Act 3 should be released before open beta

They might call it open beta, it basically it IS the release. There is no wipe after it, and from that point until the servers shut down in 100 years, everybody can play for free.
That is the moment, when most players will come into contact with the game, and why act III isn't tested in closed beta before OB was something I wondered about, pretty much since I first started playing this game.

But then again there is the issue with the completely different difficulty settings. Introducing Act III now would at the same time change all other acts starting with cruel and everything would be totally off.
But having a wipe so short before OB now, just to make players test act III would upset just as much player, or probably even more, because everyone would loose their items and characters.

So I guess the one way they COULD do it, is with a second pair of leagues, Future Normal and Future Hardcore, where everybody has to start new chars and can test the new act system.
Well, all in all, I still wouldn't play that league so short before the last wipe, don't want to spoil me that surprise. I'd rather discover that with my first real OB char.

Releasing Act 3 completely changes the entire progression of the game so it has to come with a server wipe. That's one of the main reasons that GGG is timing the Act 3 release to coincide with the Open Beta wipe. Despite this being beta, people just don't enjoy having their characters wiped. It's also why there haven't been any wipes or legacy migrations in the past several months even though there have been some significant balance changes in that time period.

Act 3 is not on alpha yet. We don't know any more about it than everyone else. I am really excited for it though.

Will likely be available for alpha testing.

Can't wait for Act 3.