14.7 and Testlive

[Xaielao]

Just wondering something. I know 14.7 won't be put on Testlive before it hits live, after all it's already got a bunch of poeple testing it (although I don't know why I wasn't chosen, I'm only one of the oldest testers on that server, and I know poeple who are testing who have never even installed Testlive, let alone are a dedicated tester). But beyond that..

I'm wondering if, when 14.7 hits Live, if it will be patched to test as well. I'd ask Nizno, but he's never on Testlive anymore (although I haven't been on in the last few days to find out if he has been lately).

Thats all I wanted to know, perhaps this would have been better to post this on the Testlive forum, but I figure Cz would know the answer, and I'm more likely to get a responce on this forum. Thx in advance... and keep me in mind for Shadowlands .

[________________Caol]

And your have never passed level 100?...... *sigh*
Perhaps you should "test" to level up some.

[Vlados]

To reach lvl 100 is something everyone can.
Level has nothing to do with the knowledge of the game. You can be level 20, and still know more than most 100 players. No dis / flame intended Caol, but don't step on people that makes AO more stabile and dedicates their valuable playtime to locate bugs and report them.

Besides, wasnt the test just charwiped?

[Downsizr]

Nothing to do with Fion that I don't know but is most probably a good and dedicated tester...

What Caol is meaning I guess, is that many professions are fine and dandy up to the level 80-90 and then they start to lack cohesion and ressource : Crats can't charm, NTs have huge gaps in their nukes, MPs have all their nanos at 130, ... you name it.

And the lack of high level testers to adress these issues is a concern.

[Blackwing]

that you cant get your char bumped on test.

why should i waste even more time on ao to duplicate my efforts on the life server on test?

[bigswede]

I agree with Blackwing. But I guess you need to have frineds on the inside to get that

[hratgard]

Guess there would be a whole lot more testers if we could copy our chars to Testserver (not the other way tho, whould be easy to got to test grab a lot of phat lewt and copy back.. wouldnt work either cause of patch/db differences), but still... And yeah what Caol ment is that up untill lvl 100ish the game is pretty well balanced and seems to work just fine.. The high lvl content need more testing..

[PhoenixKebab]

Who tested the living cyber armour?
... and the new subway dungeon?
... and the new entrance hall?
... and the Crat mob in the omni backyard casting pets that were deep orange to level 1 chars?

Certainly not the level 150+ chars on test!!

I also play a few low level characters on test (never got boosted - don't want to be). I'd love to test some of the high-level neato things, but the low level stuff still needs testing.

Having hundreds of level 200 characters on test that represents maybe 1% of the characters on live would be stupid. What is the average level of mains on live? 100?

Professionals were copied over - so that they can test the class issues - but honestly, can a level 150 profession "X" character test the level 80 profession "X" character issues? They may understand them - but they certainly can't test them.

The only way the mid/high level stuff will be tested properly is if:
1) characters can be cloned from live.
2) players can self-boost their levels (after they have been flagged by Nizno) so that they can test a bunch of levels without needing continual boosts (which are not available anyway).

[Beaumont]

"What Caol is meaning I guess, is that many professions are fine and dandy up to the level 80-90 and then they start to lack cohesion and ressource : Crats can't charm, NTs have huge gaps in their nukes, MPs have all their nanos at 130, ... you name it. "

These are balance issues, not bug issues. I am sure they are all posted and read over and over by the dev team on the main boards.
Any level character can find bugs and exploits on test, which is our main job. They have boosted quite a few players to test balance issues at higher levels.
It is not as easy to twink on test as one might think. There is almost no teaming. Most levels are gotten solo. There is no shopping channel (you can't go to trade and buy almost any armor or item you want). We are given credits occasionally but most of us are limited to using the armor and weapons we can find in stores, or the occasional piece given to us by another tester.
I can level a character much faster on live than on test. I have more money on live than I do on test, and there are more resources to get exp and items - Teaming and the Shopping Channels.
How fast can you get a character from 80-200 totally solo using mainly the items you can purchase in stores? Sometimes we have to wait hours, or even days to get a buff to get armor or weapons on, or to get a set of implants made.
For instance my 33 MA Doc was just given her first melee damage rings last night (thanks War), she had none until level 33, they were a 5 damage and a 3 damage. She got her first cloak last night also.
She has nothing in her shoulder slots and no IQ ring.

[Mercatura]

Obviously "no one" I don't blame testers though.

Getting paid to level slower and report bugs, its ok for a few people but test will always be a curiosity until they make a true testing platform, that means boosting (and deboosting) one way or another. Honestly, a person testing a class should have 8 chars from 1-200 to really iron things out...but given that wont happen:

A 150+ can still test a great deal of the things that a 50 can, yet a 50 would be lucky to test 1/20th of the 150+ issues.

[Beaumont]

Actually, I see level 150-200 characters on test almost every day testing high level missions and new mobs.
Contrary to what most people might think, almost all of the bugs and issues being discussed on the main boards were reported by low and high level testers before the patch went live.

