I'm looking forward to testing, in a stage early enough that there may be time to correct things based on our feedback.
Speaking of feedback: Will there be a special bug reporting/feedback system? I always found forums to be rather inefficient (posts get lost so quickly). I'd rather have a special website with a very good searching/exploration feature (faceted search would be awesome). Makes it much easier to place your feedback in the relevant category and find if there is already an entry about a topic. Also very important IMO: A status/feedback area for the devs (like, "bug ackknowledged" or "working as intended").
NuggieOndahead said:
I'm looking forward to breaking your game in as many ways as possible. One time in EQ1 I as running along a zone wall, trying to not get lost, and i fell through the world. The Dev's had left a hole in the zone wall?! I petitioned it and showed the GM. He was as baffled as i was.
A checklist would be good, of things you want us to test in each area.
After that I'm going to run around as many corners into as many mobs as possible and get that "Oh CRAP!" feeling back. Haven't felt that in years.
I look forward to you helping us break it, along with everyone else, it's going to be fun!
There is no checklist yet but the Devs will either announce it or get me to relay that information to you all if they want anything specifically tested, I am sure they will ask for certain things to be pushed depending on what phase of Alpha we are in.
Zandil said:
Will there be a in game bug reporting tool ?
I am just waiting to hear back from Dan, I will let you guys know as soon as I can confirm it for you.
Malsirian said:
ok this is going to sound corny as **** but I hope I can find a way to meaningfully contribute to the continued development of Pantheon once alpha begins. I really want Pantheon succeed and I'd love to help that happen. Aside from that, I'm really looking forward to getting into a brand new unexplored world.
Not corny at all Malsirian, our entire team is full of people with the same passion and drive to make this game, not to mention the majority of the community who feel the same, so you are in good company mate :)
Sarim said:
I'm looking forward to testing, in a stage early enough that there may be time to correct things based on our feedback.
Speaking of feedback: Will there be a special bug reporting/feedback system? I always found forums to be rather inefficient (posts get lost so quickly). I'd rather have a special website with a very good searching/exploration feature (faceted search would be awesome). Makes it much easier to place your feedback in the relevant category and find if there is already an entry about a topic. Also very important IMO: A status/feedback area for the devs (like, "bug ackknowledged" or "working as intended").
That is specifically what Alpha is for and we intend to use it to do just that ;)
If we find something doesn't work or feel right and you guy's help brainstorm a better alternative, then we will definitely take it on board and come up with a way to make it work for everyone.
As I replied to Zandil, I am waiting for Dan our lead Programmer to get back to me and I will post to let you guy's know, I do remember having this discussion a while ago with Brad, Perkins and Dan but I am not certain what was agreed on, so as soon as I find out I will let you all know. :)
I spoke to Dan and he said we will have a /bug command report system in place which will take note of your location and any mob you might have targeted, he is hoping to get more features implemented but we will at least have that as a bare minimum, we most likely will also have a web form/sub forum for more detailed discussions/repro steps etc. so that is good news and will make things easier for the testers.
Kilsin said:
I spoke to Dan and he said we will have a /bug command report system in place which will take note of your location and any mob you might have targeted, he is hoping to get more features implemented but we will at least have that as a bare minimum, we most likely will also have a web form/sub forum for more detailed discussions/repro steps etc. so that is good news and will make things easier for the testers.
I would also like to have an in-game chat channel, or skype or something I can run on a second computer(with headset), for immediate updates or changes to the testing needs. Would this be a possibility?
BloodbeardBattlecaster said:
Kilsin said:
I spoke to Dan and he said we will have a /bug command report system in place which will take note of your location and any mob you might have targeted, he is hoping to get more features implemented but we will at least have that as a bare minimum, we most likely will also have a web form/sub forum for more detailed discussions/repro steps etc. so that is good news and will make things easier for the testers.
I would also like to have an in-game chat channel, or skype or something I can run on a second computer(with headset), for immediate updates or changes to the testing needs. Would this be a possibility?
There will be some methods to contact the Devs but it has to be controlled since there will be hundreds/thousands? of people trying to message them at once, so we will most likely use the in-game chat Announcement/Broadcast system to push messages to everyone on the server and to communicate to everyone in bulk plus our Official forums will most likely have a sub-forum dedicated to Alpha/Beta testing etc.
We may jump in Ventrillo, Teamspeak, Mumble, Skype etc. when doing more focused testing with groups/guilds plus I am always happy to jump in and talk to you guy's and girls to pass that information onto the appropriate team members, as I am the chief liaison between the Team and the Community and communicate for both sides as the Community and Web Manager :)
I am just excited by the whole process. I have never tested alpha and really what I joined this forum for was to help contribute to the game and I think this will be the first time that I will really be able to do that (other than some financial considerations of course). I do hope there is a script but that there are also tasks that are broken in to longer and shorter ones. I would like to be able to jump on for 10-20 min and IDK spam different combination of spell on different setting for my hardware or something but also be able to test long term grouping with people coming in or out when I have more time and it all still be helpful to the team. This is mainly because as I have mentioned I have never alpha tested before and with out a list of shorter tasks I might not know what to try and test when I have slightly less time.
