Blizzard opened the Beta Forum for all to read, but only testers may write new posts. After a quick overview the classforums are still pretty empty, but give first hand comments from the players.
Burning Crusade: Pieces of Information from Closed Beta
The Burning Crusade closed beta has started and it also started without NDA. I doubt it would have worked anyhow to keep the NDA up, but this way its much more legal to publish new content.
Well here are some snippets without any guarantees:
Fast flying mounts will cost 5000G – if that will decrease the amount of farming bots?
„The pricing may not be final but that is the current price shown in the beta (for the epic flying mount riding skill). Keep in mind that from 60 to 70 you’re going to be getting a lot more gold, so the price won’t actually reflect what it may take to build that amount in the current game.“ – Drysc
An informative description of the new starting areas.
Dual wielding shamans can buff each weapon.
Arena Teams can be named.
Some more beta screenshots can be found here.
Burning Crusade: no open Beta!
According to worldofwar.net there will be no open Beta for Burning Crusade. They posted a quote where someone said:
„While we do plan to host a closed beta at some point in the near future, at this time we do not have plans for an open beta, like what was experienced just before we launched classic World of Warcraft. It’s always possible that our decision on this matter may change, so your best bet is to periodically check the website for updates, but I’d implore you not to get your hopes up, as it is very doubtful that these plans will change.“
Maybe Burning Crusade is just too bad and they do not want us to realize about it in advance. At least a former colleague who is still working at Blizzard Europe said he does not even play the Alpha at the moment, since there are many new things but nothing really breathtaking.