Above and Beyond Technologies focused on getting The Repopulation ready for testing through October and part of that work included the introduction of a new optional tutorial system, which the first stage of the new tutorial is instanced and a second stage that takes place in an area only accessible to new members of your nation.

While The Repopulation hasn’t announced a beta start date, the update does state that the devs are targeting early 2012. A full list of the latest changes are available in the full End of October Update.

Our target is early 2012, but the actual date will be determined by how quickly we reach the required milestones. The bulk of that work will be related to polishing and preparing early content areas.

Source: The Repopulation End of October Update