I am also excited to see the new Unity 5 in action!
cram9030 said:
I am just excited by the whole process. I have never tested alpha and really what I joined this forum for was to help contribute to the game and I think this will be the first time that I will really be able to do that (other than some financial considerations of course). I do hope there is a script but that there are also tasks that are broken in to longer and shorter ones. I would like to be able to jump on for 10-20 min and IDK spam different combination of spell on different setting for my hardware or something but also be able to test long term grouping with people coming in or out when I have more time and it all still be helpful to the team. This is mainly because as I have mentioned I have never alpha tested before and with out a list of shorter tasks I might not know what to try and test when I have slightly less time.
I am also excited to see the new Unity 5 in action!
It is exciting mate, seeing the game in it's naked and broken Alpha form helps you understand just what makes games like this tick and the amount of work that goes into making them. It's pretty awesome to have a part in helping to deliver a solid game to the public is very satisfying with very little reward, other than that of appreciation and personal achievement.
I look forward to seeing you in Alpha Cram :)
Manouk said:
OK from all these posts, it sounds different than the testing I associate with work, so, I think I am being influenced by the crowd a bit here and am leaning towards a yes.
It's fun testing with a serious side to it but it is essentially playing the game in it's early broken form and helping fix it ready for release and it helps us out immensely not to mention helps the game release with much fewer bugs :)
Manouk said:
OK from all these posts, it sounds different than the testing I associate with work, so, I think I am being influenced by the crowd a bit here and am leaning towards a yes.
Oh its lots of fun Manouk - you get to be in a fresh new world! If it starts to feel to much like work then ease back a bit. The testing community is so much nicer, more helpful and interactive than when the game goes live - plus you get to laugh at all the bugs!
You also need to have fun in Alpha as well, part of the testing phase is to ensure the game and systems are fun and exciting to use and play, if you feel it's boring or over complicated to the point of being a chore the team want to know about it as well, so they can improve the fun of said system.
Zandil said:
You also need to have fun in Alpha as well, part of the testing phase is to ensure the game and systems are fun and exciting to use and play, if you feel it's boring or over complicated to the point of being a chore the team want to know about it as well, so they can improve the fun of said system.
That is correct, as I said, fun with a serious side to it and we will be taking a lot of feedback from everyone, if something isn't fun or doesn't work, then that is something we will take seriously and investigate further.
NuggieOndahead said:
Alpha is all about finding things that make the game unstable, no? The fun aspect, quest flaws, difficulty of different aspects of the game, etc is all for beta. Am I incorrect in this?
You can have fun by all means but the Alpha state of the game needs to be respected and people should go into it understanding that it is unfinished, buggy, unstable and requires a lot more work to be ready for Beta and then release.
If you enjoy playing a new game and finding bugs, reporting them in a detailed format and like hanging out with team members and fellow dedicated testers, then fun will come naturally! but if it gets to be too much of you find that you are burning out, then please take a break, step away, relax and either come back when you're ready or for Beta/Release and enjoy the hard work that has gone into fixing the game :)
Zandil said:
NuggieOndahead said:
Alpha is all about finding things that make the game unstable, no? The fun aspect, quest flaws, difficulty of different aspects of the game, etc is all for beta. Am I incorrect in this?it's about both, always easier to change something as early as possible if you can.
My work system has a test site where my team are always asked to test new add on's before we release it to the world, the earlier we catch anything the easier it is for our Dev team to fix it, the further they move forward with a new system the more work it is to go back and correct it.
Sorry about double post, thought i edited my original post ( obliviously I didn't )
Kilsin said:
I spoke to Dan and he said we will have a /bug command report system in place which will take note of your location and any mob you might have targeted, he is hoping to get more features implemented but we will at least have that as a bare minimum, we most likely will also have a web form/sub forum for more detailed discussions/repro steps etc. so that is good news and will make things easier for the testers.
If it could take a screen shot as well would be great.
By the way has Dan thawed out up in Brisbane yet ? or is he still in shock from seeing snow for the first time ever ;)
I'm looking forward to sitting back in my chair one night and thinking "DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! - What the hell just happened!"
That is - I'm looking forward to being in a virtual world that isn't so bent on "am I having fun right now" - that realizes rewards you work for often trump constant fun that eventually becomes not so fun.
EQ had you sitting back in your chair sometimes thinking "DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!" - BUT - when you eventually overcame that obstacle... ohh how gloriously sweet it was.
