Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Q&A, Part 3

RPG Vault has published the third installment to their Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures interview with Funcom game director Gaute Godager. A snip about beta testing:
Q What is the status of development at this time, and where do you stand with respect for planning your beta?

A: We are currently in a pre-alpha state. We are trying to get the alpha out the door within some weeks, and then, it will be time to take stock of the current situation. The key is to release a great game, as always, and not let promises of launch dates lead the development... which is why we are as vague as we are, at the moment.

We will have a beta testing phase. Exactly how it will be - open, public, closed, invites, Canadian lottery - it is too early to tell. Since the single-player part of the game is story-driven it would be really bad for the players if all of the narrative was well known at launch, which is why you don't see single-player game betas all that often.