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thefabricant
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 5,248 Arc User
In the light of recent issues, it seems appropriate to ask for a number of changes to preview that would make it a lot easier to test how things are supposed to work. This would make it easier for us as players to find bugs and report them, as well as make our feedback when we report bugs a whole lot more consistent. @strumslinger please read over this:
Dummy Map on Preview:
The first issue when testing is that for the most part, we actually have to use real monsters in game for testing in order to establish accurate results, because of how poor the NWO combat dummies are. Due to this, I propose that on preview, there is a dummy map which doesn't exist on live. It doesn't need spectacular art, its a map purely for testing stuff, so hardly any development resources need to go into it. The map itself would feature the following:
1) A "Raid Boss" Dummy set apart from the rest, with health in the billions and defenses similar to that of a raid boss (CC resistance, Damage resistance etc.)
2) Level 70, 71, 72 and 73 dummies, which also have health in the billions (so that they don't die) but have defensive properties similar to that of monsters in those level brackets.
3) A "PVP Dummy" which is customize able which has no inherent stats of its own other than a large HP pool, but allows players to equip it with gear and then its defensive stats change depending on the gear.
4) Clusters of dummies in groups of 3, 5, 8, 10, 15 and 25, for testing target caps on abilities.
5) A "Custom Dummy" where you can manually change its damage resistance etc and just set those values to numbers of your choice.
6) Dummies that are permanently damaged to test healing.
7) Dummies that are constantly taking and healing damage, to test damage mitigation.
8) Weapons with a single value for weapon damage, that way you can obtain consistent results when testing as there is no fluctuation due to the weapon damage on the weapon itself. What would be nice is weapons with a weapon damage set to 1, 10, 100 and 1000.
9) A vendor or group of vendors selling all usable equipment in the game.
10) A vendor selling "auto unlock campaign" tokens, so we can accurately test boons.
In order to prevent people from making preview their permanent home, you would have to do regular server wipes on preview, which isn't really an issue for those of us who are just trying to test things.
In addition, it would also help greatly if the tool tips in this game were made more consistent and technical terms were made more clear. For example, what is the difference between unresistable damage and piercing damage? It would be nice if there was a dictionary in game somewhere explaining what the exact differences between these terms is supposed to be, so we can then check if something is 1, the other or both and thus determine if it is behaving correctly. Furthermore, tool tips should also include target caps on abilities (so we can check if the actual target cap matches the tool tip and thus establish if the ability is working correctly), the duration of the control if its a control effect and precise numbers on the tool tips. For example, in the case of the control wizard shield, "form a persistent shield that is diminished by incoming damage," tell us how much the initial shield mitigates damage and how much it is diminished by, so we have something to check against.
The advantages of doing the above are fairly simple:
1) It allows us to test more accurately and thus provide more detailed feedback when making bug reports. With more tools for testing, our results become more accurate, which means less false information occurs which makes it easier for us to identify the exact source of problems, making it easier for you to fix them.
2) More accurate tool tips mean we can see how abilities are supposed to work, instead of having to make assumptions. Once we know how abilities should work, we can then check if they are working as per the tool tip and thus when arguments about balance arise, more accurate feedback is available.
3) Bugs would get caught faster and thus it would be less likely they would end up on the live server.
4) It would net you "free" labour. Many of us test things because we enjoy improving our character and we will provide feedback from our testing for free as a result. Making it easier for players to do something that makes your life easier, only rewards both parties.
I am sure I am not alone in a desire to see this happen and other people who test things like @ironzerg79 and @jaegernl would definitely benefit from (and thus you would benefit as a result) the improvement of dummies.
Dummy Map on Preview:
The first issue when testing is that for the most part, we actually have to use real monsters in game for testing in order to establish accurate results, because of how poor the NWO combat dummies are. Due to this, I propose that on preview, there is a dummy map which doesn't exist on live. It doesn't need spectacular art, its a map purely for testing stuff, so hardly any development resources need to go into it. The map itself would feature the following:
1) A "Raid Boss" Dummy set apart from the rest, with health in the billions and defenses similar to that of a raid boss (CC resistance, Damage resistance etc.)
2) Level 70, 71, 72 and 73 dummies, which also have health in the billions (so that they don't die) but have defensive properties similar to that of monsters in those level brackets.
3) A "PVP Dummy" which is customize able which has no inherent stats of its own other than a large HP pool, but allows players to equip it with gear and then its defensive stats change depending on the gear.
4) Clusters of dummies in groups of 3, 5, 8, 10, 15 and 25, for testing target caps on abilities.
5) A "Custom Dummy" where you can manually change its damage resistance etc and just set those values to numbers of your choice.
6) Dummies that are permanently damaged to test healing.
7) Dummies that are constantly taking and healing damage, to test damage mitigation.
8) Weapons with a single value for weapon damage, that way you can obtain consistent results when testing as there is no fluctuation due to the weapon damage on the weapon itself. What would be nice is weapons with a weapon damage set to 1, 10, 100 and 1000.
