The NDA doesn't prevent alpha testers from sharing techniques that apply to public versions. Any lack of participation here on the part of the existing alpha testers is a matter of personal choice and likely comes down to a number of factors including lack of time, personal feelings about proprietary technique, and perhaps a concern that they might be overtaxed by the obviously large amount of questions many have. I would definitely like to see more of the alpha testers contributing to the technique discussions here, but they are not under any obligation to do so.
I do think it's important to keep in mind that this is a Technology Preview. Perhaps that term doesn't have a broad enough awareness in the community but I think we've provided a lot more support, documentation and options like discounted pre-purchase than many other companies have done with their own similar releases. Obviously if we are accepting registration fees for the program we do need to provide support, however a full manual and other related documentation is really something for the final product (which of course all pre-purchasers will be able to update to). Not only does it take a long time to produce that volume of material, but as others have said there are many things that will necessarily change and having to redo or at least update the documentation repeatedly is simply a waste of time.
We do want to encourage people to use and enjoy the Technology Preview, but ultimately if the lack of documentation, stability and speed issues, or other things are in the way of that enjoyment the only reasonable choice is to avoid using it until the final product is available. We made the choice to provide this early look at TG2 technology for a number of reasons and I have to say I've been very pleased with the reception and effect it has had on the community, so I'm glad we decided to take this approach. Nonetheless it must be seen for what it is and used accordingly, with fair expectations for its current state of development.
I'll have Matt take a look at the rest of the more specific questions here as I may have bodged up an explanation, or there may indeed be a bug in the system making all of this more difficult than it needs to be.
- Oshyan
