Response to "The Road Ahead: A Plea For Help On PTS"

onlinegamer1

Dear Zenimax Online Studios,

I just read "The Road Ahead" for August, and the section asking for help testing your software. As a 25 year veteran of software development, I would be happy to help you with this task.

My consultant rate is $90/hr, and I can work between 10-20 hours a week. Please feel free to contact me at my listed email address within my account profile if you are interested.

I look forward to working with you!

References available upon request.

Skafsgaard

The only reason ppl use PTS is to know exactly how to set up a build when the patch goes live. We already pay a monthly sub and now we have to 'work' as well.. i laughed reading that segment in TRA

+1 for cool post

JD2013

Yes, because all beta testers outside of company staff are always paid for their time.

Good job!

SantieClaws

I'll happily potter about on the PTS - when they have character transfer (which would have helped a lot in testing the dye system). Also as a solo PvE player I'm not really sure what use I can be - apart from asking again and again to be able to cook fishies.

jrgray93

If the content on the PTS wasn't all group-based, I'm sure there would be more participants. I guess other players could test the bug fixes they introduced to make sure it is working, but I see little use in that. As it was said, most people just test builds over there.

TehMagnus

Same here ZOS, I work in IT, have done/managed a lot of websites & software testing.

Fee is 40 euros/h so much cheaper than OP and I can work 40h+ a week.

You have my contact info.

Erock25

After ZOS ignored multiple bug reports by players well before 1.3 released, I'm done taking my time to help them find issues.

dsalter

Erock25 wrote: »

After ZOS ignored multiple bug reports by players well before 1.3 released, I'm done taking my time to help them find issues.

since soul tether and magma were ultra hard to spot right? i mean one shotting pople so hard to spot, jeeze zeni listen to the public >.>

SFBryan18

If I didn't have to download the entire game again...

Awdwyn

I'd be interested in testing on the PTS if I had the ability to copy my character over (thanks @ZOS_GinaBruno‌ for the heads up that it's coming) and more developer feedback / discussion / involvement in the PTS forum. If I am spending my limited playtime actively bug-hunting (rather then doing activities I enjoy in the live server) I really need to know that my feedback is valued and listened to and have a chance to discuss problems with those would be involved in resolving them.

Nestor

While it might be nice to copy your character over, the PTS has Templates that let you have a high level character right out the gate. I have actually rolled Alts on the PTS to test out Morphs that I might want on my game characters.

I will say that I have avoided it for testing group content as I don't group that much (other than specific dungeons)

Merlin13KAGL

Erock25 wrote: »

After ZOS ignored multiple bug reports by players well before 1.3 released, I'm done taking my time to help them find issues.

@Erock25, I can relate here. It is hard to tell if they actually make it through or make a difference. And many times when you contact CS, it becomes an out of sight, out of mind experience.

I usually try to CS to show them a bug and give them opportunity to gather more info than they would normally have access to. However, the goal seems to be 'make it go away for now,' and it's 'fixed.'

Awdwyn wrote: »

I'd be interested in testing on the PTS if I had the ability to copy my character over (thanks @ZOS_GinaBruno‌ for the heads up that it's coming) and more developer feedback / discussion / involvement in the PTS forum. If I am spending my limited playtime actively bug-hunting (rather then doing activities I enjoy in the live server) I really need to know that my feedback is valued and listened to and have a chance to discuss problems with those would be involved in resolving them.

@Awdwyn‌ This would be nice. I understand the isolation, for a variety of reasons, but it's hard to justify spending massive time on the PTS unless you are VR12 across the board and bored out of your mind on the regular server.

If there was beta points for possible new content (not just the latest update, but something that would require a true additional beta period) (Think ESO 2.0), I could see it.

As such, it's kind of like playing your game, but never hitting the Save button. You obtain these things, but are unable to directly put them to use on the main server.

