Quote:
Originally Posted by Alarion
Brad,
I am curious what is going on with the test server. Is this going to basically be a live server, that gets the new patches first?

I made a suggestion on another forum, and figured I would restate it in here just to get it seen.

I think having two test servers, of different types would be extremely beneficial.
The two servers:

Normal Test Server
Pretty much like described above. It's a normal server, with no character wipes, that gets the patches applied first. This allows the changes to be tested in a normal gameplay environment.

Unit Testing Server
This is more akin to how WoW's test server is setup, in that character wipes happen frequently and you can start off above level 1. My idea would be to be able to create a level 1 character, then talk to an NPC and get promoted to any level attainable in the game. Another NPC for acquiring some basic gear for the level you are would also be a good idea. Provide some UI enhancments or some way to display some "debug" type of information that you cannot see on the live or normal test server. Nothing major, but being able to see DPS, or some more detailed inner workings of the combat system. The purpose of this server is to allow devs to get concise, targetted feedback for specific changes that need testing - and also to allow those noticing bugs to be able to test them in an environment that let's them reproduce them consistently. You can't "unit test" a quest bug on the normal test server because you only get one shot at the quest. Once it's done - it's done.

But for example, with the big damage changes that were made in Update #1, people could login, create a monk or disciple or cleric or whatever and test their damage output at level 10, at level 20, 30, 40, etc. They could have helped identify inconsistencies in the damage curve. Things like "Well, yeah I am doing less damage now and it's within reason up until level 24, where my dps took a major dip, then shot back up at level 32.


Basically, if you want us to test things for you - you need to give us the ability to do so. Having *only* a "normal" test server us going to result in a lot more patches that end up like Update #1 - unless your internal testing team steps it up.

All that said, I'm a weird one I guess. I enjoy testing stuff out and trying new things and such.


I can answer this one.

The test server is indeed a liver server that will receive patches before we fire them off to the rest of the servers. The population is fairly low there right now and we could use some help getting folks established so we CAN get patches tested better before they hit the bulk of our customers. We've been talking about ways to get people interested in moving to test or starting there. Things like accelerated exp gain, flying mount weekends, no exp loss on death, etc. Nothing is set yet, but we obviously need incentives to draw people in. I am actually considering moving my character there strictly out of principle. When we have the final details I will make sure they get posted here.</div> <div> __________________
Nino McHammer
Fires of Heaven
Veeshan

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