Ok, I understand you do not have enough resources to test upcomming patches. Here are my thoughts about the test server. I haven't read or heard that you HAD a test server, called "Dev" and that we as players could access it --> Improve the communication to the community that a /Dev server exists --> Improve the ease how to access it (do not expect people to create a copy every time you need testing - do it once and let people log in at once, like the Sony Test server, with a different log in client --> Some reward would be nice, but not needed (e.g. I would prefer a tile, like Destroyer, Inquisitor, Curisitor, Destructor...), on TAKP live server of course --> give some unique rewards like mana stone to vivid testers --> State clearly what needs to be tested : Zone, class, race, quest/mobs/raids/mechanics --> Give guilds a reason to test for you --> 1 raid on test --> 2 repops of Vox/Nag/Fear/Hate --> Give groups the same motivation --> For easier quests, why do not give people testing stuff on Dev the same reward on Live? E.g. If someone completes a quest on _dev, give him the reward on Live on the character he performed the test with? E.g. Complete Paw quest, get it on Live --> For more elaborate tasks, reward people with a 100% weight reduction bag. I would test for 5 hours if that reward was granted on my main --> If someone really tests like hell and helps the community, create a unique item like the Xanthe's earring of Solace - now that would be great You have all the resources at your hand, why not use them? I would welcome more ideas! P.S. I would like to have a shutle in BB named "Mascha's shuttle", because I snared it first" (half serious- it is your world, make it unique)
http://www.takproject.net/forums/index.php?threads/1-31-2015.2449/#post-12376 http://www.takproject.net/forums/index.php?threads/dev-server-testing.2454/ Only thing not done was making these into a sticky. I have had my plate rather full, this was something that I was handling. I needed to take a breather and details didn't get hashed out yet. Also we had 2 major waves of testcopy announcements. Quite a few did elect to copy. But since then, not many have logged in. For the moment, if things don't get tested, there is a high chance that takp will get bugs. Since dev is on a limited bandwidth net, an open login is not really an option. Tho once copied you can log in anytime.
Is it really needed though? Does anyone here expect 100% uptime for this server? Not even SoE could do that. Since this server is in development I fully expect game breaking issues occasionally. So far the server has been pretty stable and there is good progress being made. I am here because I like EQ and where this server is going. But I am also here to post bug reports and test the game as I play. That is one of the better parts of being part of an EQEmu server.
Testing is a vital part of any development cycle. Given the fact that the developers are few in number, and doing it pro bono, I would think it to be a very realistic expectation for the player base to contribute some time towards something that ultimately impacts the playability of the live environment. As per the OP's points, agreed. Make it accessible to players and most will gladly help I'm sure.
I'll get things situated and do another wave of test copy. Otherwise a PM to me with a time you are available and in PoK I can try to meet you there and copy.
I was invited to Test but really never had a clue what to test since it wasn't really posted anywhere and didn't feel like logging on test every day just to read motd. IMO Test should have it's own forum section and bug report /etc spot.
I think better communication is key. Making it as easy as possible without creating additional work for the devs is important as well. As far as rewards: I think a functional playable server that we get to enjoy for free, that takes the developers a tremendous amount of their own personal time and provides us endless hours of enjoyment is its own reward. Thanks to all developers for all you do for all of us.
It's extremely important. There's a reason Daybreak continues to let you play free and access 100% of content on the test server. They want as many people there as possible when anything new is added. It can only take one person to find a bug, but one bug can bring down an entire server.
If you really want large participation why not just let people log in their toon to either server? People can say I feel like playing in an environment with X risk today. This will ensure your 'critical' popular areas are tested thoroughly. If quests/camps/raids are completed on Test there is no transfer because it is already on their toons. This is a big reward system but you WILL get your numbers testing. Would it really be game-breaking to have essentially 2 (instances) of each encounter? If this is possible. I think it will get you massively more testing than you are getting now and if any exploitation happens it can be dealt with. Quoting Mascha: "You have all the resources at your hand, why not use them?"
Has PEQ:TGC had a separate dev test server? If yes, how has it worked over there? If no, then why not? I know that PEQ has bug report points, which are kinda fun, although I think the EP armor is a bit much. I don't know how much the bug report system motivates the average player. For me and my brother Ikeren it was less about the points and more about just improving the server. I know people here that haven't bothered to report bugs, I am not sure what would motivate them. Ok I understand the importance of having a test server as Lenas and Penoit point out, but is it worth splitting limited player and dev resources?
The thing with PEQ that it is a primary test server for both database and eqemu source. It goes through update daily reboot every morning with mostly updated source and database. That is how it was when I did work over there. Not sure about now. Takp doesn't do a daily update and when it does get an update. you get a whole week of source commits and database stuff coming in mostly untested because no one really test these out on the dev server.
Depending on a test server to catch bugs wont work. However. What helps most is posting about bugs here. And if we ask ppl to help test specific things on test, being avail to help will make stuff faster. There are lots of changes we do each week. And we test them ourselves. But when they go live, it will be different. So dont have a cow if bugs creep in. It will happen. H
Rob is there any benefit to a daily reboot like PEQ? I remember that now actually, server would auto-reset every night, it wouldn't effect spawn timers for named though. Or is it too much work to do a daily reboot? Sorry if I am dragging this off topic. Ok I agree, having a dev server there to focus player attention is useful, next time I am online I will try and get a copy over. Any chance we can have higher lvl chars there, or better weapons/gear so that soloing and surviving is easier? I guess it really depends on what the testing is. Dev guidance to focus the players on a specific topic there I agree is important. I think Mascha recommended a test specific forum and I think that makes a lot of sense. As I said, I think the team has done a good job with server uptime and stability, I think this is the first time there has been an issue. PEQ:TGC was also very good. As Haynar says bugs will creep in and players need to understand that this is still in development.
Not sure if it would be a benefit to do it like PEQ. We wanted this to be like a live server. Me and Speedz has this idea to have a reboot every 2 weeks just like AK did. We did try it at first when it went beta last January. But then we got hit with a major memory leak so we ended up rebooting every other days. But now we have fixed that mem leak, we decided to do it weekly to make sure it is stabilized before we decided to go back to 2 weeks.
The biggest issue with dev is it is on limited bandwidth. It can't be a full on open login server. We are waiting on some things to happen out of our control to change this, but for now it is like having a Dragster running on lawnmower fuel. The machine can handle far more than takp, it just doesn't have the network capacity.
Hey, I don't know about your lawnmower, but the one we just picked up runs on premium! (Yep, blew my mind too).
