Beta-testing (Updates)

Satai Katalya

Satai Katalya

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2006

anywhere in GW

ONL Our Name is Legion

Mo/Me

Ok seems to me with the serious increase in errors etc that there should be a specific way for a reasonable amount of players to test out updates before going global. I'm sure many people are getting sick of having errors with increasing occurance.
I'm sure many of us would be happy to beta-test such updates
I suggest server cordoning before the whole update is implemented. Thats if its possible. I dont know the specifics. Say 5000 beta testers restircted to a server for a specified period of time. In which we can inform the big boys (and girls) what needs ironing out.
I imgaine theres many busy folks testing and re-testing. So why not share the load a bit?
I for one am gettin a bit bogged off by trying to game away happily to have it interupted as I'm sure many of you also do.

I believe this method would save us thronging the net with continous questions and WTF's.

And give ANET a better rep for efficiency.

I only mention now because I love GW and dont want to start another MMORPG- but I do hear that WoW is a lot more stable.

Hidden in the Mist

Hidden in the Mist

Banned

Join Date: May 2006

WoW is more stable BECAUSE they get money MONTHLY while Guild Wars doesn't.

Satai Katalya

Satai Katalya

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2006

anywhere in GW

ONL Our Name is Legion

Mo/Me

however consider the amount of money Guild Wars makes with regular expansion packs. It is after all a best seller due to lack of subscription fees. They have a guarunteed salary.

All I'm saying is become more relibale. Draft a few free beta testers in. (and give us some digital goodies )

dargon

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

The Seraphim Knights [TSK]

R/

They have plenty of beta testers. Unfortunately, in any complex system it's impossible to test every last thing and it only takes one to cause issues.

Satai Katalya

Satai Katalya

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2006

anywhere in GW

ONL Our Name is Legion

Mo/Me

so I suppose it goes... extend beta testers or sack the old ones because so many nasties are getting through. Sick of all these errors and gltiches etc etc etc.
Wider test range= better quality assurance.

dargon

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

The Seraphim Knights [TSK]

R/

Satai: have you ever actually worked in software? I assure you, the bugs that do show up are minor compared to the ones you don't see. For example, Ruins of Myth Drannor, lets format a persons HDD if they uninstall.

Rieselle

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Melbourne, Australia

E/Rt

I dont know if its better now or not, but when I was playing WoW, they had to shut the servers down for several hours EVERY WEEK, for "maintenance". I'm not sure I'd call that stable....

I think ANet gets a little sloppy on testing because their streaming system allows them to update with bugfixes relatively quickly.

It's kind of like how PC games are generally more buggy than console games because they can download patches.

In the end, the bugs we've seen are annoying, but the serious ones rarely last longer than a few days, so I dont know if its a huge deal or not. Would you rather spend the money on more testers or more programmers?

Loviatar

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Feb 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Satai Katalya
so I suppose it goes... extend beta testers or sack the old ones because so many nasties are getting through. Sick of all these errors and gltiches etc etc etc.
Wider test range= better quality assurance.
you are new to GW or you have never played wow.

many ex wowers have stated that compared to wow GW is stable as a rock.

and dony forget as more chapters come out they have an increasing chance of something getting by due to additional content to make work with each other

GW has fewer hours of server down time with most of that in one big lump rollback than wow has in a fraction of the time (this is from experienced wow players)

Amity and Truth

Amity and Truth

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2006

W/N

Oh geez, not another thread that gets flamed to death simply because the OP had the three letters "WoW" in it.
I'm all for more beta testers as some of those bugs are just large enough that you're actually wondering how the hell the Beta Testers did not see the 300 Meter large Ultra (literally) Bug.