Sean Dahlberg,
Star Wars: The Old Republic™ Community Manager, posted a clarification of the Game Testing Agreement this morning:
We have seen many questions about the Game Testing Agreement and we want to clarify a few things.
1. Per the Game Testing Agreement, a user can state there is a Game Testing Program.
2. Per the Game Testing Agreement, when someone is selected for testing, they can disclose the fact that they are a member of the Game Testing Program.
That is the extent of it and anything else would be a violation of the Game Testing Agreement. Users that are found to post or even repost confidential materials will be permanently removed from the Game Testing Program and subject to discipline up to and including permanent removal from the service. This is not limited to screenshots of the game but taking "screen grabs" or sharing of confidential documentation and materials.
If you have any questions pertaining to this, ask them here. We are intrigued regarding the use of the term "permanent removal from the service" language after stating removal from the Game Testing Program itself; this may indicate that BioWare and LucasArts are taking steps to permanently ban violators from subscribing to the retail version of the game.
Further clarifications after the jump.
If or when someone is invited to Game Testing, such a document is confidential and should they share it in any form, it is a violation of the Game Testing Agreement.
To make it super simple, unless it is something that is public accessible on the website without being logged in and posted by The Old Republic Team and it's not someone simply posting "I'm in Game Testing", it is probably a violation of the Game Testing Agreement.
This includes people who are just reposting and were not directly sent the information from The Old Republic Team.
Unless it includes confidential information, an individual's computer specs are their personal data and it's no issue if they share them.
Yes, Sean's "NDA" is part of his job... and I like my job. It allows me to help drive my team to give all of you great content and news and updates and, once the game is out, keep everyone as informed as possible. So, I don't want to violate my "NDA" because it doesn't just mean I'm out of testing, I could be out of a job
On a more serious note, though, while the Game Tester Agreement is full of legalese, the short of it all is that outside of two simple statements, there isn't much of anything that a Tester can say or do outside of the game and any related communication tools provided.
For anyone discussing things that may be questionable; if you can't find the information posted by someone from the TOR Team in a public area (i.e., something you can read without being logged in)... don't quote or discuss it.
For anyone caught violating the rules, they will be notified and depending on the situation, they may be (1) temporarily suspended, they may be (2) removed from any testing, or they may be (3) permanently removed from the service or a combination of the above. Regardless, they will be notified of such actions and any and all relevant information will be documented.
"Permanently removed from the service" is mentioned again separate from the Game Testing Program.
