Sanya Thomas, Director of Community Relations for Mythic Entertainment has cleared up the misunderstandings around the WAR beta on Warhammer Herald.

Alpha: The current stage of WAR. Double Secret Beta: At Summer 2006 with payed testers and Mythic partners. Beta1: At Fall 2006, with less than a hundred of old friends. Beta1.7: Early 2007, with recommended community testers. Beta2: Early Spring of 2007, Still under NDA, with prize winners, DAoC players, guilds and media members. Beta3: Summer 2007, Under NDA, with around 10000 randomly choosen people from newsletter subscribers. Final Beta: Summer 2007, NDA free, with people who pre-ordered the game and media contest winners. (There will be no Open Beta where everyone with internet connection can download the client.)