What's with the lack of interest with the PTS?

[FlyinSpaghetti]

For a game with supposedly half a million subs left you'd think there would be a lot more people than I could count with my fingers and toes actually willing to test new content especially on a Friday night/evening.

 

So community... why the lack of interest?

 

Is there something fundamentally wrong preventing you from actually taking part or don't nobody actually care about the state of content until it hits live? I thing I don't get is in other games, most communities are willing to trade their kidneys just to try out new content but here even though anyone can sign up to test server there seems a lack of enthusiasm for it.

 

Is this something bioware should improve on? Maybe better ways to encourage/motivate people to try stuff out? Maybe so but at the end of the day it's the user not them that has to log on to the test server, IMO the community needs to do a lot more than it is now rather than waiting for bugs to hit live then raging on the forums about them.

[Screaming_Ziva]

I would guess it's because there really aren't any rewards for the PTS. Any armor, items, etc you gain are stuck there and are worthless on live. I usually try all the content on the PTS once but that's about it.

[RaiderMid]

The issues with the new launcher doen't help. I gave up trying to download the pts because of it.

[Grayseven]

For PTS to be used by more people, there would have to be an incentive to go there.

 

The incentive could be to test out something they have been looking forward to, like the 4 man arenas, or something for their legacy on a regular server.

 

To be honest, I stay away from test servers after launch normally because after Beta testing a game I'm tired of bug reports and just want to play.

[Izorii]

Personally I cant be bothered. Why should I play test a game, not like I am being paid to do so and its not like the DEV's have ever listened to the players when it comes to stuff like this, Lastly most runs get real boring after 3 or 4 run, why ruin a new run by running it early for no reward. As for the PvP I just don't care about area death match PvP.

[Nempo]

1) death matches are BORING and is mostly all they added recently I care about

 

2) anything you do on the pts is not kept not shared, most games compensate players time for ptsing (even WoW would trackt he amount of time a player spent on PTS and add it to their subscription for cryign out loud).

 

3) the changes they are making are too minor. they aren't shattering a world, expanding the planets, or making huge changes tot he classes...thus nothign of interest to draw enough curiosity

 

4) they have not fixed the launcher, there are a high number of people using a laptop to transfer the game to their desktop because of a failure with the launcher. Nevermind the fact you have to jump through a hoop to get to the pts.

[Luxidenstore]

If they actually played around more with changing things up, to test ideas, I'm sure people would log to test that. But it just feels like additional QA, which is kinda meh. And even then most of the stuff you report don't get fixed tbh. Edited September 6, 2013 by Luxidenstore

[TechbotAlpha]

1) I don't give a flying frog about PVP

 

2) My highest level character is 28. Is there anything for them and me on PTS? Oh! Whadya know? Nope.avi!

[Inflicktion]

Well you see if more people started testing then they wouldn't be able to QQ incessantly about the new patch not being tested enough when it goes live. So really the only people we have "testing" are those that run fansites and want a first look, or super hardcore guilds that can't be bothered to learn a fight on the live server. If you look into the PTS section you'll see they actually ridicule people who test out the SM operations; about what you'd expect from them I suppose (raiding guilds that is).

 

It's beyond pathetic how many of you demand incentive/ reward to play on the PTS, but are then just as quick to come here blaming BW and QQing about every little bug that arises on patch day. If BW were to add incentive people wouldn't be testing 2.4; they'd be "testing" the quickest and easiest way to get said rewards.

 

To create a system that would regularly provide what you guys call "incentive" would be an obscene waste of resources for QA testing purposes. The way this community is BW would have to continuously expand on that system with every patch. No thanks.

 

Edit- Look at it this way; you can either spend a couple days going over things on the PTS to avoid bugs, or you can wait a couple days for BW to iron out said bugs when they go live. It's as simple as that, no reason for all these obnoxious demands.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Inflicktion

[HelinCarnate]

History has shown they don't listen to feedback on the PTS and send stuff live with major issues that were addressed during testing. If I am going to have to test the stuff anyway I may as well just do it on my regular character.

[Lumpyone]

I share the sentiment of many who have already posted. After launch, before one of the major patches, I transferred a character to the PTS. It was fairly easy, except even then I had problems with the Launcher which was worse when I went back to playing on a live server. I had reinstall the game.

 

I also found that feedback given from the PTS was largely ignored, and it has been by BW since Beta. They have made some changes due to suggestions but they always seem minor.

 

Lastly, I don't want to spend my free time testing a game I'm playing to play. This last patch is a great example of how poor the testing of this game has really been and the number of problems which came in is insane. They should at least have a QA team inhouse checking basic functionality, like making sure the Cartel Market coin purchase is still functional before going live. Heck, can you even buy coins and spend them on Cm stuff on the PTS? How are they even testing that?

