/comments/blue-beta-comments-and-replies]
The first posts showed up in the Beta Support forum on September 4th<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/the-first-post-in-the-beta-feedback-forum-got-deleted Feedback Forum Post Deletion] - Blizzard 4/9/11</ref>, and got deleted while the Blizzard CMs continued to insist <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/battle-net-diablo-3-beta-avatar-revealed Official Beta Forum Avatar] - Blizzard 5/9/11</ref> that the Friends and Family beta had not yet begun.
The Beta download client was available during this time, enabling anyone who had it to post screenshots of the client install<div style="floatref>[http:right; clear//diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-install-client-screenshots Beta Install Screenshot] - diablo.incgamers.com 6/9/11</ref> and the options menus<ref>[http:right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;">//diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-options-menus Beta Options Menu Screenshot] - diablo.incgamers.com 6/9/11<br/ref>, but those people could not play the game without Diablo 3 Beta access on their Battle.net account. Blizzard finally confirmed that the F&F test was underway and the full test would begin soon, on September 6th. <brref>__TOC__[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-confirms-ff-beta-underway-closed-public-beta-soon Blue Post] - Bashiok, Blizzard 7/9/11</divref>.
<br>
==Will Is there be a closed Diablo III beta test?==Yes. This was always all but certain, but it was officially stated confirmed to be happening in various interviews from Blizzcon 2010.<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-beta-confirmed/Beta Confirmed][http:- Christian Lichtner, Blizzard, VG247 Interview, 28//www.vg247.com/201010/10</27/interview-diablo-iiis-jason-bender-and-christian-lichtner-talk-demon-hunters-pvp-blizzard-on-consoles-tons-more/]ref>
<blue><br>Christian Lichtner:</b> There will be a closed beta. I can say that. We definitely will have that. It’s incredibly important for us to get feedback from people. You know, we only want to put a game out there when it’s done. For example, when ''World of Warcraft'' had its really long beta, everyone thought it was madness. It was like “Who’s gonna buy this game? People have been playing it for free for months!” And all it did was make the game better. We need it. We need people playing the game and giving feedback, so we can make the game better.</blue>
Prior to this, [[Jay Wilson]] spoke about the benefits of beta testing. <ref>[http://wwwdiablo.ausgamersincgamers.com/features?p=3549 Benefits of Beta Testing] - Ausgamers Interview, 2/read10/2662371]08</ref>
<blue><font color="#FFFFFF"><i><b>AG:</b> Blizzard has always been great at showing games to people at an early stage and I'm interested in that idea. Do you think there are risks of showing games to people early? What's your philosophy behind that?</b></i></font>
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You already are, if you have a Battle.net account and have completed a Beta profile. [http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=27087 Blizzard maintains a support page] with detailed instructions on accomplishing this.
<br>
The Diablo III beta test is roughly the first half of Act One, taking a brand new character from the start of the game up though the battle with [[King Leoric]]. All five character [[classes]], all of their [[skills]], and almost all of the game features are included. [[Followers]], [[Artisans]], and the full [[item]] system is in the beta, though only the [[Templar]] and [[Blacksmith]] are encountered that early in the game.
'''Not in the beta:''' Some [[story]] elements were removed to preserve surprises, and there are no [[cinematics]]. [[Runestones]] are not included as they're undergoing further development, and the [[Arena]] is not available either. The [[Auction House]] was not available at the start of the beta, though the developers plan enabled the Gold Auction House in Patch 3 on 15th September<ref>[http://www.diablowiki.net/Beta_Patch_3 Gold Auction House Enabled] - Beta Patch 3, 15/9/11</ref> and introduced the Real Money Auction House in Patch 7 on 2 December 2011<ref>[http://www.diablowiki.net/Beta_Patch_7 Real Money Auction House Enabled] - Beta Patch 7, 2/12/11</ref>. Blizzard credited all testers' accounts with 50 credits in order to enable it at some point during the beta test.
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The D2 Diablo 2 beta took place in early 2000, and like all Blizzard betas in those days, there were only about 1000 testers, all of whom had a beta CD mailed to them. Modern betas start small and ramp up with more testers added over time, until far more than 1000 people are enabled to test.
The D2 Diablo 2 beta was all of Act One, in exactly the same form it had in the final game. All of the same [[quests]], [[NPCs]], [[levels]], [[waypoints]], [[mercenaries]], [[monsters]], [[items]], etc. [[PvP]] worked just as it did in the final game as well. All five characters were available, and while they could be leveled up as high as you liked, only the first three tiers of skills were available; at Clvl 1, 6, and 12.
<br>
The initial plans for the beta were quite extensive, with Jay Wilson claiming the game would be released about six months after the beta began.
[[Jay Wilson]] spoke on this during a video interview from Blizzcon 2010.<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-video-interview-jay-wilson-direct-tv/ Jay Wison Wilson @ BlizzCon 2010] - IncGamers October 25, 2010/10/10</ref>
::'''Geoffkeighley''' (via Twitter): someone has to ask this: When is the Diablo 3 beta gonna be?
::'''Jay Wilson: '''Probably about six months before we release.
<blue>Blizzard will use the additional time to extend the Diablo III closed beta test, which began September 20, potentially adding more testers than initially projected.
No. Jay Wilson confirmed from Gamescom 2011 that the beta will only be a closed one; all players will need a beta key and an invitation to participate.
The Starcraft 2 beta test generally had more than 20,000 concurrent users, and many, many additional beta keys were distributed over the course of the test to keep the testing numbers up. It's widely expected that the Diablo III beta will follow a similar course.
