Disclaimer, I haven't played Galaxies yet, but likely will soon but I have a fair bit of experience with software development and alpha/beta testing...
Some of the comments have bugged me, feel I should say something. Several people have mentioned that the beta was very buggy and had to download tons of patches. That's what a beta is, there is no way to seriously test a complex bit of software without actually using the thing. And in order to find some/most of the serious bugs, you have to use the software a lot. Hence the pseudo-open beta tests of games like Galaxies.
Most companies have to hire people to do thier beta testing for them. But, when there is a lot of hype for a new game, some recent game development houses have harnessed (tricked/enslaved) the pre-fans to use for these betas. This is far cheaper and due to the larger numbers of people, more serious bugs get flagged for repair. Basically the point is, beta tests are not fun. The game in question is not finished, it has bugs, that's why you are testing.
Anyhow, if the version of the game that is currently sitting on store shelves is ass, tell everyone not to spend money on it. I bought Daggerfall, never again will I pay money for a buggy game. But the beta is not the version on the shelves. Probably not even all that close, we're talking 2-3 weeks of crunch time bug fixing by several talented programmers.
Yeah, that was a bit off topic, but still, I feel better, all that 'don't judge a book by it's cover/1st draft/10th draft' crap.
