Quote Originally Posted by Orophin View Post
Betas for a game don't necessarily have to last 6 months. The only reason the beta would last this long is if the game is bug ridden.
I wasn't saying that the beta it's self should last six months. I was saying that usually developers have a games beta at least six months before the planned launch date so they have plenty of time to make adjustments. The beta it's self will probably only last a month at the most.

Quote Originally Posted by KamikazeMan View Post
What's the point in giving a release date if alpha and beta haven't started yet? They need to figure out wtf is wrong with the game, fix it, have people test it out again, then they can release it. There is no way for SE to know how long it will take them to fix w/e is wrong in alpha and beta.
As far as I was aware phase one of the alpha (JP only) has been going on for some time now. If you watched the live letter from the producer video stream last month you would have even noticed testers running around while the gameplay footage was being recorded.

Anyone worth their salt at their job should be able to rationally predict how long it takes to do their work. You're theory that companies should wait until testing is finished to give a release date is outlandish. Historically every game that I can think of has announced a release date well before testing was finished. Could you imagine hiring a carpenter to build a house, asking him when it would be finished, and having him tell you "I don't know yet, but I'll let you know once I'm done building it." lol