I actually do this type of stuff for a living so if you are looking for a mix of dedicated players and people with a professional background, like if you give us our own Jira or Bugzilla tracker...
Yes, a real bug tracking tool would be great. The in-game bug reporting tool is severely limited: I can't look up my old bug reports, and I can't search to see if an issue has already been reported. I have to rely on the forums for those things.
Also, Tribble ticket numbers and Holodeck ticket numbers are completely different. Why is that? What happens to a bug report filed on Tribble after the bug goes live? Is the bug report automatically copied over? Does QA have to do it manually? Maybe, Cryptic could shed some light on this process. Sometimes, I report a bug four times: once on Tribble, once on the "Tribble - Bug Reports" forum, again on Holodeck after the bug goes live, and once more on the "Gameplay Bug Reports" forum. It's a huge waste of time. It would be much more efficient if I could simply look up a bug that I reported on Tribble and mark it as having gone live.
I also waste a great deal of time uploading images to imgur. Part of that would be alleviated by better text-based tools.
(a) raw data dump of an item.
(b) raw data dump of the character, including skills, traits, and specializations.
(c) raw data dump of a ship build, including boffs and doffs.
(d) raw dump of the graphics settings. (Actually, I can get this already, but I don't know if QA knows how to interpret it.)
(e) completely disable animations in the tailor. (No, "Static Stance" doesn't do this.)
(f) A button in the tailor to generate a JPEG file with shots of the character from 4 or 5 different angles. There should be a full-body version and a close-up version. The JPEG file should include the metadata contained in saved costume files.
(g) A better combat log. Yes, I know that combat log parsers already exist. But my understanding is that a lot things are reported in a weird way, and if you don't know all the quirks, then you can't write a good parser. The log doesn't have to be human readable, but it needs to be accurate and consistent. Keep the current combat log for humans if you want, but you should create an "advanced" combat log specifically designed to be parsed by machines.
But it would also help if I could upload files directly your bug database. I'm not thinking only of images here; some people might want to upload combat logs or other data.
I would like to join the team .I am a very experienced gamer with years playing mmos and i even ran a few game servers myself in which we had to bug hunt like most games the player base is the best tool you have for finding bugs .And being part of a huge alliance i have access to lots of these players.
if you require any other info please mail me thanks
I think you should look for people with different areas of expertise:
(a) space PvP
(b) ground PvP
(c) space PvE
(d) ground PvE
(e) doffing
(f) the tailor and outfits
(g) the Foundry
(h) math
(i) English
(j) mathematical English
The last three require further clarification.
(h) If you would just tell us how the mechanics are supposed to work, then we could actually check your math. Sometimes, it's difficult to tell whether there actually is a bug or whether the math is just horribly convoluted.
(i) You need someone to proofread your work. There are far too many typos in this game. I don't know why you don't use a spell-checker; that would catch the numerous spelling errors. After the text is spell-checked, pass it to proofreaders to find the more complicated grammatical errors.
(j) Many of your tooltips are horribly written. They violate the basic conventions of mathematical English. Note that mathematical English is a different skill from both math and English. The skill can only be acquired by spending a lot of time writing mathematics, not just solving math problems. It's not a skill commonly taught at the undergraduate level, even in the sciences and engineering. It's really only required of math majors, though other people may pick it up, depending on the focus of their studies.
Hmm since LaughingTrendy does not link to a formal application webpage, I guess this thread is the application-slash-interview process. Unfortunately I do not have the extensive resume or CV as members like lucho80 have: I failed pre-calculus in college and only majored in the liberal arts.
However I have a pretty good command of English, detailed in my simple bug reports (which aren't on the forums anyway), am a Trekkie who references Gamepedia and Memory Alpha often, and have several characters. I am mostly a PvE player though and live far away in HI so I will be hours behind the Star Trek Online timezone.
I do have two questions: how will volunteers on the O.S.T. communicate with Quality Assurance? Through email, these game forums, a smartphone app, or some other means? Will volunteers need to download any additional addons (such as special debugging software or pack) to our game client? For example, I still use the original game launcher; would I need to install the Arc client instead?