Zandil said:
Kilsin said:
I spoke to Dan and he said we will have a /bug command report system in place which will take note of your location and any mob you might have targeted, he is hoping to get more features implemented but we will at least have that as a bare minimum, we most likely will also have a web form/sub forum for more detailed discussions/repro steps etc. so that is good news and will make things easier for the testers.
If it could take a screen shot as well would be great.
By the way has Dan thawed out up in Brisbane yet ? or is he still in shock from seeing snow for the first time ever ;)
Funny you should mention that!
After asking Dan about the bug reporting system last night and having him explain that he wanted more features but needed to work on other things, I offered to put something together for him and came up with a five-page word document to throw some idea's around and he was pretty pleased with it, the reason I mention this is because a screenshot feature was one of the idea's I had marked down and we discussed that feature in more detail today in Skype.
Dan wants to try and get it to work so that if you toggle a screenshot option within the bug report, the UI will disappear so you can target the bug/area and then take a screenshot, once complete the UI will reappear again with an upload to server button, so that it will be stored with the other information, that's the plan anyway, we will see what he can do with it.
I also put together a mock WIP digital layout of what the bug report window/UI could look like with buttons/drop box/sub-menu etc. and it came out looking pretty good and Dan seemed to like it so we will see what happens.
Of course, nothing is set in stone but it was great to brainstorm it together to benefit both the Dev team and the Community :)
Zandil said:
Always nice to hear our ideas are being heard past these forums, not doubting they are but the feed back is nice to hear
I am in constant communication with different team, it is my primary role to be the chief liaison between the team and the community, so most discussions, good or bad go through me to the team and from the team to you guys ;)
I actually took a bit of inspiration from ESO for the bug report and screenshot feature, I have been playing it a lot lately (again, like my 3rd time going back to play) and basically added a ton more to those options to better suit Pantheon but I must admit, I did have notes lying around from a few months ago when I previously started putting together a list of UI features, I'm weird like that, when I am bored, I write reports on things and save them for rainy days lol.
Kilsin said:
Zandil said:
Kilsin said:
I spoke to Dan and he said we will have a /bug command report system in place which will take note of your location and any mob you might have targeted, he is hoping to get more features implemented but we will at least have that as a bare minimum, we most likely will also have a web form/sub forum for more detailed discussions/repro steps etc. so that is good news and will make things easier for the testers.
If it could take a screen shot as well would be great.
By the way has Dan thawed out up in Brisbane yet ? or is he still in shock from seeing snow for the first time ever ;)
Funny you should mention that!
After asking Dan about the bug reporting system last night and having him explain that he wanted more features but needed to work on other things, I offered to put something together for him and came up with a five-page word document to throw some idea's around and he was pretty pleased with it, the reason I mention this is because a screenshot feature was one of the idea's I had marked down and we discussed that feature in more detail today in Skype.
Dan wants to try and get it to work so that if you toggle a screenshot option within the bug report, the UI will disappear so you can target the bug/area and then take a screenshot, once complete the UI will reappear again with an upload to server button, so that it will be stored with the other information, that's the plan anyway, we will see what he can do with it.
I also put together a mock WIP digital layout of what the bug report window/UI could look like with buttons/drop box/sub-menu etc. and it came out looking pretty good and Dan seemed to like it so we will see what happens.
Of course, nothing is set in stone but it was great to brainstorm it together to benefit both the Dev team and the Community :)
He may want to consider keeping the UI in the SS. Sometimes the bug has to do with the UI or you can see it in the chat log. The UI information is very useful. We usually have enough room to center our screen so that the item that we need to identify can be seen with the UI in place. I am only a layman however and there may be better reasons for not including the UI. Also you may only be talking about the bug report UI (if it can be hidden separately)- in which case nvm :) .
If I may suggest - most games have a toggle to show UI /hide UI. If a person who wishes to hide their UI before taking a SS they may do so by pressing a button (Cntrl-x, scroll lock or whatever) to hide their UI. Then they can toggle your screenhot capture.
Zarriya said:
He may want to consider keeping the UI in the SS. Sometimes the bug has to do with the UI or you can see it in the chat log. The UI information is very useful. We usually have enough room to center our screen so that the item that we need to identify can be seen with the UI in place. I am only a layman however and there may be better reasons for not including the UI. Also you may only be talking about the bug report UI (if it can be hidden separately)- in which case nvm :) .
If I may suggest - most games have a toggle to show UI /hide UI. If a person who wishes to hide their UI before taking a SS they may do so by pressing a button (Cntrl-x, scroll lock or whatever) to hide their UI. Then they can toggle your screenhot capture.
I like the toggling the UI idea as well it seems helpful. I would also like to suggest providing us with a bug report number so that we can add more information the the report if say we recreate the bug later or maybe want to do a little paint job on the screen shot to show exactly what we were talking about to the devs and then upload it on the website or something.
