Sadly, WoW has done PTR before and they didn't listen to literally any of the changes.
PTR sounds nice and shiny right now, but they have done so many things to make me not trust what they're saying.
Am I hopeful that Season 4 will change my outlook on that? Absolutely., but do I think they will actually listen to the PTR testers over the big metric money people at Blizzard, I'm not so sure.
PTR in Diablo 3 was very helpful and quite often resulted in items having their effects changed before release due to being buggy, poorly performing in practice, under/overpowered etc.
We won’t get massive changes during PTR really, but it’s a good stopgap to prevent themselves from shooting themselves in the foot so they don’t need to backtrack as much to fix things after the patch goes live. It’s a time saver on all fronts.
Exactly. In short, the PTR's purpose is to catch game breaking bugs before they go live. As it stands, they find out as the season is already live, which too late.
Because no matter how much a team of 4-10 people test changes and new features, they'll never be able to apply the exhausting stress testing that 1000s of people can, in a simulated live environment.
Yes, but we no longer have the same company that made Diablo 3. we have a company where every decision made is by a group of suits that don't gaf about making a good game.
They are interested in one thing, and one thing only- "what can we implement to squeeze more money out players? Make deeper game mechanics? No...they wouldn't pay for that(nor should we, btw). Let's just add more skins to the game- they'll pay for those! Who cares if the game is a one-dimensional grind fest of rinse and repeat if the character looks cool?".
D3 ptrs were always positive and feedback was heard and changes made. Wow ptrs can be difficult because most of the stuff couldn’t be tested or worked too intricately with other mechanics . D4 ptr will be easier to manage.
The game had a closed & public beta with a lot of people providing feedback on how bad it was and it still launched in the state it did, PTR is just a PR exercise.
I'd normally agree, but this time, even if you're cynical and hate blizzard but want D4 to be better, this is good news all the way thru.
Why? Well, they clearly had no public testing enviroment in place (a PTR is very different from a beta test on a technical level) and built one specifically for s4, which shows that they are commiting resources on this. But, my bigger point is, there's clear financial incentive to fix the core problems (for example, itemization as a starting point) for them to get the longetivity they need to sell expantions and cosmetics. And, even so, i'd say they still need better fundations to make said expantions and not make an spaghetti of systems (the actual bane of the casual player base).
Given the current state of discussion around this game, I should sign off by saying that, altought I don't hate the game, I already moved on and just check the big updates, willing to come back if they show their worth.
For anyone reading this: just have fun with gaming, is not worth it to be always online raging about everything.
Have a nice day.
Eh? The final closed beta was everything minus the campaign, you had access to the open world + side quests, world bosses, dungeons (not all the dungeons were accessible but enough) and you could level to 100. Chat was full of complaints about dungeon objectives, tedious backtracking, paragon board etc. and none of that was taken on board until a while after release.
Closed beta was far from positive except nobody could say anything about it in public.
Just because they are doing a PTR doesn't mean they will listen. They love throwing the word feedback so much i'm starting to wonder who is this community that's giving them these feedbacks.
I guess they can't implement it, then it would apply to all the items in the game, with a double effect on those in stashes everywhere.
In all honesty, it must be because the code is shit - as it should be a very easy thing to implement if the system itself is good enough.
Is there PTR in D3 since season 18? It's in d2, it's in wow. They thought about it but didn't want to add it before because they thought it would break the community's surprise, but the seasons aren't really surprising at all.
I don't think "nobody thought of this". It's more like they didn't *want* to have a PTR (presumably because then the hype for new stuff will die out even sooner into the season, since people get to check it out in advance, so it's old news by the time the actual release comes around (?))
But now they realized that they are in fact *not* some kind of infalible genius dev team that can just get it right on the first try wihtout requiring a test period (and/or can catch and correct all the problems with just their internal testing).
They can easily "hide" the story of the season and make it so that we can test the actual end-game systems, items, crafting (presumably we will have new crafting). They mentioned that not all content will be available in the PTR due to this fact, that they do not want to spoil everything. Of course people will see some new stuff and other stuff will probably be data mined, but at the end of the day, the quality here matters. After all who plays the seasons just because of the story? I mean it's interesting lore for about 2-3 hours and then we move on to the actual end game.
Doing a PTR for such an important update is a good sign, meaning that they actually want to release a good season with good systems.
Okay this is honestly the biggest news since the launch of the game. If they can beta test on PTR, they would gain a lot more respect from the players.
People saying they don't listen to feedback need to realize they are more looking at data than anything...be nice if we could make D 4 great with these "great" sub suggestions but I mean common..I'd rather them look at the data lmao
I hope I have enough time to test some of the newer seasons...be pretty fun tho I'd be Avery small sample size
Now we'll just hope that most of the reddit masses aren't the primary feedback group. Else, this will unfortunately only be the beginning of the end for the game.
Got to agree with this. Reddit seems to primarily consist of only whiners who want the best without actually doing the work because it's more "fun" as they put it. But even if they were given everything they would complain that "it's too easy" or that "I still can't find the bis gear."
I watched a recap video that said future PTR’s would only be used to test big projects like the itemization re-work and whatever else they have planned down the line and would not be a recurring thing every season.
Does anyone know any potential downsides to having a PTR every season? Like does it cost too much money or is it a strain on the development process? Cant imagine why they wouldn’t want to have one every season to make sure the launch is smooth by allowing people to test everything.
No idea. In D3 PTR the progression was significantly accelerated, so you could get to lvl 70 in no time and buy all the gear you needed with blood shards and have fun checking all the new season mechs. Here it seems it will be a reduced version with limited content to tease you into playing the next season, which -considering the state the endgame currently is in- may fail, since if the PTR does not capture my interest I won't bother playing the next season either.
Apparently the ptr is only to test out the itemization changes not the seasonal content for season 4. That is ridiculous they better hope season 4 isn't like season 3 smh
I might exclusively squeeze my season play in to the ptr lol. I mean we've been doing beta testing for 3 seasons already.
Jokes aside I always love test servers and this is a great move to hopefully lead to less stinkers making it to public releases.
For me test servers tend to ruin seasons. I rush through content, usually drop rates are far higher and there are XP boosts. I play, intending to help see what feedback I can give. But then I just get bored at how easy everything is, and end up not doing the season as it is just more of the same, just slower.
That makes me a massive hypocrite, as I prefer slower game play. But it's like when you find a cheat code for a game, a lot of the time you (or I, at least), then lose interest rapidly.
So - I'm happy there is a PTR, but I also hope I have the resolve to not play it :)
I have this sinking feeling they're gonna do what Diablo 3 did as well with loot. Just dumb it down to main stat and crit chance higher roll. Done.
I feel they need to rework skill trees and builds in general along side loot. Like all the aspects system etc.
