VIP Discount / Extension for assisting on Lammania previews

[SgtSarros]

Topic pretty much says it all. To encourage more people to play on Lammania and better test out new features and look for bugs, offer some sort of VIP special if the system allows it.

You spend 2 - 4 hours on Lammania testing out the new features, afterwards you need to fill in a servey saying that you tried these new features if you liked / disliked the changes or additions, if you came across any bugs, what you did to come across the bug, etc. At the end of it all give as a thank you either a 1-use code for 20% off their next month's VIP, or a 1-use code for a VIP extension of a few days.

As in any system you are going to get some who abuse it and don't provide any meaningful information. However it will encourage more to play on the server, and some will certainly provide feedback and bug detection, and you may even see performance issues in new updates due to increased load before they go to the main servers.

Again, I don't know if your system would be able to support such a concept, but it could certain offer benefits to public testing that could help make update day and the first patch afterwards much improved.

[Memnir]

The only real issue is that Lamma is a Preview server, not a test server. This has been reemphasized by the Devs time and again. It's not for testing, it's to give us a glimpse of what they're working on. Also, they've time and again flat out ignored player feedback when presented on the Lammania forums. I've no real warm and fuzzy feelings that they'd give a survey any more credence, and one of the reasons I ignore Lamma is because I feel I would just be wasting my time. And no, not because I'm not getting any kind of reward, it's because of that long history of ignoring what the players present. Many bugs were caught first by players on Lammania, discussed them in depth on the Lammania forums, and then had the wonderful feeling of seeing them hit Live as-is with nothing fixed or addressed.

We don't have a test server, I think, because the Devs don't want a test server. I think they put up Lammania more to make we players happy than for any goal of getting feedback or making changes based on what we tell them. I think, at-best, Lammania exists for the Devs to gain passive feedback behind the curtain.

Also, imho, for them to incentivize Lammania - that would put forth a expectation and perhaps unspoken agreement that they would take feedback seriously. And I just can't see that happening.