Let me get this out of the way first. I am not asking anyone in beta to reveal that they are in beta, or to reveal anything about beta. You who are in know who you are and you know what things are like, and I am fine with that.

I want to ask those of you who are in beta and have seen what we cannot to take stock of what the game offers, what you have learned that it will offer, what you know it won't offer, and most importantly, what you have not been able to get an answer about. If you feel that the presence or absence of something would be a detriment to the quality of the game and to the game play experience, I appeal to you... no... I BEG you to speak up about it in whatever channels you are able to as beta testers. Please do not adopt a position of "It's just beta, The missing stuff will be in the final version of the game." Just don't. Many people, especially those who have never beta tested before, are not aware that very few design changes occur once the game is in beta. You are testing what the game will more than likely BE when it goes live. I'm not talking about art assets or animation. That can be fixed with relative ease. It's bad gameplay elements that are present and good gameplay elements that are absent that we should be concerned about the most.

I beta tested Star Trek Online. I observed arguments in the beta boards where people complained about things that were missing only to be countered by Cryptic loyalists with the "It's just beta. That stuff will be in when the game launches."

I also beta tested Star Wars: The Old Republic. The same sorts of arguments occurred there, countered by the BioWare loyalists with the same "It'll be in the launch version" line...

Both games had a head start period, and the "Where is this or that feature/mechanic?" arguments resurfaced. And the loyalists countered with "This is just head start. When the public launch happens, they'll unlock that stuff...

And for both games, when public launch happened those features/mechanics were STILL MISSING... And the screaming commenced, lead by many former loyalists who felt that the devs had betrayed their trust.

So PLEASE, good beta testers of TESO. If something is missing that you really feel should be there, or if something is present that you really feel should not be, for the betterment of the game and gameplay thereof, do not hold your peace. Assume that it is the plan for the game to launch as-is, and raise holy hell while there still may yet be time to get the developers to realize how important it is that this or that element be present at launch, or removed before launch. If the devs are not talking about said element, assume that their plan is to either leave it as-is, either present or absent. Don't just assume that it will just simply be addressed. You are on the inside of the NDA. Demand answers to the unanswered question, and if you strongly feel that the answers you are given are the wrong sort, FIGHT to get the right answers. You guys are on the front lines. Just because something works as a dev intends does not means it is working the right way. What passes through the gate at the end of beta is what the race will be run with.

And no... I am not advocating the argument for things which we have already been directly told will NOT be in the game, or the argument against things which we have already been directly told WILL be in the game. I am talking about the things you guys know should or should not be present which we on the outside have been told nothing about. If something in the game is not fun, even though it works as intended, be unified and say so. If something is not in the game that would make the game more fun, be unified and say so. I am not saying support every crazy idea one of you guys puts forth. Some ideas simply should not be entertained, such as those that would only be cool for a certain subset of the player community but would be a pain in the butt for another subset. I am talking about things that ensure a quality experience for ALL, not just this or that subset's preferred playstyle.

It's on you guys as beta testers to do your part to help make this game the best that it can be, by being a voice to the developers. Please do not be complacent.

Thank you...

From what i've heard, alot of the "Beta Tests" have been little more than stress tests. Where they open the floodgates for like 3 hours at a time.

Exactly, which is why I made my appeal now, while it is early enough to do some good, when it begins to be clear to those who are on the inside what is and is not what in the game. I've seen what complacency in beta testing can do. And it is my hope that this community's beta testers will proceed with an eyes wide open philosophy.

No, you are basically asking people to break the NDA which won't be happening here if we can help it. Sorry.