Should SE Implement a Public Test Server? (Talk on Released Content)

[Remus]

I ask this because i'm starting to get a bit concerned about some of the new content they have been producing. They have thought of so many interesting ideas but for some reason each one (besides Aquapolis) have been so bare bones when they could so much more with them and I believe that a few of these mistakes they have made could have been easily avoided in my opinion.

When I first saw Diadem, I really liked the concept of this but it just felt like they didn't too much into it. They got the destination and idea of the content but I believe from what I have seen that its never fleshed out. I know they are revamping Diadem currently for 3.4 but this shouldn't even needed to happen if they thought about it properly.If in the revamp they can make exploration more important, completing objectives to earn good loot and allowing larger FCs to create an alliance for entering Diadem I think they would be going in the right direction. They can still keep the chests dropping from mobs and the tracks but they shouldn't make that the only way to do Diadem.

Deep Dungeon currently has 1-50 floors so I am making my opinion on those floors. I was quite interested in the idea of random generated floors and you have to progress through them. I thought there would be numerous stuff to do on different floors like one you kill mobs and perhaps another you need to work with your party and solve puzzles to progress. These types of small things helps a piece of content feel like its more than it really is and that is a good thing. The fact that they went with just kill mobs and proceed currently for the 1-50 floors feels like a wasted potential for bringing people into this new piece of content you want people to do and try out. They are going to do a free login campaign for inactive subs to try it out and in all honesty the way they designed Deep Dungeon for 1-50 won't give a good impression to majority of people.

I won't say no one enjoys it because that wouldn't be correct because there are people that are currently enjoying this piece of content on how it is and I won't tell them they are wrong because everyone has opinions on what they enjoy and not enjoy. There are some good elements to Deep Dungeon like being able to solo and perhaps running with 4 dps it gives it a bit of a challenge which is a good thing for those that enjoy having a challenge and see how far they can get by themselves which i think was a good idea. So not everything about Deep Dungeon is bad just some aspects. I just believe that for the 1-50 floor they could have done a bit more than they have. Maybe the 51+ floors will be better but who knows can't really say yet. All they have said is it will be harder but we don't know in what way.

Another piece of content they released was Lords of Verminion. Well this one mainly lumps together with Gold Saucer in a whole. The way i see Gold Saucer is a place you are suppose to enjoy yourself and have fun with the different mini-games there and earn MGP to earn some items. Currently the one problem I have with Gold Saucer is it feels a bit too grindy and having too much grind can remove the fun out of it quite quickly. Also there isn't enough items in the Gold Saucer to get people to spend MGP they could put plenty of things from the Mog Station into the Gold Saucer as a way to let people get it within the game but in turn perhaps increase the amount of MGP you get so it doesn't feel like your there for eternity trying to earn the epic piece of glamour right?

So with all this said I would love to hear the communities opinion on some of the content they have released and would you like to have some form of Test Server for new pieces of content the dev team haven't done before so it makes it easier to prove a bit more insightful feedback on how they could improve it before official release?

[Ceasaria]

Another piece of content they released was Lords of Verminion.

And yes was a fail.
And they knew it.
And like I said on some threads, the event GS presented us an Investigation to solve, which is the next mini-game. It was pretty obvious when they said (npc), they need us to test their new attraction. I think the players liked it, in general.

So for the Gold Saucer attractions and maybe others contents, why don't just put it a short version of them in game for 1-2 weeks like they did for the Investigation (The Mysteries of the Gold Saucer ^^) ?

[Stormfur]

I don't know how long they prepare these things in advance, but I'm betting it's many, many months. For all we know, SE could've been working on deep dungeon since December of last year. So imagine you've released something you've worked 6 months on only to hear that it's too easy from the hardcore raiders (Final Coil). The next six months are spent making the battles harder (Alex Savage 1-4). But that was too difficult for many. So now you have to spend the next 6 months scaling it back. it's a real balancing game and you have to try and predict in advance how it will work - but you really *don't know* until launch day.

I really do wish we could learn more about what goes on behind the scenes. Like what happens when developing a new class? What goes into it? How does it change over time? Why can't we have our shadowy path back on Dark Knight despite asking for it a thousand times?

I think the reason why we can't have player access to a test server is because people can't keep their mouths shut. Imagine if you got access to Deep Dungeon before anyone else even though it was still in a sort of beta phase. You'd be telling everyone you knew not to run toto-rak for the 1,000th time because pretty soon there will be another labyrinth dungeon that gives easier XP.

Gold Saucer would be much more popular if they let us queue for dungeons while in a mini game.

[RLofOBFL]

No. Bc no matter what content they release all we'll get are people complaining about everything.

[Anienai]

No. Bc no matter what content they release all we'll get are people complaining about everything.

Pretty much this.

[Hasrat]

My impression of test servers is their purpose is largely for hype. As already mentioned, for a game like this, considering the scale of the development cycle, testing would be of limited use. Either you get a short test period because you want it out on live as quickly as possible before everyone loses interest, content doesn't really have time to adjust or change, there's little if any feedback taken into consideration. Or, you get a long test period to do as much refining as possible so that when it finally hits live, everyone's already had their fill of it and nobody cares.

[Stormfur]

Also LoV would've done better if it weren't so difficult to do on a controller - and actually had the minions battling each other.

[Johaandr]

No just no if people stop expecting too MUCH. Then were fine.
And i think 3.3 was perfect. Also deep dungeon was fun

[Remus]

No just no if people stop expecting too MUCH. Then were fine.
And i think 3.3 was perfect. Also deep dungeon was fun

I don't think it's expecting too much though. Asking for objectives within a mode that is just kill mobs is a pretty reasonable request I think. Some people just believe they could have done a lot more but they didn't. A lot of the suggestions people gave are pretty basic things that most devs would think of when designing that piece of content to make it more exciting. I'm not saying it isn't fun but if there was more to the content you would have even more fun than you are now right?

[Khalithar]

Definitely yes to a PTS, it's a nice thing for sure. Especially when the helpful players on the PTS write definitive guides for the rest of the community when the content actually comes out.