Quoted from Wikipedia. Bolding is mine.
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Beta
Main article: Betaware
A beta version is the first version released outside the organization or community that develops the software, for the purpose of evaluation or real-world black/grey-box testing. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release. Beta level software generally includes all features, but may also include known issues and bugs of a less serious variety.
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Often this stage begins when the developers announce a feature freeze on the product, indicating that no more feature requirements will be accepted for this version of the product. Only software issues, or bugs and unimplemented features will be addressed.
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...Companies with a formal software process will tend to enter the beta period with a list of known bugs that must be fixed to exit the beta period, and some companies make this list available to customers and testers.
As the Internet has allowed for rapid and inexpensive distribution of software, companies have begun to take a more flexible approach to use of the word "beta".
...In February 2005, ZDNet published an article about the recent phenomenon of a beta version often staying for years and being used as if it were in production-level . It noted that Gmail and Google News, for example, had been in beta for a long period of time and were not expected to drop the beta status despite the fact that they were widely used; however, Google News did leave beta in January 2006. This technique may also allow a developer to delay offering full support and/or responsibility for remaining issues. In the context of Web 2.0, people even talk of perpetual betas to signify that some software is meant to stay in beta state....
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Obviouslyl, some of this won't apply to a constantly updating MMORPG... but... you get the gist.
Sorry for the length.