World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta opens up to 100,000 new players

Blizzard's certainly busy at the moment, what with Diablo III's release day ever-impending and a new expansion for the best of the Best MMORPGs, World of Warcraft, on the way. But a busy schedule's no excuse to neglect your clan – as the company's taking pains to remind us. First Blizzard unveils Scroll of Resurrection bonuses to keep lapsed addicts jonesing, and now the company's announced (via Game Front) that it'll be giving away 100,000 beta keys for the upcoming World of Pandaria add-on.

The keys have already started going out to Annual Pass subscribers, and Blizzard has pledged to award the full complement of keys to remaining Passholders before it starts taking on any opt-in beta players. “If we let everyone in at the exact same time, we risk damaging the stability of the service,” the company explains, “and then no one would be able to play.”

However, Annual Passholders should rest assured their keys are on the way, so keep an eye on your email and Battle.net account. We'd say “check our World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria video preview instead of bragging to everyone you know about your exclusive access” – but really, that is what beta keys are ultimately for, right?