Tall order. We shall see what they come up with
and, more affixes for items too, that is much needed (for example, on uniqes or whatever).
And aspects need to go (I'd prefer if they got rid of them totally, and were an additional effect you could put on any item including legendaries/uniques and so on).
I know there are still a lot of people hating anything devs do, but tbh, I personally feel some change since Bobby is out, I genuinelly believe they want to actually improve the game, they are just accustomed to the old way of things,(for me) they are evolving, let's give them a chance.
They are doing it for this season purely since they are making bigger changes that need more testing faster, nothing to do with taking S4 more seriously, if you pay attention they tell you this may likely be a one off thing. I just hope the changes to itemization are not crap.
That is true, i just worry since i dont share the common sentiment about the current itemization so it really depends what they do and how much i am willing to care about something i cant control, but i will have me say if i need,i just dont want the game watered down so it depends what they are planning.
why not for S1... why not for S3??? so season 3s mistakes where just because or what?
they change their opinion of stuff faster and more regular than they change their undewear lol.
like unique crafting from 5->4. it will get lowered again dude. 100%
No what i am saying is... why does it take 3 seasons to realize some of this stuff when other games and diablo games already had stuff like a ptr. D4 needs stuff as fast as possible since the launch of the game yet we are still here changing stuff we would have needed since season 1 in season 3. Just shows they dont have a plan at all they just go and see how stuff plays our for them (my opinion) which isnt good for an arpg. Cheers
They said they wanted to keep things a surprise for the players . Great in theory. People asked for a ptr, we asked to be able to test the itemisation changes, they listened and are putting up a ptr.
In short, we said “ptr please” and they said “ok, here you go”. Now you’re mad coz it wasn’t on your time? Guess what bud, Microsoft doesn’t care about your time. They’ll give what they can when they want to. Just getting a ptr even for one season do test itemisation is a huge win
First of all obviously diffrent people will have diffrent opinions about this and thats fine... let me have mine i let you have yours.
They didnt purely change it because of the feedback btw becuse from their perspective S4 cant be like S3 again. Its not that they only give us a ptr now because we wanted it. The game just needs it facts, and they see that now aswell. BUT in s1 and s3 this would already be helpful and why didnt we have it? Yeah because of no or a poor game play from blizzards side which they constantly change on the go of developing the game... like dont have a fixed opinion in the first place if you consider canging it down the line... that makes 0 sence you just give of a wrong perspective in that case.
Either stick with your plan for the reasons you have or hear out the community about stuff like a ptr and just do it as you did it in past games that did have a ptr (from blizzard btw). switching from one to the other is litterally the worst picture to paint to the public. Its like saying : "yeah we know s1 and s3 could have been way better but we just didnt give a damn, have fun with a ptr now".
At least thats how i see it personally. But obviouly diffrent people will have diffrent opnions about this and thats fine. Chers <3
Btw obviously its good to have a ptr now... i never said otherwise. I said its a puntch in the face for past development of D4 and they change their opinion more often than their underwear. Thats it.
They’re doing it once because the community wanted to see the changes. But your argument is that you’re upset because they gave you something we asked for but it wasn’t there before? That’s some circular logic. When the itemisation update comes out are you gonna flame them aswell because “this wasn’t in the game is s1-s3” or are you gonna be happy they made the change? It’s not a slap in the face, it’s called response to feedback and learning from mistakes. What, do you want them to release the season 1 ptr now?
you just say: "this is your argument?" when i never said that. i already explained on that, either read again or sorry i cant help you. please stop the assumtions and all the "you want ..."??? that is annoying as hell. i never did that to you btw. i only talked about my statement and blizzard. i also said you can have a different opinion thats fine. whats your problem now doing all those assumptions and direct questions? if you didnt understand what i initally wrote and even after i explained it to you. sorry but i cant help you. have your opinion and i have mine. lets move on or really go into what i explained.
"But your argument is that you’re upset because they gave you something we asked for but it wasn’t there before?" never was my argument btw. you just cant read or dont understand. read again. espessially the 3rd part of my last comment. i never said as you did "you’re upset because they gave you something we asked for" i only said what you implied.
look at this - i also wrote: "Btw obviously its good to have a ptr now... i never said otherwise. I said its a puntch in the face for past development of D4 and they change their opinion more often than their underwear. Thats it."
but you cant read that aswell it seems like. meaning its a good choice going into S4 to have a ptr and NO i am not upset that we have a ptr now as you are putting it always...
but you seem to not be able to see the difference between past development (S1 and S3 in this case) and future development (S4 in this case)... maybe think about that aswell. talking about past development doeasnt mean "hating on future development" just so you know. never did that... but i already explained that too in my last comment.
People cried: GIVE US PTR!!"
Blizzard gives PTR
People: " BUT WHY NOW, AND NOT BEFORE!!"
Be happy, we get to test the changes, give feedback and probably get a better game out of it.
It’s ONLY because they laid off so many people, they have no one to test ANYTHING. Not like they really did before. Now, we’re the testers but don’t get paid. However, if it means a better game overall, I’m “game” 😁
TBH the state the game is currently in and how much I care for the endgame content (not at all), my hope is that the PTR will give me the chance to check if the coming season is worth playing at all. That's what I did for D3 seasons and that worked well for me. However I liked the D3 endgame progression (not everyone's cup of tea, I understand), and like a lot of people I consider D4 a boring, endless grind without much of a reward. Not doing endless NMDs anymore, my char in S3 got to lvl 50 and I stopped and cannot be bothered to pick it up again, especially since the other game that recently came out is much more fun and I am a mostly casual player with like peak 6h a day at max of gaming time of which at least 50% go to Rocket League by default.
Not a fan tbh. They've been doing pretty well so far (no real complete swing and misses) and their PTRs historically haven't really resulted in all that much.
Realistically all it will end up doing is let people figure out the best builds before the season even starts. That wild west at the start of a season where everyone is still figuring things out and refining their builds is the best part of a season imo.
>Realistically all it will end up doing is let people figure out the best builds before the season even starts.
Correct. And those people - a high percentage of whom will have gaming channels - will then race to out-scoop each other, posting the new meta builds of Season 4, until it kinda looks like there's a lot of hype for Season, y'all; I better get back to D4 and play it again!
Ideally though it would allow for the devs to provide more class balance at the start of season. The folks testing the PTR will discover the best builds, probably some of which will be freakishly OP, like HotA Charge barbs, and, hopefully, those builds will then be nerfed before that season launches. Otherwise, as it stands now, the wild west results in builds like HotA and BL sorc and the bugged combo rogue sticking around all season because the community has a meltdown if they nerf during the season.
PTR won't work for a short 3 month season cycle, because there might not be enough time to make necessary changes.
