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  1. #1
    The Lightbringer Kouki's Avatar
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    Random Stress Tests?

    So recently ive found this site.

    http://gw2status.com/

    It shows all the stres tests and how many servers are live as well as countdown timers for how long they last and when the game goes live.

    notice anything odd?

    After each beta weekend event prior to 3 there was only 1 stress test

    And now there have been 10 the 10th only comming about 6 hours ago from time of this post.
    And another that i was able to get into a day ago.

    So what is with these random stress events, there are no emails and nothing on the official site about them yet they do happen.

  2. #2
    twitter + fb are your friends. Also nothing odd, game is about to release so they're building/checking server capacity so the release is smooth.

  3. #3
    I am Murloc! Mif's Avatar
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    They announce them on Facebook and Twitter.

  4. #4
    They make a stress test when they need to test something. I think this is a good way to make these tests, and it is not like you are forced to play every time the servers go up, or your world is falling apart if you miss one.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    They post about them on FB and on twitter, and hai Kouki ^_^

  6. #6
    Anet are very modern in that they use a lot of social media for their announcements. I think every stress test & event so far has been on their twitter and facebook page.

    The forum here and guru has had a thread each one as well. Many [most?] of us have been in each one so far if the buzz/chatter is any indication.
    Last edited by Fencers; 2012-08-23 at 02:11 PM.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Kouki View Post
    So recently ive found this site.

    http://gw2status.com/

    It shows all the stres tests and how many servers are live as well as countdown timers for how long they last and when the game goes live.

    notice anything odd?

    After each beta weekend event prior to 3 there was only 1 stress test

    And now there have been 10 the 10th only comming about 6 hours ago from time of this post.
    And another that i was able to get into a day ago.

    So what is with these random stress events, there are no emails and nothing on the official site about them yet they do happen.
    What's with having so many more tests leading up to the final minutes before launch? Did you really just ask that? Of course they are doing a lot more tests leading into the final minutes for tweaks and fixes, between the first BWEs there was no reason to rush out a test build since there was still a lot of time before launch, but now that its coming into final minutes before launch they want to make sure everything is ready and stable for launch, wither it be server stability or frame rate fixes or bug fixes, its just them making sure that the game is playable at launch by having as many people as they can with all different computer rigs and drivers and what not play to see if any setup has been broken by coding changes to fix a different setup, trying to prevent "oh zones A and Q are unplayable with a Nvid card but run prefect on ATI but zones D and K work great on Nvid but are unplayable on ATI."

    I remember way back in vanilla WoW where there was an entire zone where any of my guildies who had ATI cards flat out could not play in the zone due to massive massive frame drops (like only getting 3 frames per minute type of bad) yet people with Nvidia had no issues with the zone at all... I think it was Searing Gorge , but anyways that's besides the point, the point being not every computer setup can be tested internally and doing "stress tests" is a good way to check for game breaking issues like a entire zone being unplayable for certain hardware and/or drivers.

  8. #8
    I thought the idea was to not duplicate the diablo 3 launch?
    ~Former Priest/Guild Wars 2 Moderator~
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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Kelesti View Post
    I thought the idea was to not duplicate the diablo 3 launch?
    Diablo 3 launch was awesome, though. I got so much housework done that day. I've never felt so productive.

  10. #10
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Fencers View Post
    Anet are very modern in that they use a lot of social media for their announcements. I think every stress test & event so far has been on their twitter and facebook page.
    They did miss one modern form of communication imo, the e-mail.
    Last edited by mmocc954dc3881; 2012-08-23 at 04:37 PM.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by rhinomatic View Post
    Diablo 3 launch was awesome, though. I got so much housework done that day. I've never felt so productive.
    Thank you, my good friend. Not only is my monitor covered with tea, but some of the inside of my nose is now as well!

    ---------- Post added 2012-08-23 at 10:42 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Pilut View Post
    They did miss one modern form of communication imo, the e-mail.
    The average person checks their e-mail a lot less often than Facebook or Twitter. Stress tests are usually done on short notice with a small window to even be online, an e-mail isn't a way to grab someone's attention for it.

