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Welcome! and Some Tips on Writing Bug Reports

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Hi all! I'm the Foundry bug collector.

Here are some tips to writing good bug reports, taken from a post by Moshpet. (Edited slightly by me to better fit The Foundry.)
I wanted you all to have the basic fundamentals so if you write a bug report out of game, you will be comprehend-able. I you attempt to use this format consistently, will help you to make clear, concise reports that will help the Devs and others to fix things faster.

Typically a good bug report should include the following bits of information. This isn't definitive, and by all means if you can improve on it, do so.


BUG:

Short summary.

Description:

A good description on what the bug is should go here. Also include your Project ID number.

CATEGORY :

If it's Map Editor, Story Editor, User Interface (UI), Graphics, Audio, Preview Mode, etc.

How to reproduce (If known.)

1- step 1
2- step 2 and so on.

LOCATION:

Where you were when the bug occurred, zone/mission/ & /loc (if you know it.)
/loc is very helpful in that a GM/Dev can teleport right to that location and see (possibly) what you see.

#### <- Spacer Of some sort,

(So the person reading it can tell where the bug steps end easily.)

Commentary

Secondary thoughts, observations & so on, it's not always needed but, sometimes the extra feedback you provide will allow the Devs to find a solution faster.

Bugging Crashes

If you should happen to crash and the Cryptic Error Handler comes up, please include a description in the box of what you were doing at the time of the crash. Also, make a note of the number displayed in the center bottom of the box, and post that here for us.

Thanks, and happy mission building!
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited October 2011
    Mission : ST-HFGKQR6SX "Espionage by Arnthebard"

    I went to do some editing and all of a sudden I get 16 error codes that say "Resource does not exsist." Clearly all of the resources DO exsist or it would have not published in the first place. Can anybody provide me with a solution? [Other than start all over...]
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Arnthebard, likely those errors mean that a some resource (Costume, FSM, Encounter, etc) that was previously available in the Foundry no longer is. We may have inadvertently deleted a bit too much recently, I will make sure this gets looked at.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    jfinder wrote: »
    Arnthebard, likely those errors mean that a some resource (Costume, FSM, Encounter, etc) that was previously available in the Foundry no longer is. We may have inadvertently deleted a bit too much recently, I will make sure this gets looked at.

    To little to late. Probably has more to do with the season 4 optional code change, but anyway. Good luck.
  • argo0argo0 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    1) Notices - Heading this forum:- "Hello Captain! At this time, you may only post replies..."

    Can you please give me an explanation for this?

    As an IT professional (for some nearly forty years including 7.5 years as Head of Consulting EMEA for an International household name) I would have thought that a 'professional' and 'constructive' viewpoint on Foundry Bugs would be welcomed.

    I would consider it not appropriate to post a bug report for discussion as a 'reply' to any other bug report which is probably wholly unrelated.

    Consequently, this seems counter productive to me and would inevitably lead to confusion and make it extremely difficult for others to find (search) for meaningful information on similar experiences. I suggest it would further lead to unnecessary duplication of reports and discussions.

    (Unless, of course, the moderators 'like' having to re-thread posts???)

    2) By way of observing forum etiquette. What is your recommended method of providing screen captures (image and video including preferred formats) of bug instances?

    Sometimes, an image or a video sequence as an example is a significantly simpler method of illustrating a point and saves countless effort in explanations.

    3) There seems to be some confusion amongst some users (including myself) as to whom exactly is responding to GM Help / Bug Reports in game, Support Tickets on web, and Messages within the Forum. A sticky with a simple explanation of whom, where, and what can be expected would be very helpful and probably reduce user frustration.

    4) I am concerned that some issues (both foundry and in game) can only be resolved via direct email to customer services and these generally appear to take 10 days to two weeks to be responded to ~ if at all!.

    In a similar vein, it is frustrating to have an issue marked as resolved when it clearly has not. This requires the whole process to be repeated yet again.

    Furthermore, it is even more frustrating to have tickets removed from the system whilst outstanding ~ This defeats the purpose of the ticket history system.

    5) Both the in game and the web support message facilities are too constricted in terms of permitted characters to explain a complex issue, the steps taken to replicate the issue ~ all of which is intended to assist the person dealing with the problem.

    Moreover, there is a lack of consistency between the two systems ~ One simply stops recording keystrokes, and the other enables any number of characters to be typed but then truncates the message when sent with no feedback to the sender.

    This conveniently leads on to another problem ~ Both systems should send a confirmation email to the sender at their email address. Otherwise 'lost' tickets result in "Yes, I did!", "No, you didn't!" dialogue, friction, and frustration.

    6) There is a presumption amongst many here that 'everyone' is as knowledgeable about acronyms and slang expressions used within the forums.

    Such use of acronyms and slang may identify the user as an 'old hand' but doesn't actually contribute to the usability of the information for many others less experienced or not in 'the know'.

    7) Similarly, I note how many occasions a query is answered by, "No that can't be done, but there is a work-around" which actually fails to provide any details of the work-around, or; references an external link (URL) that is actually broken and error 404s.

    The former just isn't helpful, and the latter cascades back to 2) above and supports my point that there needs to be a policy.

    In conclusion, I would like everyone to be aware that I may appear as either of two users ~ y4artu or argo0 ~ depending upon my current login for which there is a valid reason associated with developing multi-player foundry missions ~ Consequently, I am NOT a SockPuppet on the forum.

    Kind regards to All. :-)
  • starfrighter0starfrighter0 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    BUG: Character Creation not working

    When I go to make a new character, I click make character, then it kicks me out of the server to the login menu


    CATEGORY : Foundry, on holodeck server






    LOCATION: character creation menu
  • imonmywaytoearthimonmywaytoearth Member Posts: 3 Arc User
    BUG:Unable to remove foundry project submission to spotlight

    Short summary:
    I recently submitted "The Mysterious Commander Wright" for spotlight, however i want to edit it and refine it more.
    The problem now is that when I click on remove submission and the dialogue box pops up, when I retype the name of the project, nothing happens. There is no prompt that pops up that allows me to remove the project.

    CATEGORY :
    Project submissions
  • starfarerthetastarfarertheta Member Posts: 740 Arc User
    edited February 2019
    BUG:Unable to remove foundry project submission to spotlight

    Short summary:
    I recently submitted "The Mysterious Commander Wright" for spotlight, however i want to edit it and refine it more.
    The problem now is that when I click on remove submission and the dialogue box pops up, when I retype the name of the project, nothing happens. There is no prompt that pops up that allows me to remove the project.

    CATEGORY :
    Project submissions

    There could be a space after the name which the system considers as part of the name (encountered this issue before). I don't know if that's exactly the issue you're having, but if it's not then at least the possibility will be eliminated.
This discussion has been closed.