GameSpot: What is the single most important information that the beta provides for the game's developers?

John Blakely: Validation of our assumptions. During development we often project how we feel a particular feature or piece of content will play in context. It really isn't until beta that we can see how all of those systems/pieces of content will work together, in order to get an idea if we are on the right track to achieve our goals or if we need to make some adjustments to get there.