An emergency bug-fix patch was distributed today that addressed these problems according to the patch notes:

However, as usual, the emergency bug-fix patch introduced a whopping new bug -- one big enough to cause Blizzard to take the servers down again.  Read all about it in Kandrathe's Lurker thread.

In a revealing post, Blizzard Community Manager Caydiem writes:

Everyone here agrees that the current rate at which we've been delivering content is not acceptable. Too much time has passed between patches, and the fact of the matter is that bug fixes -- which, while not critical, have been done and waiting -- have been lumped in with content that has been continually pushed back. This is not conducive to running a stable and fun gameplay environment, and the idea of the "monster patch" only hinders you folks in the long run.

After this patch, we plan on delivering patches containing both bug fixes and content in a more timely fashion. I cannot commit at this time to saying "monthly", for example, but they will be coming more often and regularly, and will not be held up due to some large feature being the focal point. The internal processes to make this happen are already in place and operating; the changes are real, and you will see the effects shortly after the current patch is live.

Blizzard Community Manager, Caydiem, is asking for constructive feedback specifically related to hunters.  He says that "after a period of time, [he] will lock this thread, go through the gathered feedback, and sit down with the developers to advocate your position."  So, if you have any specific requests or concerns related to the hunter class, head over to the official forum thread and post your ideas.

Worldofwar.net is reporting that players whose characters weren't ported over to the beta server can still download the beta test patch, start new characters on the realm, and play to their heart's content.  They announced it like it's an official Blizzard announcement, but I couldn't find anything on Blizzard's website.  Anyway, if you want to try it, you can read the instructions on worldofwar.net's front page.

UPDATE:  DarkCrown sent me this link to the official announcement.

UPDATE2: Olon has posted a full how to on how to make a character on the test servers.  Keep in mind that all characters on the test server will be wiped at the conclusion of testing.

An addendum to the previously released beta test patch notes has been issued.  Read all about it here.