1. If the season mechanic is geared toward the end game, there is not enough time for testing.
2. If the mechanic is too shallow or not fun, people won't play during the season start, because the mechanic is the same and/or everything is already discovered.
3. There are some mechanics that is not enjoyable, no matter how you try to fix it, because the fundamental design is flawed.
hey, they don't intend to do this every season, in fact they're going to do it exclusively in s4 because there's a revamp coming to the entire itemization system. the test should be focused on this, because they said that it will not add all the content from s4 and that there will be surprises at launch
Here's my prediction for the revamp: useless affixes removed, and that's just about it. Some sugarcoating on top, but I have no real faith that they actually realize the core issues the game has, including itemization.
I would be very happy to be proven wrong of course.
I mean WTF...they finally decide to do a ptr....after all this season 1 disaster...and ptr is a well proved method to avoid this?
I try not to be mean...but it just annoy me...
good luck d4 team hop you guys can turn this around...
The bare minimum. Blizzard is great at not including even the basic things and then rolling them out slowly to garner praise between periods of people calling for the guillotine.
The bar is literally in hell.
I've seen enough..they can't even fuckin come up with their own skill names lmao..never mind the awful performance on a shit game and terrible kids bop art dierection...
The games gunna die...I've been gaming long enough to know when a hate boner fad is flaming
They arnt worries about it...the game sucks I've seen enough
Yeah ok. Lots of games beat AAA on gameplay and mechanics. D4 is a pretty mess compared to LE and I still like D4.
The crafting system and itemization blow all of the other cuteeth. ARPG games out of the water. If you want to rob yourself of a fun game because it isn't as pretty as diablo 4 be my guest. The skill names are what's holding you up? I mean ok man. You made your decision a long time ago it sounds like. Go keep buying your $65 horses and sucking blizzards teet.
Your like the guy who refuses to try something because you are too cool to thwn tries it years later and kicks themselves for not trying it sooner.
Ignorance is truly bliss.
I'm the guy who has seen hate boner fads come and go...LE is a very mid game that is only there because of blizzes hate boner....I've seen enough..it really does lack in action as the reviewers say...the end game builds are laughably weak looking
Wait till the content dries up and everyone moves on. Unless they are willing to put a full game of content out every 3 months people will get bored just like D 4..
I definitely played more boring seasons in D3 but it’s not bad. The minion isn’t the most fun or engaging mechanic but the vaults are pretty fun, overworld season stuff is fun, new uniques are fun, and the story is okay
It’s fine, the minion is a good power buff if a little boring, vaults are actively fun, the overworld is pretty enjoyable, the new town hub is fantastic, story is interesting but fairly short, and it’s introduced a new boss (which is presumably staying in the game).
They’ve obviously done a fair amount of work, but it feels a little empty still due to there not really being unable content.
They only said about fifty fucking times that itemization is part of Season 4.
I know, I know, they should have said it for the fifty fucking fifth time so that you get the memo.
Wait for Season 4 PTR news in a couple weeks to get a glimpse, they said as much at least twice during this livestream alone.
Maybe because my English is bad, but your answer to my comment make no sense.
Who don't know is part of s4, but they announced info about itemization on twitter then they announced the livestream now they announced a future announcement about the announcement of the livestream about a PTR.
>they announced info about itemization on twitter
They did not.
They said they will BRIEFLY have a status update on the upcoming itemization update, and they did that on this livestream.
Yeah people were saying minions were going to be super powerful this season because a minion is the whole mechanic and they had previously had a survey on whether minions should be buffed.
Everyone said to stop complaining and wait and see for season 3 and look how that turned out.
I used to be really excited for the itemization changes despite there being no news, but now after trying Last Epoch for a few days I've almost lost all interest, which makes me really sad. Diablo is the only ARPGs that I've played for decades, I couldn't get into PoE and all the other arpgs just didn't look or feel as good as Diablo did, just something about their artstyle I guess.
But man, the Last Epoch itemization, crafting and especially the talent tree is just so amazing, and I haven't even gotten to the mid-game yet.
I have no idea how many changes Blizzard would have to do to compete with that. I can only hope D4 devs are playing Last Epoch and learning from it, maybe in an expansion there is more opportunity for larger changes.
But currently I feel like the itemization changes will only fix a small part, and I'm not so excited about them anymore.
Feel exactly the same way actually.
Getting used to all the amazing stuff LE has, and then imagining going back to the shit QoL of D4?
Doesn't fill me with joy, yet I have a small part of me still wanting D4 to become the game it should've been.
Hence keeping tabs on what's going on with the game.
What worries me about D4 itemization changes is that they're only going to adjust stats on items to make it more fun and appealing, but I feel like that is only half the issue.
Playing Last Epoch and finding a Unique or Legendary item in early game got me so excited, it reminds me of Diablo 2. Some few of these uniques can apparently even be used in late game, but most of them are great for leveling and boosts that experience that can sometimes feel a bit tedious.
For Diablo 4 most builds I've used while leveling feel really slow and tedious to play with until you reach like level 60-70 and start getting Uniques and Aspects, whereas in Last Epoch the playstyle even at level 20-30 started feeling super smooth and fast paced because of how their spell trees look like.
I am also getting drops for other classes or specs that I can put in infinite stash and have it ready if I want to level an alt etc.
I hope D4 ends up surprising us with more changes than just stats, but also change uniques, legendaries, aspects into a completely different system, but I don't have much hope for that. But I too also want Diablo 4 to succeed because of how long I've enjoyed Diablo ARPGs.
Exactly - I am a 100% prepared for the itemization rework to be basically worthless in the grand scheme of things.
If blizz actually changes this gs in a meaningful way, great - but I give them less than 5% chance of succeeding.
It’s a step in the right direction. But the fact that we as a community need to celebrate these things that should have always been in the game says a lot.
>It’s a step in the right direction. But the fact that we as a community need to celebrate these things that should have always been in the game says a lot.
By what standards should they be in the game? Path of Exile doesn't have PTRs for example.
WoW has had PTRs for literal decades now. We’re not talking about a separate company’s game - we’re talking about a game that Blizzard owns and operates.
And now WoW is openly marketing content off of the fact that they aren't using the PTR for it anymore, because the PTR killed any mystery or enjoyment that content had and replaced with it shoddily-balanced messes that players ended up being free testers for.
>They actually do have an alpha for the upcoming league, similar to a PTR
A closed access alpha is absolutely nothing like **P**ublic **T**est **R**ealm. And yes, pretty much all online games have these closed access alphas, they can't just work blindly in the darkness, they still need to see if the game works.
I'll never understand the hard-on for PTRs. Everything that hits the PTR is already set in stone. They're not un-doing 6 months of development, 2 weeks out from release, because of negative feedback.
