My Hytale Beta Predictions and Plans

IMPORTANT EDIT, May 11, 2020: Turns out, I was horribly wrong. I think this was due to the Riot Games partnership decision taking a super long time to reach a conclusion—Noxy explained that this is why "it was necessary for us to ‘go quiet’ for long stretches of 2019".

Good news, though: I have another Hytale beta post planned for May 17. I hope I don't screw up big-time this time. At least Hypixel Studios is way more predictable than the firetrucking Wuhan coronavirus.

DISCLAIMER: This is speculative and based on pre-release information. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.
Remember, folks: Speculations are NOT facts. Only trust official sources for information about creative content--in the case of Hytale, trust only Hypixel Studios and its staff. I am not an official source of Hytale information.

Alongside the question "When will Hytale be released?", the question "When will the beta come out?" burns within much of Hytale's massive fandom, and, again, I am no exception. (Heck, even Cidercet's fan art of Gaia, which was featured in Hytale's fan art showcase, has "Beta key pls?" on it.) Begging (exaggeration used for lack of a better word), speculations, and even fake news about the Hytale beta have been crawling around the Web, which shows how badly the community wants to experience Hytale gameplay.

Let me begin with my ability to wait for the beta: In short, Hypixel Studios can release the beta whenever they want; I'm ready to wait no matter how long it takes.
I got used to waiting a long time for video game releases, specifically Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, then Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! Although the official information and fan theories kept me hyped up, I was still able to wait thanks to school work (that's one of the few good things about school work), other video games, and daily life tasks.
According to Hytale's music preview and FAQ update post, they wanted other companies/people to invest in Hypixel Studios so they can develop Hytale at their own pace and deliver a game that meets their standards and the players'. (They also pay special attention to what the hardcore gamers want, which I find challenging, especially game balance.) By not directly begging Hypixel Studios for a Hytale beta to come after a few weeks/months, I spare their staff from the stress of pressure and keep them mentally energized.
I don't care if Hytale releases the beta 10 years from now—I got a big and exciting life ahead of me, and so do the great people of Hypixel Studios! (Except you, Trorks. You guys suck and I wanna kill you. Just kidding--I like your designs.)

Okay, it's speculation time:
I predict that the Hytale beta will be released between January and April 2020.
Here comes the long explanation.

I think the order of release of blog posts generally starts with not-so-important topics (for the competitive players) like the UI sneak peek (still experimental, with some screenshots from the Hytale trailer), Hytale Model Maker (mostly concerns modders and aspiring developers, not necessarily regular players), and character customization (mostly aesthetic except for armor).
According to the first Hytale FAQ post, they said that they "touched lightly on PvP" in the trailer and know that the community will have high demands for PvP. PvP must be a major topic--talking about it in-depth too early would cause a huge spike in popularity that will eventually die down if Hytale doesn't release within a few months after talking about PvP. (Maybe PvP is still experimental as of writing this.) An official PvP post would probably mean that Hytale is coming very soon. (I'm thinking of editing this. Hypixel Studios might get a megaton of PvP-related suggestions after they talk in-depth about PvP, and suggestions that require a remake of PvP from scratch might take many months.)
Edit: They made another music post. The music is amazing, especially Kweebec Village, but it's still mostly aesthetics to me. Not much gameplay significance other than adding atmosphere to the player's experience.
Side note: I love the statement "don't show up in [the Kweebecs'] villages wielding an axe!" It's a reference to how axes are often used to chop trees. I hope Kweebecs will be weak to axes in case I want to fight them. Plus, they wield spears, so axes might be 4x super effective! (Just kidding with this Fire Emblem reference.)

I'm not sure why I think Hytale won't come out on December 2019, but there's a chance that maybe they still need more time to work, or they want to mess with us by not giving us the beta for Christmas. Who knows: maybe they find a game-breaking glitch out of nowhere, or they want to test our patience. (Oh well, there's still Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield to look forward to, even though there's no National Pokédex.)

But why January to April 2020? For January, New Year, just like Christmas, is a sweet spot for hyping up creative content. What better way to celebrate the New Year than with Hytale joining the bandwagon? We'd better have fireworks that explode with Kweebec faces. In other words: New year, new game, new experiences.
February has Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, so Hytale can share love and good luck on the Year of the Rat. (They'd better have cuter rodent species though--the rat in the zone 1 wildlife post is too creepy. Hamsters on a date would look awesome.)
And, of course, April has the infamous April Fool's Day. This allows Hypixel Studios to hide clever pranks in the beta.

