Keeping Tabs On The PTR
Posted by 
pixiestixy on Monday, March 23, 2009 - 14 Comments Tags: bugs, forums, pantsless, ptr, public test realm, servers, upcoming
pixiestixy on Monday, March 23, 2009 - 14 Comments Tags: bugs, forums, pantsless, ptr, public test realm, servers, upcoming 
Playing on the public test realm isn't for everyone. Of course, we love to keep track of Project Lore posts so we know about exciting upcoming features such as Ulduar, dual spec and tons of new achievements. But we may not be as keen about suffering through significant bugs while knowing that any progress we make in-game ultimately will be lost.I, for one, prefer to keep tabs on progress of the PTR through WoW's official test realm forum. There are plenty of players who are quite willing, for any number of reasons, to play on the PTR despite its drawbacks. And their reports back to Blizzard through the forum provide us with a glimpse of how things are coming along.
Bugs, no matter how insignificant, can be frustrating for the players. But my favorite posts are the ones reporting bug hilarity. Such as this one:
Two of my characters I use regularly on the PTR are now pantless on the character selection screen. Both are Death Knights, one is a level 58 gnome female on the PvP server, the other is an 80 tauren female on the PvE server.
It doesn't seem to matter if I take my pants off in the game or not, my character selection shows 'em half naked.
And, to my surprise, Blizzard poster Dresorull responded:
Completely intended! Not actually... this is currently being investigated as a bug. Thanks for the report.
Glad they're on that one! Also in the realm of toon vanity, I've also seen mention of the character selection screen not displaying weapons, of minions freezing mid-animation when a player goes AFK and of emote sounds not timing correctly with the animation. Again, not game-breaking errors, but annoying nonetheless. And I'm sure Blizzard appreciates being told of bugs large and small. That's what the PTR is for. Even Blizzard has posted a non-comprehensive list of 15 known bugs.
Now on to the more significant reported bugs. Issues range from clams not opening and pets disappearing to the deletion of glyphs. And that's once you get on the PTR. Many complaints stem from issues with logging on, such as new passwords not working, patching errors or locked-out characters. Granted, I never accept a post at face-value because some of these issues may not actually be bugs. But I'd like to think most PTR players know what they're doing.
Even on the regular servers, new bugs are constantly being discovered, and oftentimes exploited. Regardless, from what I've seen, it looks to me like Blizzard still has a lot of work ahead of them on the PTR. In my opinion, it's probably about the same as previous PTRs, because you have to start somewhere. But what do you guys think? Is this, as one poster ranted, the "worst ptr EVER?"
Reader Comments (14)
never played on the ptr server ... i think blizzard is getting lame the aspect of the bosses the tier and the other are a bit lame i was expecting something much better with the woltk expansion ... anyway there are 3-4 more years for improvment (now i am on a brake , dont have enough money to buy woltk and a pre payd :| )
Zonriva from Sylvanas EU
idk how to get on one.i would love to.anyone wanna help?
lol
haha nice episode, lol at the spike on the zeppelin :P
Yeah, I agree with hordesucks. I'd like to try. I downloaded the client and things, but when the PTR is open...where do I go to log onto the PTR?
Hordesucks,
Goto http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml , mouse over "Under Development", select "Public Test Realm", log in, click "Download Client", choose either "PC" or "Mac". Then just follow the instructions. Or http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/ptr.html
GL
Twest
80 Tauren Hunter
Also once u have DL'd the client and installed u will need to copy character(s) over to PTR
If u have any issues, i.e. "divxdecoder.dll error", opening the PTR thru the primary button, try using the PTR Launcher Button
NOT THE CLAMS
"Completely intended! Not actually… this is currently being investigated as a bug. Thanks for the report. "
wow that one had me laughing.
I find hilarious that people PAY hard cash to be able to test upcoming patches on PTR, and they are perfectly happy with that. During "good ol' days" game testers were being paid for doing their task, now it's reversed and noone seems to complain. Strange world.
That is an absolutely excellent point Crash. Heartbourne, wanna find out the deal there?
If no one is complaining, what is the "hilarious" part?
This is great for Blizzard. They get to increase their tester base by thousands with the only real cost being having to sort though all the mis-reported and duplicate issues.
I am assuming this is also good for the people who go on the PTR. They get to see new content first, work on strategy, go back to their friends and say "this is awesome" or "this sucks" or whatever. The point for them is being ahead of the curve and "in-the-know".
This is also good for someone like me who doesn't play on the PTR. Without all these additional test resources, the patches would come out later and/or with more bugs.
yeah i logged onto the PTR last week (maintenence night). i was a lil shocked to find my dk had taken the pantsless approach to his new found undeath :)
Who's PAYING to use PTR...? I'm not...
It's free, afaik...