    Hell, the last one only had 10 minutes of a headsup on Facebook (6 on Twitter) before servers went live. What would be the point of an e-mail?
    ~Former Priest/Guild Wars 2 Moderator~
    Now TESTING: ArcheAge (Alpha)
    Now PLAYING: MonoRed Burn (MtG Standard)
    Twitter: @KelestiMMO come say hi!
    ~When you speak, I hear silence. Every word a defiance~

  12. #12
    Deleted
    E-mails not for just this stresstest, all of em. This one was special since it was announced so close to the test.
    You cant rely on everyone checking their facebook or twitter, but you know you at least tried to reach all when using e-mail

    I'm probably not the average person since I dont check facebook or twitter much at all.

  13. #13
    It's pretty obvious that what they call "Stress tests" are just "Tests" which sometimes are "Stress Tests".

    Sometimes they want to really test server capacity and technical stuff and sometimes they probably just want to test a small feature or new addition (like this night or the last 1hour test) and dont really need many people. It's probably easier than calling their QA team to test something like that when you can have thousands of fans to test it for free And for those the hour doesn't matter.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kelesti View Post
    I thought the idea was to not duplicate the diablo 3 launch?
    Somehow I have a lot more confidence in the talent of ppl working at ANet (and also the fact they went in with caution spreading the release). At least, during the tests it really felt like they were working hard and stuff... never felt that way with Blizzard. Oh and instant patch just requiring a restart ? That's 2012.
    Last edited by rezoacken; 2012-08-23 at 04:57 PM.

  14. #14
    Yea, I really wouldn't say e-mail is all that modern anymore. Certainly more modern than like smoke signals or telegram. But it's pretty obvious social outlets like Facebook/Twitter and such are pushed harder than ye ole' @compuserve.net.

  15. #15
    I am Murloc! Mif's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fencers View Post
    ye ole' @compuserve.net.
    I miss the old internet. The prerequisite of being able to configure a dial up modem worked well as an idiot filter.

  16. #16
    The Insane DrakeWurrum's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mif View Post
    I miss the old internet. The prerequisite of being able to configure a dial up modem worked well as an idiot filter.
    And the screeching was a great deterrent to vermin.
    I hope you haven't forgotten my role in this little story. I'm the leading man. You know what they say about the leading man? He never dies.

    If you give in to your impulses in this world, the price is that it changes your personality in the real world. The player and character are one and the same.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Mif View Post
    I miss the old internet. The prerequisite of being able to configure a dial up modem worked well as an idiot filter.
    212NYCZ-2 BBS4lyfe.

    If you didn't do it in ANSI/ASCII it didn't count.
    Last edited by Fencers; 2012-08-23 at 05:08 PM.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Mif View Post
    I miss the old internet. The prerequisite of being able to configure a dial up modem worked well as an idiot filter.
    Hehe oh so true Mif ;o) ever since this interpipe thingy caught on it all went downhill

    OT: There is no "Conspiracy" here, just a good development team working hard to get it as right as they can for launch day

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Kouki View Post
    So what is with these random stress events, there are no emails and nothing on the official site about them yet they do happen.
    The stress tests have all been anounced through facebook/twitter. None of the ones between BWE's had emails either. Now normaly they give us a days warning if they want a significant number of players to show up. Last nights was rather unique in haveing the shortest notice ever with it being anounced 10 min before servers opened.

    Honestly it comes down to what the point of these tests are. BWE's were dual perpous, alow the public/fans to play the game early as well as colect data for their own beta needs. Because of that they were given much fanfare and plenty of advanced notice. Stress tests on the other hand are purely for the benifit of finishing development. They need to quickly test a new build under more load than their internal QA department can account for? Open up the floodgates and sound the trumpets on the social media sites many these days follow. Its quick and painless for them and it gets enough people in for what they need. Geting enough word out so every body has time to clear their schedules and such is not a factor for this type of testing.

    Who is John Galt?

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Kelesti View Post
    The average person checks their e-mail a lot less often than Facebook or Twitter. Stress tests are usually done on short notice with a small window to even be online, an e-mail isn't a way to grab someone's attention for it.
    Uh, no. There's tons of people that don't even have Facebook or Twitter accounts and if you have an Android phone and use Gmail then you are basically always checking your email. I look at Facebook one or two times in the evening after work. I look at Twitter like, oh, almost never. I check emails whenever I get a notification.

    Bottomline is this, Facebook and Twitter are fine and all but they have all of the email addresses for those of us that have set up an account. It wouldn't kill them to email as well. Sending a mass email doesn't take any longer than making a facebook or twitter post.

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