Everquest and its Developers need YOUR help!

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by gotwar, Jul 20, 2016.

  1. Nolrog Augur

    Summer doldrums, school is out so people are working and they ran out of things to do in the expansion. Happens this time every year; exacerbated this time by the TLP and especially Quarm.
  2. Corydon Augur

    Ok, sounds cool :)
  3. gotwar Gotcharms

    I very much wish the recent population hit on Test was just doldrums and TLP. If it were only that this thread wouldn't even be here.

    As outlined in the OP, we went through a month or two of constant instability due to a massive and never-before-attempted internal update. This instability created crash issues that dragged on for weeks - the server couldn't pull more than a few hours up-time during this period. Because of the severity, people left in droves.

    Test has never had instability even coming close to that bad before, and it hit hard.

    While most servers can expect to lose a chunk of their populations during the summer, Test lost close to half its active population in a period of just a handful of weeks. Population hits like this tend to have a snowball effect.

    Now that the server is stable(TM), it needs help.

    When the population on Test is bad, the LIve servers will feel the effects. I could give a myriad list of crippling bugs we've encountered just in the last couple weeks that would have gone Live without people playing on Test.

    The horrific events on AB, Rathe, Zek, and every other server that got some of the internal upgrades Test did is a prime example of why the concern here reaches far beyond Test.

    People will, of course, eventually return to our beloved Test box. But every bit of attention we can draw to it in the meantime reduces the headaches Live will have to endure in the interim.
    Rivitt and Gyurika Godofwar like this.
  4. Draego Augur


    It didn't help that all the issues you brought up were during the same time of nearly a month long DDOS attack as it seemed. Yes a ton of people did leave, between the combined issues. I think Test will recover with time, however I also think that those who split their time, like myself, between Test and Live servers are just trying to catch up on some of the Live time that was lost during that time period.
  5. gotwar Gotcharms

    That actually wasn't a DDoS. While there was a brief DDoS attack on Daybreak that affected all their games during this time period, it was quickly dealt with within a few days of starting. I think they added more shotguns to h1z1 to fix the issue (HAHA).

    The lag that affected several live servers was due to the internal updates. Once this update seemed stable on Test, the update was rolled-out to Live. Unfortunately, the patch was unstable as a servers online population climbed. There was no way for us to vet this on Test because we were short on players after the great crashes of 2016. Pre-crashes our population would have been high enough for these issues to arise and be addressed prior to the rollout. Post-crashes we just didn't have enough people for the issue to surface before Live roll-out.

    Just highlights why a healthy Test population is so essential to the Live servers!
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  6. kizant Augur

    Just a reminder for all of you considering the Test server..

    Your test reports need to be submitted by COB every Friday. If you're going to be late or don't have the latest template for the report please let your test manager know.
  7. Hludwolf Developer

    Thank you test players! The help of the test community continues to be extremely valuable in spotting and tracking down bugs. And thank you Gotwar. Your leadership and guidance on the server help to make it a great place for all who play there.
    Gyurika Godofwar, EnchFWO and gotwar like this.
  8. jeskola pheerie

    This server was great back when it contained free expansions. TDS release gutted the community once and now this?
    Rivitt likes this.
  9. Gyurika Godofwar Augur

    Don't inflate his ego too much or he'll be even harder to live with while he flaps around on his giant flappy lion mount!

    To be fair we do get the last expansion around the time a new one comes out so we're on TDS now for those who are FTP and choose not to buy it. I still think they should go back to the prior method of having it free on Test a week or two before it launches on Live so we can test as many bugs as possible but I think the sale to Columbus Nova messed it up year before last and they have stuck with that pattern since then.

    I may be wrong but I think they needed to make the company look as profitable as possible and giving away an expansion to 150-200 people playing multiple accounts was probably not a good way to do that.
    EnchFWO likes this.
  10. gotwar Gotcharms

    Just a reminder that today at 12 noon Pacific Standard Time (3pm Eastern) we will begin our event on the Test server! Starting with an EQ trivia contest, then moving to a naked race across Norrath and finishing in a /testbuff arena PVP event!

    We have dozens of prizes to give away this afternoon to help promote the server and almost everyone who participates will win a prize. Prizes include:

    Flying Carpets!
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    Wrulons, wrulons, wrulons!

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    Unique Horses!

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    Illusions, Illusions, Illusions!

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    And many more! Prizes also include piles of platinum, sets of visible gear (castaway!), Nimbus of all kinds, piles of ornaments, and much, much more! Come check out Test this afternoon and win some unique prizes!
  11. jeskola pheerie

    Being on TDS now does zero good from a testing perspective. They had an active endgame raid guild on test during COTF and they threw that resource in the garbage.

    Almost no one in Test at the time who played exclusively on Test and did not have active characters on Live spent money on the expansion. Most of the people on test that bought TDS had stuff going on on Live servers and would have bought it regardless, just like before.
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  12. Gyurika Godofwar Augur

    I remember and understand. What did you end up doing? Primal Brood is not too far behind where LoB was before all that went down. So far we've beat WK1 and working on Bixie 1. Also working on Maestro from the revamp as well.
  13. jeskola pheerie

    That is great that Primal Brood is active in said content, but I don't really see how that helps the devs from a testing perspective. I know they look to squash all bugs for all eras but I don't think COTF testing could be one of their goals at the moment.

    After their policy change killed Legions of Blackburrow, I boxed my way through all the TDS group stuff on Test, then left when it became apparent they were not going to revert the policy change, like so many others. I joined a prog guild on Trakanon, then quit EQ altogether Feb 2015. Now I live vicariously through the forums.
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  14. jeskola pheerie

    I understand you posted this to quell wipe fears (he is right, they won't wipe Test). How about a screenshot of peak hours online guild list?
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  15. gotwar Gotcharms

    Sure. 12:30 pm on a saturday. this will fill out more as we approach raid time (4pm)

    [IMG]
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  16. jeskola pheerie

    thats actually pretty good. DBG could really push you guys to be a premier testing source if they reverted the expansion change. <3 Teacc and Jennex
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  17. kizant Augur

    I don't know. Can't really blame them from trying to get a few more people to help fund the game. Although!

    How about a test server discount? Anyone with a PB raid attendance of at least 50% between now and the next expansion gets 30% off!
    Gyurika Godofwar and gotwar like this.
  18. Raptorjesus5 Augur

    I tried test, but couldn't over how the economy was. Felt like it made the game somewhat pointless when nothing has any value.
  19. Xanadas Augur

    Maybe I should shuttle some manastones over there. :)
  20. jeskola pheerie

    dbg please bring back the old expac rollout method

    eq players please consider test server
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.