Due to some comments made by *cough* certain Funcom CEOs, the internet has been exploding with speculation as to when The Secret World will begin Open Beta testing, as well as what sort of business models and price points they'll be pursuing overall. In response to the furor, The Secret World team has publsihed a direct response to the rumours, pointing out a few important things:

• TSW has been in closed beta testing for several months with Funcom QA personnel and some external testers.
• Open beta will not begin before Christmas, but is planned for some time in 2012.
• No business model or price points have been declared for The Secret World, and evaluations are still being discussed.

Funcom has announced that more than 500,000 people have registered to participate in The Secret World beta! The game's slowly becoming less of a secret as the team gears up for the April 2012 launch date.

You can register for The Secret World beta on the game's official site. The first phase of The Secret War beta registration experience kicked off two months ago, allowing players to take a personality test and align with one of the game's three societies. Once the second phase begins, you'll be able to recruit friends and climb the ranks of your society in an attempt to earn in-game items, achievements and guaranteed beta access.

Funcom just kicked off the Week of the Dragon on The Secret World site, which means they'll be unveiling details about the secret society all week. They've started the festivities by releasing six new Dragon screenshots, but they also plan to post artwork, information and a video. The team is even going to host a Facebook Q&A session at the end of the week. And yes, the Illuminati and Templars will get their own spotlight weeks in the future.

While you wait for more Dragon details to surface, check out the new video developer diary that focuses on the Secret War between the three societies.

Want to sign up for The Secret World beta but don't like the thought of doing it through Facebook? Then you'd in luck, because Funcom just made it possible to register using only an e-mail address. Head over to the registration page to fill out the application and cross your fingers for a beta invite.

To be clear, you still need a Facebook account to participate in The Secret War event. The first phase of the event kicked off yesterday and requires you to choose one of three secret societies: Dragon, Templars and Illuminati. The upcoming second phase will ask you to recruit friends and climb the ranks of your society in an attempt to earn in-game items, achievements and guaranteed beta access. You can even win a trip to Funcom's studio and get your name featured in the game world!

Let's summarize: Using an e-mail address will only let you register for the beta. You'll need a Facebook account to participate in The Secret War for a shot at all those perks. Watch The Secret War trailer below for details on the three societies.

Following a short delay due to technical issues, beta registration and phase one of The Secret War experience is now live! Head over to The Secret World site to watch a new trailer, take a new personality test and register with one of three secret societies using Facebook.

The first phase of The Secret War, which includes choosing your society, basically just acts as the official beta registration for the game. The upcoming second phase is where the real fun begins; you'll be able to recruit friends and climb the ranks of your society in an attempt to earn in-game items, achievements and guaranteed beta access! Check out the full FAQ after the jump for all the details.

UPDATE: Funcom has posted a blog entry with more details on the second phase of the Secret War event. If you participate in phase two, you can win a chance to visit the Funcom studio and even get your name featured in the game world!

The first phase of The Secret World's beta registration and Secret War experience was supposed to kick off yesterday, August 26, but Funcom announced today that it has been delayed until further notice due to technical difficulties. "We will be working relentlessly to make sure the experience and the beta registration are up as soon as possible," Funcom said.

In an attempt to keep the delay within the game's mythology, the Council of Venice has released a letter stating that "it is in everyone's best interest to lay down arms and to retreat into designated neutral zones until further notice." You can read the letter after the jump.

UPDATE, 9/1: We've already given out a bunch of swag, but we still have more! We'll be giving out more prizes next week after Labor Day Weekend. Be sure to check your Twitter messages! While we have only a limited amount of physical things we can ship, we have tons of codes to give away, so keep your eyes peeled.

Gamescom may have come to an end, but the summer convention season isn't over just yet! PAX Prime will be held in downtown Seattle from August 26-28 and we'll have members of the ZAM team on the floor, including Director of Content Cody "Micajah" Bye. He'd love to give out PAX swag to some lucky readers, and all he wants in return is more followers on Twitter!

We'll be giving away PAX gear to people who follow @ZAMOfficial and @CodyBye on Twitter. The more followers the pages get before PAX, the more chances you'll have to win prizes. Check out the constantly updated prize list after the jump to see what you could get simply by clicking the "follow" button!

Funcom has released a batch of blog entries detailing The Secret World's presence at Gamescom last week. As we reported, the biggest news to come out of the convention is that the MMO will launch in April 2012 and a social media campaign will kick off on August 26 to get players to register for the upcoming beta. Senior Assistant Community Manager Glen 'Famine' Swan clarified the purpose of this new beta signup in the first Gamescom blog entry:

"If you were one of the cool people that signed up for beta way before hand, then don’t worry, your application is still very valid and secure. We do however encourage everyone to sign up again on August 26th. This will give you the opportunity to join the Secret War experience and collect some awesome rewards."

So one of the most important things to take away from Gamescom is that all interested players should sign up for The Secret World beta when the Secret War experience begins on Friday. For Funcom's full Gamescom recap, check out the blog entries for day 1, day 2, and days 3 and 4.

Mike B. aka Fony's latest BFF Report is all about Gamescom 2011! He talks about Dota 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, WildStar, Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes, The Secret World, World of Warcraft and Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Fony's rendition of the Assassin's Creed trailer is... well, let's just say you need to see it for yourself.

Click here to watch BFF Report Episode 78: Gamescom 2011!

Funcom announced at Gamescom today that The Secret World is scheduled to launch in April 2012! Starting August 26, players can register to join upcoming betas through an interactive social media campaign that will be made available on the game's official site.

So what are we all going to do for the next eight months? For starters, we can gather around and watch the fourth Secret World CGI trailer that was released today.