Kriddle

Now this might not exactly fall under game play discussion however it does affect my game play specifically. I would first like to mention that this post is mine and mine alone and in no way does it represent the way my guild or any other player of EverQuest 2 feels unless otherwise noted.

Over the last several months I have seen major bugs come and go. Many of them could have been worked out with just a little testing before the release of the encounter, quest, zone, or any other aspect of the game. Right now I know that the beta test is going on for EoF and I can only hope it is better than that of DoF and/or KoS. I recently was informed of a new major bug which I will not disclose here but most of the EQ2 raiding community can easily find or already knows the one I am talking about. So what did I do? I sent in a /bug and a /feedback but on top of that I sent a PM to 3 developers of EverQuest 2. In this PM I explained the issue and possible resolutions. This same PM included some information about beta testing and the lack of finding competent testers. Now before you flame me I did not mention any specific players, guilds, or servers inside this PM. I know there are plenty of good testers out there but there are also many horrible ones.

That being said I received a PM today from one of the Dev's whom was sent a copy of my PM. This Dev went on to say not to blanket send PMs to Dev's which was probably not the best choice by me but I was frustrated and tired of seeing this game go down the drain for stupid mistakes. The Dev went on to say; "Please feel free to /bug issues that you find in game or if you do know who designed a particular encounter, PM them directly." Well I thought one dev helped in the design of said encounter but apparently this was not the case. My main issue with this statement though is I have sent numerous /bug and /feedback in and never once seen any of them fixed, changed, or tweaked to solve the problem until there is a very large amount of posts on the forums. What use is this system if they do not utilize it? It really reminds me of 9/11 and the emergency broadcast system. I sure as hell didn't hear one go off but I did hear them test it 3-4 times a week on my local TV and Radio stations.

In addition the Dev also said; "Also, if you're looking to get into a beta at some point, I'd suggest dropping the attitude - it's not something we look for in beta testers.". All I have to say to that is exactly what do you look for? It is obviously not playtime, knowledge of the game, or participation in the community because I know of several testers who rarely play the game, know little to nothing outside of their character(sometimes less than that, E-bay anyone?), and never participate in any game related activities be it forum posting, conventions, or other.

My last thing is I was recently watching a guild kill a mob and due to petitions from the guild I was watching a warning was added to my account. I asked the GM exactly what the warning was for and I was told for disruption of the zone. I then asked exactly what I did that was disrupting other peoples game play and was then told I was dueling in the middle of their raid. The GM told me he investigated the issue and in fact has proof of me dueling other players. When asked for this proof to be sent to me he told me I should send an e-mail but for now he is putting a warning on the account. Anyway, the fact is I have never dueled with that character, in fact I have never dueled with any character as I do not like PvP. The only time I have ever accepted a duel was with a guildie of mine to test some combat arts and this was on a totally different day, character, and server from this incident.

That all being said I would like to see some community feedback on their feelings. Who else would like to know exactly how /bug and /feedback is handled? Also where are GMs getting the authority to put warning on accounts for things you never did? I guess I can complain about anyone and after enough warnings be them true or false they will get suspended and possibly banned. How is the beta selection done? Last but defiantly not least more feedback from Dev's on their encounters, quests, classes, zones, etc so we know who to PM or address when we do find problems.

Ddrak

I admit that there's been one /feedback that I know they listened to:



No kidding - that is prior to KoS (Dec 2005) and they implemented every one of them. No jokes about dying to a bee in Nek at Lv59 please.


Other than that, I believe the way it works is the /bug requests all get dumped in front of someone who sorts through them and filters them for the dev's managers to look at and decide which to act on. /feedback probably works the same way except with the results going to designers and not coders, so you're at the mercy of whoever does the filtering.

As for GMs, if you get a bad one then you're pretty much screwed. You can email Sony's customer support address and complain but it's going to be your word against theirs for the most part.

Dd

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Kriddle

Yeah I'm sure some feedbacks do get changed eventually but I think one of my concerns is getting major bugs fixed in a timely fashion. Some things cant wait months, weeks, days, or in some situations hours to fix. The hats is something that can and did wait awhile ;) but I also think that was something people posted on the forums for awhile. Such as gear that makes classes look different instead of everyone wearing the same thing. I know this was discussion in early T5 with my guild.

Anyway you are right, it just all depends who gets the feedback or bug will tell how quickly it will get fixed if it gets fixed.

LFG

That DEV attitude is horrible and in my view represents what's wrong with the game. Some of them are so high above earth in their ivory tower mentality that they've lost all touch with reality.

This person is clearly conveying a "my way or the highway" attitude, manifested in the practice of punishing "bad" people by not granting favors such as beta access, and rewarding total asskissers and yes men for proclaiming that the naked emporer is wearing a lovely suit of clothes.

The type of person who sent you that message no longer wants to hear the truth. They want to hear people agree with them, and as long as their boss isn't telling them they are doing a shitty job, they can just go forward and collect a paycheck while the future of the game goes down the commode.

This is the first time I've not gotten in beta, and frankly, I'm the only person in my situation that I know of who wasn't invited. And there aren't a whole lot of reasons I can think of for not being invited except this website. I can come to no other conclusion than some people are mad that players now have a popular forum where they can speak the truth about EQ2.

The genius at SoE who nixed my beta invite is showing the same kind of forward thinking skills as the person who had Khalan banned from the SoE forums. Whoever thought it was a good idea for me to spend my time criticizing SoE on these boards rather than immersing myself in beta, as I've always done in the past, really should consider a career with the California Department of Motor Vehicles rather than a job involving creativity or community relations.

Am I bitter? Kind of. But I also feel liberated and no longer restrained by ties and obligations based on past acquaintances.

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"Bottom line: we're not all being honest with ourselves here." Become, Kraken forums

Ddrak

Let's get one thing straight. Being a beta tester for free is not them doing you a favor. It's you doing THEM a favor. Denying someone who was dilligent enough to find a bug, report it and most of all make their best effort to be heard on what was most likely a game-breaking bug is exactly the type of person you want to give you their time to test your buggy code for you.

The type of person you *don't* want in a beta is the one who always says how wonderful things are, writes nice articles about SoE's marvellous chance of a comeback and in all has the patent SoE brown ring around their lips.

If I was running a beta, I'd look for the loudest and most obnoxious posters that know their stuff and make sure they were invited. First.

Dd

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Gori

If you are on their shit list they wont give you the time of day. Fuck'em. I got a watch.

If they are so stupid as to ignore the messenger, rather than evaluate the message, it will be at their own peril.

SanjuNana

Want to know the best, and fastest way to get a major bug/exploit fixed?

Post exactly how to do it on the official boards. (Of course, that's against the TOS.)

LFG

I remember that worked like a charm at the beginning of DoF with the Admiral thing in PoF. Had been going on for a week until someone posted screenshots and a how-to.

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"Bottom line: we're not all being honest with ourselves here." Become, Kraken forums

SanjuNana

Ahh good old Admiral Marcus. He had nice rings.

Kahna

Best way to fix an exploit is to farm it too hell and back until the Dev's are FORCED to fix it, otherwise they won't get off thier bums.

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"Give them nothing! Take from them, everything!"