Was curious at this point if it was going to be like some of the other Alpha’s I have been involved with. With things ramping up and getting close was trying to make sure I had all my information correct and such. And checking to see if there was an official plan yet.
Ox
In today's era of geographically distributed CDNs (content delivery networks) it should be no problem at all for thousands of people to simultaneously download client files from a secure link. The same link hits different servers depending on where you are geographically and load on the other nodes. This isn't something you need to fret about.
Five things you might really want to worry about:
1. Vacation booked for spouse/significant other with backup plans in case of cancelled flights, etc...
2. Kids bundled off for (hockey camp | military school)
3. Sufficient supply of frozen pizza and a Blizzard t-shirt to wipe your fingers on
4. Sufficient supply of caffeinated beverages, intravenous needles and tubing.
5. Sufficient supply of adult diapers
(optional) Jumbo size Febreeze in case the family gets home early
Celandor said:In today's era of geographically distributed CDNs (content delivery networks) it should be no problem at all for thousands of people to simultaneously download client files from a secure link. The same link hits different servers depending on where you are geographically and load on the other nodes. This isn't something you need to fret about.
Five things you might really want to worry about:
1. Vacation booked for spouse/significant other with backup plans in case of cancelled flights, etc...
2. Kids bundled off for (hockey camp | military school)
3. Sufficient supply of frozen pizza and a Blizzard t-shirt to wipe your fingers on
4. Sufficient supply of caffeinated beverages, intravenous needles and tubing.
5. Sufficient supply of adult diapers
(optional) Jumbo size Febreeze in case the family gets home early
Along that same vein:
1. Vacation booked for spouse? Too short term. Divorced spouse? Done.
2. Kids sent off to camp? Too short term again. Shoved them off with your ex? Done. (just kidding, don't have kids, but she did take the 2 annoying dogs)
3. Placed false obituary in local papers, had fake attourney inform all relatives of your untimely demise. Done.
4. Acounts established for BlueApron & HelloFresh, all local restaurants that do delivery set up on speed-dial? Done.
5. Sufficient supply of caffeinated beverages (Jolt Cola), intravenous needles and tubing. Done.
6. Adult Diapers? Nah. Replumbed house so toilet is now what you sit on at the computer desk. Done.
7. Graduated Magna Cum Laud from the Obiwan Kenobi School of Hermiting.
8. Rewired electrical system of house to provide power feed directly into a full-body TENS muscle stimulator so you don't go all flabby. Done.
9. Purchased best available recliner to use as computer chair/bed. Done.
Celandor said:In today's era of geographically distributed CDNs (content delivery networks) it should be no problem at all for thousands of people to simultaneously download client files from a secure link. The same link hits different servers depending on where you are geographically and load on the other nodes. This isn't something you need to fret about.
Good point about the CDN caching layers. Also a torrent is an easy free way to disseminate the client.
For you people planning vacation days and shuffling family off so you can play Pre-Pre-Alpha, I believe you are in for a rude awakening. You are going to be testing a bug ridden game with a server that is up and down and most likely more down than up as the Devs need to push patches. Your characters are going to be most likely wiped and restarted many times. You will be testing specifically, not playing around. The videos of game play you are getting to see are most likely eye candy and the most developed areas just for the purpose of advertising. Which is good, don't get me wrong. For the game to be sucessful out of the gate it needs to get people salavitating and they have done a good job at that.
Darkpaw said:For you people planning vacation days and shuffling family off so you can play Pre-Pre-Alpha, I believe you are in for a rude awakening. You are going to be testing a bug ridden game with a server that is up and down and most likely more down than up as the Devs need to push patches. Your characters are going to be most likely wiped and restarted many times. You will be testing specifically, not playing around. The videos of game play you are getting to see are most likely eye candy and the most developed areas just for the purpose of advertising. Which is good, don't get me wrong. For the game to be sucessful out of the gate it needs to get people salavitating and they have done a good job at that.
