I can think of one answer quickly: They might really only want a few tens of viable volunteers and a pool of a 100 or so candidates might be necessary to find that viable core. The whole business of them deliberaly selecting 'a couple of dozen' while also semi-randomly selecting a larger set from the preorder pool makes me think that they are wisely questioning their own ability to find the 'ideal' set of volunteers. This is about satisfying customers and not meeting an engineering spec, after all.

Perhaps so! Maybe we'll get to see.

As I said above, unless the plan changed from invite-only test towards the end of development to invite-only concurrently with open beta, I doubt the Alpha will have an NDA - there's not much sense in doing it if after a month or two those NDA'd people will just roll over to public beta and everyone will see anyway.

True but again it all depends on the plan at hand. The details of which we are simply are not privy to at the moment. A controlled short term group to lay the foundation under a NDA then a general pubic one after the fact followed by a third high quality selected third one under a NDA again prior to release would seem a good course of action in my opinion.

I'll see if I can catch Yarlen to see if he'd mind answering if the Alpha will be under NDA or not.

August.

Longest.

Summer.

Ever!

I do wonder how many people are going to be in the drawing.   I mean, just how many people have all three titles?

It would be nice to know my chances.

There shall be no NDA for the alpha:

[16:30] <Annatar> Yarlen, can I bug you with a quickie Elemental alpha question?
[16:30] <@Yarlen> You may
[16:31] <UsedRugs> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress
[16:31] <Annatar> Is it going to have an NDA? People started wondering in the thread
[16:31] <UsedRugs> good book read it like 10 years ago
[16:31] <@Yarlen> No, you'll just have to had pre-ordered the game as usual for us.
[16:31] <Annatar> What I thought Thanks

Yay! This helps me, since I can't keep my mouth shut.

You didn't happen to ask about bears, I suppose?

But haven't you not pre-ordered? In which case you'd have no chance (unless they pre-select you)...

And on a selfish note I have now migrated all my Stardock registrations to this account so maybe I have a chance

Ok, I've been lurking around these boards for a while now, trying to figure out what Elemental is all about (I didn't even know it existed until I took the time to read the occasional journals that would pop up on the Sins site) Now that I've spent some time looking around, reading posts, etc, it looks like it will be an awesome game! I am totally going to pre-order it now!

I've decided I hope the alpha doesn't have an NDA.  Unlike the Gamma (which might have something the Beta does not and should be secret until release) the Alpha is unlikely to have anything that won't be in the public beta.   (I want to write articles for an elemental fansite about the alpha if I'm picked)

though I'd want it to stay if it means I could get hired somewhere

on topic of karma influencing alpha entry, I hope/suspect SD would have a way of telling from which threads karma originates.  That would but Annatar pretty low since pretty much all his karma is from off-topic.   I personally feel having an awesome avatar is a valid reason to get karma because ultimatly having awesome avatars does create a memorable community, and creating a memorable community I think is what karma is intended to do.  And ultimatly, the people with high karma likely did things to deserve it.  I personally feel I should have gotten more karma for a few of the things I've done, but what it does mean that it didn't make as much of an inpact on the community as say... making a good joke might have.