Twitch Streamers Giving Away Beta Keys

Many prominent Twitch streamers from the PvP and PvE communities have been provided with beta keys to give away in anticipation of this Thursday's "Play with the Blues" event, where we'll be testing the Premade Groups tool for dungeons & 3v3 Arenas on level-100 beta realms. If you've already opted in to test Warlords of Draenor, these giveaways provide you with additional opportunities to score beta access and join us!

These folks will also be streaming and giving away keys during the event this Thursday, August 21 from 3-5 p.m. PDT.

Tune into the following Twitch streams and visit their Twitter feeds to learn more about their giveaways and see the beta test in action:

Acherus
Twitter: @MagdalenaDK

Bajheera
Twitter: @BajheeraWoW

Chinglish
Twitter: @Chinglishtv

Elvine
Twitter: @Elvinelol

FatbossTV
Twitter: @FatbossTV

GhostZoneGaming
Twitter: @VidaMartin

Hotted
Twitter: @hotted89

Killars
Twitter: @Killarslol

Rzn
Twitter: Rzn732

Slootbag
Twitter: @Slootbag

Snutz
Twitter: @kelvinsnutz

SpartySmallwood
Twitter: @SpartySmallwood

Swifty
Twitter: @SwiftyiRL

SylessNecole
Twitter: @SylessNecole

Towelliee
Twitter: @towelthetank

Treckie
Twitter: @methodtreckie

Vanguards
Twitter: @vanguardstv

Venruki
Twitter: @ElliottVenczel

Good luck to everyone seeking keys!

08/18/2014 02:13 PMPosted by Moradìm

these streams are using beta keys as a way to make more money on their streams...

if you are willing to be generous with beta keys, why not give them to your loyal customers instead?

08/18/2014 02:21 PMPosted by Moradìm

so "veteran accounts getting priority" was yet another lie, or am I mistaken?

cause I know people playing since vanilla who don't have access but apparently there are keys to raffle off to anyone.

08/18/2014 02:35 PMPosted by Achteis

I don't care about sitting in a twitch stream all day waiting for a random time of when they decide to give away a key where people with bots just come in and type the keyword and take it. Then the people that own the bots probably just turn around and sell it on Ebay. Twitch is a bad place to do a beta key giveaway.

Keys should just be given to veteran players with an active account like blizzard said they were going to do in the first place.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been invited via the opt-in system thus far. These giveaways are handled independently of that system and the amount of keys being given away is a minuscule fraction compared to the invites we've sent.

08/18/2014 02:52 PMPosted by Sharandra

08/18/2014 02:47 PMPosted by Zarhym

minuscule fraction compared to the invites we've sent.

No offense but where is the evidence of this? All I've seen is giveaways on WoWhead, Mmochampion, and streamers. I come across the forums -everyday- for more than 5 hours and barely see anyone getting a beta key from you guys directly, Yea yea I'm going to get downvoted for saying that but its true, you have to admit.

Of course you hear more about giveaways. The folks giving away beta keys have a vested interest in drawing as much attention to their promotions as possible -- beta keys are specifically generated for promotional purposes. The same is not at all true for people invited via the opt-in system.

Even still, the vast majority of people that have been given access to the beta test were invited via our opt-in system.

08/18/2014 02:54 PMPosted by Varenike

08/18/2014 02:47 PMPosted by Zarhym

Hundreds of thousands of people have been invited via the opt-in system thus far.

so because 1/100 people get in it's okay to give them out to people who are sometimes just bots in a stream to sell the key? IDK if you said 1-2 million people sure, but a few hundred thousand people out of 8 million isn't that much

We're definitely not inviting 8 million people to a beta test. It's unnecessary and counterproductive. The fact of the matter is that more people want to test the beta than we're going to invite. That means some degree of disappointment is unavoidable. The good news is that, after our closed beta test process, the actual product will be available to the general public.

08/18/2014 03:45 PMPosted by Khalila

I agree completely. I shouldn't be forced to watch someone else play a game for a chance to be able to play my self.

You're exactly NOT forced to watch someone else play* a game for a chance to be able to play it yourself. That's what the opt-in system is for. But it's still only a chance. We can't invite everyone who opted in, whether you consider yourself a veteran or not. Millions of people have opted in, many of whom have been around a long time. And we love you all for it.

*This should really say "test," as you're especially not forced to watch a stream for a chance to play the actual expansion when it's released.

08/18/2014 04:52 PMPosted by Thadium

I don't think the people seeking beta keys will have a chance to get them. I have a feeling the keys will go to the friends and family of the people that got them.

