Darkness Rising testing

[GReaper]

Not too sure if this is a bit late as testing has already started(?), but its possibly worth mentioning anyway. Currently the only people who seem to be able to help with Darkness Rising testing are E&Es.

Given that the community [thread=179977]isn't too happy at the moment[/thread], it might be a nice idea to perhaps extend the testing to regular players. Mythic and a few other sites had various competitions, some opportunities to win a chance to beta test the new expansion. Some of these included screenshots of spell effects, submit an article for Classes of Camelot, ideas for cluster names, hide and seek, and so on.

It would be nice for GOA to offer similar ways of getting the chance to beta test. Some possible ideas:

- Articles for RightNow: Get people looking for old articles which may need updating or improving, or get players to write new articles for categories which might be missing content.
- RvR challenge: For those of you who remember the capture the demons event on Gorre, maybe something similar on the live servers would be nice? Maybe slowly spawn 20 NPC's in the midddle of Agramon you need to get to follow you to your side of Agramon, whichever group from each realm does the best could get some invitations to beta testing.
- PvE challenge: Get groups to do a Catacombs instance challenge, the fastest group to complete the instance could get some beta invitations.
- Herding: Introduced with 1.74. A herding competition in each realm is something everyone would be able to join in with.

I'm not suggesting allowing everyone to test it (like New Frontiers gold and glory testing), but something to allow a small selection of players the opportunity to try Darkness Rising without having to be E&E.

 

[eggy]

I'm not suggesting allowing everyone to test it (like New Frontiers gold and glory testing), but something to allow a small selection of players the opportunity to try Darkness Rising without having to be E&E.

That's a perk of being a volunteer. There's already plenty on the test servers running the champion level quests, testing the zones/NPCs etc - E&E from all servers and realms, as well as staff from GOA. There's no sense in extending it imo, and would just lead to accounts being loaned to people's friends to test...you'd never be able to keep track like they can now with IPs etc.

If you want to use the internals, apply to be an E&E, put up with all the whine and questions you get bombarded with daily...and get to test future patches as an incentive/reward.

OR, if you really want to try Darkness Rising, get an account on US servers.

But of course, I'm biased All hail Baron Eggy the smit0r

 

[knighthood]

Hail my pirate king :worthy:

 

[GReaper]

Yes, you are biased!

It would just be nice for GOA to offer a little something extra, instead of merely being a provider. Compare E&Es to Team Leaders, both get the opportunity to communicate directly with Mythic/GOA, however it doesn't prevent GOA from offering the community an insight into the testing process.

All we seem to get on the daoc.goa.com site is The Camelot Reporter (Friday news), maintenance downtime, crash reports, and the occasional roleplay post. I'd like to see something slightly different! A few community events to get an opportunity to test the EU Darkness Rising might go a long with making players feel as if they're wanted customers, instead of just a source of income.

 

[Takhasis]

Admit it, you're just jealuous of us E&E getting 1st look at it

However, i seem to remember that at some point in the past Gorre was opened up to all and sundry at some point for testing?

Can't exactly remember when ...

 

[Heta]

Admit it, you're just jealuous of us E&E getting 1st look at it

However, i seem to remember that at some point in the past Gorre was opened up to all and sundry at some point for testing?

Can't exactly remember when ...

I had a look at it long before the E&E on EU servers had

omg omg I was in Beta on US, I'm so cool

£5 to touch me :touch:

 

[eggy]

Yes, you are biased!

It would just be nice for GOA to offer a little something extra, instead of merely being a provider. Compare E&Es to Team Leaders, both get the opportunity to communicate directly with Mythic/GOA, however it doesn't prevent GOA from offering the community an insight into the testing process.

All we seem to get on the daoc.goa.com site is The Camelot Reporter (Friday news), maintenance downtime, crash reports, and the occasional roleplay post. I'd like to see something slightly different! A few community events to get an opportunity to test the EU Darkness Rising might go a long with making players feel as if they're wanted customers, instead of just a source of income.

