Open letter to the Vanguard Dev’s

[Arctic_Slicer]

Originally Posted by capricious

After the servers are merged all players are to be offered a 'one time' only free transfer (Lock stock and barrel move, Char exists on one server only). I propose that Test is offered up as a possible destination, this would allow those people that wanted to move to Test the opportunity to do so. This would be a one way move only and even if character transfers were to be implemented in the future it would not be possible to move off of Test.

I don't play on test but there seems to be a number of people that seem to think that something needs to be done and soon. Sure they could offer one time transfers to test but how many people would actually want to move to test? If these people had a desire to play on test you would think that they would have created characters there already. If there is a need for more people to be on test then they need to do more to get people to play on that server. Offering transfers that nobody is likely to take is no solution.

Fact is most people don't want to take the time to level up their characters on a test server. The only two viable options are either test copy or test buff commands. As stated earlier a test copy is a copy of a character from a live server. Test buff on the other hand would allow players to create new characters on test and then /testbuff them to the desired level usually in multiples of 5. For example if I logged onto a level 1 character on test and /testbuff 25 the game would log me out and the character collection screen would now display a level 25 character.

[Naiya]

yea I thought about that too - test buffs scare me more than character copies because at least with character copies the person has played their toon to that level and should be familiar with how they work....buff bots are even less useful for focused training

[Lendal]

You guys don't want people to have characters on the live servers and also play on test once in a while? You don't want people to play on the test server just to see new stuff and try it out before it hits the live servers?

How can you think that it would spoil your environement to have people come and join you on the test server. Would these people be 'unclean' players? Will it try your patience to be around them so much that it will spoil your 'immersion'?

You people make me sick! You're not 'elite'. You're not 'special'. Your arrogance is disgusting! You should be trying to help the game not trying to create your own special little clique on the test server.

[SwordMage]

Originally Posted by Lendal

You guys don't want people to have characters on the live servers and also play on test once in a while? You don't want people to play on the test server just to see new stuff and try it out before it hits the live servers?

How can you think that it would spoil your environement to have people come and join you on the test server. Would these people be 'unclean' players? Will it try your patience to be around them so much that it will spoil your 'immersion'?

You people make me sick! You're not 'elite'. You're not 'special'. Your arrogance is disgusting! You should be trying to help the game not trying to create your own special little clique on the test server.

What they are trying to do, because it works, is create a viable community on the test server. People who are there, week after week, testing the changes that are always showing up. It isn't enough that a bunch of people show up when some major change is on the horizon to try out the sexy new stuff; we need a group of testers who know how to work together to find bugs month in and month out.

In the text communities I have joined (EQ2, SWG, and briefly VG), I have never found myself confronted with an attitude of elitism. What I have found is a group of people who welcome anyone who is willing to roll up his or her sleaves and test the code.

[Ysharros]

Originally Posted by Lendal

You guys don't want people to have characters on the live servers and also play on test once in a while? You don't want people to play on the test server just to see new stuff and try it out before it hits the live servers?

How can you think that it would spoil your environement to have people come and join you on the test server. Would these people be 'unclean' players? Will it try your patience to be around them so much that it will spoil your 'immersion'?

You people make me sick! You're not 'elite'. You're not 'special'. Your arrogance is disgusting! You should be trying to help the game not trying to create your own special little clique on the test server.

That's harsh. There's nothing wrong with trying stuff out -- there is, however, a distinct lack of courtesy in logging in, asking for a precis of things they could have read for themselves on the patch notes (something most people should do on both test and live), and then being rude to those who usually play there. I've seen it numerous times. Test players aren't devs; they don't have all the answers, and most of the time when there's a bug the best they can do is confirm it. That doesn't give *anyone* the right to become abusive.

I have absolutely nothing against people coming to any server to have a look around, least of all Test, which is an obvious conduit for player curiosity. I *do* take issue with discourtesy. Like your post, for instance. Test does have its share of hostile players - gee, I've never seen that anywhere else. Many of us play there by choice, and we DO NOT like to be abused by people who log on, insult us, and log off again. We DO NOT like to get flak because 20-30 people didn't catch a bug that's now doing the rounds of live (which incidentally we may well have caught, it may just not have been fixed in time). We don't particularly want to hear that our broker is crap, that our crafters are crap, and that the players are crap, and that it's somehow our fault that there isn't a buff-bot, a summon-gear bot, and a god mode.

Whatever happened to saying hello before laying into people, or asking questions that are borderline -- or downright obviously -- insulting? Players are no more hostile on Test than they are on any Live server where incoming players behave like boors -- there are just fewer players on Test to soak up the BS in the general chatter, so it doesn't go unnoticed.

Note that the majority of folks logging on to Test, for whatever reason, are not like that. However, in a population of several dozen at most, boorish behaviour stands out and worse, is likely to be remembered. If you don't like it that you can't be insulting to folks - that's your choice. It's my choice not to stand for that kind of behaviour.

