Sony has started taking the approach (see star wars galaxies) to start charging the COST ONLY to make and mail cds. That becuase of the size of the games to send on CD. This can be expensive and as a result it cuts into their development budget.
Currently how star wars galaxies is handling it, and planetside will probably be the same, is that you go to the sony online store and order it there. You must have an access code or something like that to get to the sub site to order the beta version. It is like 5 bucks or something like that plus shipping and handling.
Now there has been speculation that they are trying to make a profit on beta. However, if that were the case they would charge more, and the fact that they are contracting with a cd manufacturing company to do the burns, the price works out in specculation to what they ask.
By the time beta is done, the cost of the CDs could rack up into the tens of thousands of dollars to make and send out (SWG is indicating upwards of 5000 people in beta by end of testing). This money if not recouped would affect development budget and some cool features could be cut because of no development.
That being said, generally getting into beta in the early stages is much like Hollywood. Its alot of shmoozing and knowing the right people. Unlike SWG planetside does not have an official forums for people to post. SWG has used this to kind of monitor people there and track individuals who consistantly provide quality input.
I too am a programmer and network analyst. THis you would think would make for a good candidate for beta testing. However, the only betas I have gotten into were those that I have gotten in through others that put in a good word for me.
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