Something of a firestorm has cropped up on the Shroud of the Avatar forum with yesterday's announcement that the QA server, QA Bug Forums and Release Instructions are now going to be available to all backers regardless of financial commitment. According to Starr Long, this is being done to remove potential advantages gained by those who had previously had exclusive access to these areas. The change will go into effect with Release 45.
Due to the potential economic and gameplay advantages of access to the QA server, QA Bug Forums, and Release Instructions prior to a Release we are no longer going to make those exclusive to Dev+. Starting with next release (Release 45) access to the QA server, QA Bug Forums and early drafts of the Release Instructions will be available to ALL paying backers regardless of level. This will put everyone on a level playing field and remove any potential advantages. Please accept our sincere apologies that our previous policy has allowed some players to gain advantage over others. This was entirely our fault and we hope to avoid this kind of advantage from taking place in the future. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on this matter and alerted us to the problem so that we could change our policy. NOTE: Dev+ Forums and access to them will remain unchanged. Only access to the QA servers (and associated bug forums) is changing.
Some of the community is very happy about the decision, while others are "disappointed and unhappy".
You can check out the full thread and the community's reaction by visiting the Shroud of the Avatar forum.
Check out Blorpykins' thread on the topic too!
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