'Star Wars: The Old Republic' Closed Beta Kicks Off, Invites Sent

Even though Blizzard went back on its controversial decision to require real names in the official "WoW" forums, fans might still be sore. What better way to inflict revenge than to join another MMO? The time may soon be ripe, as "Star Wars: The Old Republic" has just entered a closed-beta phase in which outsiders will be able to test out BioWare's biggest and most epic timesuck yet.

Unfortunately it's invite only, and if you're reading this, you probably didn't get an invite, since you're not frantically trying to install the game right now.

Fret not! The first beta stage of any online game is always relatively small, but you can be sure that the numbers will build over the coming months until you're eventually invited into that select club. Also, with a game this early, you'd have to deal with rampant bugs and character-wiping patches. That's just painful. Patience, young Padawan. The midi-chlorians will know when the time is right.

Tags bioware, lucasarts, star wars, star wars: the old republic