Next, I will talk about why Hytale will NOT have the beta in the next few months, as stated in the music preview. In short: E3 2019.
Yes, I think Hytale will be featured on E3 2019. It doesn't make sense to release Hytale before E3 because Hypixel Studios would just become redundant in showcasing Hytale—players can quickly and collectively figure out a ton of minor details within a few hours after release, and those details can spread across the Internet just as quickly.
Hytale has received a decent amount of attention from magazines and the press. It has been featured on the Edge magazine, and Hypixel Studios publishing lead Chris Thursten was interviewed by DualShockers.
Plus, Noxy, project lead of Hypixel Studios, Tweeted on March 9, saying "Good morning Los Angeles! Had a nice sleep after my flight." E3 2019 will be held in the Los Angeles Convention Center, so maybe Noxy could scout the location and organize with the E3 staff.
Edit: Noxy proved me wrong -_-

Another reason why I think Hytale won't have the beta soon is that they're still taking requests and feedback, according to the December 13 FAQ.
Codiak from The Game Gurus did some surveys about what people want in Hytale. He sends the responses to Hypixel Studios, and Hypixel Studios actually reads these responses and takes them into consideration. He has the previous survey results and a new survey here. I already responded, and I'd describe them as "long but lazy".
Responding to suggestions can take additional time because there are several steps (made up by me; I'm not sure how suggestions work for big game developers), including:

• Picking the "worthy" suggestions. Is this suggestion applicable for the game's setting and gameplay? Are the developers willing to put their time and energy into making this suggestion a reality?
• Writing programming code to make the suggestion work in-game.
• Drawing visual assets, composing music, and recording sound effects, if applicable.
• Experimenting with how the suggestion affects game balance, especially for combat-related items or mechanics.

Edit, May 4, 2019: I was correct with this argument. Hypixel Studios stated: "We’ve had a lot of work to do - from improving our development pipeline to processing thousands of job applications, keeping the community supplied with new screenshots and info, and listening to feedback and suggestions. All of this takes time, and it has made it harder to set a fixed timeline for Hytale’s release."

GDC-related edits

Edit: Simon, CEO and founder of Hypixel, Tweeted on March 13 that Hypixel Studios is "really busy this week with GDC [Game Developers Conference] on the way".
Edit: Noxy Tweeted on March 14 that he's in Los Angeles for some "business stuff" and he will also go to GDC.
Edit: Almost nothing about Hytale was revealed on GDC (I think), other than this Tweet from @TebexSupport, retweeted by Noxy. It said that @TebexSupport played a demo of Hytale in Noxy's hotel room.

Okay, those are all my predictions for the Hytale beta. They were somewhat lazy and have a massive speculation-to-fact ratio, but I'm impressed with the length of my analysis.
Let's move on to my plans for the beta.

I've only played a few games that were still in their beta stages, so I don't know much about how beta testing works. The only betas I've played gave me unlimited time to play. I'm speculating that Hytale won't have the beta out for long, and may have a time limit, so I want to make the most of my Hytale beta test to experience as many features and find as many glitches as possible.

Before I actually play, I should wait until I can play Hytale for as many hours as possible without interruption, such as when my mom naps in the afternoon then goes to the gym. Ideally, the Hytale beta should open on either April, August, or December since those are the months where I'm on vacation, but I'm okay with it starting on the firetrucking school term.

I would mainly use a Creative mode equivalent so I can quickly access the game's features with much fewer limitations than "Survival mode". (I'd occasionally alternate between "Creative mode" and "Survival mode".) I'd quickly skim through every block, item, and entity and their functions, making sure that everything works as intended.
Even in supposed "glitch-free" games, glitches can appear in events that most players won't expect. I'll experiment with unconventional or underused tactics to find these sneaky glitches.

Once I'm done with "Creative mode" experimentation, I'll mess around with the minigames and servers using the steps above. I believe YoSquid and BoltOLightnin (player4709's other username, which I like better) have already signed up for the beta, so I have two friends to help Hypixel Studios find glitches (while dying to my spear in the process).

And after minigames, I'll try to do a full playthrough of Hytale Adventure Mode. After all, besides specifically looking for glitches, making sure that a game is fully playable and enjoyable ensures that a game has minimal (if not zero) glitches, and the developers become aware of the glitches that exist. Plus, it's a massive dream-come-true for me and the Hytale community.
I won't use the rules I laid out for my Hytale play style—I bet a casual, less structured playthrough would help find more glitches as opposed to a playthrough where I follow the exact same steps over and over and I miss out on glitches.
"Hmmm, what's this button do?"
*HYTALE HAS CRASHED. PLEASE CONTACT HYPIXEL STUDIOS.*
"Fudge yeah, a glitch! Hypixel Studios will appreciate me for reporting this!"