Yes, they've already filled up the 20,000 in the first batch of founders. They have since released another way to become a founder, and this one only includes 2,000 places. So you'll need to read the news on the main page to follow the instructions to enter that. But since it's been up for a while, you might have missed out.
Never mind, this closed beta only goes until sometime in November, and then there will be an open beta sometime, and then the game will be released next year. So it's not too long now.
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Actually, does anyone have any details as to a) what time zone the game is in, and b) what time of day on the 8th the beta will start? I'm only asking because we're in Australia, and I strongly suspect we won't be able to play until the Thursday, so I don't want my daughter to get all excited about Wednesday and then have to wait a
whole extra day! If you know what I mean!
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And can I just say to Bry@mymelody, I respectfully disagree with your views. I have been a part of some professional beta tests in the past where I had to apply via resume, and then sign a confidentiality agreement before I could participate. Some beta tests are obviously quite seriously looking for a certain number of testers with specific qualities, especially in commercial games, where you don't want people to have a free copy of your game if they aren't going to work for it. However, not all tests are like that.
One of the advantages of having a diverse range of ability levels in a test is that you are likely to find bugs that testers may not look for. Testers have to push the boundaries, to see every different way of playing the game possible, to see if there are any bugs that anyone playing in a specific manner might have missed. For example, I was very surprised that they made my 7 year old daughter a founder, considering we told the truth about her age and everything when I made her account. But in hindsight, it's not that silly - while 7 year olds are not in the games' main demographic, a recent interview I read said that they are trying to make the game available to younger players. How many adult testers are going to play the game in the same way that she will? She may well come across bugs no one else will - and I can help her submit a bug report, to help make the game better.
And of course, they've said that towards the end of the beta they will let in a lot more people, just to test the server's capabilities. Now, you don't need a certain ability level of player to test that, just a lot of them.
So how the beta testers are chosen is dependent on what needs to be tested, and what the views of those running the test are. If you want a diverse range of players, then random choice is fine. And if you want to get the most dedicated fans to Hello Kitty (I mean, there's no point in limiting the test to 22,000 people then finding out that half of them lose interest halfway through the test!) then first in best dressed is a good option, because you'll find the people who were checking the site most often (and those who are online the most frequently, to be able to check - and play).
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