Testing Failure

EDIT: While I still strongly feel all of the below apply, it seems to me that all of my toons are copied to Test Server in their pre-server merge state. I could be wrong but I don't recall copying any of the toons from my 3rd account over but they appear to be there just the same (even some lowbies leveling toons). So I really do encourage people to check it out and, if possible, try to test things out.

I hate to be overly negative but this whole testing process is frustrating (and this really isn't a new issue).

The 18.7 patch brings a significant amount of changes to Anarchy Online on so many levels for so many professions and I feel like this is going to get pushed to Live half-tested (like so many things in the past).

Why isn't Auto on TestLive and why has character transfer been down for what, years? It is unreasonable to expect people to spend all of their play time manually leveling a toon to test content and then, when the patch goes live, have to redo setups and such there as well.

I'm not sure what technical difficulties are involved with character transfer or why Michizure is the only employee in Funcom that can put Auto down but this is a big fail.

I went to test today (again) to try to see if I could get some raids going but there was pretty much no one willing/interested/capable of doing so. I have a 220 Trader/Doc/Crat/MP and a few others pre-transferred from before that was broken. I sent a dnet (2nd time since 18.7 has been released) and all of the responses (except 1) stated that they either don't have toons pre-transferred over to test, their transferred toons are not equipped or they simply aren't willing to manually level a toon to test the patch.

As someone that's willing to help out and spend my time testing.. it is frustrating to encounter these types of difficulties. It isn't that you don't have people willing to test.. but a failure to provide those people with reasonable tools to do so.

I'm also tired of hearing random folks say "These changes affect the full spectrum of the game not just endgame." Give me a break. Any reasonable person knows that but some of the changes specifically affect endgame in a way that they may not impact the levels before, especially as it pertains to raiding. It deserves/needs to be tested IN ADDITION TO having the content tested in earlier levels as well. It shouldn't be an either/or situation in terms of what gets tested and neither is more important, overall, to the game so please stop telling me how important it is to test pre-endgame when I voice concerns of lack of testing of endgame raids.

I understand this is just the first weekend this is on TestLive but seriously.. you should've been prepared. I know personally I've been asking about char transfer to testlive for the 18.7 patch AND Auto for months and was told that char transfer has been broken for 2 years but Auto would definitely be available.

Once you get Auto up:

1. Please let us know.

2. Think about having some publicly announced testing windows (across time zones) where you ask people to focus on content from certain level ranges. Publish this ahead of time. Do everything: NPE , Nasc Crip Cave, Ely Hecks , Inf Missions, Pande, DB 1/2/3, Xan, Collector, Gauntlet, PvP (at various titles), Tara, Battlestations. This will allow us to log in and be able to find others to test things with instead of testing content in some sort of solo vacuum.

<tinfoil hat>

What if this was done to stop people poking holes in the patches and pointing out how terrible certain things are because there is only 2 devs?

</tinfoil hat>

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raggy

<tinfoil hat>

What if this was done to stop people poking holes in the patches and pointing out how terrible certain things are because there is only 2 devs?

</tinfoil hat>

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Psst remember to protect your pets also http://cdn8.keeptalkinggreece.com/wp...n-foil-hat.jpg

More seriously, I was sorry not to be able to come Jill, but the t00ns I have on test would not be a real test, they are copies of my t00ns as they where 5 years ago, and some didn't even exist. If transfer was working, I would have been there like a shot. :/

I agree 100%

No auto, no change to transfer toons.

We been testing the new startup area and that's fine and all, but it's pretty hard to test the high lvl content on a froob, and without auto it would take weeks or even months to reach any resonable level or get any kind of decent gear.

To be able to actually test all aspects one would need to also have access to all booster/expansion packs on test, regardless if you're a payed player or not so a good change would be to give all test players all expansion, IF fc want to get some help that would be usefull for them.

I most certanly do not feel like reactivating any of my accounts to "help out testing", specially not since fc to me does not seem to care or at least is at least not giving any feedback, communication would be REALLY welcome, if not why should i care to help?


It's almost like fc dosen't care if stuff gets tested by players or not, but in the end that will just bite them in their.. behind.

I got some very strange comment from some CoT or whatever from test that sounded something like this:
"we don't really NEED auto on test since we test stuff ourselves"
If that's the case those ppl are missing a lot of stuff and doing more harm than good.

It could also be a tactic from fc to wear us down so we all ragequit, if so it seems to be working ;)

Auto is definitely needed because he provides levels and appropriate gear for a character at a variety of levels. I imagine he will spawn at some point after NPE has gone through some more testing.

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Originally Posted by MachSchau

Auto is definitely needed because he provides levels and appropriate gear for a character at a variety of levels. I imagine he will spawn at some point after NPE has gone through some more testing.