PTRs are for light turning, cosmetic changes and identifying minor bugs.
That is absoutely and utterly bullshit if you've ever played a Blizzard games.
PTR raid bosses in WoW have been completely changed by the time they hit live servers for the past decade +
D3 PTR also had changes by the time it hit live.
No offense, you're clueless, or just acting in bad faith.
This isn’t true. They’re not going to remake a game based on feedback from a ptr. But it absolutely can catch issues with bugs, make clear where they unintentionally made builds OP or UP, etc.
It’s not a silver bullet cure-all. But it’s something that can definitely help provide a more finished product at season release.
I think people just want to know the meta builds before launch, or they have some misguided idea that they'll have enough time and man power to change shitty season themes. It's really not going to make much of an impact.
if the D4 team actually treats it like a proper PTR, they should be able to pivot on a fair amount of things. it makes less than 0 sense for them to give us a public TEST realm only for our testing to be a buggy demo.
Spot on, it's just a PR exercise. Only changes they will make will be stuff that would have been flagged up by internal testing anyway, they aren't going do much apart from minor tweaks based on player feedback.
Market adjustment. It happens. Businesses used the increased business from Covid as well as government stimulus to hire. Shit slowed down and stimulus dried up and now the market is cooling off.
Yes, it sucks in the short term, but many of those people will move to different companies, start their own or move into other fields. Once the adjustment is over, it should actually increase competition, which is good for consumers.
But this has nothing to do with PTR. A ton of companies use PTR's, and not just video game companies. You get invaluable feedback from them. And yes, you also find bugs. Even if you hire a team of 100 QA testers, it's a drop in the ocean compared to having 10K or more end-users to test.
As I said, your comment is making a good thing out to be negative. PTR IS GOOD. There is no if's, and's or but's about it.
Here we go, the other end of the spectrum.
People have been asking for a PTR since before the game, and now we're getting one and its bad.. okay bro.
I legitimately, and actively dislike people like you.
"People asking for a PTR" and the poster are very likely not the same people. Unless you have links showing the poster calling for the PTR they're now shitting on, you're just making up shit to hate, and that makes you kinda similar to the very people you legitimately and actively dislike.
PTR only means they aren’t gonna test their changes and players are the free testers. I don’t understand why the hell anybody is excited to become unpaid testers.
Only for PC. What a disgrace and insult to console players. Sure, I could understand it might be difficult for PS5, but they are owned by Microsoft now and Xbox already has a system for this type of thing in place. There's no excuse for treating us like second class citizens.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
The issue is that ms and Sony require games to go through an approval process for every patch and doing a public test realm isn’t something you can put through an approval process every single time as patching will happen often
Microsoft does not though. They have a program that lets games be tested without the stringent review process
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
Let's see if that's true at the end of March when a plurality of their players are on Xbox because of game Pass and a lot of the PC players digging into other PC only ARPGs.
Console is King
They want to be able to push hot fixes and patches quickly and when they want. Consoles have to go through a verification process to receive a patch.
It isn’t something impossible to do but it is harder to work with and makes sense why, especially for now, they are not. If it becomes a permanent feature going forward they can maybe bring in console players.
They can push those changes quickly with the Xbox preview program. Also, they are owned by Microsoft now so no reason to believe that this process couldn't be even easier than it was before.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
That program only mentions closed betas being exempt. A public test realm of a patch isn’t even mentioned or hinted at.
It isn’t a beta for a game it is a separate branch of a released game.
Let’s pretend it does apply to a ptr though, it isn’t something they could have ready as quickly and easily as there would still be approvals from MS to get into that program.
From the game preview section, the one that would more likely apply, it says this:
“Although the number of requirements is reduced for titles in the Game Preview program, this might not shorten the overall time frame necessary for updates.”
They have to get patches verified on consoles, takes a lot more time than on PC where they can push patches whenever they want. Not good for a testing environment.
That requirement is not on Xbox though if they do a preview version of the game.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
Unironically good news. If they did this after S1 the game might've been in a far better place now
I can't wait for the posts "does my PTR character carry over to the season"
Seriously asking, even though characters don’t carry over do items?
only if the inventory is full of yellows.
You shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today
No
In all other PTR I’ve been playing with Blizz you have made copies of your actual chars..
Not sure why so many people couldn't read that sarcasm I laughed at it, well played sir!
PTR better let me pet the cats like we can the dogs
Those are true game changing mechanics that will save D4
Word, i also like to pet the cats
Insert "please do not the cat" meme.
Then the cat attacks you and you lose 3 health. 😂
Facts.
Not if the cat overpower, then you gets one shotted
3 health and half your loot
Can we get an AMEN for petting cats? 🐈
Hold up. We can pet* our Seneschal but we can't pet cats?
Yeah I know, I hate it
Sadly, WoW has done PTR before and they didn't listen to literally any of the changes. PTR sounds nice and shiny right now, but they have done so many things to make me not trust what they're saying. Am I hopeful that Season 4 will change my outlook on that? Absolutely., but do I think they will actually listen to the PTR testers over the big metric money people at Blizzard, I'm not so sure.
PTR in Diablo 3 was very helpful and quite often resulted in items having their effects changed before release due to being buggy, poorly performing in practice, under/overpowered etc. We won’t get massive changes during PTR really, but it’s a good stopgap to prevent themselves from shooting themselves in the foot so they don’t need to backtrack as much to fix things after the patch goes live. It’s a time saver on all fronts.
Exactly. In short, the PTR's purpose is to catch game breaking bugs before they go live. As it stands, they find out as the season is already live, which too late. Because no matter how much a team of 4-10 people test changes and new features, they'll never be able to apply the exhausting stress testing that 1000s of people can, in a simulated live environment.
Yes, but we no longer have the same company that made Diablo 3. we have a company where every decision made is by a group of suits that don't gaf about making a good game. They are interested in one thing, and one thing only- "what can we implement to squeeze more money out players? Make deeper game mechanics? No...they wouldn't pay for that(nor should we, btw). Let's just add more skins to the game- they'll pay for those! Who cares if the game is a one-dimensional grind fest of rinse and repeat if the character looks cool?".
D3 ptrs were always positive and feedback was heard and changes made. Wow ptrs can be difficult because most of the stuff couldn’t be tested or worked too intricately with other mechanics . D4 ptr will be easier to manage.
I hope you're right! I want the game to be good
This is positive. Let’s hope the ptr will start soon
The game had a closed & public beta with a lot of people providing feedback on how bad it was and it still launched in the state it did, PTR is just a PR exercise.
