Blizzard is closing the doors on Open Beta tomorrow and will spend the next week getting ready for the live release — mopping the floors, polishing the gold pieces, or something. (How the hell would I know what companies do to prep for a release, I’m guessing.)

From the beta site:

In preparation for the upcoming retail launch of World of Warcraft, we will be taking the North American open beta servers offline on Thursday, November 18. While this will mark the end of the open beta test, there will still be some work left for us to do. To provide the best experience possible at launch, we will be making numerous final optimizations to our hardware based on the data we’ve acquired during the open beta test.

Full character wipe (as if players had a hope for keeping their beta characters. Noobs.):

We realize that you’ve grown attached to your characters, and we’re sorry that the end of the open beta test will require you to part ways with them. However, with the retail launch of World of Warcraft on November 23 comes the opportunity to begin a new adventure in Azeroth on fresh, untouched servers. Along with that, you’ll have the knowledge that you played an instrumental role in the creation of a game of epic proportions that players will enjoy for many years to come.

News for the Euros hoping to play:

Please note that this does not affect the ongoing European closed beta test. Further details regarding our plans for the closed and final beta tests in Europe will be announced on the European community sites next week.

Although, all the Euro dudes in my guild have been playing in the Open Beta against the rules, and they fully intend to break the rules again when WoW goes live.

No word yet tonight on a special send-off/thank you for the beta testers, like pushing everyone to level 60 and letting them have at it in a huge PvP brawl.

No parting gift? Cheap bastards.