[LordArtemis]

I could ring in here. I would say it is a combination of past, present and the current type of playerbase.

 

First, the past...in the past, there was no copy character, and no frogs. No way to uplevel a character to max level to test out end game content. This turned quite a few folks off.

 

Second, in the past (in particular two patches I am thinking of) bugs were recognized, reported (features broken) and those reports were ignored, the patches launched as is and it was not good. The uproar was memorable, and I expect that remains today for a few folks.

 

Now, the present...I am not sure if there are frogs now, I know there is character copy (or at least I think there is), but it seems that download problems are plaguing the launcher for the PTS build.

 

Then we go to the majority playerbase...arguments can be made that the majority playerbase is now casual...and casuals are usually uninterested in testing content...especially end game or PVP content.

 

If my contentions are accurate, that is the problem.

[CosmicKat]

Do F2P players have access to the PTS?

 

They are the majority now. Judging by the traffic on this board compared to a year ago, the vast majority.

[norlof]

I never bother with the PTS. I play the game regularly, I just don't care for the PTS. It's not live, and from what I tell, BW ignores or doesn't have time to sort out most of the stuff that gets reported by players. So I just wait until its live.

[FlyinSpaghetti]

1) death matches are BORING and is mostly all they added recently I care about

 

The current phase of testing is operations.

 

2) anything you do on the pts is not kept not shared, most games compensate players time for ptsing (even WoW would trackt he amount of time a player spent on PTS and add it to their subscription for cryign out loud).

 

Shouldn't taking a peek at the changes and how they might affect you when they hit live be enough? Some people want everything for nothing...

 

3) the changes they are making are too minor. they aren't shattering a world, expanding the planets, or making huge changes tot he classes...thus nothign of interest to draw enough curiosity

 

Two new operations, a daily planet with it's own quest line and the arenas. This is in fact quite a large update while not as large as 2.0 it is still competitive to the size of the 2.0 expansion.

 

4) they have not fixed the launcher, there are a high number of people using a laptop to transfer the game to their desktop because of a failure with the launcher. Nevermind the fact you have to jump through a hoop to get to the pts.

 

The only point I actually agree with you on, but the rest of what you said comes across as slightly lazy and feeling you should be entitled to something just for taking a peek at the new content. There are games out there where you either have to fill out a huge résumé and give out dxdiags just for the chance to test new content or even pay for access to beta content. Very few games reward public testers in fact the only reward you should expect is the privilege to test.

 

That's why I'm a little dumbfounded by the "I should be entitled to.." attitude. While it would be nice for bioware to give incentives to people to come and test they shouldn't be required to. The community should have interest in public testing in the first place otherwise open testing is quite frankly pointless, handing out titles wont change that fact. In truth there's also the possibility of a bug affecting these sort of rewards which would probably lead to unnecessary backlash when actual game bugs/balancing should be the priority.

 

Well you see if more people started testing then they wouldn't be able to QQ incessantly about the new patch not being tested enough when it goes live. So really the only people we have "testing" are those that run fansites and want a first look, or super hardcore guilds that can't be bothered to learn a fight on the live server. If you look into the PTS section you'll see they actually ridicule people who test out the SM operations; about what you'd expect from them I suppose (raiding guilds that is).

 

It's beyond pathetic how many of you demand incentive/ reward to play on the PTS, but are then just as quick to come here blaming BW and QQing about every little bug that arises on patch day. If BW were to add incentive people wouldn't be testing 2.4; they'd be "testing" the quickest and easiest way to get said rewards.

 

To create a system that would regularly provide what you guys call "incentive" would be an obscene waste of resources for QA testing purposes. The way this community is BW would have to continuously expand on that system with every patch. No thanks.

 

Edit- Look at it this way; you can either spend a couple days going over things on the PTS to avoid bugs, or you can wait a couple days for BW to iron out said bugs when they go live. It's as simple as that, no reason for all these obnoxious demands.

 

Nail on the head.

 

Also at the fact you pointed out the type of players testing atm, with only the hardcore guilds testing content they might not get the balance right for all. One example would be the second boss in Dread Fortress, on HM this is well tuned but on SM it still requires much of the same coordination as the HM version of the boss does. I doubt a random group finder pug without voice comms and full of first timers in 156 rated gear will find this boss easy, however due to only the more hardcore guilds testing this matter may get overlooked.

 

There was a similar issue with olok in S&V when 2.0 was being tested, where all the droids HP in SM were the same as HM is now. It required around 2.0-2.2 K DPS on average from each of your DPS to clear each line before the next one, something that probably isn't very achievable from many pugs in basic gear and the fact many groups were wiping in arkanian on SM said a lot.

