Request to Let Test be Test again please

[Archae]

<DIV>Now that the NDA for DoF is lifted, why cant Beta be shut down and Test become Test again?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>SoE obviously will need to test the upgrade on a server to make sure everything works with people who arent flagged for the expansion.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So let us be test again, cause we miss it and we miss our dev lovin'</DIV>

[EtoilePirate]

I've seen a<b> lot </b>of anger and bitterness on Test's various chat channels in the last three days.  And it surprises me, because Testers are usually pretty mild-mannered and easy going, and above all understand the need for testing.  And most of the people I've seen ranting and raving at SOE and being [Removed for Content] off about the lack of communication from QA, Devs, or anyone else are seasoned testers, generally thoughtful people who know what's what.  That said, I have toons on Beta and I see that it's fully and completely necessary to keep it up as it is right now.  But just because it's playing host to the first-round attempt of changes doesn't mean Test should completely get the shaft.  Surely there's someone, somewhere who can be spared for our server. <div></div>

[Archae]

<DIV>Nod, but if Test = Beta, then they could still test DoF without interruption, cause those of us toons not flagged for DoF wouldnt know the difference, which is what they are going to have in 12 days anyway, live servers with DoF players and non DoF players.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Seems time to make sure they two mesh well.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Shantee]

I haven't been on chat, but i know how they feel.  I feel like we as the test server is being ignored.  We put in our bug reports, put in our feedback.  We post on this board.  We never see 1 person from EQ reply anymore.  There is no reason test should be down fo 14 hours and that it took a email to our GM lieason to get us back up and running.  They should have noticed it either last night after the patch or early this morning.  There is bugs bout buffs, we haven't seen if they were fixed with this patch as of yet, but it wasn't in the update notes.  I understand they are trying to put the finishing touches on DoF.  But I don't think that test should be excluded from any contact with our GM support ppl, but that is exactly what has happened. We Miss you Pallidius!! <div></div>

[WuphonsReach]

<blockquote><hr>Archae wrote:<DIV>Now that the NDA for DoF is lifted, why cant Beta be shut down and Test become Test again?</DIV> <hr></blockquote>Because at this late in the game, trying to change the entire development cycle would be counterproductive. There's no reason to shutdown Beta (which has an entirely different population then Test).There are also a lot of things on Beta that cannot be done on Test willing killing off the community:- Beta-buff NPC that will auto-level anyone from level 3 up to 50 (or at 10-level increments up to that point).- Devs are able to buff players up to the mid-50s or even to 60 on a whim, because they don't have to worry about long-term effects.- Special NPCs that sell higher then App2 spell upgrades (one NPC even sold Master I spells, from what I heard).- A semi-weekly copy process that allows folks to bring over their toons again and again and again (the amount of duping that this generates is huge).- Code, faction, and stuff that changes on DoF daily (often breaking toons). Which you can get away with because it's a temporary population and the player can fix themselves merely by getting their toon copied again. The DoF Beta server is (as hinted elsewhere) considered an "internal" server. Less stringent code checks faster update cycle.

[Archae]

<DIV>I understand that, but I would think those special things can stop now, your less than 2 weeks from release, you should test to make sure that its going to be fine with those not flagged for the expansion</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And on further thought, the things you describe sound an awful lot like what a test server should be, to test things out.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>That makes Test more of a PrePlay server, or a control group</DIV><p>Message Edited by Archae on <span class=date_text>09-01-2005</span> <span class=time_text>02:41 PM</span>