Any guesses as to the purpose of the playtest?

[Ondrashek06]

We know that the playtest is basically a massive free-building world for everyone (except zones you claim/lock) along with a way to create user-generated content if you pass a quiz regarding the rules.

Is Nintendo trying to create an actual MMO? The area-locking system reminds me of Growtopia's lock system, and this same lock system is also used in Pixel Worlds (which is shutting down permanently this year).

 

[linuxares]

Often they are to measure how much power and bandwidth they will need for X amount. It's obviously a PR stunt as well since they knew it would leak and no ndas were signed