One flaw I can see is liability. Most companies, when releasing software early, be it for beta or other reasons, are often worried about information on related to the software being published prior to the public release. Sure, these early releases often come with an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), but it's not that hard for someone to hide behind a forum username and leak. Leaks of pre-release bugs can really bring down release day figures and no company wants that,
At the same time, semi-public final betas are a good way to identify trustworthy testers for primary betas and possibly job recruitment <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" />
PS: The salt barrel has a purpose in act one. It plays a role in completing the act with an added EXP bonus <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
