So what is Blizzard testing on the PTR exactly?

[Cerus]

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

Unless there's a bug I don't know about the Cata mob damaged buff was for expansion areas only and a different build than what is available on the PTR.

And they don't care about post patch PvP - arena will be done and it wont be balanced for level 80 PvP.

[Athinah]

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.

Ty someone finally said it

[Riavan]

I have to agree with you, not a lot. People keep saying "oh, its beta, thats why its broken"
YOUR MEANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT BEING BROKEN EVEN IF IT IS BETA THATS HOW THEY KNOW YOU DONT LIKE IT AND FIX IT.

I really don't like that every complaint ghostcrawler answers is pretty much a "this is what you want", or "this is what you told us you want on the forums a year ago" etc. If it was what we want, then we wouldn't be complaining. I don't like this "things will be balanced at 85" pfffft, they should be balanced throughout the whole game without such huge descripancies.

[Direshadow]

Ty someone finally said it

I hate to say it but I'm quite sure Activision has a hand in what Blizzard does. Having the name "Blizzard" tied to your company doesn't make you money... it just makes you look slightly less shitty.

Blizzard games make money, and I'm quite sure that Both Blizzard and Activision do whatever makes them the most money.

I know you think that Activision would NEVER try and put itself before the customers, but it's just not true.

[Intwine]

Lol, activision cannot force blizzard to push there game, it's like biting the hand that feeds them.
Blizzard is keeping that boat afloat, if the push to hard blizz bails out and the boat sinks.

And if you find a bug, report it, that's what it is for, the more reports they get the better they can ttry to fix stuff before it actually goes retail.

[Llunai]

How can you possibly equate game testing with pressure from Activision? Activison doesn't test its games! If anything, Blizzard putting up the PTR, despite the lack of profits associated with doing so, would be in spite of Activision..not because of them.

...I'm so tired of mindless conspiracy theories.

[ScorchHellfire]

I've done plenty of 5 mans on the ptr but yes all the dungeon mobs have had their damage increased so its interesting with tanks having a hard time holding aggro and half of people talents broken...

[Dazed]

Yah, mob dmg needs fixing, but if people report it, that shouldn't be a problem.
Though, having tanks getting hit for 60k in heroics and stuff is quite amusing

[Old God]

I thought the whole activision-blizzard debate was already taken care of. Some people still don't understand that Activision Blizzard is a gaming publisher. They market, publish and distribute the games made by the various game design studios that operate under them. They don't set policy for those individual game studios, they don't get involved in design decisions by those studios. People are blaming Activision for certain things and saying that blizzard isn't to blame at all for it, well look at the facts.

[Winfernal]

- All battlegrounds are broken

Do you think Activision is pressuring them into an early release?

heh. Yeeeah...

OT:
The PTR is for the whole community to test the systems changes.

I hate to say it but I'm quite sure Activision has a hand in what Blizzard does. Having the name "Blizzard" tied to your company doesn't make you money... it just makes you look slightly less shitty.

Blizzard games make money, and I'm quite sure that Both Blizzard and Activision do whatever makes them the most money.

I know you think that Activision would NEVER try and put itself before the customers, but it's just not true.

They are aiming for a November release as allways. They did it for TBC, they did it for WOTLK, and they are doing it now. Yeah, Blizzard is a company, it is there to make money. Sherlock would be amazed.

[Deleted]

Lol, activision cannot force blizzard to push there game, it's like biting the hand that feeds them.
Blizzard is keeping that boat afloat, if the push to hard blizz bails out and the boat sinks.

Been there, done that! Remember "Infinity Ward" ?

[ethzero]

Been there, done that! Remember "Infinity Ward" ?

Infinity Ward screwed up with Modern Warfare 2 in their own right. Activision didn't 'push' them into anything.

[Alraml]

Infinity Ward screwed up with Modern Warfare 2 in their own right. Activision didn't 'push' them into anything.

He's right. I lost a lot of respect for Infinity Ward with that clusterfuck of a game

[Grimora88]

Warrior tanks take too much damage, they still hold aggro fine if you're ADHD like me.
Hunters just need a little down tuning with the damage numbers (this is almost like patch 1.7 all over again:http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/patch1p7.html).

Still waiting for my Shaman to get moved. =/

[Persay]

Infinity Ward screwed up with Modern Warfare 2 in their own right. Activision didn't 'push' them into anything.

What did Infinity Ward screw up without any involvement from their parent company? It's makes more sense that Activision actually 'pushed' various developers into making decisions that would only benefit income over desired features in the game play. "Blizzard's decision" to not include LAN play in SC II, Black Ops to have dedicated servers, -but only from a source that Activision controls-. I see a pattern here. These companies are not IW.

Sorry for going off topic.

[Direshadow]

They are aiming for a November release as allways. They did it for TBC, they did it for WOTLK, and they are doing it now. Yeah, Blizzard is a company, it is there to make money. Sherlock would be amazed.

But the last two expansions didn't have them re-making both Vanilla continents, dungeons, quests, and talent tree progression, on top of putting in new higher level dungeons and zones.

---------- Post added 2010-09-17 at 10:15 AM ----------

Infinity Ward screwed up with Modern Warfare 2 in their own right. Activision didn't 'push' them into anything.

And Activision screwed over one of the gaming industry's greatest minds and put his most recent vision in jeopardy.

And did you hear the latest news about Activision? Apparently they're considering putting all of Starcraft 2's cinematica on a dvd and selling it. Talk about a money grab.

[Twiggy]

They may not be looking for any sort of serious stress testing.

They could be looking for feedback on the talent trees from everyone who opts into the PTR, but hasn't gotten into the beta.

They could also be allowing all mod authors to have hands on with 4.0.1. As they probably need to get a jump on a new version of the game.

[yellowbiz]

Do you think Activision is pressuring them into an early release?

Are you trolling or what ?
Activision Blizzard are pressuring themselves to an early release ?

I thought people understood what happened, I guess not.

[apollo1]

Blizzard has made it pretty clear nobody bullies their release date. Its dont when its done. I respect blizzard a lot for that. But its not entirely true....

[Kryos]

they are testing the ammount of nerdrage you can create with one patch - right now they are below their expectations and plan to add more bugs soon.