You would NOT EVER want to paly a game such as this that had not been through a large scale beta test phase like Bliz does. They DO use paid testers to test many many aspects of the game. But no test script can compete with the kinds of conditions that happen when a large number of real players get on and try things out. Paid testers can only test things that people can think up and write down on a script. A cpl thousand? users playing the game for real will exercize parts of the system that no sane person would think of testing.

"Hey Bob, did you know that when 10 people jump off the scryer elevator at the same time for the Going Down achievement, Adal starts handing out Badge loot? Just happened in Beta, we'd better fix that!"

Instead of less Beta you could make a very good arguement for MORE. The lag seen in the first week of the 3.0 patch was because Blizz did not anticipate the increased load of the achievement system on their databases, more load on their test server might have uncovered that, who knows.

You may not like what happens when the Beta testers come back into the general population after release, but belive me Beta testing is absolutely necessecary in any software development, especially one of the scale that Bilzz is dealing with.

---

Q u o t e:
beta and why it ruins the game.

---

Stopped readnig there but I assume the OP is crying about how people get firsts and doesn't realize they don't hurt him?

---

Q u o t e:
Everyone is getting so wrapped up in SERVER FIRST achievements.

Seriously though, who cares? I literally can not name one server first from Akama and I have seen a lot of them. There's not any particular reason to strive for this aside from further self-validation.

It's an achievement granted to people that make World of Warcraft their first and only priority for a couple of days.

---

Ianbrody - Server first Grandmaster Leatherworker.

I only know this because I knew him before the expansion, play with him regularly, was online when he got it and proceeded to laugh at him for wasting his money +)

Was online for a lot of other ones...but I have no idea who they are now...

Does it honestly matter...?

Threads like this are what drive people to want to be in betas so they can learn the content as opposed to testing the way it should be. The people who boast about a server first do it because they know somewhere somebody is envious of them.

You could solve the problem yourself OP. Stop caring.

---

Q u o t e:
Download questhelper.

---

No thanks, I'm fully functionally literate.

A month from now nobody is going to care or even remember about individual firsts.

---

Q u o t e:
first 80 death knight on my server had never played a death knight before

also feats of strength are gamebreaking

---

I wouldn't be suprised if he did the 70-80 quests a couple time to gain some kind of memorization.

---

Q u o t e:
No thanks, I'm fully functionally literate.

---

Quest helper just tells you where quests are without having to read a crappy story, and gives you a "route" of how to do them.

---

Q u o t e:
OP, you could just as easily do all of the above if you had no life and a bedpan/IV attached to your desk chair.

be happy you aren't that pathetic.

---

lol this

I don't think it has much to do with the server firsts for leveling or professions. The large open beta does help addon developers and sites like wowhead, though, which does speed all those things along, but for all players.

But there's definitely a problem with the more challenging raid content. If you got to practice it for weeks or during the beta, then it's already old when the game goes live. Some of the people who powerleveled to 80 might have taken their time if they hadn't seen it all before during beta.

Such large, open betas cheapen the game itself.

---

Q u o t e:
All these server firsts, one after another. Characters getting to 80 first, maxing out their proffessions first and getting an achievement, getting a world server annoucement and their 15 mins of fame. Along w/ guild progression into new content and getting bragging rights to say they're the server firsts to get so and so boss down, or to clear whatever raid/heroic/instance.

IMO if you played beta you should be excluded from getting any server first achievements and any world server annoucements. All these people get to do it for a second time while the rest of us that weren't lucky enough to get a beta key get to struggle to catch up. And yes i'm just being jealous and QQing. But I know the rest of you are thinking it too. Even w/ all the mods being wrath ready when the game came out. It ruins the game. Why can't Bliz pay testers instead of having you beta players do all the work for free and then u come on and ruin the competition for the rest of us. They didn't want us to start out w/ any areana points or any kind of a jump on pvp gear, but they let all the PvE aspect of the game get stollen. And why do they let you play on beta? so they could save a buck by not paying testers when they're taking 15bux a month from 11 million people.... come on!!! i'd think they'd have enough money to pay a room full of people to test the game, and let the gamers play the game @ release giving us all a fair shot.

I'd like to know if there's any server firsts that were acomplished by any non-beta users. And if there is any of you, you probably used mods that were updated for wrath, and even so... Gratz to you very few, if any, that did it for the actual first time.

>.<

---

Was not in beta. Have no server firsts. The game is not ruined for me. Your premise is flawed.

I think there is some problem, but not for the reasons the OP stated. There are so many posts and so much confusion, concern, and anger about guilds finishing content so quickly. I think allowing whole guilds to beta test your product is fostering an undesirable attitude upon release. I don't remember everyone being so disappointed with BC, yet I think that was also beta tested by players. You read the forums or listen to general chat, and everyone seems so disheartened. I think that's more damaging than being unable to realistically compete for server firsts. As for me, I'm thoroughly enjoying it, but there is a sense of this really isn't anything new - kinda like watching a rerun that you haven't seen; fun and enjoyable, but no longer relevant.

However, we probably have a much less buggy game. So it's a toss up. I suppose that Blizzard, in their analysis decided it was better to test the game more thoroughly with real guilds and players, than to preserve a more "untouched" feel to the game.

---

Q u o t e:
Download questhelper.

---

I prefer utilizing my ocular orbs. In layman's terms, reading the quest.
Read the summary at the end. If you need a direction, scan question for a compass direction such as "northeast".

I don't play the game merely to keep my chair warm and to push the keys the game tells me to push.


On the topic: I hear achievement actually matter, and that they provide substantial benefits that make the achievers OP.
Oh wait-

The only thing about the betas that ruin the retail game is the lack of a NDA.

You're really pathetic for letting this bug you. To be envious of those who worked hard and were successful for it? No one stopped you from researching the best strategy, using mods or skipping work.

Petulant child

---

Q u o t e:
Quest helper just tells you where quests are without having to read a crappy story, and gives you a "route" of how to do them.

---

None of the text for any of these quests is long enough for me to see how that saves much time, except in the cases where the quest text is just poorly worded, period.

Server firsts in my eyes are more badges of shame than badges of justice.