 

However due to the diversity of the 2.0 test population that got nerfed pretty fast. The problem we have now with the 2.4 test is lack of that diversity, with only the elite testing I don't think the SM content for the masses is going to be balanced well.

Edited September 7, 2013 by FlyinSpaghetti

[LordArtemis]

LOL...

 

Does anyone really think that players will start running toward PTS by simply calling them lazy? Do you believe that a lack of interest in PTS is laziness?

 

This is sounding more and more to me like folks want other folks to improve THEIR play experience by joining the PTS, not for the benefit of the game.

[Maeloda]

History has shown they don't listen to feedback on the PTS and send stuff live with major issues that were addressed during testing. If I am going to have to test the stuff anyway I may as well just do it on my regular character.

 

This is what I've heard as well, sadly.

 

Can't really feel welcomed on a PTS if you feel your detailed feedback is entirely ignored, only to crash upon release and be riddled with the bugs you painstakingly went over and submitted.

[Drudenfusz]

I would guess it's because there really aren't any rewards for the PTS. Any armor, items, etc you gain are stuck there and are worthless on live. I usually try all the content on the PTS once but that's about it.

They had titles available in the past, that some of are not available anymore is not that great. And currently they have this going on which leads to another title (I would love to get that title, but when I asked here o the forums nobody answered me to create a team with me).

[WSRB]

I find a lot of MMOs have problems getting players onto their test servers these days. I do agree that part of it is as mentioned by many other players, there is the feeling that the developers aren't listening to their feedback about the content. Whether or not that's actually true is debatable as devs tend to look at the test server solely as a bug finding resource while they make game play and balance decisions based on observations from the live servers, this feeling does leave many feeling as if their feedback isn't listened to or things are so inefficiently run that it takes the devs months to act on the feedback they receive.

 

But the other part of it that I haven't seen mentioned much in this thread is that many players feel like they lose out on progress on the live servers if they're playing on the test servers. If some sort of incentive program were offered to players that used the test server to compensate for "lost time" on the live servers, I'm sure they'd be able to attract more testers.

[LordArtemis]

I just don't think there needs to be compensation...I think there needs to be a proper working download, character copy and frogs that work, and comprehensive bug reporting using in game means and the website with DOCUMENTED CHANGES based on feedback.

 

Bioware needs to dispel this belief that they ignore testers. They can do so by directly documenting in test patch notes changes made based directly on player feedback....and let it clearly be seen that they are doing so.

 

That will go a long way toward getting folks to care and get involved IMO.

[bowlergirl]

Could also be people not wanting the PTS spoil the excitement of new content. All the hard core raiding guilds will run ops that are new to the PTS so they can have an upper hand when the op goes live. I myself would like to try the content but part of me wants the "Holy sh*t! This is awesome" feeling when it goes live.

 

I would like some compensation for doing it. I would be fine with legacy title, stack of xp boosts (if i was sub 55 or rolling an alt), or a special item that you can only get for testing the PTS content.

[Hockaday]

Can't copy my updated toons there (new gear), and no rewards. The reward part personally isn't a big deal...but a lot of people want that. So even if I'm willing to test (and I am) It's difficult to get people to move there...who already have toons on the server.

 

You can't buff toons nor are you awarded free gear. This should be mandatory.

[_Zhatan_]

In fact you have a very easy answer:

 

1. The 3 hours PTS download to play the same game that you already have for play Live servers, doesnt help much.

2. The PTS testing doesnt means anything for Bioware, they dont want to know your opinion about changes, just catch the bugs.

3. Yhis patch in particular is rotten from origin, the Lolsmash/ OPophealer festival, discourages any other player to log PTS because being rolfstomped yes or yes is not fun anymore after 2nd day. (And they say we dont need any balance yet:rolleyes: )

 

PTS means nothing for Bioware or players...Also this game suffers aserious lack of hardcore players as BioAware focused it to the most casual of casuals.

 

All people critic with this game already left, or just came from often to often to take a laugh.

 

The Bioaware praisers just think everything is cool and awesome so ...why to test?

 

Tl;DR Test server is useless as we are working as bug smashers and not for actually test anything.

[hadoken]

Personally I cant be bothered. Why should I play test a game, not like I am being paid to do so and its not like the DEV's have ever listened to the players when it comes to stuff like this, Lastly most runs get real boring after 3 or 4 run, why ruin a new run by running it early for no reward. As for the PvP I just don't care about area death match PvP.

 

Pretty much. You want me to QA your game, you better pay me.

[Spatology]

They've farmed enough cash of the CM.

 

Lettem pay someone to do it....

 

Not like the quality of content can get any worse.