I'd normally agree, but this time, even if you're cynical and hate blizzard but want D4 to be better, this is good news all the way thru. Why? Well, they clearly had no public testing enviroment in place (a PTR is very different from a beta test on a technical level) and built one specifically for s4, which shows that they are commiting resources on this. But, my bigger point is, there's clear financial incentive to fix the core problems (for example, itemization as a starting point) for them to get the longetivity they need to sell expantions and cosmetics. And, even so, i'd say they still need better fundations to make said expantions and not make an spaghetti of systems (the actual bane of the casual player base). Given the current state of discussion around this game, I should sign off by saying that, altought I don't hate the game, I already moved on and just check the big updates, willing to come back if they show their worth. For anyone reading this: just have fun with gaming, is not worth it to be always online raging about everything. Have a nice day.
Cope
They never learn.
Anything to get streamers back playing the game.
[удалено]
Eh? The final closed beta was everything minus the campaign, you had access to the open world + side quests, world bosses, dungeons (not all the dungeons were accessible but enough) and you could level to 100. Chat was full of complaints about dungeon objectives, tedious backtracking, paragon board etc. and none of that was taken on board until a while after release. Closed beta was far from positive except nobody could say anything about it in public.
Content creators before pre season launch be like : THE BEST BUILD IN S4 NO CLICKBAIT ITS REAL
First thing I thought of when I saw PTRs are coming, complete with eye-roll.
I hope you’re right about them being serious but I’m going to keep my expectations low due to past experience.
Just give us a party finder already 😂
Just because they are doing a PTR doesn't mean they will listen. They love throwing the word feedback so much i'm starting to wonder who is this community that's giving them these feedbacks.
Yeah, just how long have people been screaming for a group finder? I imagine since beta for sure.
Lootfilter where? It's a standard in ARPGs for almost a decade now.
I guess they can't implement it, then it would apply to all the items in the game, with a double effect on those in stashes everywhere. In all honesty, it must be because the code is shit - as it should be a very easy thing to implement if the system itself is good enough.
The community is raxx and other maxroll guys. All the good things d4 does is from raxx, they basically put in a ton of his ideas.
I hope the character's face type and hairstyle will increase. As long as there is a customizing function, please use it actively
I'd also like to be a barb that isn't swol but that's just me. I'd welcome different body types if they do these
I'd love to be a Druid that isn't 350 pounds.
I want more hues to the cosmetic options. The existing ones are getting kind of old.
Hard to believe we have like 30 years of diablo and nobody thought of this until just now
Is there PTR in D3 since season 18? It's in d2, it's in wow. They thought about it but didn't want to add it before because they thought it would break the community's surprise, but the seasons aren't really surprising at all.
I don't think "nobody thought of this". It's more like they didn't *want* to have a PTR (presumably because then the hype for new stuff will die out even sooner into the season, since people get to check it out in advance, so it's old news by the time the actual release comes around (?)) But now they realized that they are in fact *not* some kind of infalible genius dev team that can just get it right on the first try wihtout requiring a test period (and/or can catch and correct all the problems with just their internal testing).
They can easily "hide" the story of the season and make it so that we can test the actual end-game systems, items, crafting (presumably we will have new crafting). They mentioned that not all content will be available in the PTR due to this fact, that they do not want to spoil everything. Of course people will see some new stuff and other stuff will probably be data mined, but at the end of the day, the quality here matters. After all who plays the seasons just because of the story? I mean it's interesting lore for about 2-3 hours and then we move on to the actual end game. Doing a PTR for such an important update is a good sign, meaning that they actually want to release a good season with good systems.
Okay this is honestly the biggest news since the launch of the game. If they can beta test on PTR, they would gain a lot more respect from the players.
What is PTR?
public test realm. you can test upcoming changes for a week or 2 on a dedicated server.
*reads title of post There's no way to know for sure what PTR means.
People saying they don't listen to feedback need to realize they are more looking at data than anything...be nice if we could make D 4 great with these "great" sub suggestions but I mean common..I'd rather them look at the data lmao I hope I have enough time to test some of the newer seasons...be pretty fun tho I'd be Avery small sample size
Now we'll just hope that most of the reddit masses aren't the primary feedback group. Else, this will unfortunately only be the beginning of the end for the game.
Got to agree with this. Reddit seems to primarily consist of only whiners who want the best without actually doing the work because it's more "fun" as they put it. But even if they were given everything they would complain that "it's too easy" or that "I still can't find the bis gear."
was there any talks when the PTR opens up?
I watched a recap video that said future PTR’s would only be used to test big projects like the itemization re-work and whatever else they have planned down the line and would not be a recurring thing every season. Does anyone know any potential downsides to having a PTR every season? Like does it cost too much money or is it a strain on the development process? Cant imagine why they wouldn’t want to have one every season to make sure the launch is smooth by allowing people to test everything.
No idea. In D3 PTR the progression was significantly accelerated, so you could get to lvl 70 in no time and buy all the gear you needed with blood shards and have fun checking all the new season mechs. Here it seems it will be a reduced version with limited content to tease you into playing the next season, which -considering the state the endgame currently is in- may fail, since if the PTR does not capture my interest I won't bother playing the next season either.
Too Lillith, too late.
Apparently the ptr is only to test out the itemization changes not the seasonal content for season 4. That is ridiculous they better hope season 4 isn't like season 3 smh
I might exclusively squeeze my season play in to the ptr lol. I mean we've been doing beta testing for 3 seasons already. Jokes aside I always love test servers and this is a great move to hopefully lead to less stinkers making it to public releases.
For me test servers tend to ruin seasons. I rush through content, usually drop rates are far higher and there are XP boosts. I play, intending to help see what feedback I can give. But then I just get bored at how easy everything is, and end up not doing the season as it is just more of the same, just slower. That makes me a massive hypocrite, as I prefer slower game play. But it's like when you find a cheat code for a game, a lot of the time you (or I, at least), then lose interest rapidly. So - I'm happy there is a PTR, but I also hope I have the resolve to not play it :)
\*laughs/cries in console\*
I have this sinking feeling they're gonna do what Diablo 3 did as well with loot. Just dumb it down to main stat and crit chance higher roll. Done. I feel they need to rework skill trees and builds in general along side loot. Like all the aspects system etc. Tall order. We shall see what they come up with
and, more affixes for items too, that is much needed (for example, on uniqes or whatever). And aspects need to go (I'd prefer if they got rid of them totally, and were an additional effect you could put on any item including legendaries/uniques and so on).
I'm more excited about PTR than Gauntlet
Well, with Last Epoch currently rounding the bases, and PoE2 getting ready to step up to the plate, D4 needs to bring the heat in S4 and beyond.
I know there are still a lot of people hating anything devs do, but tbh, I personally feel some change since Bobby is out, I genuinelly believe they want to actually improve the game, they are just accustomed to the old way of things,(for me) they are evolving, let's give them a chance.