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect. But actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey ... stuff. --the Doctor, "Blink"
For me, this sound like Cryptic wants to pass on some work, but without paying a dime.
Q&A/ testers is a common profession in the game and software industry, people make their living of it.
high caliber volunteers, heh, a ferengi couldn't formulate "high quality work for free" any better
Well at least someone had the grumba to put it into text .
I'll just add my suspicion that Cryptic came to the conclusion that some serious work was needed on the back end and they may / may not have asked PW for funds .
After that didn't go so well, they turned to their fanbase ... (after Geko stopped laughing at the idea) , who are falling all over themselves to help even here ... on the dreaded and often ignored forums .
I don't think Cryptic deserve their fanbase .
Star Trek does, not the arrogant #$%& @ Cryptic .
You want assistance with finding bugs? How about you start fixing all those bugs that have been reported over the years which are still in the game? After that one could finally take you seriously again....
I have been playing since free to play and I play almost every day. Professionally, I am a backend web developer with extensive MySQL knowledge, A good amount of linux server knowledge. I also have experience with application programming. If you have access to my account information you can use my real name to find me on linked in for more information on my skills.
35 years experience in software development and debugging, unit and integration testing, 15 years of MMO beta testing experience, and probably the guy who's submitted the greatest number of "you spelled that incorrectly or used the wrong grammar" bug reports to STO during its run.
I'm pretty sure it's illegal to solicit unpaid volunteers to do work that's currently being done by paid employees. Even if it's not, it's pretty immoral; just hire more QA staff and help the economy.
Pretty sure it isn't. Otherwise unpaid internships would be illegal (they're not), and Microsoft's Windows 10 Tech Preview program would have been illegal (it wasn't).
I think you mean "unethical," not "immoral." (If you don't, you don't understand the difference between morals and ethics.) Soliciting unpaid volunteers in order to replace paid positions would be unethical; soliciting volunteers to supplement paid positions isn't. With a fiduciary responsibility to ownership, the company is required by law to maintain the value of the stock, and so hiring more QA team members and thereby depleting the profit margin isn't an acceptable direction.
Anyway, I don't recall Trendy asking your opinion on the ethics of it--so, are you in, or are you out?
As a "since-launch" veteran of the game and a frequent flier on the Tribble Test Server, I am more than happy to participate in this initiative. I'm no programmer, but as a PvE Expert I would be happy to help squash bugs if it's as simple as finding ways to reproduce them.
I could not believe my eyes when I saw this, and I am truly ecstatic. This is exactly the thing STO needs, and now it is being done. Good one!
I would really like to help out as well. I've participated as a beta-tester for several games the last 15 years as open-tester, closed tester and in the end in-house volunteer tester for a gaming-company in Europe for some of their titles. For the latter company I was also a forum administrator and ran/coordinated the beta-testers on the forums.
I thus have extensive experience with hunting down bugs and reporting them in a proper manner to developers and communicating to them.
I'll go on a business trip at the end of next week, so if you should send me an email and I do not reply within the next 3-4 weeks it is because I am abroad. But if you offer me a seat you can consider it an auto-accept on my part and count me in.
To those that put all this in to play, thank you from the bottom of my heart. :-)
I volunteer readily for this. Been gaming since '79, playing STO since early '11. I prefer a methodical approach to things, helps in RPG's! Also, I have loads of free time due to a long-term injury keeping me off work, so appreciate something to do! I do have experience in play-testing and have been a beta-player of Destiny as well as a couple of a small games. I am also a volunteer Ambassador for Xbox, helping players with issues with their consoles.
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
Comments
I would be so so happy to take part in this, it sounds like an awesome thing to do!
Would it be on Holodeck or on Tribble?
Greywolf Taskforce
I've been playing Star Trek Online for roughly 2 and a half years, and I have definitely ran into my fair share of bugs.
Now you are requesting our assistance in sniffing them out? Sounds like fun!
Count me in!
Yes, a real bug tracking tool would be great. The in-game bug reporting tool is severely limited: I can't look up my old bug reports, and I can't search to see if an issue has already been reported. I have to rely on the forums for those things.