You're talking about events, not testing. And events are on hold while problems are fixed (Prydwen, XML etc). There are already enough testers for DR, and it would just require extra time that GMs don't have to organise events/competitions to allow a few other randoms the chance to test it too. The community does get an insight into the testing process...E&Es.

 

[scorge]

£5 to touch me :touch:

where?

 

[Flimgoblin]

Admit it, you're just jealuous of us E&E getting 1st look at it

However, i seem to remember that at some point in the past Gorre was opened up to all and sundry at some point for testing?

Can't exactly remember when ...

they used to open it each patch till they realised that all that happened was people ported emain and had duels in the bowl...

 

[Takhasis]

they used to open it each patch till they realised that all that happened was people ported emain and had duels in the bowl...

ah come on - you're pulling my leg surely no one was THAT lame......











we're they?

 

[Flimgoblin]

E&E can answer questions on stuff on DR/post screenshots (as long as it's not of bugs or of any event testing stuff that's on Gorre) etc. if you want.

Or you can ask a US player

They could put stuff on the camelot-europe but the whole "this week we'll show you the nifty horse! next week we'll show you some nifty weapon screenshots" doesn't work when it's been out in the US since early december really and all the "cool stuff" has been spread across t'internet. They did give us lots of screenshots and stuff when it was in beta in the US (screenies of some things before the herald posted them).

 

[Flimgoblin]

we're they?

Every patch, the only testing that was done was "how well I duel against someone in emain bowl".

Not that I'd blame anyone for it - it's fun and it does test that characters abilities work (though somehow people still failed miserably to notice the whole "caster AF buffs not working" bug - so its value as a test tool is rather limited)

 

[old.Whoodoo]

Not too sure if this is a bit late as testing has already started(?), but its possibly worth mentioning anyway. Currently the only people who seem to be able to help with Darkness Rising testing are E&Es.

Firstly, the test servers are nto designed for a mass zerg from all the servers, they are there for testing purposes, of the software and not as many think, their game play. When Gorre was opened publicly, there was more wine on here than there is in all france, "I cant get on", "Too many Germans", "Move your BBs!" and so on, I think you forget that if made public, suddenly the 20k player base in Euro would go schizo for a place on the server. Hence restricted to E&E and Devs.

Given that the community [thread=179977]isn't too happy at the moment[/thread], it might be a nice idea to perhaps extend the testing to regular players. Mythic and a few other sites had various competitions, some opportunities to win a chance to beta test the new expansion. Some of these included screenshots of spell effects, submit an article for Classes of Camelot, ideas for cluster names, hide and seek, and so on.

GOA are always willing to listen to peoples ideas for events, Take Midstock (summer 2003) and Mularn fest (last year on Pryd) plus the other GOA events and quests. If you want tournaments, ask for them, put it to others, get backing and see what GOA can and cant provide. Im sure the herding can be reactivated, just ask and ye shall find.

It would be nice for GOA to offer similar ways of getting the chance to beta test. Some possible ideas:

- Articles for RightNow: Get people looking for old articles which may need updating or improving, or get players to write new articles for categories which might be missing content.
- RvR challenge: For those of you who remember the capture the demons event on Gorre, maybe something similar on the live servers would be nice? Maybe slowly spawn 20 NPC's in the midddle of Agramon you need to get to follow you to your side of Agramon, whichever group from each realm does the best could get some invitations to beta testing.
- PvE challenge: Get groups to do a Catacombs instance challenge, the fastest group to complete the instance could get some beta invitations.
- Herding: Introduced with 1.74. A herding competition in each realm is something everyone would be able to join in with.

Yup I agree, but then again, if you ask, Im sure GOA will do their utmost to do it, myself, I arranged the Midstock games and auction 2 years ago, we all had great fun and raised a lot of relic defence cash, and some people won cash and prizes for events. Then GOA spruced up Jordheim hall for an in game wedding I performed, complete with sacrificial horse. So it can all be done.

