Folks,
As to NDAs, the rule I've always gone by is my "time before release rule" in order to judge the confidence the publishers have in their new game (doesn't apply to ports or games that are already out in other places). I add a +1 for every week prior to release that the game's NDA has been lifted and come up with a score. If <4, there's a lack of confidence in the product, if you are >8, they really believe in the game. WoW had a great score (the highest I believe) and some of the MMOs that failed, had, as expected, low scores. A score of 4 is just about the minimum you should expect from a MMO publisher.
Quelle: Marc Jakobs, 03.03.2008