Call it a clique if you like. It's actually a smallish community whose members "see" each other every day; we're not all best buddies, but we are, to a player, united in wanting to be useful to the server and the game, even if we don't always agree on how that's best achieved. It's not as hermetic as you think. But if someone copped a 'tude on live servers the way they do on test, they would (and regularly do) get rebuffed and ignored. Rudeness is no more acceptable on a test server than it is anywhere else. There *is* a huge sense of pride on Test -- we're proud of our server and want it to have an identity, where possible, just as much as the players on other servers are proud of theirs. We *do* want to create a community -- whether you play on test 2 hours a week or 10 hours a day doesn't matter. There are folks we see very infrequently who are very much part of the community.

But hey, if negativity floats your boat, you keep it up.

[Aredhel]

I play on both servers. Sometimes, I just want to test stuff and other times, it's kinda nice to see how things are working on the live servers.

It's really not a matter of either/or, but it's a choice people can make. If they want to /logmove Test, then fine! If they want to make toons both places...more power to them.

Understanding about how things operate on Test is important! There are some things the devs ask that you wouldn't normally run up on in Live, and getting to know each other comes in very handy! It's definately not being "elitist" in any sense. If you think so, perhaps it's misunderstanding, but the Test group is a lot of fun!

[capricious]

I don't play on test but there seems to be a number of people that seem to think that something needs to be done and soon. Sure they could offer one time transfers to test but how many people would actually want to move to test? If these people had a desire to play on test you would think that they would have created characters there already. If there is a need for more people to be on test then they need to do more to get people to play on that server. Offering transfers that nobody is likely to take is no solution.

Arctic,

One of the recurring themes I saw at the launch of test and after was people expressing the view that they would be happy to play on Test but did not want to lose the investment they had made in their live characters. The option of a transfer would allow those players to move if they still wished to. If after the transfer SOE considered that the population still needed a boost then other options could be considered.

[Naiya]

Originally Posted by Lendal

You guys don't want people to have characters on the live servers and also play on test once in a while? You don't want people to play on the test server just to see new stuff and try it out before it hits the live servers?

Incorrect. I have characters on Florindyl and Gulgrathor at the moment. I need them to test things Live vs. Test. I do a full smoke test on live every time there is a patch. Just as I do one on test every time there is a patch. I'm paranoid like that (and being a STE makes it a habit for me). I also do it to test some of the known mission bugs that existed on test and my test toons are too high to verify the fix but my love toons can try it. But when asked, My home is test.

Originally Posted by Lendal

How can you think that it would spoil your environement to have people come and join you on the test server. Would these people be 'unclean' players? Will it try your patience to be around them so much that it will spoil your 'immersion'?

I'm not sure I understand you here. I don't think any of us on test give a lick about "immersion" we are a test server - not an RP server. When I want RP (and I'm a power gaming role player at heart) I go to Florindyl. When I want immersion - I hit live.

i don't quite understand how live players are "unclean" I do know that live and test have two different mentalities - sort of like comparing RP and FFA PvP. Two completely different mentalities but that does not make one or the other "unclean" I'm sorry you think one type of player is "unclean" I don't believe that any of us here held that belief.

Originally Posted by Lendal

You people make me sick! You're not 'elite'. You're not 'special'. Your arrogance is disgusting! You should be trying to help the game not trying to create your own special little clique on the test server.

I'm sorry you are not feeling well. As you said, we are no different than the role-players nor the FFA PvPers.

What we are trying to do (as was mentioned before) is build a community where people come in, are welcome and don't feel as if it is impossible to get started because the broker is loaded with items that are priced at 2s/level for newbie green gear. We are trying to build a core group who would be able to raid test when needed. Whether in guild or not.

I don't mind as much if people want to bring toons over to test the new shiney toys. I *do* mind if people come in and berate the community for not having everything they think we are supposed to have.

The mentality on test is different. If new players need something, they can /join test and ask if someone knows where they can pick it up or if someone has a spare. Much like the live servers, being willing to help yourself will go much father than begging. Just the other day someone asked where they could get some cheap bags because there were none on the broker. One of the crafters stopped what she was doing and made him a set of 3 cotton ones. That's how we roll. The whole server is a guild - we work together to get things accomplished. We may not always agree - just as in this topic we are divided about point #4. Discourse is healthy

If that makes us elitist or special - than, I guess we are.

[Darkmoore]

I am completely against buff bots for a very large reason. Just take a look at what happened to Star Wars:Galaxies. "Blue frogs" RUINED the TestCenter over there. Ruined it so bad, they took it down and released a "clean" galaxy.

Buff bots will never work. Character copies will only work if the test servers are only opened up when you want specific things tested. (i.e. World of Warcraft)

The ONLY way to get thorough testing done is to have a COMMUNITY that works together. It has nothing to do with elitism, like that jerk above stated. It has to do with a group of people who are so passionate about a game that they want to do everything possible to make it the best game out there. Sounds to me like the bonehead above just simply wants to see new stuff first.


Anyway, 'nuff said.

[Ysharros]

Hey Dark! Log on already! You are much missed!