So, the beta for Warlords is coming. Of that, there is no doubt – although there is the small matter of timing…. That Blizzard appear to be having people do the PodCast rounds suggests to me that we’ll see news of the beta in the near future.

There is another question however – if you have beta access, would you play it?

This may seem like a strange question – having access to new shiny content and not wanting to play it?

This is something I’m somewhat conflicted on. I’ve gone onto PTRs and betas in the past – often to actually test things out. Sometimes to see what’ll happen to my characters or how painful it actually is to get an item – so I went onto the 5.4 PTR to see how long it would take to get the new profession recipes to drop.

However I’m cautious about beta access – especially when it comes to new WoW expansions.

See, the beta is indeed New! And! Shiny! content when you first get to it. And, just like the live content does, it’ll loose its shine. So that when that contents goes live, it will not be New! And! Shiny! It’ll be the content you’ve done before; likely it’ll feel old and tired.

And there may be content you’ll not want to replay.

I’ve only completed the Jade Forest on one character so far to see the final cut scene where you discover what happens with the new statue of the Jade serpent. Its a sign of the good storytelling in Mists that it was one of the first proper “Look at what we did” moments in Warcraft for me. And why I’ve only done it once.

This is something I encounter with my alts – I’ll take my main through every quest in every zone, getting the zone achievement and seeing the whole story. But its not the same with alts – they get the “Whistle stop tour, only doing the quests necessary to level” experience.

I really don’t want to do that with my main – it would not be a nice feeling. Plus there is “What happens in beta, stays in beta“. Nothing you do there will have a lasting experience.

So, a poll! Where it says “beta access” below, take to be both PTR and beta access.