It has been officially announced – Star Wars: The Old Republic beta game testing has begun! You can join the discussion on the official announcement here and here’s the complete post:

Game Testing for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is underway! Those selected to test will gain access to the game and be able to provide valuable feedback to help us tune particular areas of gameplay and begin the process of balancing and tweaking our content.

Game Testing is an on-going process being rolled out in several phases. These phases began with smaller, more focused tests with community members from North America, and later will expand to other territories. Users selected for the test program will be notified via email with more information on accessing the Game Testing Portal. If you’ve not been chosen yet, you may be selected in the next wave!

If you haven’t signed up already, it’s definitely not too late! If you’re not already a member of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community, click here to become one today! Be sure to check the box to indicate you are interested in becoming a tester. If you’re already a member, go to the Game Testing Portal to begin the sign up process. Note that you must be at least 18 years of age to accept the Game Tester Agreement.

Please keep in mind that there are no guarantees that you will be selected once you have completed the sign-up process. For more information about testing Star Wars: The Old Republic, take time to read the Game Testing FAQ.

We’re looking forward to your help in making Star Wars: The Old Republic a success!

Sean also added:

One thing to remember…

Being able to have the community help us test The Old Republic is very important and valuable to the development process. The Game Testing Program allows community members to give us quality feedback so we can make adjustments and have a highly effective service and entertaining experience when we do launch. Our expectation is that players of The Old Republic will follow the terms of the Game Testing Agreement and ensure that the confidential pre-release information we’re sharing with community members remains confidential.

It has been reported earlier today that beta testing sign ups have started on the official TOR site. The moment this became public knowledge the internet went ablaze. Everyone and their mother tried signing up (yours truly included). There is a scanning application at the end of the sign up process that tests your computer and this was the most common point of failure. Everything went down after that. As more people started hearing the news, the official site was hit by a gazillion excited fans wishing to try their luck. Be patient. The sign up will last for many more months to come and I don’t think your chances to participate will be higher if you are among the first million to sign up. Once the initial rush passes be sure to

Use this link to sign up for Star Wars: The Old Republic beta testing

Update:

The Old Republic community members using either Hotmail or Yahoo email providers may not be receiving transactional emails at this time. This includes validation and password recovery emails. We are looking into the situation and will update you when we can.

The team is still working on various solutions for the looping issue that some users are experiencing. Your patience is appreciated while we are working on this. And remember, the order in which an individual signs up has no bearing on who gets chosen for testing.

Update 2:
Things have been working as intended for weeks now.

Click here for the official article.