So what is Blizzard testing on the PTR exactly?

[Direshadow]

- All battlegrounds are broken

- No one does 5 mans.

- Raids are impossible to do because of the damage increase.

- the game crashes every five minutes.


And now we're getting the first bit of data from the patch? I'm a little bit scared. Do you think Activision is pressuring them into an early release?

[ElAmigo]

maybe to see what the rest of the community thinks of the new system of talents and skills????

[Clockwork Pinkie]

- All battlegrounds are broken

- No one does 5 mans.

- Raids are impossible to do because of the damage increase.

- the game crashes every five minutes.


And now we're getting the first bit of data from the patch? I'm a little bit scared. Do you think Activision is pressuring them into an early release?

They're testing Cataclysm. Also lolpressure from Activison. Can we have less "omg Activision is ruing the game" threads please?

[georgevonfranken]

to balance out the numbers

[LunarionSilver]

I did a heroic HoR earlier in order to test some changes. I played for an hour, reported, around 6 found bugs, then logged in to the live servers to raid.

People are sending feedback, I wouldn't worry. They're testing issues with how the 4.0.1 changes effect things. For example, some druids are having issues training Insect Swarm. I am one of them. The Gunship at the end of HoR also did not load properly, which I also reported. Repeatable crashes while trying to eat a fish feast while in a dungeon: also reported.

[jster]

They would get to much heat if they just threw these talent spec's onto live without any people able to try them. Thats what the main purpose of the PTR is imo.

[Direshadow]

to balance out the numbers

How can they balance out numbers when the abilities themselves aren't working in the first place? And how do you balance numbers when all you get are 1v1 duels in goldshire?

[Beetlejuice]

What you download now are graphics and sound. Stuff that is "bugfree" and very unlikely to change. And since that stuff makes up by far the biggest chunk of the patch its a smart move to deploy it now. The chunk you do all the bug fixing and balancing in will be only a few mb and will be in the last chunk. So just because you can download the first part already doesnt mean you download a bugged part.

[Neichus]

People's patience.

[cise4832]

The downloader.

[Cerus]

Beta is for numbers balance - far more than the PTR. PTR is for stress testing - hence why it's public.

PS. Activision doesn't control Blizzard.

[Aberration]

They are testing the class changes and some of the new interface stuff.

For future reference, you can read the patch notes from the downloader or from various websites.

---------- Post added 2010-09-17 at 04:41 AM ----------

I did a heroic HoR earlier in order to test some changes. I played for an hour, reported, around 6 found bugs, then logged in to the live servers to raid.

People are sending feedback, I wouldn't worry. They're testing issues with how the 4.0.1 changes effect things. For example, some druids are having issues training Insect Swarm. I am one of them. The Gunship at the end of HoR also did not load properly, which I also reported. Repeatable crashes while trying to eat a fish feast while in a dungeon: also reported.

Also, this. Playing the PTR and NOT submitting bugs is just idiotic I think.

[Arcsecant]

Not to mention the amount of people participating or trying to participate in this PTR is probably much higher than normal.

[zlygork]

How can they balance out numbers when the abilities themselves aren't working in the first place? And how do you balance numbers when all you get are 1v1 duels in goldshire?

I think you didnt understand what Privete Test Realms are for...for Testing so you report bugs like on broken skills and they get fixed...gosh why does 60% of mmochamps think it's a freaking demo?

[Jorick]

Beta is for numbers balance - far more than the PTR. PTR is for stress testing - hence why it's public.

PS. Activision doesn't control Blizzard.

This, on all counts. PTR for stress testing, and Activision only controls marketing decisions. :P

[zlygork]

Also, this. Playing the PTR and NOT submitting bugs is just idiotic I think.

yup,it is

[mistuhbull]

They are mainly attempting to test how the cataclysm changes affect level 80 PvE (and PvP a bit but that matters less since the arena season is ending before 4.0.1 comes out) since the vast majority of players on Beta are testing the new stuff, not ICC and the like.

Since it seems that ICC (and all instances) is broken (from the cata mob damage bump which will most likely be removed from 80 instances, I think there was a blue post about it) they are most likely going to look heavily at dummy numbers

[Aberration]

Also, need I remind you that the PTR is FREE to play?. My account has been expired for over a month and I am playing the PTR daily submitting feedback.

[Lexxe]

Beta testing the talents and skills with a small group vs testing talents and skills with a large group. Even if we can't get into anything, we still have target dummies.

Also: I run 5 mans all the time on the PTR as a dps, with little or no wait time. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

How can they balance out numbers when the abilities themselves aren't working in the first place? And how do you balance numbers when all you get are 1v1 duels in goldshire?

Hence it being, the ptr.