I'm not suggesting allowing everyone to test it (like New Frontiers gold and glory testing), but something to allow a small selection of players the opportunity to try Darkness Rising without having to be E&E.

There are also issues GOA have more legal, they dont yet have a licence to send it public, but thats something I wont delve too deeply into, but suffice to say it can withold them from letting a paying public into it.

Testing for an expansion (not patch!! big difference!) is complicated both in legal and programming terms, and shouldnt be treated lightly. The tests are there to determine how successful the transition will be in terms of langauge, hardware and software, and not for individual gain. 3000 horses trotting around mularn will only prove that Gorre itself cant take it, and FH will again be flooded with whines about not being able to get on it.

Ask for events, what do you have to loose? Or even better, get together with like minded people and put a plan in place...

 

[Phoebee-v-]

If you want to use the internals, apply to be an E&E, put up with all the whine and questions you get bombarded with daily...and get to test future patches as an incentive/reward.

GM's said them self over and over that Camlann won't get any active E&E for that server. But then we are a "dead" server as soon as classic is released anyway.

 

[scorge]

Firstly, the test servers are nto designed for a mass zerg from all the servers, they are there for testing purposes, of the software and not as many think, their game play. When Gorre was opened publicly, there was more wine on here than there is in all france, "I cant get on", "Too many Germans", "Move your BBs!" and so on, I think you forget that if made public, suddenly the 20k player base in Euro would go schizo for a place on the server. Hence restricted to E&E and Devs.


Testing for an expansion (not patch!! big difference!) is complicated both in legal and programming terms, and shouldnt be treated lightly. The tests are there to determine how successful the transition will be in terms of langauge, hardware and software, and not for individual gain. 3000 horses trotting around mularn will only prove that Gorre itself cant take it, and FH will again be flooded with whines about not being able to get on it.

If mythic can let people in on testing why cany GoA?

Also GoA can if it wants run competions to give people beta testing places.

 

[eggy]

GM's said them self over and over that Camlann won't get any active E&E for that server. But then we are a "dead" server as soon as classic is released anyway.

Who said I was talking about Camlann? There are no E&E on Camlann for obvious reasons (there ARE GMs on there though, even if you can't find them).

There isn't often/usually/ever (?) a PVP version of test servers. At least not that I know of.

 

[Phoebee-v-]

There are no E&E on Camlann for obvious reasons (there ARE GMs on there though, even if you can't find them).

What reasons are these. Enlight me please.

Yes I know they are there from and til and yes I know they handle the server like excal/pryd but still doesn't help us that we don't have a e&e.

"This section presents some of the volunteer players who have decided to take an active part in the community life on the English servers.

Who are the volunteers ?

It is important to highlight first and foremost that the volunteers are players like any other. They have chosen to become more involved in the game and have received GOA's approval. They have no obligations whatsoever and are absolutely free to play without fulfilling volunteer tasks. Therefore, they are to respect the rules of conduct, with no particular advantage compared to other players. The volunteers are often in contact with the Community Managers and therefore can convey the opinions of other players on a particular topic. Note that the volunteers are in no way employed by GOA"

Should we see this as a service or just as a bonus for playing on some certin servers?

"How many volunteers are there ?

The number of volunteers per server is kept relatively low as we wish to emphasise quality over quantity and to keep volunteer management as simple as possible for the gamemasters. "

There is none for the PvP server.

Thanks for answer thou Eggy :touch:

 

[eggy]

Camlann, by its very nature, is a chaotic server that "promotes" below-the-belt behaviour. It's not a server that can be easily policed, apart from sweeping away the many cheaters that inhabit the server.

As an E&E on the EP cluster, I get a lot of people PMing me things they could easily work out for themselves by simply reading Rightnow FAQs, or thinking before typing. I can only imagine the chaos it would be trying to play as an E&E on Camlann; whines and moans coming in from all directions.

