Stopping the PTS from being redundant

Enodoc

Update 6 is now out on the Live servers, and the PTS is once again redundant (it's already two updates behind Live), so here is a suggestion to keep the PTS useful after an update is released - beta testing.

It is quite likely that whatever is due in Update 7 is not yet at the stage to be considered ready for the "gamma testing" that occurs on the PTS, as the seeming criteria for PTS gamma testing is for the content to be a "release candidate"; ie, content which could theoretically be released now, with all systems complete, and only bugs and tweaks remaining to be ironed out. So if Update 7 is not yet a release candidate suitable for gamma testing, lets have some systems for a beta test.

Different systems from the vanilla game were beta tested before they were complete enough to be release candidates, so I think upcoming systems could be treated to the same setup. During this period, the server would have to be renamed from "PTS" to "Beta" to be accurate, but it stops the thing from being redundant. They could push out different systems every now and then to get bug reports and feedback, it would only contain that content and the server wouldn't be open all the time, but it would hopefully encourage people to use the server and provide valuable feedback on the upcoming content. Potential candidates for this beta test could include Spellcrafting, Imperial City, Wrothgar and Murkmire (which I think are the pieces furthest along in development). When Update 7 is ready to be gamma tested, then the PTS would once again become persistent and contain the whole game +Update 7.