What is a Core Tester?

If you're looking for info about the warband I'll be running on PTS on 10/12/2010, you can find it here.

There seems to be a bit of confusion on the boards about what a Core Tester is and what he or she does. I hope to clarify it a bit.

1. We're just regular players. We don't work for Bioware/Mythic. We get no reimbursement whatsoever for our contribution. The only reason we do this is because we like the game and want to see it succeed. I pay my subscription fee just like you do.
2. We don't design anything. If you have an issue with a design decision, leave your feedback on the forums, just like we do. That's what they're there for. If we bring up a valid concern, Mythic will often make changes something before implementing. They do the exact same thing with the public feedback. See the Sovereign redesign for a perfect example.
3. We aren't yes men. We are often critical of Mythic. We leave feedback in a constructive manner so that Mythic has something else to consider before making a change. (No calling anyone's mother a bad name.) For example, I was completely against the removal of Guard from 2h tanks. My reason was that I would not be wanted in a scenario group without Guard. Melee DPS would have similar utility with more damage. (Warband play is another animal completely. I think most tanks would have been fine in warband play 2h without Guard.) If the 2h trees are redesigned to give a group another reason to want me besides Guard, then I have no issue with Guard being restricted to shield only.
4. We do give input on things before the general public sees it. As such, we are held to a NDA. We don't talk about anything publicly until someone at Mythic does so first or patches it to the PTS for all to see.
5. We test content that can be tested with smaller numbers of people. You don't need 50 bazillion people to make sure a redesign of a ToVL boss works. We do that so you don't have to. You do need 50 bazillion people to test a complete redesign of the ORvR battle and to test the stability of a new version, so that's what PTS events are for.
6. We don't represent anyone but ourselves. We don't represent classes. We don't represent our guilds/alliances. We don't represent our servers. We don't represent Order or Destruction. We don't represent the community as a whole to the developers. (That's Andy's job.) We are Core Testers for our own opinions and contributions, and nothing else.

I hope this clears things up.