There would also be a lot of natural bias to guild/alliance members, as on this server you can talk to your enemies, unlike normal ruleset servers - players would have to have complete trust in E&E members. (ie, if you PM an E&E saying you're guilds doing 8.2 and it's bugged, you have to trust that the E&E wouldn't tell his group/guild/alliance about the problem...unless you like being zerged by bainshees ofc). This issue doesn't exist on normal ruleset; as you can't kill each other

Also, instead of:

Eggy <Synergy> the Level 50 Cleric in Agramon

You get no guild or location details - my guild is often the way people find me for E&E questions.

 

[Phoebee-v-]

There would also be a lot of natural bias to guild/alliance members, as on this server you can talk to your enemies, unlike normal ruleset servers - players would have to have complete trust in E&E members. (ie, if you PM an E&E saying you're guilds doing 8.2 and it's bugged, you have to trust that the E&E wouldn't tell his group/guild/alliance about the problem...unless you like being zerged by bainshees ofc). This issue doesn't exist on normal ruleset; as you can't kill each other

This allready happens people asking "known" raid leaders for help/tips if they are "thrust-worthy-people".

Ofc there is more BS talk and ofc there is more bad behavor (as you can spot it more easy then on normal servers) but problem remains.

Not you fault thou.

 

[Killswitch]

Camlann, by its very nature, is a chaotic server that "promotes" below-the-belt behaviour. It's not a server that can be easily policed, apart from sweeping away the many cheaters that inhabit the server.

As an E&E on the EP cluster, I get a lot of people PMing me things they could easily work out for themselves by simply reading Rightnow FAQs, or thinking before typing. I can only imagine the chaos it would be trying to play as an E&E on Camlann; whines and moans coming in from all directions.

There would also be a lot of natural bias to guild/alliance members, as on this server you can talk to your enemies, unlike normal ruleset servers - players would have to have complete trust in E&E members. (ie, if you PM an E&E saying you're guilds doing 8.2 and it's bugged, you have to trust that the E&E wouldn't tell his group/guild/alliance about the problem...unless you like being zerged by bainshees ofc). This issue doesn't exist on normal ruleset; as you can't kill each other

Also, instead of:

Eggy <Synergy> the Level 50 Cleric in Agramon

You get no guild or location details - my guild is often the way people find me for E&E questions.

/who tart works as well btw

 

[Flimgoblin]

/who tart works as well btw

Most of my chars show up under /who gimp

 

[old.Whoodoo]

If mythic can let people in on testing why cany GoA?

Also GoA can if it wants run competions to give people beta testing places.

Mythic test the development of the game, they need real time testing and the devs are invloved in that. Its done in 1 laguage, and often goes down for days while patches are tested over and over.

GOA test five languages, and if things work for when a patch goes live, they dont need a zerg to test that. Each language gets about 2-3 weeks testing, so unless you are mutlilingual, its not going to be much fun. Nor do they require people to test their wtfpwness or how well Agramon puts up with 200 l33t ML10 RR12 players, which is what most want to play woth rather than testing whats important.

 

[GReaper]

Firstly, the test servers are nto designed for a mass zerg from all the servers, they are there for testing purposes, of the software and not as many think, their game play. When Gorre was opened publicly, there was more wine on here than there is in all france, "I cant get on", "Too many Germans", "Move your BBs!" and so on, I think you forget that if made public, suddenly the 20k player base in Euro would go schizo for a place on the server. Hence restricted to E&E and Devs.

Only the New Frontiers testing had population problems from what I can remember, other testing seemed to be fine.

But anyway, the main purpose behind the idea is to get the community involved in different ways - testing Darkness Rising seems like a good incentive/reward for it. The two new classic servers for EU are being launched in a few weeks (hopefully), a naming competition or even just a poll for the most popular name would be nice. A unique introduction event/quest would be great, something all the level 5 players could do before they start levelling.

Given the recent problems, it feels that GOA aren't even bothering with the community at all. Some of the ideas of a wider range of events or the opportunity to test DR might make people feel as if GOA are giving more than just a laggy service!