I rarely have as much time on the main server as I would like, let alone split between two different ones.

cf398ub17_ESO

i shall be using my work nights for pts and weekends for regular play

Awdwyn

Nestor wrote: »

While it might be nice to copy your character over, the PTS has Templates that let you have a high level character right out the gate. I have actually rolled Alts on the PTS to test out Morphs that I might want on my game characters.

I will say that I have avoided it for testing group content as I don't group that much (other than specific dungeons)

Understood, and the templates are useful. The flip side is that I am heavily involved in crafting, and would spend a good portion of my PTS time testing sets and their interactions. This currently is not possible due to the time required to either research (for crafted sets) or farm (for dropped sets).

ThePonzzz

I agree with @Erock25. But threads like this don't really offer anything constructive to ZOS.

Awdwyn

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Erock25 wrote: »

After ZOS ignored multiple bug reports by players well before 1.3 released, I'm done taking my time to help them find issues.

@Erock25, I can relate here. It is hard to tell if they actually make it through or make a difference. And many times when you contact CS, it becomes an out of sight, out of mind experience.

I usually try to CS to show them a bug and give them opportunity to gather more info than they would normally have access to. However, the goal seems to be 'make it go away for now,' and it's 'fixed.'

Awdwyn wrote: »

I'd be interested in testing on the PTS if I had the ability to copy my character over (thanks @ZOS_GinaBruno‌ for the heads up that it's coming) and more developer feedback / discussion / involvement in the PTS forum. If I am spending my limited playtime actively bug-hunting (rather then doing activities I enjoy in the live server) I really need to know that my feedback is valued and listened to and have a chance to discuss problems with those would be involved in resolving them.

@Awdwyn‌ This would be nice. I understand the isolation, for a variety of reasons, but it's hard to justify spending massive time on the PTS unless you are VR12 across the board and bored out of your mind on the regular server.

If there was beta points for possible new content (not just the latest update, but something that would require a true additional beta period) (Think ESO 2.0), I could see it.

As such, it's kind of like playing your game, but never hitting the Save button. You obtain these things, but are unable to directly put them to use on the main server.

I rarely have as much time on the main server as I would like, let alone split between two different ones.

Im not considering the character transfer as being useful for progression (since PTS wipes should be a regular thing IMHO) but more of opening up options for more testing. Alternatively, they could provide a way to easily obtain dropped set items and have all traits researched on templates.

smeeprocketnub19_ESO

wenxue2222b16_ESO wrote: »

I'll happily potter about on the PTS - when they have character transfer (which would have helped a lot in testing the dye system). Also as a solo PvE player I'm not really sure what use I can be - apart from asking again and again to be able to cook fishies.

Agreed (also agreed on fishies!) I downloaded and regularly patch PTS, but it's hard to test anything without a character that has the resources to test what they have put up.

Nestor

It would be nice if these Templates would come with a nice selection of Crafting Mats just for that purpose. Or possibly a bank or merchant who sells them cheap.

@ZOS_GinaBruno How about it, can we get a Crafting Kit with Crafting Mats included in the PTS to test out Crafted Sets and such?

TehMagnus

Some non troll advise:

@ZOS_GinaBruno‌

- Mages & Fighters guild skills should be morphable & @ max level since start.
- We should get access to a buyer that can sell us special popular gear like PVP 10% crit rings & staff or warlock.
- We should have more than 1 staf of each kind in starting packs. I play with 2 destro staffs in liveeu, would be nice to be able to use two destro staffs in PTS as well.
- Reduce the alliance choice when creating a char to one again (I.E: Only EP or AD or what ever), that way all the testers are @ same place & it's easier to meet them & group with them to test.
- Leave race choices open (or at least for Imperial edition) so that we can test any race for the restricted alliance, I think it's the case now but wasn't during last patch.

Character copy to PTS: best idea ever. Leave the gear and skills on too please.

onlinegamer1

ThePonzzz wrote: »

I agree with @Erock25. But threads like this don't really offer anything constructive to ZOS.

