Everquest and its Developers need YOUR help!

Due to recent server instability, the Everquest Test server has taken a huge population hit. Test was the initial platform for a massive internal upgrade for Everquest, and it caused Test server downtime never before seen in its lifetime. After months of work, the server is once again stable ™, and in dire need of a population refresh.

Why should we, as Everquest players, care about Test?

Everquest does not have a large internal QA team. I believe most patches and updates are tested by the developers themselves, in internal environments, and without the much needed assistance that an expensive QA team provides. It's easy to see why this could be a huge problem for a massive and constantly changing game like Everquest. Fortunately, a solution was implemented over a decade and a half ago: The Everquest Test Server. The recent instability caused by the internal updates are a prime example of this. Without a proper, active, and populated server to test these changes on, it's very possible they would have been rolled out to Live. The results would have been nothing short of disastrous. On a smaller scale, bugged quests, abilities working incorrectly, and broken mechanics are all but guaranteed to slip through the cracks without the help that Test provides.

The Everquest Test server fills an essential role in day-to-day patch and maintenance reliability. This affects all of us, as Everquest players, in a very direct way. Players are needed on Test to ensure patches rolled out to Live arrive as bug-free as possible. When Test is short on players, the Live servers will eventually be affected.

Why should I play on Test?

There are enormous benefits to playing on Test, and a few stark downsides. I'll list them here for easy readability, but the most important advantage to the Test server, for me as a player, is the community. I like to think we have one of the best communities on Test out of any server on EQ. We are helpful, respectful, and fun. There is always someone willing to lend a hand if you're in need, and we're very accepting of new players. We are very forgiving of mistakes, understand that people have bad days, and generally enjoy giving many chances to new members of our community. Consistently rude, disrespectful, or caustic players very quickly find themselves playing on Test alone. Most of the people I talk to repeatedly cite this as the biggest reason they continue to play on Test.

Aside from the excellent community, there are some big time perks associated with copying over to Test:

• Unlimited Free Gold All-Access accounts, with every expansion unlocked except the most recent one. Currently, a free account on Test has access to Level 105, unlimited AA's, unlimited access to prestige items, Journeyman Mercenary's, and all content up to and including The Darkened Sea. The Broken Mirror can also be accessed on Test if purchased.
• Unlimited access to the /testcopy function, once per character, every 8 hours. Testcopy is a full, 1:1 copy of the character you type the command in on live, to Test. This is not a move. Your character remains on Live, and is also present on Test. All equipment, achievements, platinum, and experience is copied in full to the Test server. This means you can take a mule character from Live, load it with all the tradeable items and platinum you can, then /testcopy. In another 8 hours, you can do this again. This makes it easy to gear new toons/players in basic sets of group gear, or provide unlimited access to tradeskill resources, or a number of other neat tricks. Be creative
• A 100% experience bonus, active all the time. This is just like the FV ruleset bonus, only twice as much. It stacks with all other forms of bonus experience, including holiday bonuses and XP potions (of which there are many on Test).
• Access to the /testbuff command, which will instantly level you to 25 and provide you with 3 bags and a full set of gear. It also sets all your skills at 150, including combat skills and spell casting.
• Early access to patches and updates, usually at least a week in advance. While this can also be a downside, it's more often a positive, as we get the first look at what changes are coming and how they will affect the game.
• The knowledge that you're providing a valuable and indispensable service to the game, the community, and the developers at Daybreak.
• We have cake. Supported by Developer and Crusher of Hopes and Dreams, Hludwolf:
  [Tue Jul 19 18:34:39 2016] Hludwolf tells General:1, 'There is cake, no chocolate'
  Cake. Confirmed.

Who should consider playing on the Test Server?

The Test server isn't for everyone, but it's an excellent choice for some.

You should play on Test if:

• You're a returning player looking to get back into the game, but aren't ready to dive in with a subscription. Test will allow you to fully explore what the Live servers are like when granted All-Access.
• You're a new player looking to get into the game, but aren't sure if EQ is for you.
• You're a player that would like to contribute to the game in a unique and different way than you are able to on Live. By playing on Test, you're supporting the overall health of the game just by being around.
• You're already an exclusively free-to-play player, and would like to give back to the community in a more meaningful way.
• You have real QA experience and want to help test content, bugs, and mechanics. We are in dire need of more players with the motivation, knowledge, and playtime to properly vet new patches.
• You're a helpful person looking for a good community of casual players to spend time with.

