Here's a thought>>>>

[Tourette]

On the 10th of Never, when the next Mod is supposed to be released, what if Turbine released it 2 or 3 days early to one or two servers - let them 'beta' test it - yes - it would suck for the other servers but the next Mod would be released in the same way, using servers that did not preview the previous mod - perhaps then, some of the kinks could be worked out and not all servers and all players would be having these issues?

Yay or Nay?

[cdbd3rd]

On the 10th of Never, when the next Mod is supposed to be released, what if Turbine released it 2 or 3 days early to one or two servers - let them 'beta' test it - yes - it would suck for the other servers but the next Mod would be released in the same way, using servers that did not preview the previous mod - perhaps then, some of the kinks could be worked out and not all servers and all players would be having these issues?

Yay or Nay?

They call it Risia.... We catch some things, miss some -- some issues get addressed, some don't....

Experience on Risia is largely why Hirelings are delayed. They were fun to toy with, but were still way too buggy for live.

[Tourette]

I understand why Risia is there - unfortunately, it doesn't appear that it is doing it's job.....

[Perceval]

Risia does not seem to be doing its job for one main reason. Some players are not beta testing for bugs, they are beta testing for exploits. It was only a matter of minutes from the time I logged on the server until the first exploit groups were up and running in the new area.

[satya_sai]

There's a whole test server that this stuff gets to before it even makes Risia... and this is the part that sucks.

Here is my experience with the white dragon this week:

1. A problem with breaking doors and floors. Several times my party has killed all mobs in several different zones repeatedly, have used a variety of offensive spells (firewall, fireball, blade barriers, etc), have used melee attacks, and have used a lured giant or dog to attempt to break either a wall passage which would not break in a reasonable manner. Twice the party waited over 15 minutes in the instance repeatedly trying alternate methods. Twice the party had to recall, reform, and restart.

2. A timing issue with the dragon. Twice the dragon died before my party made it INTO the maze. Obviously at some point someone in the party commenced the attack timer, but no one was aware of a message stating that the timer had begun. Obviously others are having trouble getting to the dragon on time and the fail rate is extremely high. Apparently complaints about this has caused them to say they are going to tweak the timer in today's update.

3. After my first completion, two of us approached the toothpick chest (but did not open or complete) and a barrier appeared and locked out the other four members of my party. I had to put in a ticket (because the other five members of my party got a white screen when they tried to submit one) and a GM had to move all four members of my party around the barrier so that they could effectively loot the chest and get the essence.

4. A random rubber-banding effect seems to be happening to me in this quest, in the explorer area, and also in gianthold where my character approaches a certain area that the game doesn't seem to want to let me in... repeated attempts to run in that area just make me bounce back.

5. Client Crashes. My vid card isn't one of the ones listed with issues, but those issues should also be included in my point for this discussion.


So here is my point: I'm pretty sure I'm not just "special" and that these things are happening to a good number of players. Can someone please explain to me how an entire server full of testers are playing this content over and over for a good portion of time before it is released and NO ONE KNOWS OF THESE PROBLEMS???

I mean I guess I can give a pass on Risia because:
1. It's only up for like 10 days before it's released
2. none of my characters are updated there so I'm not gonna go play there as if it would be like playing on the real server
3. As Perceval stated: most players there are looking for exploits or ways to beat new content first.

But now is Mournlands the same?
How about letting someone in Mournlands that has a real interest in the quality of play in the game and enhancing the player experience instead of those just interested in finding out everything they can about new content and telling everyone in their guild how everything works so they can be FIRST.

The entire thing is a conflict of interest. You dont' let people in competitive guild be your beta testers. You don't let people in beta testing on recommendation from their guildies. I understand that Turbine should include real players in their game and community development but I'm hoping at some point someone will realize that what's going on here is detrimental to the entire community.

Just my 2c

[Kreaper]

The new high level quests were not open on Risia but there is another test server that only a few people have access to....

[Ringos]

It would probably help testing if characters were copied over there. How are people going to test high end content if they don't have alts of appropriate level/gear? I know several people with multiple capped alts that don't have anyone over a lvl 6 on Risia.

[Leyoni]

They call it Risia.... We catch some things, miss some -- some issues get addressed, some don't....

LOL.