Really?

You didn't get "We want something for our efforts if you want us to test your buggy product" from the OP?

DMuehlhausen

Skafsgaard wrote: »

The only reason ppl use PTS is to know exactly how to set up a build when the patch goes live. We already pay a monthly sub and now we have to 'work' as well.. i laughed reading that segment in TRA

+1 for cool post

This is exactly why patches have so many bugs and break so much when it goes live. Just like when a game launches. During the beta all people care about is themselves and getting a leg up on other people. If they actually took the time and did what the PTS and Beta is for games wouldn't be as nearly buggy as they when they launched.

Drazhar14

This whole thread is gold!

As for something constructive, they need to add incentive to log onto the PTS. It should be rewards that carry over to the live server, but nothing exclusive. If I was paid with in game gold/items, then I might have the incentive to test the game I'm paying real money for.

sotonin

From what i've gathered. ZOS consistently ignores widely reported bugs on PTS and rolls them out to live anyways. So what's the point?

jamie.goddenrwb17_ESO

Does the PTS contain content from the entire game or just cherry picked parts?

If the latter, that explains why bugs are getting through, PTS needs to allow for regression testing in different (and lower) areas of the game as tweaks to high end content often have unforeseen consequences to other areas. (See Cyrodiil problems).

If it already does...well...bummer dude

Arsenic_Touch

1. There needs to be incentives otherwise people are not going to pay money to test content.
2. Their feedback needs to actually matter. Too many times have bugs been reported and not acknowledged.
3. They need to actually put all of the content on the test server if it's going to make it to live, too many times have they added things without letting anyone know.
4. They need to provide the proper tools to test ALL of the content they are adding.
The current testing environment is a joke. A character transfer option is the first thing they need to make happen, the second thing they need to make happen is make all of the content available to the tester. IE, when they introduced dyes they should've have all been unlocked on your test account.

When they address those 4 glaring issues, I'm sure they'll see a marked increase in participation.

kieso

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

Dear Zenimax Online Studios,

I just read "The Road Ahead" for August, and the section asking for help testing your software. As a 25 year veteran of software development, I would be happy to help you with this task.

My consultant rate is $90/hr, and I can work between 10-20 hours a week. Please feel free to contact me at my listed email address within my account profile if you are interested.

I look forward to working with you!

References available upon request.

well looking at your sig with character levels it doesn't look like you have a real job so..

Arsenic_Touch

kieso wrote: »

well looking at your sig with character levels it doesn't look like you have a real job so..

Given how little time it actually takes to hit max level in this game, your terrible attempt at insulting him has no merit. Dig down deeper next time in that big bag 'ol tricks.

michaelb14a_ESO2

I'm sorry ZOS, you blew it with your 'beta' test crowd and the Psijic Order participants. Completely ignoring us and our feedback, dupe glitches, VR, class imbalance, bugs...bugs and more bugs, quest progress glitches, grouping, exploits, API, the list goes on and on.....

Find someone else to play your Oliver. You treated your beta community like [snip] and now you expect them to come back and say "Please sir, can I have another?"

pffffttt

Phantax

Skafsgaard wrote: »

The only reason ppl use PTS is to know exactly how to set up a build when the patch goes live. We already pay a monthly sub and now we have to 'work' as well.. i laughed reading that segment in TRA

+1 for cool post

No we don't, some of us actually enjoy the whole bugdexploit
inding thing. Always nice to know you are helping to make a game better
However many of the testers, myself included, have pointed out many issues only for them to be completely ignored and the issue making its way into the game

rynth

lol all these people complaining are probably all the ones that complain about something(s) not working correctly, etc etc. For them it is better to be reactive instead of proactive. Instead from posts I've read here people would rather not do anything make this game better or have patience I'm just going to post on the forum and cry about the game blah blah blah blah.

DuelWieldingCheesyPoofs

Heres a thought zeni, get another team to test...dnt ask your bloody customers what a joke.