GOA: Test server ala Pendragon ?

[Loth]

Why don't we have a test server like Pendragon on Euro ?

I think it'd be great to be able to /charcopy like the US peeps can do.

Any thoughts ?

 

[liste]

There's hardly a point for it in EU, as the patches have already been tested in US.

the bugs related to the translating, can be uncovered by testing on a much smaller scale. so its really rather waste of energy

 

[Loth]

Well patch testing is fair enough, but what about character spec testing ?

Also, Euro patches are kinda unique to us due to GOA's patching implementation, so we get different bugs.

 

[Rubric]

Would also need three one in each language.

 

[Whoodoo_RD]

Want to test, become a volunteer.

As for testing chars, well sorry but thats not what testing is all about, and would make the game kinda boring if everyone found the most uber spec and had exactly the same. You should have done your homework about your char before you gimped it. If most ppl were given free reign of the testing, you really think they would be there testing game mechanics and bug solving, translation checking or like you, purly to test how to degimp?

As for us getting different bugs, sorry to say it but we get far less bugs than the US, and its unnecessary to involve 2k+ ppl to test those that are left. Too many n00bs running round ruins the point of testing anything but server load.

End of the day, Gorre and Lothian are there to ensure the patches made live have been tested as much as poss so you lot dont whine on release day about language bugs, abusable programming or to test events etc, and not for personal benefit.

IMO btw

 

[Brannor McThife]

And, IMHO, most people that "want to test", really want to do it for themselves, and not for the good of the game. Most people would simply test their own characters and that's about it.

The GOA test server is there to test language issues, and as many things as possible, not just your character spec. In the time leading up to the Spellcraft patch, and SI, I spent about 5 times as much time testing as I did playing. Fine, I had the time, but many of those that tested, tested a lot of classes, and we set proper dueling sessions to test KvK skills, etc.

It is NOT about testing your character spec.

-G

 

[Damon_D]

I dont give a fiddlers arse about a test server.. just give us a respec npc like the name registar dude.. 50g a pop have a nice re-spec , thank you very much

 

[Brannor McThife]

Originally posted by Damon Doombring
I dont give a fiddlers arse about a test server.. just give us a respec npc like the name registar dude.. 50g a pop have a nice re-spec , thank you very much

Finally, proof that you've taken an overdose of that stuff you've been smokin' all this time.



-G

 

[Damon_D]

First off..I ment what I vrote..peopel should be able to respec as often as they like, especialy with a company like Mythic running the show..second..I dont smoke..but I do enjoy a strong Tea made of shrooms You back in the game Brannor Mc Noodel..or you just browsing by

 

[Loth]

You should have done your homework about your char before you gimped it

Who said anything about gimped classes ? I don't regard my toons as being 'gimped'

Testing alternative specs can be invaluable, some people think specs are 'uber' simply because they are cookie cutter.

It is NOT about testing your character spec.

I disagree - testing various specs on a class you know well can provide good feedback.

Testing specs on classes you don't know well could lead to the wrong information being sent back.

 

[Brannor McThife]

Originally posted by Loth
Testing specs on classes you don't know well could lead to the wrong information being sent back.

When I tested, I used up almost all 8 slots in each of my 2 accounts I used for testing, in all 3 realms (could play all 3 realms on same server on same account). If I was playing a class I had little or no experience with, I would ask people on the IRC chanel to give me a good spec. AND, we could respec whenever and as often as was needed. Granted, I spent more time using a paladin and cleric buffbot to test quests in Albion, a zerker/shaman combo in Mid and a chanter/bard in Hib. What did annoy me, was that a lot of the testers were constantly asking for the new SI classes to be given the "bump" ability to level 50. That defeated the object of testing the new classes from level 1 up.


Oh, and Damon sweety. Wouldn't you just love to know if I was back.

-G

 

[- Pathfinder -]

Originally posted by liste
as the patches have already been tested in US.

Ah yes, there are never any bugs in the patches since the yanks rock at testing

 

[Teh Krypt]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
When I tested, I used up almost all 8 slots in each of my 2 accounts I used for testing, in all 3 realms (could play all 3 realms on same server on same account). If I was playing a class I had little or no experience with, I would ask people on the IRC chanel to give me a good spec. AND, we could respec whenever and as often as was needed. Granted, I spent more time using a paladin and cleric buffbot to test quests in Albion, a zerker/shaman combo in Mid and a chanter/bard in Hib. What did annoy me, was that a lot of the testers were constantly asking for the new SI classes to be given the "bump" ability to level 50. That defeated the object of testing the new classes from level 1 up.


Oh, and Damon sweety. Wouldn't you just love to know if I was back.

-G

Oh Brannor getting all mysterious, its those africa vibes, eh?

 

[Damon_D]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife

Oh, and Damon sweety. Wouldn't you just love to know if I was back.

-G

sure. ""start's looking for his bag with the "special" mushrooms""
One sec I'll make you a nice cuppa "" look's all innnocent ""

 

[Sharma]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
Oh, and Damon sweety. Wouldn't you just love to know if I was back.

-G

If youre back wb, if youre not come back

 

[parisienscot]

Originally posted by Whoodoo_RD
Want to test, become a volunteer.

As for testing chars, well sorry but thats not what testing is all about, and would make the game kinda boring if everyone found the most uber spec and had exactly the same. IMO btw

Actually I'm not too sure about that. Perhaps letting people test different specs they might actually find they like them and dare to leave the defined template for that class.