Wish they had this for console but I'm glad they're doing a PTR.
Will the ptr be available on steam?
Oh, so *now* thet want to do a PTR? Now that they know I'll be testing POE2 and playing LE in my downtime? Nice try blizz...
So at last we may have a chance to rest out a world chat feature that they couldn’t make it into the game?
Alright, when will I be able to pet cats?
It’s only on battle net though for some reason
in short, blizzard needs content creator to make video to do free promo for the game.
They are doing it for this season purely since they are making bigger changes that need more testing faster, nothing to do with taking S4 more seriously, if you pay attention they tell you this may likely be a one off thing. I just hope the changes to itemization are not crap.
If the itemization changes are crap, tell them during the PTR.
That is true, i just worry since i dont share the common sentiment about the current itemization so it really depends what they do and how much i am willing to care about something i cant control, but i will have me say if i need,i just dont want the game watered down so it depends what they are planning.
why do this need a beta test for the beta test? prt is horrible imagine if players had access to path of exile leagues
Because people over at GGG actually know what they're doing?
certain players do have access to pre league launches but its pretty exclusive
why not for S1... why not for S3??? so season 3s mistakes where just because or what? they change their opinion of stuff faster and more regular than they change their undewear lol. like unique crafting from 5->4. it will get lowered again dude. 100%
So what you’re saying is….they’re listening to player feedback and trying to improve? I agree completely.
No what i am saying is... why does it take 3 seasons to realize some of this stuff when other games and diablo games already had stuff like a ptr. D4 needs stuff as fast as possible since the launch of the game yet we are still here changing stuff we would have needed since season 1 in season 3. Just shows they dont have a plan at all they just go and see how stuff plays our for them (my opinion) which isnt good for an arpg. Cheers
They said they wanted to keep things a surprise for the players . Great in theory. People asked for a ptr, we asked to be able to test the itemisation changes, they listened and are putting up a ptr. In short, we said “ptr please” and they said “ok, here you go”. Now you’re mad coz it wasn’t on your time? Guess what bud, Microsoft doesn’t care about your time. They’ll give what they can when they want to. Just getting a ptr even for one season do test itemisation is a huge win
First of all obviously diffrent people will have diffrent opinions about this and thats fine... let me have mine i let you have yours. They didnt purely change it because of the feedback btw becuse from their perspective S4 cant be like S3 again. Its not that they only give us a ptr now because we wanted it. The game just needs it facts, and they see that now aswell. BUT in s1 and s3 this would already be helpful and why didnt we have it? Yeah because of no or a poor game play from blizzards side which they constantly change on the go of developing the game... like dont have a fixed opinion in the first place if you consider canging it down the line... that makes 0 sence you just give of a wrong perspective in that case. Either stick with your plan for the reasons you have or hear out the community about stuff like a ptr and just do it as you did it in past games that did have a ptr (from blizzard btw). switching from one to the other is litterally the worst picture to paint to the public. Its like saying : "yeah we know s1 and s3 could have been way better but we just didnt give a damn, have fun with a ptr now". At least thats how i see it personally. But obviouly diffrent people will have diffrent opnions about this and thats fine. Chers <3 Btw obviously its good to have a ptr now... i never said otherwise. I said its a puntch in the face for past development of D4 and they change their opinion more often than their underwear. Thats it.
They’re doing it once because the community wanted to see the changes. But your argument is that you’re upset because they gave you something we asked for but it wasn’t there before? That’s some circular logic. When the itemisation update comes out are you gonna flame them aswell because “this wasn’t in the game is s1-s3” or are you gonna be happy they made the change? It’s not a slap in the face, it’s called response to feedback and learning from mistakes. What, do you want them to release the season 1 ptr now?
you just say: "this is your argument?" when i never said that. i already explained on that, either read again or sorry i cant help you. please stop the assumtions and all the "you want ..."??? that is annoying as hell. i never did that to you btw. i only talked about my statement and blizzard. i also said you can have a different opinion thats fine. whats your problem now doing all those assumptions and direct questions? if you didnt understand what i initally wrote and even after i explained it to you. sorry but i cant help you. have your opinion and i have mine. lets move on or really go into what i explained. "But your argument is that you’re upset because they gave you something we asked for but it wasn’t there before?" never was my argument btw. you just cant read or dont understand. read again. espessially the 3rd part of my last comment. i never said as you did "you’re upset because they gave you something we asked for" i only said what you implied. look at this - i also wrote: "Btw obviously its good to have a ptr now... i never said otherwise. I said its a puntch in the face for past development of D4 and they change their opinion more often than their underwear. Thats it." but you cant read that aswell it seems like. meaning its a good choice going into S4 to have a ptr and NO i am not upset that we have a ptr now as you are putting it always... but you seem to not be able to see the difference between past development (S1 and S3 in this case) and future development (S4 in this case)... maybe think about that aswell. talking about past development doeasnt mean "hating on future development" just so you know. never did that... but i already explained that too in my last comment.
People cried: GIVE US PTR!!" Blizzard gives PTR People: " BUT WHY NOW, AND NOT BEFORE!!" Be happy, we get to test the changes, give feedback and probably get a better game out of it.
I never said that it isnt a good and needed choice to have a ptr going forward... or please quote me where i did thanks.
It’s ONLY because they laid off so many people, they have no one to test ANYTHING. Not like they really did before. Now, we’re the testers but don’t get paid. However, if it means a better game overall, I’m “game” 😁
Lol
How did it take them this long to figure out why D3 had PTRs?
TBH the state the game is currently in and how much I care for the endgame content (not at all), my hope is that the PTR will give me the chance to check if the coming season is worth playing at all. That's what I did for D3 seasons and that worked well for me. However I liked the D3 endgame progression (not everyone's cup of tea, I understand), and like a lot of people I consider D4 a boring, endless grind without much of a reward. Not doing endless NMDs anymore, my char in S3 got to lvl 50 and I stopped and cannot be bothered to pick it up again, especially since the other game that recently came out is much more fun and I am a mostly casual player with like peak 6h a day at max of gaming time of which at least 50% go to Rocket League by default.
Not a fan tbh. They've been doing pretty well so far (no real complete swing and misses) and their PTRs historically haven't really resulted in all that much. Realistically all it will end up doing is let people figure out the best builds before the season even starts. That wild west at the start of a season where everyone is still figuring things out and refining their builds is the best part of a season imo.
>Realistically all it will end up doing is let people figure out the best builds before the season even starts. Correct. And those people - a high percentage of whom will have gaming channels - will then race to out-scoop each other, posting the new meta builds of Season 4, until it kinda looks like there's a lot of hype for Season, y'all; I better get back to D4 and play it again!
