Warcraft testers pay big for access

Would you have paid $1,000 to see Indy 4 a few months early?

Unless you're a real hardcore Harrison Ford fan, probably not. But that's the conundrum facing the 10 million players of smash online RPG World of Warcraft, some of whom are forking out hundreds of dollars for a several-month-long preview of the game's latest expansion.

Wrath of the Lich King, Warcraft's second expansion, is due to launch later this year, and in the last few weeks it began "beta testing," becoming accessible to a small group of specially-selected subscribers via an online keycode system, to help the developers find bugs and game balance problems. And although this role is often filled with professional, paid game testers, Blizzard isn't short of volunteers who'll do it for free -- or even pay for the privilege.

Even though beta-test servers are typically wiped altogether just before the release of the completed game, fans are still eager for a sneak peak of Lich King's new continent, new playable class, and a host of other enhancements to what's become the most successful online game in history. Demand is so high that keycodes for the beta test are currently selling for between $400 and $500 on Ebay and, according to Eurogamer, fetching the equivalent of about $1,000 in the UK.

Lich King is expected to be released before the end of the year. Once it's on the streets, it'll be accessible to anyone for a mere $40 purchase -- and all the characters, gold, and experience of the testers will have vanished.

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