The end of the Galactic Civilizations II beta will be this month. After that, it goes into strictly private testing.
It is during that point we take the feedback we've received and start incorporating it in as much as possible, polish things up, tweak game play, fix bugs, etc.
If it is anything like the GalCiv I beta, there will be loud posts insisting that the final game is doomed (anyone here remember the last GalCiv I public beta?) needless to say, the transformation that occurs between the final game and release can be significant.
The area we are weakest on is in the area of compatibility testing. We could really use some feedback from users running on low-end systems or running on Windows 98, ME, or 2000.
There will be another beta -- beta 4D -- this next Thursday along with the posting of the draft user manual for the game. At that point, it will be important for people to turn in their two cents on what they think needs to be tweaked, fixed, etc.
Stay tuned.