Jonric: What factors predicated the recent decision to push the initial stage of beta back about a month to late July or early August? And what does it mean when you say "simulated classes and races" will be added?

Peter Tyson: We were first going to test with a very, very stripped down game, not much more than wandering around. However, we decided this would be boring for the testers, let alone us, so we decided to hold back 'til we had some fun systems in place, such as combat as well as some new art for the characters and monsters. The new date is pretty solid I am told, so I expect we'll hit it. The downside to any delay is that we disappoint the fans. But, in the end, we'd rather have a productive and effective beta test and end up pleasing them more at launch.

As for 'simulated races and classes', by that, our producer meant that there will not be normal character creation in for the Phase 0 beta. Instead, we'll have some templates for people to play with I think.