来自WoW Insider的消息，该站点明确声称魔兽世界的第二个资料片，《巫妖王之怒》正在封闭内测（closed alpha）阶段。

　　国外的游戏发行商，包括暴雪娱乐，所发行的游戏大都经过封闭内测（closed alpha）、封闭公测（closed beta）和开放公测（open beta）三个阶段。

　　其中封闭内测（closed alpha）阶段是不能报名参加的，暴雪邀请极少数不同类型的玩家参与，参加者必须签署严格的保密协议。在2004年年初，正在closed alpha阶段的《魔兽世界》客户端就曾经保密不周，被泄漏到网络上及被破解。破解者从客户端中提取出保密协议及几千个《魔兽世界》图标。

　　《魔兽世界》的封闭公测（closed beta）开始于2004年4月，第一个资料片《燃烧的远征》的封闭公测开始于2006年10月。暴雪游戏的封闭公测同样要签署保密协议，通常持续1个半到2个月。封闭公测开始前，大众玩家们可以通过参与暴雪娱乐，或者其合作媒体，合作伙伴的一些活动来获得测试CDKEY。例如每年的暴雪嘉年华，就会有个别玩家能获得测试资格。暴雪游戏的封闭测试号同样非常少，但在这个阶段，媒体已经可以对游戏内容进行报导。

　　开放公测（open beta）则是为发行所做的准备，要测试的不仅是游戏内容，还有客户端程序，服务器承受力，宽带等等。在这个阶段，玩家们通过在官方站点注册，朋友赠送等多种形式可以获得CDKEY。

　　根据暴雪以往的跳票史，只有游戏发行了才算是发行，公布的日期仍然是可修改的。尽管仍然不清楚《巫妖王之怒》什么时候能发布，但如果它确实是在封闭内测，说明其在开发上已经可玩，并且完成度很高——任务、游戏机制、物品、素材等都已具备。而优化客户端程序和文本则是后期的事情，通常暴雪会在公测阶段进行客户端优化。

　　WoW Insider站点在国外魔兽世界媒体中名声较大，暑假档确实是《巫妖王之怒》发行的好时机——如果暴雪打算这么做，现在则正好是封闭内测时间。多玩魔兽专区将继续求证和关注这条消息。

　　WoW Insider网站透露巫妖王之怒进入内部封测阶段消息的英文原文：

　　We had some hints that this would happen soon and now WoW Insider has confirmed through anonymous sources that the next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is in closed alpha status, and that various players are being invited to check it out, under a strict NDA.

　　Alpha is part of the software release life cycle -- a software product in development goes from alpha status to beta status (sometimes including a "closed beta," where a limited few are invited to preview and test the software, and an "open beta,", where anyone can download and try out the beta), to "release candidates" and then "gold" (the final version, used to print the media to be available for sale). This doesn't tell us anything about the timing of the expansion's release (especially since Blizzard historically takes their time going through this cycle), but it does tell us that Wrath's content is in a playable and mostly completed form -- quests, game mechanics, and items are in, even if specific flavor text, names, and even textures are not.

　　We'll keep an eye, as usual, on any other news we see coming out of Blizzard, through official or unofficial channels. Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion of World of Warcraft, is in alpha testing. The journey to Northrend has begun.

　　Update: A word to the wise: this is not an open beta, and any email or site that tells you to sign up for one is still scamming you. When open beta comes down, we'll hear about it on Blizzard's official site. This is just news that the next expansion has moved up a notch in its development, and that we're one step closer to an official open beta.