Ark's Ark

Oooh.

In preparation for patch 1.1.0 we’ve now opened the European Test Server, Shifting Isles. This server runs on a Core rule set and while it’s in English, players from any language community are welcome to join the server.

To participate in the testing process either create a new character on the Test Server or copy an existing character from the Live servers to the Test Server.

To copy a character. follow these simple steps:
Go to the “My Account” page
Click the “Character Server Copy” button at the end of the page
Select the character you want to copy
If the name already exist on the test server you will be prompted to change it
Confirm

Note that only rank 10+ characters can be copied to the test server.

To connect to the test server launch testpatch.exe from your WAR install folder. Note that you don’t need two separate installs. Warpatch.exe will keep connecting you to the 1.0.6 Live servers.

Naturally, any progress you make with a character on the Test Server will not carry over to your original character on the Live servers and vice versa.

Please remember that the version of the game running on the Test Server is a beta version of an upcoming patch and therefore everything is subject to change.

See you on the Shifting Isles!

The character copying page seems to be up and running, so I’ve sent Osgard over to perform some investigations! See you there!

Amusing as ever, though I felt rather bad for Colin being dragged out in front of the camera like that, especially when he is not responsible for the QA failures. Coding errors do happen, as I know to my cost from my modding. That’s why you always test thoroughly before you unleash your work upon the public.

What I did not hear, and what I did not hear from Mr Jacobs in his post below, was any sort of apology for wasting our time for the last two months.

Folks,

Paul and Colin were trying to be funny. That’s Paul’s style and Colin is one of our most trusted, talented and valued guys. If they can poke a little fun at things…

And by the way, Paul also makes fun of himself and doesn’t take himself too seriously (well, most of the time ).

Bugs happen, design errors happen and nobody’s perfect. Well, except for some folks on the Internet who never make mistakes at their jobs and neither should anybody according to their posts.

A sense of humor is a wonderful thing and necessary, especially nowadays.

Mark

Thing is, if they actually did apologise, I’d accept it. Taking responsibility for your mistakes, and then apologising is the mature way of dealing with situations like this. Instead we have the bizarre spectacle of a company director telling his customers they need to get a sense of humour, and that they aren’t perfect, so they have no right to expect a product that works properly.

We’ve been saying it was broken for a very long time, and Mythic refused to listen. The central reward mechanism for RvR was completely broken, and nobody at Mythic noticed. I find it irritating that Jacobs chooses to turn the attack back upon the critics, rather than admit that the failings were serious.

Some people, whose blogs I will not link to, have known how to game this broken code and assure themselves of the gold bags. This knowledge has been passed around quietly and looking back now I am fairly sure I have seen people in Keep attacks I have taken part in using the technique. Honest players have lost out.

Mythic’s QA clearly did not perform any reasonable tests upon a vital component of RvR. We have been constantly assured that it was working as intended. We have gotten to this point where it (maybe) is getting fixed, two months after release, only because the players have had to force Mythic to listen to us by raising an unholy fuss on forums and blogs. Maybe we are arrogant back-seat drivers without the talent to make a game as wonderful as WAR, but we were also right.

Mythic needs to start listening more. If the news over at the Warhammer Alliance is right, an official forum in in the works, which may make this easier.

Update: Sometimes posts appear on some other WAR blogs that bare a striking similarity to what I write here. Often I expect it is simply synchronicity, or great minds thinking alike. I do, however, just want to point out that the time-stamps on this site are UK times, and the time-stamps on the other blogs may be US times, so you need to convert to decide which of us posted first. Just worried people will think it’s me copying them.