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If the reason they didn't spawn auto was because they wanted people to just focus on NPE I wish they would've just stated that. What they said, however, was that auto wasn't up because the only person that can spawn him is Michi. I'm sure Auto will be put up in the future (or hope) but it was still very bad planning on their part.

FC is infamous for bad planning. Just wait and see when it hits live, as a GM once told me 'we don't fix all the bugs we find on Test." just imagine the upcoming chaos LOL.

i've said it before, i'll say it again: i just don't get it. ok, so there are 2 devs. instead of doing urgent fixed first, they spend their time on creating new stuff. ok, that already i think is wrong, but i can see the reason, you want to attract people, and its fair sexier to say: we got this and that new rather then we got this and that fixed.
but: if you incapable of doing what the game needs due to shortage of resources, why do you decide to redo the whole game in one patch (other than engis)? that seems like the most incomprehensible move since the introduction of the as pistol.

well, i've just discovered whatever i do, my accounts are open until mid 2015. still, i uninstalled ao. i'm playing league of legends now. its free, its balanced and its fun (most of the time). and you can do something withing minutes after logging in. you know, that's all i really want. if i have time to play, i want to play. not see if a dragon is up, if bs is running and then be the only one on my time etc. i've been sticking with this game in hope for better days for years now. the fun days are long over, and i see now that it was the mistake to not follow all the good guys that left when the game was good. there really was no point in waiting.

so: you did it. i'm done with this game. i never thought i'd go before the servers close down, but before the aftermath of this mayhem patch is sorted out - if ever - i won't pay a dime any more.

I'm not sure when the last character to test took place, but my characters are the same as they have been for quite some time. I have a couple of 220 mules, if you will and i have a couple of my live chars which I pimped out(specifically just after alphas came out.

Must have missed Jill somehow, will keep a closer eye out for her as I agree with her. And I certainly do have a character or three "Ready for raiding"

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Originally Posted by Caloss2

More seriously, I was sorry not to be able to come Jill, but the t00ns I have on test would not be a real test, they are copies of my t00ns as they where 5 years ago, and some didn't even exist. If transfer was working, I would have been there like a shot. :/

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No they are from bit before server-merge, the testlive was used to test the merge.

I'm glad you made this post, Jill. After I had to turn you down yesterday, when you told me auto isn't up yet, I wanted to make one too, but got too tired.

I also don't see how the Devs expect us to test stuff, when we can't set our chars up on test. My Doc there is 214 and on 2008 status. I don't get why at all. (I'm new on test so I thought I would have my current doc on Test as well.)
Neither do I understand why only Michizure can spawn Auto or no one can log in his name and spawn it. No other business would run this way.

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Originally Posted by nanoforcer

To be able to actually test all aspects one would need to also have access to all booster/expansion packs on test, regardless if you're a payed player or not so a good change would be to give all test players all expansion, IF fc want to get some help that would be usefull for them.

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Yesno. While I agree this would help a lot, and maybe would make froobs upgrading their account once they saw what's waiting for them, the game needs to be tested on froob level too. For example: I started a froob MP to see Arete and all. According to some Forum post here, there's a questline that gives you the Ranged/Melee compos as reward. I'm not sure if I maybe already did the quest and that's the reason I can't get it, but I certainly didn't get the Compos. It seems it involves some Mech, so it could be it's not for froobs, what is nice to know I guess.

I wanted to go to testlive but then I figured what's the point. Funcom are all but ignorant and neglectful when it comes to professions' toolkits and balance. Most of it can be done with simple changes in number value but they don't care about balanced viability of professions nor will they listen to player made suggestions regarding the matter. Most bugs even if they're discovered will go live regardless.

Testlive server has the same purpose the game suggestions forum has, to give the players the illusion that they actually contribute in funcom's decisions and how this game turns out, and to blame the players for when something goes wrong. Like they did with Detonation Matrix, after a 5 year old bug got out of hand they actually blamed the playerbase for it and not themselves for ignoring it all that time when it took them probably a minute to copypaste GIVA over DM in the code - for those of you who don't know they're still the same nano, DM didn't get deleted and GIVA wasn't a completely new nano, it was just overwritten.

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Originally Posted by Ekarona

No they are from bit before server-merge, the testlive was used to test the merge.

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Ah well perhaps I should say then I took some breaks between 2006 -2013, but effectively as they where 5 years ago I came back as a more regular player in sept 2013 and I've only brought them up to Xan LE etc since then. Eg my adv has the same gear as he did 5 years ago on test, rather than as he is currently. My fixer isn't there at all, though he's 220/30/70 in CSS alphas and all the toys etc now, would be good to test out fixer/FA changes with him or my 220 soldier in betas with xan weapon ofab etc.