The thousands of experienced gamers who have been following this game for the last several years and who have been involved in testing going back to EQ1 really needed to hear, from a first-time poster, this generalized advice that has already been emphasized repeatedly by VR. =) Shots fired! Lol, sorry, but your post was kinda funny as a first post.
Ps, You're not wrong. But I still gladly will be making time to test.
Gnog said:The thousands of experienced gamers who have been following this game for the last several years and who have been involved in testing going back to EQ1 really needed to hear, from a first-time poster, this generalized advice that has already been emphasized repeatedly by VR. =) Shots fired! Lol, sorry, but your post was kinda funny as a first post.
Ps, You're not wrong. But I still gladly will be making time to test.
Actually I think he's right. And Kilsin has stated it. Pre-Alpha isn't about playing for fun. It's about testing, rooting out issues, duplicating them, and documenting the findings. Alpha will in large part be the same. It's been said repeatedly that people unable or unwilling to do these things can and will have their testing access revoked.
And first time poster here does not remotely equate to being new to MMO's or to testing games.
I think you've misread my post. I said he wasn't wrong. In other words, I agreed generally with the substance of his post. But the substance of his post is also something that has been repeated many, many times in this forum and the VIP forum, so I found it amusing that someone's first post would purport to correct a supposed misconception held by people who've been here long enough to receive that repeated message from VR. It would be a little bit like someone first-time posting a thread this week to discuss whether there should be a death penalty, and telling us why there should/shouldn't be. It's okay if you don't see the same amusing aspect of the post.
Anyway, just to be clear, Darkpaw is largely right, but I'm still pumped for PA1 and will take some of the steps suggested by Cal/Vandraad to clear the decks!
Darkpaw said: For you people planning vacation days and shuffling family off so you can play Pre-Pre-Alpha, I believe you are in for a rude awakening. You are going to be testing a bug ridden game with a server that is up and down and most likely more down than up as the Devs need to push patches. ...
Agreed. The past few MMO's I've tested in this phase were definitely down more than up, as in, they were up, maybe 1-2 hours at a time. Sometimes, only one play test per week, and the server was down for the other 6+ days. Especially in the early phases.
It would be extremely... unlikely to see the server up 24x7 as though it were in post-launch production.
Hey guys -- it has been awhile since I've helped to test a game and I've been thinking about how best to provide bug reports during the testing phases. Is there an app that allows you to record gameplay sessions that you could ultimately submit portions of as part of your bug report? For example, if you're playing the game and suddenly all your spell icons won't refresh, wouldn't it be vastly more useful for the devs to review the 1 minute leading up to the bug as well as the various attempts at resolving the bug (opening the spell book - fail, clicking icons - fail, rememorizing each spell - fixed!)??? Guess I'm looking for recommendations on both an app as well as whether VR will accept gameplay submissions. Thanks!
There are some aps that do that, but Kilsin mentioned that bug reporting in game during testing is going to be a part of the engine. Probably wont record video, but he did say it'll take a screenshot and make a record of your location, etc. That way it's all bundled up with your written information about the event and they can potentially see what you're seeing. Might not need to do any external ap stuff. And during NDA they might not want you to :)
Gnog,
My first post but not my first time testing. I won one of the SOE Star Wars Galaxies seats for external testing back in the days where you were chosen to test after filling out an application and not a tester because you made a significant $$ contribution. I assume this will be a similar experience.
Krixus said:Celandor said:In today's era of geographically distributed CDNs (content delivery networks) it should be no problem at all for thousands of people to simultaneously download client files from a secure link. The same link hits different servers depending on where you are geographically and load on the other nodes. This isn't something you need to fret about.
Good point about the CDN caching layers. Also a torrent is an easy free way to disseminate the client.
I don't mind peer torrents as long as there can be protections in place to keep people from seeding malware and there are options for limiting bandwidth and disabling using your client as a peer node.