Don't put out a date we know they can't make lets just try for out possibly in February
My thought process is that Beta 3a is pretty much ready to rock and they've been sitting on it until netcode issues were resolved. Remember, before the latest round of updates they were looking at having 3 out at this point. I figure they will wait a week to make sure all *major* bugs in connectivity are resolved and then get us looking at balance ASAP.
Please don't get me wrong - I'm not at all dissatisfied with 2D, I just figured I'd test the water for what's next.