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Blizzard , being the hard-working team they are, have released not only 1 but 2 beta patches in less than 48 hours. This came as a surprise to most players as they sat waiting with growing impatience for the servers to come back online. Speculations running rampant, many players took the time to guess what future changes may entail. 48 hours and 2 patches later, this is outcome. Discuss it here.

• Viking

•The damage done by this unit in Fighter Mode has changed from 6 (+8 armored) to 10 (+4 armored).

• Reaper

•The delay between attacks for D-8 Charges has decreased from 2.5 to 1.8

• Orbital Command

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Discuss it here.

12 years ago, a company by the name of Blizzard Entertainment took their first babysteps into what has now become a multi-million dollar industry, RTS gaming. RTS is short for real time strategy, where opponents are pitted against each other in real time, to determine who is the better player. 12 years ago, this was still a really new concept, which lead to a very interesting beta-stage and early development of the game. Fast forward to present time, and things are totally different. Gone are the days of slow hand speed, delayed thinking, and the overall casualness of gaming. This has been replaced with players who now have 10+ years of gaming under their belts, with mindsets capable of figuring out new mechanics, strategy, and concepts at a very alarming rate. All of this adds up to a much more tougher, competitive beta test filled with talented young individuals capable of bringing the RTS genre to the next level. Fame and Fortune!

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Guys! Today something happened in the history of Earth. A closed beta test of StarCraft 2 has started! Our team is now downloading the game so stay tuned to game reports, articles and screenshots! Also be sure to check your battle.net profile to see if you are lucky to get into the beta. If you are and you wish to publish your reports on starcraft2.pro – contact our admins.

The StarCraft 2 beta just went online. Members of the community reports downloading the client.

Many fans have waited a long time for this, and the 20,000+ beta key holders especially. The beta keys will be distributed in waves, so if you have not yet received your key, it will arrive eventually. There doesn’t seem to be any limitations on who gets the keys. A mix between previous BlizzCon keys as well as the “opt-in” keys players can choose in their Battle.net accounts. It seems that the beta is available for download and management, but is not technically live yet. People with downloaded clients can access the login screen, but not actually connect. Blizzard RTS community manager Stefanie Gwinner also confirms “that the FAQ is not up to date. EU players are getting into the beta at the same time as US [players].”

Some early, lucky layers are already playing the game now.

Check back for updates!

Blizzard has now also released a statement:

The Koprulu sector rings once more with the sounds of battle, for the public beta test of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty has officially begun! Invitations to participate in the beta test are now being delivered. As with previous Blizzard Entertainment titles, the beta-test process for StarCraft II will occur in phases. In each phase, we will be selecting players who meet specific criteria and who have opted in via their Battle.net accounts.

Players who have been invited to participate in the beta test will need to have a Battle.net account. For more information on the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty beta test, please read the FAQ and our recent media alert.

If you didn’t receive a beta test invite, don’t worry — it’s possible that you’ll be added in a later phase. Keep an eye on the email address associated with your Battle.net account, and stay tuned to http://www.StarCraft2.com for further updates.

Additionally, please keep discussion regarding the StarCraft II Beta consolidated to this thread. Thanks!

Further information is now available, and it seems like far from everyone of the 20,000 beta keys given at BlizzCon will be served with a Beta account:

I just wanted to confirm that a large number of the BlizzCon attendees were invited into the first wave today and should be receiving their emails once they are all processed. We will be sending out more invites as the beta process continues.

We hope this will not disappoint many fans.

Written by Leord

Just now Michael Morhaime (13:17PST) “announced” the Starcraft II Beta coming in this month!

Starcraft II beta testing ready to launch this month

The waiting is finally over. You can see it in this part of the conference (point •2-2). This means that we could expect the beta in a few days.

“We are slated to begin closed beta testing this month,” he said, explaining that the multiplayer test will be available to participants across various countries like North America,Taiwan,Europe and others.

Blizzard’s Korean community manager Kicho has hinted of a possible open beta, saying StarCraft II will be available for “all fans of the franchise”, not just press and VIPs.

“We know that all of you are very curious about the development of the Beta with the release of many Starcraft 2 Beta Testing related news across various news portals,” Kicho said in a message to the community. However, the specifics of beta testing have not been finalized yet and Blizzard is not yet ready to give out details. The team is apparently doing what it can to introduce StarCraft 2 as quickly as possible, something we have reported on previously.

“I can definitely say that the Beta test will not just involve industry experts and other VIPs but rather will involve all fans of the franchise,” he said. This would in effect mean an open beta period.

The question is of course if this implied open beta will start after the promised closed beta, or if all the beta keys given away so far effectively have become worthless. An alternative is that it just means the fans so far already having received keys for various reasons.

Stay tuned for more info as we get it.

Source: IncGamers