You shouldn't play on test if:

• You are easily frustrated by server downtime, bugs, or broken mechanics. While Test has been stable for most of it's 15 year history, we do undergo periods of instability. The recent issues on Test are a rarity, however, and Test up-time is consistently on par with Live. Still, it's not unheard of to have a bad week with multiple unannounced 30 minute patches.
• You're already an established EQ subscriber. Your dollars help fund the game, the developers, and allow EQ to continue to exist for years to come.
• You enjoy being a “trader”. There is no economy on Test. Platinum and items are in abundance for respectful and helpful players. Trader-types will be extremely disappointed when they find out the same item that sells for 1,000,000 platinum on Live is being sold for 2cp on Test.
• You have an overwhelmingly negative attitude, are openly looking for hand-outs or a “free-ride”, or have been ostracized from your server for your actions there. If you have a bad reputation on your Live server, you are not likely to find a good home here. That being said, if you're looking to get a “fresh-start” and want to make legitimate changes to the way you treat others, we are always happy to give people that opportunity.

How do I get started on Test?

It's not complicated! In the past, connecting to Test could be a pain, but now it's more streamlined than ever. Log in to Live on the character you would like to copy to test. If you're planning to place additional items on this character to copy to Test, be sure to force a “save” by deleting a copper. Then type /testcopy and click “Yes”. Your character is now copied to the Test server!

If you plan to only play on Test, all you need to do is start the regular Everquest launchpad you use everyday to play on Live. Click the the little gear icon near the bottom left corner of the Launchpad. Click “Select Game Version” and then click the drop down menu to change “Live” to “Test”. Click apply and wait for the updated patch to load, then click play. Welcome to the Test server!

If you plan to switch back and forth, it's wise to keep two Everquest directories so you don't have to repeat the above paragraphs steps to switch between Live and Test. It's not required, but it is helpful. You can be logged into the Test server and a Live server on the same account at the same time if you have two EQ directories. Simply place a shortcut to the application launchpad.exe (navigate to the directory, find launchpad.exe, right click → send to desktop (Create shortcut)) from each directory, labeling one “Everquest – Test” and one “Everquest – Live”.

Some other helpful tips:

• Your UI comes with you! Simply open options and click “copy layout”.Then select “UI_yourname_yourserver”. Make sure the Socials, Loadouts, and Hotbuttons options are checked!
• If you're starting a new character, don't forget about /testbuff!
• When Live is down for maintenance, Test will almost always be up. The launchpad may be down, however. You can bypass the launchpad by creating a shortcut to eqgame.exe on your desktop and adding patchme to the end of the target path. Example: “C:\a directory\everquest\eqgame.exe” patchme”
• Don't be afraid to ask for help! The Test server is here to help the game, as such we are very willing to give any help we can to new players finding their way around. The only stupid questions are ones left unasked!
• If you're new to Test, head on over to the Primal Brood guild recruitment thread. Primal Brood has been active on EQ since 2002 and is the only guild on Test with a focus on group content, raids, and having fun with your friends.

To further promote the Test server, Primal Brood will be running a massive giveaway event this Saturday (July 23rd), starting at Noon (12pm) Pacific, 3 PM Eastern on the Everquest Test server. Dozens of items, prizes, and millions of platinum will be given away to participants over the course of several events.

We will have a EQ trivia contest, a naked lvl 1 race across Norrath, and will end with a free-for-all Arena /testbuff PvP event. Prizes are numerous and everyone who participates will receive some kind of prize! These will only be available to characters on Test and include,

• Rare Prize illusion clickies, like Shadowstone Tiaras and Wurmscale masks.
• Rare Prize Fast mounts, like Wrulon Warders, Flying Carpets, and many more.
• Nimbus', Nimbus', Nimbus'. Come up your Nimbus game on Test!
• Platinum, sets of group gear, and other useful group-items.
• Many more

We have an extensive stock of these items to give away, and hope this event will draw people in to give Test a try. Spread the word and come help your EQ community be a better place for everyone!

Coming from Firiona Vie and test copying over to Test, I have noticed a significant amount of friendliness. There's absolutely no drama that I've noticed. And this is coming from someone who talks way too much in general chat over on FV. *lol*

Anyway, I highly suggest test copying over to test and/or creating a new toon. The people over there are VERY friendly and more than willing to help you out. My first week there, someone even gave me a crap load of free LoN prizes. Just because. That's not to say you guys should take advantage of Test's friendliness, but if you're looking for super friendly and super helpful people, try the server out.

That's my 2 coppers.

er, bypassing the launcher, the example should not have a quote after patchme:
“C:\a directory\everquest\eqgame.exe” patchme <--- it should look like this.

Also, agents of change are horrifically broken on Test. Do not use them! Housing is also bugged. Fixes are in the works for both issues.

Every server except for TLP and Quarrm are taking big hits lately.

Suggestion for Devs: Bonus Loyalty points for each week in which an account logs into Test server, and stays for a particular amount of time.

We are always appreciative of the folks who take the extra time to log in on Test and point out issues for us. The team isn't always able to respond but rest assured bugs posted and concerns brought up are absolutely read through. Thanks again to those of you who participate! It honestly helps us make a better game.

