I hope you know by now that ArenaNet, made up of members of the creative teams behind <i>Diablo</i>, <i>Starcraft</i>, and <i>Warcraft</i>, is bringing <i>Guild Wars</i> to a computer near you this November. The game is centered on large, open-ended adventures, character development, and battles between guilds.

What you may not have heard is that the title will be available for pre-order this September and that players who do pre-order the game will be invited to participate in <i>Guild Wars</i> beta events the first weekend of each month with "exciting cooperative quests, challenging competitive play, and robust guild support."

The kickoff for the beta period is October 29-31, so it's not clear how many beta weekends there will actually be. The preview held last may for E3 2004 drew more than 200,000 participants from more than a dozen countries.