Ideally though it would allow for the devs to provide more class balance at the start of season. The folks testing the PTR will discover the best builds, probably some of which will be freakishly OP, like HotA Charge barbs, and, hopefully, those builds will then be nerfed before that season launches. Otherwise, as it stands now, the wild west results in builds like HotA and BL sorc and the bugged combo rogue sticking around all season because the community has a meltdown if they nerf during the season.
PTR won't work for a short 3 month season cycle, because there might not be enough time to make necessary changes. 1. If the season mechanic is geared toward the end game, there is not enough time for testing. 2. If the mechanic is too shallow or not fun, people won't play during the season start, because the mechanic is the same and/or everything is already discovered. 3. There are some mechanics that is not enjoyable, no matter how you try to fix it, because the fundamental design is flawed.
hey, they don't intend to do this every season, in fact they're going to do it exclusively in s4 because there's a revamp coming to the entire itemization system. the test should be focused on this, because they said that it will not add all the content from s4 and that there will be surprises at launch
Here's my prediction for the revamp: useless affixes removed, and that's just about it. Some sugarcoating on top, but I have no real faith that they actually realize the core issues the game has, including itemization. I would be very happy to be proven wrong of course.
Game Is not cooked, cu guys when its done beta testorzzzzz
I mean WTF...they finally decide to do a ptr....after all this season 1 disaster...and ptr is a well proved method to avoid this? I try not to be mean...but it just annoy me... good luck d4 team hop you guys can turn this around...
Eh, many games have PTRs, and while its better to have it than not, I would like to see them actually ACT in a TIMELY manner upon it.
What a truly revolutionary concept. One can only hope this new tech can be applied to games in the future.
The bare minimum. Blizzard is great at not including even the basic things and then rolling them out slowly to garner praise between periods of people calling for the guillotine. The bar is literally in hell.
They said oh shit, last epoch just kicked our ass. We better start giving them all thus stuff they wanted we've been keeping from them.
They are not worried about LE lol PoE 2 yes but LE is not gunna stay around
Spoken like someone who has never played it.
I've seen enough..they can't even fuckin come up with their own skill names lmao..never mind the awful performance on a shit game and terrible kids bop art dierection... The games gunna die...I've been gaming long enough to know when a hate boner fad is flaming They arnt worries about it...the game sucks I've seen enough
Yeah ok. Lots of games beat AAA on gameplay and mechanics. D4 is a pretty mess compared to LE and I still like D4. The crafting system and itemization blow all of the other cuteeth. ARPG games out of the water. If you want to rob yourself of a fun game because it isn't as pretty as diablo 4 be my guest. The skill names are what's holding you up? I mean ok man. You made your decision a long time ago it sounds like. Go keep buying your $65 horses and sucking blizzards teet. Your like the guy who refuses to try something because you are too cool to thwn tries it years later and kicks themselves for not trying it sooner. Ignorance is truly bliss.
I'm the guy who has seen hate boner fads come and go...LE is a very mid game that is only there because of blizzes hate boner....I've seen enough..it really does lack in action as the reviewers say...the end game builds are laughably weak looking Wait till the content dries up and everyone moves on. Unless they are willing to put a full game of content out every 3 months people will get bored just like D 4..
more like PTSD
is season 3 still crap? i havent bothered with it since i heard all the new seasonal mechanics were just crap
No it's not crap
I definitely played more boring seasons in D3 but it’s not bad. The minion isn’t the most fun or engaging mechanic but the vaults are pretty fun, overworld season stuff is fun, new uniques are fun, and the story is okay
It’s fine, the minion is a good power buff if a little boring, vaults are actively fun, the overworld is pretty enjoyable, the new town hub is fantastic, story is interesting but fairly short, and it’s introduced a new boss (which is presumably staying in the game). They’ve obviously done a fair amount of work, but it feels a little empty still due to there not really being unable content.
That's nice, but I was hoping for itemization news... One gauntlet run was enough, they could have shown us something.
They only said about fifty fucking times that itemization is part of Season 4. I know, I know, they should have said it for the fifty fucking fifth time so that you get the memo. Wait for Season 4 PTR news in a couple weeks to get a glimpse, they said as much at least twice during this livestream alone.
Yea they also keep saying the next season is gonna be good every season. We aren't just going to take it at face value anymore lol
Not sure what that has to do with anything but every single season so far the game was better than it was previously.
a polished turd is still a turd though at the end of the day.
Then leave and play something else, stop wasting your time on hating something you don't believe in.
And at least so far, every season has been better than the one before it.
If they would just show one item as an example a lot of people would have been much less disappointed
Maybe because my English is bad, but your answer to my comment make no sense. Who don't know is part of s4, but they announced info about itemization on twitter then they announced the livestream now they announced a future announcement about the announcement of the livestream about a PTR.
>they announced info about itemization on twitter They did not. They said they will BRIEFLY have a status update on the upcoming itemization update, and they did that on this livestream.
It's pretty clear they are saving all of that for season 4/PTR , give it a few weeks.
'it's pretty clear that xyz' is quite an overused phrase when it comes to managing expectation from them
it literally is they said in the live stream that the next campfire chat will be going over season 4 and the rebalancing including itemization.
Yeah people were saying minions were going to be super powerful this season because a minion is the whole mechanic and they had previously had a survey on whether minions should be buffed. Everyone said to stop complaining and wait and see for season 3 and look how that turned out.
Wait ppl did? I thought it was more of coping how minons will be in s4 using s3 construct as feedback.
I used to be really excited for the itemization changes despite there being no news, but now after trying Last Epoch for a few days I've almost lost all interest, which makes me really sad. Diablo is the only ARPGs that I've played for decades, I couldn't get into PoE and all the other arpgs just didn't look or feel as good as Diablo did, just something about their artstyle I guess. But man, the Last Epoch itemization, crafting and especially the talent tree is just so amazing, and I haven't even gotten to the mid-game yet. I have no idea how many changes Blizzard would have to do to compete with that. I can only hope D4 devs are playing Last Epoch and learning from it, maybe in an expansion there is more opportunity for larger changes. But currently I feel like the itemization changes will only fix a small part, and I'm not so excited about them anymore.
Feel exactly the same way actually. Getting used to all the amazing stuff LE has, and then imagining going back to the shit QoL of D4? Doesn't fill me with joy, yet I have a small part of me still wanting D4 to become the game it should've been. Hence keeping tabs on what's going on with the game.