Also, Tribble ticket numbers and Holodeck ticket numbers are completely different. Why is that? What happens to a bug report filed on Tribble after the bug goes live? Is the bug report automatically copied over? Does QA have to do it manually? Maybe, Cryptic could shed some light on this process. Sometimes, I report a bug four times: once on Tribble, once on the "Tribble - Bug Reports" forum, again on Holodeck after the bug goes live, and once more on the "Gameplay Bug Reports" forum. It's a huge waste of time. It would be much more efficient if I could simply look up a bug that I reported on Tribble and mark it as having gone live.
I also waste a great deal of time uploading images to imgur. Part of that would be alleviated by better text-based tools.
But it would also help if I could upload files directly your bug database. I'm not thinking only of images here; some people might want to upload combat logs or other data.
if you require any other info please mail me thanks
(a) space PvP
(b) ground PvP
(c) space PvE
(d) ground PvE
(e) doffing
(f) the tailor and outfits
(g) the Foundry
(h) math
(i) English
(j) mathematical English
The last three require further clarification.
(h) If you would just tell us how the mechanics are supposed to work, then we could actually check your math. Sometimes, it's difficult to tell whether there actually is a bug or whether the math is just horribly convoluted.
(i) You need someone to proofread your work. There are far too many typos in this game. I don't know why you don't use a spell-checker; that would catch the numerous spelling errors. After the text is spell-checked, pass it to proofreaders to find the more complicated grammatical errors.
(j) Many of your tooltips are horribly written. They violate the basic conventions of mathematical English. Note that mathematical English is a different skill from both math and English. The skill can only be acquired by spending a lot of time writing mathematics, not just solving math problems. It's not a skill commonly taught at the undergraduate level, even in the sciences and engineering. It's really only required of math majors, though other people may pick it up, depending on the focus of their studies.
However I have a pretty good command of English, detailed in my simple bug reports (which aren't on the forums anyway), am a Trekkie who references Gamepedia and Memory Alpha often, and have several characters. I am mostly a PvE player though and live far away in HI so I will be hours behind the Star Trek Online timezone.
I do have two questions: how will volunteers on the O.S.T. communicate with Quality Assurance? Through email, these game forums, a smartphone app, or some other means? Will volunteers need to download any additional addons (such as special debugging software or pack) to our game client? For example, I still use the original game launcher; would I need to install the Arc client instead?
OS X El Capitan 10.11.2
Well at least someone had the grumba to put it into text .
I'll just add my suspicion that Cryptic came to the conclusion that some serious work was needed on the back end and they may / may not have asked PW for funds .
After that didn't go so well, they turned to their fanbase ... (after Geko stopped laughing at the idea) , who are falling all over themselves to help even here ... on the dreaded and often ignored forums .
I don't think Cryptic deserve their fanbase .
Star Trek does, not the arrogant #$%& @ Cryptic .
==Read about the UFPlanets Armada==
Put me in, coach.
I think you mean "unethical," not "immoral." (If you don't, you don't understand the difference between morals and ethics.) Soliciting unpaid volunteers in order to replace paid positions would be unethical; soliciting volunteers to supplement paid positions isn't. With a fiduciary responsibility to ownership, the company is required by law to maintain the value of the stock, and so hiring more QA team members and thereby depleting the profit margin isn't an acceptable direction.
Anyway, I don't recall Trendy asking your opinion on the ethics of it--so, are you in, or are you out?
I would really like to help out as well. I've participated as a beta-tester for several games the last 15 years as open-tester, closed tester and in the end in-house volunteer tester for a gaming-company in Europe for some of their titles. For the latter company I was also a forum administrator and ran/coordinated the beta-testers on the forums.
I thus have extensive experience with hunting down bugs and reporting them in a proper manner to developers and communicating to them.
I'll go on a business trip at the end of next week, so if you should send me an email and I do not reply within the next 3-4 weeks it is because I am abroad. But if you offer me a seat you can consider it an auto-accept on my part and count me in.
To those that put all this in to play, thank you from the bottom of my heart. :-)
For the Glory of UFP Starfleet
Regular tribble tester and very knowledgeable about game mechanics since 2012.
dps.shivtr.com/
More than happy to help quash the bugs!
Proud Member of the Operational Support (Bug Hunter) Team