I love playing on test. Came over due to my old guild on Povar's leader mentioning it as a way to play without paying. No income means no subscriptions. Found Primal Brood fairly quickly once joining and couldn't be happier! Made some very good friends and always have fun when I log in.

Joined test way back when you had to sub to play on test etc. Never really looked back.

Hey devs enable Project M on test again? Kthx.

As much as I would like to be appreciative of this comment, I have to say that I couldn't disagree with this more.

Nothing personal against your comments RadarX but having been on the burned end of positively reporting bugs (both here on the forums and at https://dgcissuetracker.com), and being told something IS NOT A BUG....(and let me make this very clear in no uncertain terms "YOU ARE WRONG")..... only to be proven correct that what you reported as a bug was a bug....(I won't provide a direct link but if anyone is curious search EQ-986 as an example) it is ludicrous of you to state that bug reports "are absolutely read through."

They may be read through; however, it only helps to make the game better when the people who read the bug reports, actually understand the bug report that is being filed and are capable of doing something to correct the issue.

Let me play devil's advocate here.

I remember my first week on the test server. I was having problems parceling things to my 2nd account, which was offline at the time. I submitted a /bug report. Within 24 hours, someone from Daybreak had sent me an in-game mail asking me for more details to test my problem internally. Eventually, everything was sorted out. So, while not every experience may not be an awesome one, they do sometimes care enough to fix things.

Please don't misunderstand me...... there have been times I have been able to report things and worked in great detail at getting some issues resolved. So yes I do know that they do sometimes care, or I should more appropriately say that they do have a few people who genuinely care, and will work to fix things. But more often than not especially as the older EQ gets, the less I have seen this genuine concern..... more so for issues that could/should have been fixed years ago.

Now they apply those fixes and slap them onto special ruleset servers, as a cheap way to try to increase their revenue stream. AND before this statement is misunderstood, I am a FULL ACCESS account holder for 3 accounts. I just see no reason to be forced into joining a special rule set progression server, having to rebuild characters all over again, just so I can enjoy fixes to older problems which have been reported and known about for years.

And yes, I still have a character on the test server, which I play several times a week, and always prior to and after a patch rollout is ready, just so I can see what is upcoming and what to expect.

I have played on test off and on since 2015. I enjoy the small, tight-knit community that the test environment fosters. It is a very friendly group of people, both within Primal Brood and server-wide as well. The last several months that I've been playing have been some of the most fun I've had in game since I first started playing from 1999-2003. That being said, the constant ups and downs of the past month or so have hurt our little ragtag server. The biggest thing to remember when playing here is that it IS the test server. The bugs and downtimes are going to hit us first, and they're probably going to hit us hard until the devs figure out what they need to do to implement a fix. To pass the time, we'll just sit and chat in teamspeak, play on our live servers or do both at once. I strongly recommended people give test a try, and test copy your toons over! You might be surprised at the caliber and skill of the people you encounter.

I might /testcopy over there. I haven't decided yet. My time seems to be getting more and more limited, but do enjoy the development aspects of any game.

You'd be most welcome on the Test server, Aghinem! Even just logging in a couple times a week helps. The more people we have on the server, even if they are just playing the game as they normally would, the more complete our testing of new patches will be.

The Test server is exactly like Live. Same quests, same raids, etc. Lots of people call Test their regular everyday server, and whether you choose to pop in once a month, or play there everyday, every little contribution helps EQ be a better place.

Obviously there is not enough of the limited player base during the summer slump to be everywhere.

Revisit this after all the summer distractions have slipped into the past. Then you can continue your monkey poop fight after Daylight Savings Time ends and everyone is back indoors to get away from the cold and the wet.

Hiya,

I went ahead and did a /testcopy - there are already some game glitches that I can share with you all that I have discovered over a period of time. I'll help out when I can. Look forward to touching base with some of you.

In this whole thread I do not find the word "wipe". Are there regular or random character wipes taking place?

Always a possibility on any development server; I would suggest leveling up a toon on a Live server - even if its Silver account - and then just have a /testcopy prepared if that happens.

There has never been a wipe on the Test server.

More serious bugs and issues should be reported in the latest "Test Update" thread found in this forum:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?forums/test-update-notes-and-bug-roundup.10/

Less critical issues are worth posting in those threads, along with an issue in the DGC Issue Tracker found here:
https://dgcissuetracker.com/secure/Dashboard.jspa

There are a handful of known issues already being worked on (housing is one). If it's not clear where a bug should be reported I can (usually) be reached on Gotcharms to help figure out the right direction to send it.

To further quell "wipe" fears, here's a screenshot of my offline guild list. PB was created shortly after server creation. Have characters that were last online in 2003 still on Test