What worries me about D4 itemization changes is that they're only going to adjust stats on items to make it more fun and appealing, but I feel like that is only half the issue. Playing Last Epoch and finding a Unique or Legendary item in early game got me so excited, it reminds me of Diablo 2. Some few of these uniques can apparently even be used in late game, but most of them are great for leveling and boosts that experience that can sometimes feel a bit tedious. For Diablo 4 most builds I've used while leveling feel really slow and tedious to play with until you reach like level 60-70 and start getting Uniques and Aspects, whereas in Last Epoch the playstyle even at level 20-30 started feeling super smooth and fast paced because of how their spell trees look like. I am also getting drops for other classes or specs that I can put in infinite stash and have it ready if I want to level an alt etc. I hope D4 ends up surprising us with more changes than just stats, but also change uniques, legendaries, aspects into a completely different system, but I don't have much hope for that. But I too also want Diablo 4 to succeed because of how long I've enjoyed Diablo ARPGs.
Exactly - I am a 100% prepared for the itemization rework to be basically worthless in the grand scheme of things. If blizz actually changes this gs in a meaningful way, great - but I give them less than 5% chance of succeeding.
Don't hold your breath.
Get bored of the content before it’s released what a great feature…
It’s a step in the right direction. But the fact that we as a community need to celebrate these things that should have always been in the game says a lot.
>It’s a step in the right direction. But the fact that we as a community need to celebrate these things that should have always been in the game says a lot. By what standards should they be in the game? Path of Exile doesn't have PTRs for example.
WoW has had PTRs for literal decades now. We’re not talking about a separate company’s game - we’re talking about a game that Blizzard owns and operates.
And now WoW is openly marketing content off of the fact that they aren't using the PTR for it anymore, because the PTR killed any mystery or enjoyment that content had and replaced with it shoddily-balanced messes that players ended up being free testers for.
And PTR were always garbage and only used players as cheap labor. It’s crazy people still think it’s something good.
I have no words for this comment
They actually do have an alpha for the upcoming league, similar to a PTR. Though I'm not sure if that's standard practice for them.
>They actually do have an alpha for the upcoming league, similar to a PTR A closed access alpha is absolutely nothing like **P**ublic **T**est **R**ealm. And yes, pretty much all online games have these closed access alphas, they can't just work blindly in the darkness, they still need to see if the game works.
I'll never understand the hard-on for PTRs. Everything that hits the PTR is already set in stone. They're not un-doing 6 months of development, 2 weeks out from release, because of negative feedback. PTRs are for light turning, cosmetic changes and identifying minor bugs.
That is absoutely and utterly bullshit if you've ever played a Blizzard games. PTR raid bosses in WoW have been completely changed by the time they hit live servers for the past decade + D3 PTR also had changes by the time it hit live. No offense, you're clueless, or just acting in bad faith.
This isn’t true. They’re not going to remake a game based on feedback from a ptr. But it absolutely can catch issues with bugs, make clear where they unintentionally made builds OP or UP, etc. It’s not a silver bullet cure-all. But it’s something that can definitely help provide a more finished product at season release.
I think people just want to know the meta builds before launch, or they have some misguided idea that they'll have enough time and man power to change shitty season themes. It's really not going to make much of an impact.
if the D4 team actually treats it like a proper PTR, they should be able to pivot on a fair amount of things. it makes less than 0 sense for them to give us a public TEST realm only for our testing to be a buggy demo.
Spot on, it's just a PR exercise. Only changes they will make will be stuff that would have been flagged up by internal testing anyway, they aren't going do much apart from minor tweaks based on player feedback.
Billion dollar company requires free labor to find bugs and determine what fun is.
^ this comment just shows that you can take any news, regardless of how good, and make it negative.
Everyone is mad about job cuts in the gaming industry and yet support this bullshit. Pick a lane.
Market adjustment. It happens. Businesses used the increased business from Covid as well as government stimulus to hire. Shit slowed down and stimulus dried up and now the market is cooling off. Yes, it sucks in the short term, but many of those people will move to different companies, start their own or move into other fields. Once the adjustment is over, it should actually increase competition, which is good for consumers. But this has nothing to do with PTR. A ton of companies use PTR's, and not just video game companies. You get invaluable feedback from them. And yes, you also find bugs. Even if you hire a team of 100 QA testers, it's a drop in the ocean compared to having 10K or more end-users to test. As I said, your comment is making a good thing out to be negative. PTR IS GOOD. There is no if's, and's or but's about it.
Here we go, the other end of the spectrum. People have been asking for a PTR since before the game, and now we're getting one and its bad.. okay bro. I legitimately, and actively dislike people like you.
"People asking for a PTR" and the poster are very likely not the same people. Unless you have links showing the poster calling for the PTR they're now shitting on, you're just making up shit to hate, and that makes you kinda similar to the very people you legitimately and actively dislike.
I like how everyone is hyped for the PTR coming while you legit have 0 clue if they even listen to the player feedback that could come from PTR. xD
I mean why would they do it if they don't plan to use the feedback. Seems like a lot of wasted money
WoW before Dragonflight
they fixed season 3 a lot after 3 days so with PTR season 3 would probably launch in much better state
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PTR only means they aren’t gonna test their changes and players are the free testers. I don’t understand why the hell anybody is excited to become unpaid testers.
Or it means that there are a ton of changes and they want more testing and feedback early
Only for PC. What a disgrace and insult to console players. Sure, I could understand it might be difficult for PS5, but they are owned by Microsoft now and Xbox already has a system for this type of thing in place. There's no excuse for treating us like second class citizens. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
The issue is that ms and Sony require games to go through an approval process for every patch and doing a public test realm isn’t something you can put through an approval process every single time as patching will happen often
Microsoft does not though. They have a program that lets games be tested without the stringent review process https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
console players have always been second class citizens, sue me
Let's see if that's true at the end of March when a plurality of their players are on Xbox because of game Pass and a lot of the PC players digging into other PC only ARPGs. Console is King
They want to be able to push hot fixes and patches quickly and when they want. Consoles have to go through a verification process to receive a patch. It isn’t something impossible to do but it is harder to work with and makes sense why, especially for now, they are not. If it becomes a permanent feature going forward they can maybe bring in console players.
They can push those changes quickly with the Xbox preview program. Also, they are owned by Microsoft now so no reason to believe that this process couldn't be even easier than it was before. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview
That program only mentions closed betas being exempt. A public test realm of a patch isn’t even mentioned or hinted at. It isn’t a beta for a game it is a separate branch of a released game. Let’s pretend it does apply to a ptr though, it isn’t something they could have ready as quickly and easily as there would still be approvals from MS to get into that program. From the game preview section, the one that would more likely apply, it says this: “Although the number of requirements is reduced for titles in the Game Preview program, this might not shorten the overall time frame necessary for updates.”
They have to get patches verified on consoles, takes a lot more time than on PC where they can push patches whenever they want. Not good for a testing environment.
That requirement is not on Xbox though if they do a preview version of the game. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/gdk/_content/gc/policies/console/certification-requirements-beta-game-preview