http://dbd.game/killswitch
Suggestions to make PTB testing better
The mess that is the 4.2.0 patch shows that something is really amiss with how the PTB and testing there is handled. thus a suggestion:
- Make it easier to access the ptb: having one to replace the regular client with the ptb one is messy and probably one big factor that keeps people away.
- test till it works. the whole approach to 'fix' something and then not test it before it goes live brought us this mess and the hill bug... So please, if something gets reported on the ptb: fix it, test the fix on the ptb and only have things go live when they work
- encourage testing MORE than just the new killer/map. the easiest way to do that would be exclusive cosmetics that are given to people who test regularly and thoroughly (c'mon, our monkey brains love rewards)
- have there be the means to test things easier. maybe an item that can only be used on the ptb that enables survivors to automatically (no perks or addons needed) to see totems and gens, and killers to switch to third person view (outside of phasing etc maybe) to check for clipping and animation issues.
Number 4 could be something like
'Makeshift Auris' (survivors)/ 'Corrupted Auris' (or 'crow's eye') (killers)
that has been provided to the Survivors by either the Observer or the being that helps the Observer from time to time, respectively Max and Caleb (maybe amanda, too, depending on how you'd want original and licensed character to mix) have been tinkering with something they've come across their realms? Or took it off what they deemed a survivor they oddly enough encountered outside a trial (who escaped)?
Comments
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I'd like to add:
5) Actually fix issues reported in the PTB before it goes live. They do this sometimes, but other times game breaking bugs make it into live...invalidating the PTB's entire "alleged" purpose.
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that's what I meant under number 2. i'll rephrase it.
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One issue I've noticed is, that once everyones had their fun with new survivors/killers, the PTB dies. It lasts maybe 2 days and they're gone. They do need to add some kind of incentive to keep people playing it. Another thing, they should try get it into console. I'm PS4 myself, so I don't get access to the PTB, but if they made it console-accessible, there would be a ton more players to test the issues, and it would make it easier to identify issues since PC and Console may have seperate issues.
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Rewards. They should be able to see who logs into the ptb how often and how many matches are played and how much feedback a person provides.
like, if you play a certain time or provide a certain amount of helpful feedback (as in how helpful it is, not the sheer wordcount), you might get a unique cosmetic for a character of your choice, maybe ranging from charms over outfit pieces to a full set. maybe even awarding top testers with auric cells
and the aforementioned items that would enable players to see stuff they can't see on the live servers. our monkey brains are weird like that. give survivors a tool to e.g. see totems without a perk and they're more likely to check if they can cleanse it.
another thing to do would be to enable a chat between all players during a match. we're here to test, after all.
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Yeah, agree with that. I know some other games when they do a sort of beta test of upcoming updates, they do reward players with unique rewards for finding/testing bugs and features. If DbD did that, they'd probably have more people trying to break the game because of the possibility they'll get a unique reward that wouldn't be obtainable otherwise.
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yep. and lbr how many streamers and their viewers would get and extra kick out of trying to break the game?
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Whats the point ^^
-we get a "old" build to test on PBE (you can argue what is worse lettin us test a old version or failing to use the right version).
-we cant test most of the stuff cuz we have to unlock it and even if you safe 1 million bp you most likely wont be able to test new killer with his T3 Perks. How should we judge perks by playing rank 1 versions ...
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Getting the PTB on consoles has been asked for many times, and i believe the stated reason why they cannot do it is because they are literally changing game files. Whenever they do that (say for patches or new chapters)it all had to be sent to Sony or Microsoft for approval. And that can take several days or even weeks to get. I imagine Nintendo would be the same.
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I can't speak for Sony since I don't know any games with a PTB style server but Xbox does have Sea of Thieves own test server for their updates, so if Microsoft has one of their own licensed games doing it, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. But, I do understand the approval thing, which personally I think is pretty stupid really. But, I guess that's just the gaming industry these days.
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this is about how to improve things....
the whole 'testing till it's done' means the ptb version is updated till it's good to go live.
testing on the ptb means everything's unlocked, plus the aforementioned items to let you test better.
Please, my dude, it's not that hard to grasp.
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