 

[scorge]

Mythic test the development of the game, they need real time testing and the devs are invloved in that. Its done in 1 laguage, and often goes down for days while patches are tested over and over.

Dont GoA though keep telling us that the international version is differant from the US version, and that they use a slightly differant hardware platform? And that they have to test to make sure no bugs particular to the international version show up? Isn't it more likely that more people that test more bugs would be found sooner.

GOA test five languages, and if things work for when a patch goes live, they dont need a zerg to test that. Each language gets about 2-3 weeks testing, so unless you are mutlilingual, its not going to be much fun. Nor do they require people to test their wtfpwness or how well Agramon puts up with 200 l33t ML10 RR12 players, which is what most want to play woth rather than testing whats important.

i agree but running some sort of competition where say 100 people or so can test out darkness rising, might be beneficial to GoA. After all it cant do them any more harm then they are doing to themselves..

 

[eggy]

If 100 people were testing DR, 100 people would have done everything in DR before they even bothered paying for it.

Insta overpowered TOAed MLed CLed level 50 chars whenever you want would dull the atmosphere and buildup for the expansion release.

 

[Ctuchik]

If 100 people were testing DR, 100 people would have done everything in DR before they even bothered paying for it.

and how diffrent is that to now? when only E&E's gets to test?

if it isnt randoms that do it its E&E's

not saying they should open gorre to randoms, just found your statement amusing

 

[eggy]

and how diffrent is that to now? when only E&E's gets to test?

if it isnt randoms that do it its E&E's

not saying they should open gorre to randoms, just found your statement amusing

Eh? How is it different?

It would be 100 people different. Duh?

 

[old.Whoodoo]

Dont GoA though keep telling us that the international version is differant from the US version, and that they use a slightly differant hardware platform? And that they have to test to make sure no bugs particular to the international version show up? Isn't it more likely that more people that test more bugs would be found sooner.



i agree but running some sort of competition where say 100 people or so can test out darkness rising, might be beneficial to GoA. After all it cant do them any more harm then they are doing to themselves..

To reiterate my points;

The testing on the servers is done in 5 languages, roughly 2-3 weeks between each. Do GOA select 100 from each? If so, maybe possible but read on...

The databases are often reset mid testing, so chars are purged. Instant whine "I spent 3 hours tuning my toon and its gone boo-hoo", no thanks.

Giving instant 50/ML10/RR12 doesnt always help testing, sometimes we are restricted to level 49 and lower availability. Testing singular wtfpwnage helps only the individual, not the tests needed.

Having access to artis / MLs you dont on your normal toons doesnt help anyone other than individuals. No, GOA cant /charcopy, thats done manually by Mythic, which takes time, and detracts from the testing time.

Then by human nature alone, dont you think 99% of peope given access to th toys on gorre would just roam Agramon, duel their m8s and RvR, never touching SI, the cities, dungeons and instances, unless cattle prodded in the right direction? Yes, 100 more testers is fine, as long as they actually test.

Oh and people would soon get cheesed off with things like we have at present, where NPCs talk to you in French, then another in German and popup boxes are in Spanish, leaving everyone saying "WTF?!?", I use bablefish when Im not sure, but thats not 100%, but the languages have to be tested.

Yes I agree with GReaper, but again m8, put it to GOA in a rightnow, get together like minded people with ideas for role play events and such and put a plan together rather than relying on GOA to "give the goods", GOA have done events for ages, and now Mythic want to do the same in the US, so GOA were a step ahead on this issue. We as a community can put ideas forward, or speak to an E&E and ask for your plans to be posted on the GOA forums, or for one of us to contact a GM directly, use your imagination and ask, what do you have to loose.

As for competitions, why not, youll have to think about them carefully so everyone from the casual to the l33t can win, and the prizes should be reasonable, say 7 days subs, a rare scroll or item or just for shits n giggles. Try putting a RP event idea forward.

 

[xxManiacxx]

E&Es just want their precious server for themself

 

[Libertine]

Testing DR would ruin it for you because you would complete it in test, it is a very very shallow expansion.