I would suggest that all current players download the alpha and start to contribute in the alpha section of the forums. With each update to the alpha there are guidelines on what needs testing and to post your findings in the release thread. We have something special in that Hitechcreations is working along with the current player base to make AH3 or whatever you want to call it, the best it can be. They are listening to us and progress/quality depends on our input to keep the momentum going.
The greatest gift you will receive for Christmas from HTC is that they're embracing our input. I can't stress enough how rare this has become amongst the developers of MMO games. AH3 is going to be great, but if you're so eager to play the new version why sit and wait for others to make the choices/suggestions for you, when you could be adding to the final product?