For example I have a pac healer - but would like to try out a spec with spread heals and celerity. Basically I'm not going to do this on live servers unless I manage to get hold of two respec stones, because I'm worried that if I try it and don't like it I wouldn't be able to change back.

So really if there were a test server that might result in more template variety rather than less...

 

[Damon_D]

Originally posted by Whoodoo_RD
Want to test, become a volunteer.

As for testing chars, well sorry but thats not what testing is all about, and would make the game kinda boring if everyone found the most uber spec and had exactly the same. You should have done your homework about your char before you gimped it

Hmmm feel free never to respec..I'm sure you UBER as is I personaly like to try out diff stuff, and getting to test new stuff/spell's is kinda essential before investiing points into them..sure I can just go read the spell/style discription on the herald ( LOL ) but that wont show me if the spell is usefull with my setup... But ofcourse this would not be a problem is the idiots at Mythic would just put in the " give me a respec you silly git-npc " But nope we have to hunt for it..yeppeee

 

[Solid]

if you guys honestly believe majority of US pendragon "testers" use the access to test GAME WIDE balance and bugs, you smoking some mighty fine shit.

most us players use Pend to copy across their main lev 50 toon and respec or do damage logs and stuff of that ilk, and yes it IS directly related to their character/class the majority of the time.

Its something the yanks get to play around with and we dont. Only time pendragon gets used properly is by team leads (again debatable) and during patch increments.

 

[Damon_D]

Yeah solid I thought it was quit obvious too..but then again..some peopel are just silly

 

[Whoodoo_RD]

If you "need" to test other specs, Mythic and GOA have provided this for you, yes its in the shape of a hunt and why not, aint that what this game is all about, or are you all too busy wanting to find the best spec for camping emain?

With the next patch, i lebeive the respec stones will also be available from TG, and the other epic dungeons, making them more interesting to hunt in. If you want to test your chars, you should put in the effort, just like you did getting to 50 in the first place. Having an NCP do it is just pure lazy.

The US do test the patches, and when we get them, normally any major bugs they have found after going live have been fixed. Opening up the test servers here will not help in bug fixing because all you lot will do is respec your chars and head for emain bowl.

Testing is about the stability and working practice of the game before it goes live, not about personal gain that can be acheived in the live version (like respec stones), why flood the server for the sole purpose of testing something Mythic has already provided.

My chars aint uber at all, but they are exactly how I planned them to be, and i cant complain. As for the variety you like, roll new chars, you have at least 16 slots to play with, aint that enough?

 

[Damon_D]

Heheh yeah I camp emain alot...hehe nope.. and well for your chars turning out just the way you want them..yeah so did mine..but they change all kind of stuff all the time..dont you tell me your chars where not planed to be maximum effective for a certain role..And if mythics change the game so they arent anymore..are your chars then still " as you wanted them " ??? I dont think so, thats one thing I liked alot with UO , you where able to change any skill at anytime..sure it take time, but you could do it..So yeah you can say " well we can do it too in the next patch , just takes time to join the hunts ""..Well what if someone playes in a small guild, or hours that makes it so he allmost never can join these hunts.. sooo we just say feek him then ????..Nope for me the missing option to change your char and adopt to a new situation is a flaw in the game..And for " you can just make a new char " heh yeah , I'm not gonna tell you how many accounts I have , all mid/pry based, but I'm prob the one with most accounts, and I'm not talking about having accese to friends chars, but owning the accounts..But how many lvl 50 healers or runemasters or what ever do you think is fun making , just because Mythic fiddles with the game...I'm not telling them to stop fiddling..god no ..alot of fiddling is still need'd if you ask me, nope but let's us respec frealy so we can adapt our chars to the new situation..this has nothing to do with being UBER..but wanting to be able to play the game and have fun, without having peopel die or loos because my char got " gimped " because of some fiddling by Mythic..no one is forcing anyone to respec..but it should be a bleeding option..NUff Said..if you cant see that well..then I'm not gonna argue with you...But dont expect me to help any of you " we dont need a respec " guys/girls with laying ya hands on a stone.. I would rather let it decay than hand it over....Cant have you changing you spec and comprimising youself..no sir/mam..we cant have that

 

[iziz]

How many testers are there available at any one time? It's great that the volunteers can run around testing quests and things, but when it comes to large scale encounters that are bugged to hell (and back), the E&E team isn't really equipped for something like that. How many failed raids on the epic mobs with people getting stuck for hours at a time could have been prevented by a properly equipped and monitored GOA raid on such mobs?

And then with 1.62 comes the dreaded large scale PvE 'issue' which no-one seems to be able to confirm or deny whether there really is a problem. With the benefit of hindsight, Euro people can do extensive tests on large scale events that are now impossible for the US peeps to do.

Yes people will use test servers for selfish reasons too, but even that's not a bad thing. Brannor... you mentioned that you had to ask on IRC for specs and things for testing characters that you didn't play. It's the people that play their classes that know their classes best... it's not the developers, or some person testing a character to show that a certain quest appears to be working. People have an instinct for their characters and know when something is broken.

Also given the dynamic nature of balancing, the 'goal-posts' are constantly being moved. The ability to change your character is incredibly limited, and leveling a new character is incredibly time consuming, so players should be given the chance to try out their new / changed abilities ahead of time. No matter how much you research your character, or read VNwhines, the only person who can decide how your character is, or should be, specced for you to be able to enjoy it, is you. Maybe you should have to work for the ability to change your character, maybe you shouldn't, but you should at least have the ability to get the feel for changes before they are forced upon you at patch day.

the end