Ok. Do it.

But you are paying 40 (30) $ for a buggy, laggy, unfinished game. You will (maybe) think later "Hey, but this game kinda sucks, there are bugs everywhere, why did I pay so much money for this". And you will notice, you were not paying for Beta access, but for the other things a Founders package gives.

Think this. Why there are so many Founders if the game is unfinished? Well, because the money is worth it. Worth it because Beta is great? Nope, otherwise we would see a lot of the Veteran (30$) Founders, but we can see almost every Founder is Legendary (120$ !!). Why giving so much money only for a Beta that could be 90$ less? Because they are not paying for Beta access.

Uneducated statements like this attracts trolls and flamers like honey attracts bees and flies.
I'm making a very long post here trying to explain things for you, in the hopes that you will actually understand what founders are getting into and what the beta is all about

The founders packs are not a paid beta key, that is a common misconception.
I know what it looks like to you and understand what you are saying, far better than you may think
The Closed beta started before the Founders packs were even announced, much less put up for sale.
At this point they invited a few thousand people who had signed up for the beta, and they never paid anything for that.
A number of these players are still in Beta and never bought the founders pack either.

The founders packs were created, I think by popular demand by players, to help finance this game.
When the founders packs were put up for sale, there was no beta key in the package, you got everything you get now except for the beta key. I dont think it was the intention to offer them beta originally either

The devs later decided to give the founders beta access probably as an extra bonus to those who has been willing to pay money up front for an unfinished and more or less unseen product.
And the goal was to have all founders in CLOSED BETA by 7th August, which they achieved about a week earlier than estimated.

The beta key you see now is an extra bonus given to those who has been willing to offer money to support the development of the game, in addition to all the other ingame goodies you get.
The founders pack sale was originally supposed to end 7th august, yet again due to popular demand has been extended, which is why it now can look like they are selling beta keys.
And in case you are wondering I have seen countless other games do this as well, most recent one was Guild Wars 2.

The founders packs does not only offer Beta access, but a number of other things as well depending on how much people are willing to pay.
Those who do not wish to buy the founders packs, can get this game completely free once the game is released for everyone, and you can download and play this game without having to pay a single dime ever and still have full access to everything ingame just like anyone who has paid real money, either up front or during gameplay.

Also saying that you dont get access to beta without paying is again an erroneous statement.
If you fill out the beta application there is a chance that you can get beta access, they have added players lately that does not have founders pack.

It may look like its Pay to Play Beta, but its not.
Its a bonus that was added long after Beta started and founders packs put up for sale.

If you take some time to look around you will see that all the information is available on the forums here.

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You statement also makes it sound like you believe that the beta we are playing is the finished game.
This is so far from the truth that I dont know how to put it into words in a way that you will understand.

Here's the thing, Pirhana has given Founders a gift. They get to experience the game at the ground level, with all the unbalanced bugs that entails. They've let them into a process in game development that most "betas" do not permit. What they are seeing is a game that's still being created. They get to come along and watch the product blossom into a retail launch.

There's a history to the word "beta". You see, back in 2007 the term beta ceased being a development milestone and became a marketing slogan. Before then a beta was released to a closed group of experienced testers who had built a relationship with the studio. In the days before the internet a beta disc/CD would arrive in a padded envelope every week, along with forms that you would mail or fax back to report bugs.

PR departments started to notice that the nerds of the world would clamor for beta access. So they started replacing early access and demo builds with "beta". The ignorant geeks of the world rejoiced. Now everyone, often for a fee, could get into this mystical process. Except they're not. Most betas, like Guild Wars 2, give you the polished content. They're fluff designed to generate interest in the game. It's fluff I enjoy, but it's not a beta.

Pirhana has given players here a true beta. For those of us with QA experience this means "we need you to help us make this game". Not "here's a game near release, tell your friends". There's a reason why the NDA is still enforced. The game's not ready for launch. It's no where near ready for launch. Pirhana has even acknowledged this. They want the game to be good, so they want as many eyes as they can looking for problems.


Sorry for derailing the thread here, but I felt I had to try and clear up some misconceptions about the founders packs and beta.

@Kasseopea, I stopped reading your post after the first paragraph.

There are people going into beta for free. Just fill up your Beta Access request form and you will, or not (random) get into the beta.

And Founders does not pay to get beta access, that would be stupid unless you have addiction to reporting bugs. Founders pay to give PGI support and get those Premium mechs and things. If PGI gives them Beta access is something extra. In fact, there were Founders packages (mid June I think) and they were bought muchbefore Founders got beta access (7th August).