See, I thought people just played on Risia so they could figure out the updated content in order to exploit or beat it when it went live. I really see almost no useful critique of content in the Risia part of the forum at all.

And, given how badly broken each release is (this one was down twice in less than 24 hours) it is pretty evident that no real testing is getting done there or on the beta server (Mournland). My conspiracy theory is that the only reason either of these exist is to let the powergamers in on all the secrets ahead of time.

The obvious fact that they are not catching the bugs only serves to prove my theory. :D

[Slink]

Yes, and I am sure alot of the people here remember all the posts way back. You know, the ones about "give us a test server" which is when risia was born. And I am also sure that turbine is well aware of the folks looking for exploits. Why else would they lock out the new quests? Which leads us back to the opening post. All the issues because people wanted a test server and werent using it appropriately have lead to content that is broken.

[phinius]

It isnt a lack of desire to find bugs or problems. As Ringos said, it is the lack of tools to do it. Most people have severely outdated chars with severely outdated gear on Risia. No one wants to grind double XP on a preview server just to find bugs. A character database copy before any mod would fix this. When we have the characters that can actually survive we are more likely to test things.

Edited for the nitpickers.

[ArkoHighStar]

Risia is not a beta server, it is a preview server, which with the exception of any major game breaking bugs discovered, it will go live as is. Turbine does its beta testing on Mournlands, and before that on QA internal servers. Even on Mournlands they are not necessarily looking for bugs, but for feedback on the quests themsleves, on things like timers, puzzle difficulty, quest difficulty, whether NOC instructions are clear or not. etc.

[Turial]

....
So here is my point: I'm pretty sure I'm not just "special" and that these things are happening to a good number of players. Can someone please explain to me how an entire server full of testers are playing this content over and over for a good portion of time before it is released and NO ONE KNOWS OF THESE PROBLEMS??? If by entire server you mean 1 to 5 groups of 6 players. If Mournlands is like any beta testing grounds I have been in, the population is very low, lower then Risia even. With the large numbers of players that have no issues on release day I would say its very possible to miss things.

.....
But now is Mournlands the same?
How about letting someone in Mournlands that has a real interest in the quality of play in the game and enhancing the player experience instead of those just interested in finding out everything they can about new content and telling everyone in their guild how everything works so they can be FIRST. This is an issue with finding quality Test players. Some may start out doing a good job and have small issues with following the NDA and others may through the NDA to the wind. Turbine would have a hard time following that without performing constant monitoring of the test players. That and a lot of players don't have the correct mentality for becoming test players.

The entire thing is a conflict of interest. You dont' let people in competitive guild be your beta testers. You don't let people in beta testing on recommendation from their guildies. I understand that Turbine should include real players in their game and community development but I'm hoping at some point someone will realize that what's going on here is detrimental to the entire community.


In red.

[Ringos]

Risia is not a beta server, it is a preview server, which with the exception of any major game breaking bugs discovered, it will go live as is. Turbine does its beta testing on Mournlands, and before that on QA internal servers. Even on Mournlands they are not necessarily looking for bugs, but for feedback on the quests themsleves, on things like timers, puzzle difficulty, quest difficulty, whether NOC instructions are clear or not. etc.

"Risia Test Server Discussion Post here to discuss your gameplay on the Risia Test Server!" They call it 'test' not 'preview.

[Sirea]

So you're suggesting Turbine play server favoritism? Yea, that'll go over well....

[DrAiAj]

If Risia is there so players can help insure the games stability by reporting bugs or exploits, then things that would encourage players to actually help are a nice way to go.

I'd be more than willing to test some of these new places and reports bugs or exploits I might find, but I'm not going to for the simple fact I have less than zero interest in leveling up a new character, so auto leveler NPC might be nice.

Of coarse then I'd have a character that needed gear...so maybe some sort of bound generic gear that fits your character /shrug. Or as mentioned some import function to take your characters off your main server.

I think rewarding players for reporting bugs or exploits that are deemed excessively harmful to the game with rewards to their main account/server/character wouldn't be a bad touch either. Sure you'll have those normal selfish players running to the test servers looking for cheats that they can get an EDGE on the main server, but theres a decent chance they'll recruit someone into their party that will report those exploits or will simply find them outside said exploiters' party.