Edit:
Of course we couldn't test anything on 14.6.1 or 14.6.2 because test is still on 14.6.0

[Darkbane]

Test simply doesn't have the numbers to test balance issues at all levels. And all levels are needed to find bugs, many of which will affect everyone, but some may be more level dependent.

The current system isn't ideal, but implementing a better system would require coding specifically for test (eg an enhanced character generator) and even then would probably still be restriced to people who had demnstrated a certain dedication and competence for testing.

Maybe if the BHs had limited boosting capability (ie using it can give at most 10 levels and it locks the ability for 12 hours before it can be used again) would be one possible way. Being able to make a one-way copy of a character on live would be another option.

This was supposed to be being reviewed, but I've not heard anything as to what has been decided or even if anything has been decided. Guess NW testing is uppermost at the moment anyway.

[________________Caol]

Originally posted by Mercatura
Obviously "no one" I don't blame testers though.

Getting paid to level slower and report bugs, its ok for a few people but test will always be a curiosity until they make a true testing platform, that means boosting (and deboosting) one way or another. Honestly, a person testing a class should have 8 chars from 1-200 to really iron things out...but given that wont happen:

A 150+ can still test a great deal of the things that a 50 can, yet a 50 would be lucky to test 1/20th of the 150+ issues.

Exactly what I ment.

[Xaielao]

Well I guess I'll spend the weekend getting X to 100 so people will finally think I actually know something. To many people in this game think if you'r not lvl100+ you don't know squat about the game and aren't worth the time.

I find the opposite true, I find that a lot of people that are 80-90+ don't know a damn thing about the game, because they joined a month earlier and power-leveled there. I've met a 112 guy who didn't know where Athen Shire was, I've also met a 80-something guy who joined the game 2 weeks earlier and wasn't aware he could upload mission coordinates and follow your map!

I'm a slow leveler, that doesn't mean I'm an idiot who doesn't know squat. I know a whole hell of a lot about this game, I'm not post-lvl 100 'yet' on any of my characters mostly because I'm a slow leveler. Xaielao has been rerolled twice, back from the old days when we sucked and messing up 10 lvls of IP past lvl20 ment we were gimped. Fergus I created August last year, lol, so yea, I level slow.

But that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. My Fixer has gotten a reputation of knowing info about this game most don't, and having rare info for people that need to know it, and it wasn't just because I sit around and chit chat on test. Read the sig, it isn't all roleplay.

Besides that, this thread is WAY off topic .

[Xaielao]

Test? Charwiped? No. They haven't done a character wipe yet, since test opened. Hopefully they won't ever do one, cause that's a heavy loss. But they reserve the right to do so at any time, so it 'could' happen.

Anyway, Cz, is 14.7 comming to test as well as Live???

[_____________Brandon]

How come I was not a tester! I signed up and everything

[jakesnake5]

Originally posted by Mercatura
Obviously "no one" I don't blame testers though.

Getting paid to level slower and report bugs

Wait just a horsehaired minute, I'm supposed to bet PAID for testing? Then somebody owes me alot.

Get real, most the testers are NOT on AO's payrole you twit, and in fact pay the subscription rate to do so.

[Xaielao]

Payed to play on Testlive and test patches? I gotta find Niz then, he owes me a looooot of backpay, maybe I can get him to just drop me an nv30 card when it comes out as compensation..

Hehe seriously, we don't get paid. Even the bug-hunters don't get paid, although I sometimes think they should, they play an important role in the test server and patch quality.

Test does have it's perks, in the form of the community, the fact that money plays no part in player-to-player trading, although money is easy to obtain. Being a part of the test process, and actually having a hand at making each patch as good as they can be (although somethings are obviously beyond us testers control.) Some of the more dedicated testers have a lot of influence. Me being the only 100ish+ soldier, besides one guy who is rarely on, I tend to see myself as the voice for soldiers, and push for fixes for the class all the time.

But at any rate, has Cz read this? Come on I just want a yes or no man . Will 14.7 come to test as well, or will it just go 14.6-14.8?

[Caloss2]

Sorry if this starts a little off-topic, Fion is in my guild on live,
In his defence,
listening to him for 30 seconds explaining game dynamics to some of 3305's "real" n00bs(I'm talking applicants that have been in game less than 28 days realtime) and it's pretty clear from his knowlage of game-mechanics, locations, tactics, implants and skill requirements.... "n00b" is the last thing he is.

Anyhow back ON-topic:
Last week Cz posted about 14.7 having a multi-melee init fix, and it comming tommorrow.

I too would really like some more specific info or perhaps patch notes on what's going to be in 14.7.

How 'bout it Cz?

peace
cal

[aiwass777]

Maybe Test should adopt a system like they have over on the NW beta server...

Level a character to level 1, 2, 3 or 4 and log off... Come back later and it's now level 50, 100, 150, 200 with a bunch of leveled equipment. They could even set this up to give out items they wist testers to test...

That makes too much sense.