That's not going to happen. I keep tabs on the giveaways I setup to ensure keys are handed out fairly. If winners choose to try and sell their keys on eBay, please report those sales. If keys aren't handed out fairly I won't setup giveaways with that site/person in the future.

08/18/2014 04:52 PMPosted by Thadium

If Blizz is not going to give out beta keys to the general player base, then they should just say so. I wouldn't have a problem with that. Not letting the majority of subs know what they intend to do is what i don't care for.

As I've mentioned earlier in this thread, I think you're confusing invites via the opt-in system versus beta keys being given out. The opt-in system is our primary method of inviting people to test the upcoming expansion. Beta keys are a promotional tool to increase exposure via fansites, streams, media outlets, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. and provide the community with additional chances of getting into the beta if interested.

Aside from that, we've hosted our own beta key giveaways as well. Our Customer Support team has given away many beta keys via BlizzardCS on Facebook and Twitter. Nethaera has also been giving keys away to active members of the forum community here.

08/18/2014 06:36 PMPosted by Insaìyan

yea well we all know blizz, takes the easy way out instead of doing a little extra work, put in other to do the dirty work

Oh

08/18/2014 06:54 PMPosted by Verees

Wouldn't it be more simple to just host a stream of your own for events such as these, Blizzard?

Well, no, it wouldn't be easier, but that's not exactly the point either. Many of these streamers are seasoned Arena veterans and a few of them are progression raiders. We want them, their friends, and their audiences to join us for the event on Thursday.

So we gave them some beta keys to give out while they participate! Everybody wins! So few downsides! Virtually no reason to complain! Except for almost every post in this thread!

08/18/2014 07:01 PMPosted by Sargy

@Zarhym Not interested in joining the beta since I'm busy on live. but I think this is a great way to provide some support to streamers and improve exposure.

Keep up the great work good man.

I'm on Killars stream when ever I get a chance. (like now while I'm at work)

Thanks, Sargy! :)

08/18/2014 07:12 PMPosted by Verees

...
Well, no, it wouldn't be easier, but that's not exactly the point either. Many of these streamers are seasoned Arena veterans and a few of them are progression raiders. We want them, their friends, and their audiences to join us for the event on the Thursday.

So we gave them some beta keys to give out while they participate! Everybody wins! So few downsides! Virtually no reason to complain! Except for almost every post in this thread!

Everyone wins! Except people that don't watch these streamers.

And you lose... nothing. If you've opted in this giveaway doesn't hinder your chances of getting an invite at all. Extra opportunities for those that care. Irrelevant to those that don't.

08/18/2014 07:17 PMPosted by Verees

And also, if ALMOST everyone in this thread is disagreeing with your method, it must mean that the general consensus did not like your method of going about this. Hell, give me some keys to giveaway. I know a lot of progression raiders that need beta but didn't get in.

We don't need to get into the silent majority concept. The people not disagreeing with our methods would probably rather be in Twitch chat right now than sitting here arguing about how these giveaways aren't a slight against you or anyone else.

08/18/2014 07:19 PMPosted by Verees

...

Like I said my main complaint is Blizz helping various Twitch streamers to profit off of this. You are just generating ad-revenue from people trying to get keys. And some of the streamers that have been given these keys have done some fairly shady things in the past yet all seems forgiven! Examples would be a streamer that has been banned in the past for crashing servers, another one that SELLS gold CM runs for real money which is against the ToS.

Exactly this. Most streamers will me making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more just from people frantically trying to get beta. MOST of these people don't care about the stream or the streamer. They JUST want a beta key. It's a win win for the streamer, nobody else.

You're ignoring so much of what so many of these folks do to foster the community. Guys like Swifty and Bajheera, for example, are positive forces in the community. I've stood with them at conventions and other events. I've watched young kids anxiously walk up to talk to their videogame role models and get autographs. And the way these guys respond is genuine and fantastic. They care about people. They care about this community. They help build and strengthen it. So long as they're doing that I'm down to reasonably support them.

08/19/2014 11:24 AMPosted by Carves

Cool. The streamers all better /thank the vendors that repair their gear, and they better turn off auto-loot so they don't sell junk items to those helpful non-player characters. They are still written in, even if no player commands them.

I still cannot picture Khadgar, in all his acquired knowledge, quoting Mullet Man to save Azeroth...

Supplemental: Can we get a streamer for role play, for auction housing, for professions, and for pet battles, too? Or is PvP that important?

We have done, and will continue to do, an assortment of beta key giveaways with various streamers, fansites, media outlets, podcasts, etc. These streamers were targeted this week specifically in relation to Thursday's event to stress test the Premade Groups functionality in dungeons and 3v3 arenas. The entire purpose of this thread is to inform you of that.