=Are Previous Blizzard Testers invited to Diablo III Beta Test?=
Only if you are already on the Blizzard's friends list. They do keep a list of good testers from past games, and add people to it when they reliably report numerous bugs, but the names on this list are kept private.
Blizzard passes out beta keys to their friends and family, to media, and to others in the industry. They also give out beta slots to various fansites, media sites, business partners, and often conduct "invite a friend" events during beta tests. There are generally numerous ways to gain access, including with game pre-orders, and more promotions appear during the course of each beta test.
Blizzard sometimes includes a slot for upcoming beta tests in the goodie bags they give out at Blizzcon or at World Wide Invitational events. (Though beta keys were not included in the Blizzcon 2009 or 2010 goodie bags, 1000 attendees from Blizzcon 2010 were randomly-selected to enter the beta test.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/commentscomment/1000-beta-key-winners-selected-from-blizzcon-2010-ticket-buyers/]
<br><br><br>
An Alpha test is run before the beta test, and is usually much smaller. The Alpha client is less finalized than the beta client, and is usually the first game build that's semi-complete and playable. Alpha tests are almost always private, and limited to employees, friends, and family.
===What's a Beta Test?===
Beta tests are large scale tests of a near-finished video game. To date, all Blizzard beta tests have been semi-public, with website signups drawing in thousands of public testers, who join Blizzard employees, their friends and family, fansite invitees, members of the media, employees at other gaming companies, and others. Beta tests generally scale up in size as they progress; starting with a few dozen testers, then gradually expanding to hundreds and then thousands of testers. In the old days this meant physically mailing out beta CDs; these days with the beta clients being shared via bit torrent, it means passing out more valid beta CD keys.
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===What's the purpose of a Beta Test?=== [[Image:Bnet-beta-cd.jpg|thumb]]Beta tests serve multiple purposes, depending on the game.
The original Diablo beta test was called the "Battle.net Beta Test" since it was largely made to test Blizzard's new online gaming service. That the software contained the beta client of Diablo I was almost beside the point, since the game was small enough to be tested internally. The hard part was getting the online matchmaking of Battle.net functional.
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===What makes a good beta tester?===
It depends on what the test is trying to measure.
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===What countries are included in the Beta Test?===
Blizzard beta tests are generally done internationally, though they often start with just North America for their test servers and most of the first testers. Blizzard has also been known to run beta servers in other countries where they expect a lot of players. They had extensive Battle.net servers in Korea for the Stacraft 2 beta, for instance.
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===Are there age limits for beta testers?===
Yes, in accordance with each game's age limit rating, or expected ratings. These are generally enforced via drop down, "select your age" boxes, with all the ''unbreakable'' security protection those provide.
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===Can I sign up multiple times?===
Each Battle.net account entered in the Beta Opt-In is eligible to be selected for a given beta test. So if you have multiple accounts, yes. You can't submit the same account more than once, though.
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===Are there minimum system specs for Beta Tests?===
There has to be some level of minimum machine to run a beta test, but developers try to include as wide a variety of tester equipment as possible. See the [[system requirements]] article for more details on Diablo III's requirements.
<br>
===How are Selected Testers Notified?===
Blizzard beta tests are conducted digitally, all through Battle.net. Most of the testers are semi-randomly selected by Blizzard, by their Battle.net accounts. Selected accounts are given beta access, and players can do so by logging on and downloading the beta client. Notification emails[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/friends-and-family-beta-invite-email] are sent to the email address associated with each account.
===Will I have to pay for the beta test?===
Blizzard does not charge for beta test slots, though you might need an active subscription to another game in order to play. For instance, you can't beta test a World of Warcraft expansion without an active WoW account.
===Will the Beta be downloadable?===
Yes. The days of mailed out CDs are long past, since Blizzard runs such large tests and the game clients are huge. Beta test clients these days are usually several gigs in size, and can take quite a while to download via torrent, even for fast connections.
===What's a Beta Test like?===
Generally, just like playing the game, albeit online only and with more bugs and server downtimes. There's no special procedure to follow, once you've got the client downloaded and your beta key working. You just start it up and play, but only through Battle.net. There is no offline play support.
===Will the beta change as I participate?===
Constantly. Beta tests usually have a new patch almost every day, with minor and major changes, bug fixes, and more.
===Will I be able to talk about the beta test?===
While previous Blizzard betas tests all had a Non-Disclosure Agreement ([[NDA]]), their more recent betas have not. [[Bashiok]] spoke on this in January 2011.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/no-nda-for-the-diablo-iii-beta/]
===Does Blizzard Expect Testers to Play a Minimum Number of Hours?===
No, though they'd appreciate it if you played enough to find some bugs and give some useful feedback. Players who can't play, for technical or other reasons, are useful as well, since Blizzard wants to know what's stopping you.
===Will beta testers be given notice before the testing ends?===
Usually the end of a test is announced some weeks in advance.
===How Long After Beta is Release?===
This also depends. Some beta tests run right up until the release date, with the information from them being used for post-release patches. Others end weeks earlier, or are replaced by open beta/stress tests.
===Rewards for Being Beta Tester===
No free game. Sometimes top testers are credited in the game manual or online credits, and you might earn your way onto Blizzard's beta tester friends/family list, but the sneak peek at the game is the reward for most.
===Do I get keep my beta character in the final release?===
No, characters in all Blizzard beta tests are wiped from the servers before the final game. (There are frequent character wipes during tests as well, as patches are implemented.) Carrying characters over from the beta to the final game would give beta testers an unfair advantage, and besides, there are numerous technical issues as the beta client is not the same as the final game version.
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