I was actually reasonably excited about the beta until I read your comment and found that I agreed with it. /pass

This is a perfectly normal setup for an MMO beta.

I wouldn't call selling two hundred dollar beta weekend passes a 'normal setup', but thats another matter. I've participated in many such limited tests for other games, most recently for Defiance, but I was simply commenting on how I plan to pass these ones up, in light of the dose of reality zerobang provided. I wish everyone who is still looking forward to it the very best experience ofc.

I got spoiled by alpha/beta for LOTRO; it was between patches. Much larger testing windows than for other games I've beta tested (STO, Champions, DCUO).

You don't have to buy the 200 dollar package to get into the beta, so yes, it is normal.
If you buy the 60 dollar package, you get beta access too, most MMOs require you to buy the game to get beta access, STO, WOW, TOR etc, these games retailed around that price mark.

It would be nice for STO lifers to get a founders pack discount.

This is how the cable company treats you, once you're a customer they treat you like crap and woo all the noncustomers. I own CO/STO lifetimes and preordered Torchlight 2. Would have thought that would have at least got me into all the betas. *shrug*

hey i got a question how do you get your fighters to fight in a battle?

The founder packs they're selling don't seem worth their price to me. Especially as to get all the items you'd need to buy all 3 packs. That's $280 not including any tax.

I will list the goods for all the packs. Any item with a * is available in another pack.

Never Winter Starter Kit

• Amulet of Protection
• Small Bag of Holding*
• 1 Adventurer's Helper Pack*

Guardian of Neverwinter

• Armored Horse Mount
• Direwolf Companion
• Gold Moonstone Regalia Mask
• Greycloak's Legacy*
• Robe of Useless Items*
• Adventurer's Helper Pack*
• 1 Respec Token*
• Founder's Title*
• 1 Extra Character Slot
• 125,000 Astral Diamonds (their version of dilithium)

Hero of the North

• Menzoberranzan Renegade (their version of liberated borg)
• Armored Spider Mount
• Panther Companion
• Gold Moonstone Mask Regalia Set (Full outfit)
• VIP Game Access
• Founder Armor's Aura
• Founder's Title*
• Small Bag of Holding*
• Dungeon Master Unlock (Foundry Creation Unlock at level 1 instead of level 15)
• Delzoun Treasure Box
• Moonstone Regular (their version of Captain's Table)
• Adventurer's Helper Pack*
• 1 Respec Token*
• Greycloak's Legacy*
• Robe of Useless Items*
• 750,000 Astral Diamonds
• 3 Extra Character Slots

So if you buy the $200 and $60 one, then you don't need to buy the $20 one since the only unique item it has is an Amulet of Protection that gives +1 AC. If you just get the $60 one, then you might want to get the $20 for the small bag of holding which gives 12 more inventory slots. Getting the $200 and $60 one will give 875,000 Astral Diamonds, 2 Respecs, and 4 Extra Slots I think. So if you are getting the $200 version, then the only real reason to get the $60 version is the direwolf companion and armored horse mount. Companions are combat pets that level up and you can customize them with slots.