9) A vendor or group of vendors selling all usable equipment in the game.
10) A vendor selling "auto unlock campaign" tokens, so we can accurately test boons.
In order to prevent people from making preview their permanent home, you would have to do regular server wipes on preview, which isn't really an issue for those of us who are just trying to test things.
In addition, it would also help greatly if the tool tips in this game were made more consistent and technical terms were made more clear. For example, what is the difference between unresistable damage and piercing damage? It would be nice if there was a dictionary in game somewhere explaining what the exact differences between these terms is supposed to be, so we can then check if something is 1, the other or both and thus determine if it is behaving correctly. Furthermore, tool tips should also include target caps on abilities (so we can check if the actual target cap matches the tool tip and thus establish if the ability is working correctly), the duration of the control if its a control effect and precise numbers on the tool tips. For example, in the case of the control wizard shield, "form a persistent shield that is diminished by incoming damage," tell us how much the initial shield mitigates damage and how much it is diminished by, so we have something to check against.
The advantages of doing the above are fairly simple:
1) It allows us to test more accurately and thus provide more detailed feedback when making bug reports. With more tools for testing, our results become more accurate, which means less false information occurs which makes it easier for us to identify the exact source of problems, making it easier for you to fix them.
2) More accurate tool tips mean we can see how abilities are supposed to work, instead of having to make assumptions. Once we know how abilities should work, we can then check if they are working as per the tool tip and thus when arguments about balance arise, more accurate feedback is available.
3) Bugs would get caught faster and thus it would be less likely they would end up on the live server.
4) It would net you "free" labour. Many of us test things because we enjoy improving our character and we will provide feedback from our testing for free as a result. Making it easier for players to do something that makes your life easier, only rewards both parties.
I am sure I am not alone in a desire to see this happen and other people who test things like @ironzerg79 and @jaegernl would definitely benefit from (and thus you would benefit as a result) the improvement of dummies.
Post edited by thefabricant on
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Comments
I always wanted possibility to test mechanics better
I'm sure an experienced player with ACT can do much more than entire cryptic QA team)
Also give those people the diagnostic tools that QA has. I'm sure they have a tool or such to interpret combat logs that's better than ACT.
If you can't find enough people make it a "job" and pay them in zen. (paying in zen would cost the company almost nothing)
http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/neverwinter#/discussion/552859/xp-scrolls-on-preview-request
It was simple to do, and yet..... broken feats, broken rank 4 powers, broken interaction, ArP bugged, etc...
I'd also love to see an instanced area added to the Trade of Blades with all the dummies @thefabricant suggested so that you can test things in private, without having to worry about other people jumping in. That makes it much more difficult to isolate variables when testing.
A great example of this is the Powerhouse in Champions. You can go into private testing chambers, and even summon holograms of live monsters to test builds and skills out, too.
Please, help us help you.
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Though all the above are good as well. Though tanks need a golem that attacks so they can test DR etc.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
Great suggestion...
May I add my own suggestion for same stuff..
thefabricant custom dummies idea is simply to emulate monsters stats.. Good option...
I would suggest option which I have seen be used in other games.. The way is simple, in test server, players have option to call out meniu which gives them option to summon/spawn monsters/npc.. So my idea would be like..
Create foundary like map/area. Add couple npcs with ability to summon monsters. However summoning/spawning must be be 2 ways/scenarios.
1)active, thats mean monsters strike back, attack u. More like normal monsters as it would be in live server.
2) stand by/inactive. Thats mean its like dummy, He will not hit back..
Also via that npc allow to summon/spawn items.
So this area would be good way to test both monsters/encounters and gear sets. Also since players in test server would have 100% accsess to all gear peaces/companions and all other stuffs u can test them more clear how they will behave during fight and avoid lostmouth set situation once again...
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.
Gustave Le Bon.
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And a lot of this
__V______
I could wrote here in russian/polish, latvian, swedish language. But I don't think anyone here would understand anything. Or more like it would be removed and considered as bot spam...
I do make mistakes, well thats happens.. No one is perfect..
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.
Gustave Le Bon.
==================================================
I think a state of perma-respec should be in place too - basically, you can alter powers, feats, attributes, and XP (aka level) at any time without having to reset everything just to set one power's rank.
If you'd like to avoid the problem of people just playing on Preview (without the wipe - which I'd hate because it's a REAL pain in the rear, even with free resources, to level a guild stronghold. Heck, it's a pain just CREATE a guild for that matter unless you plan it with friends in advance...) perhaps designate a Cryptic QA staff person to hold office hour to dole out test gear. Perhaps go further and designate trusted players so you don't just have a mob wanting ALL THE THINGS!!!
Sekhmet@kvetchus_
Guilds: Greycloaks, Blackcloaks, Whitecloaks, Goldcloaks, Browncloaks, Spiritcloaks, Bluecloaks, Silvercloaks, Black Dawn
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