BioWare and LucasArts announce they are now accepting sign-ups to beta test Star Wars: The Old Republic, the upcoming Star Wars MMORPG. This comes very shortly after reports suggested that this might be near. They will be choosing testers from members of The Old Republic community, and you can register for that here. A Game Testing FAQ is online answering questions about this (including: "A date for the commencement of testing has not been finalized. Once we feel that we are ready for testers, we will contact the selected applicants via email with further instructions"), and here's the deal:

BioWare and LucasArts today announced that they have started accepting applicants to assist them in testing Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Limited testing slots are reserved for The Old Republic Community members, so those interested need only sign up at http://www.swtor.com/user/register if they haven’t already. Once signed in, members can log in and click the My Account page to opt in for testing. Testing will be an ongoing process, and spots are limited, so people need to sign up early to give them the best possible chance of getting selected.