ESO needs a sandbox test server

Wing · October 2017

note this is not the same thing as the pts, as that is for refinement and last minute changes of things that are going live.

a sandbox server is a test server to test ideas and changes that are radical, wide sweeping, and might never see the live server, just testing concepts with a large live-ish environment with players actually able to test and give feedback as well.

such as what if there was no battle spirit in pvp? what if the dodge effect was completely removed and replaced? what would happen with new weapon lines added? what if you could not attack while blocking? new classes, new skills, new ranges, etc. (BTW I'm not saying these things would happen or need to happen but this is the kind of huge things you could test)

large tests that effect the sandbox as a whole, where devs had greater access to mess with and tune on the fly and would lead to a much faster feedback and iteration process.

Agalloch · October 2017

Very interesting idea!

Bhaal5 · October 2017

Good idea, but lets start with working servers. Not the laggy ones we currently got.

Turelus · October 2017

The problem is someone at ZOS still has to do the work to make those things and separate testing builds.

Not sure they can spare people to work on hypothetical changes which would require a whole separate sever and patch builds.

THWIP71 · October 2017

The problem with a sandbox is that it will inevitably be overrun with Khajiits.

Wing · October 2017

Turelus wrote: »

The problem is someone at ZOS still has to do the work to make those things and separate testing builds.

Not sure they can spare people to work on hypothetical changes which would require a whole separate sever and patch builds.

I obviously don't know how their servers are set up but we do know they do have internal servers that they test on, they just cannot test to the extent that players do (stress and hundreds and thousands)

but I do know in such an environment they can adjust things to be different then we see on live, for instance a lot of the lag we have is because a lot of data had to be server side instead of client (because of cheaters) this was the infamous lighting patch that killed cyrodil.

we also know when they had internal playtests they are able to tune and edit things in a much faster process then on the test server or live servers, to the effect of rapidly increasing or decreasing damages, adding or removing effects, etc. to skills to see how they play, instantly get that in the hands of hundreds of players, and tweak from there.

(note that console patches have to go through certification so that slows down time compared to live. and also note that the test server is for things effectively going live and cannot test these kinds of things let alone quickly)

being able to rapidly test and iterate things as large as gameplay overhauls or simply concepts or skill tweaks in a live environment without effecting the main game is priceless, and would lead to MUCH less pain as a player on the live server were we have to live with the results of this stuff for months at a time and effecting our in game economy and what not.

its all fine and dandy writing ideas on paper and trying it between two people on an internal server. but with a sandbox you can throw it out there and instantly see if its trash and does not work or warrants further time and work investment.

currently its backwards, they invest a lot of time into ideas then push them live and have to make them work because they already invested time in them. if they could throw ideas into a live-ish setting before investing work on them everyone will have a better time and the game will be better for it.

AlienSlof · October 2017

THWIP71 wrote: »

The problem with a sandbox is that it will inevitably be overrun with Khajiits.

This made me giggle!

I love the idea though. More input can be a good thing to avoid mistakes and encourage more variety.