7.0 PTR - when will it appear?

[Pua]

We're approaching the release date of Legion in a couple of months or so, and the systems patch for 7.0 will go in before it in order to release all the systems changes prior to the expansion content itself (and, presumably, the demon hunter starting experience).

But the PTR for it hasn't gone up yet, and it would appear we're short on time.

Note, however, the word "appear".

How long is the expansion pre-patch usually live for, and how long does it typically get on the PTR prior to release? Is it normal to be this late (assuming it is late), or are we roughly on schedule based on past development cycles?

Answers on a postcard, please.

[Isheria]

Sometime this month most likely with the highest chance being towards the end of june. Testing lasts roughly a month and pre-patch is usually a full month before release on live servers.

[Goshko]

Late June to mid July would be my guess. Or never. That's possible too.

[Malic]

Would demon hunters be included in ptr?

[ReVnX]

If they elect to test the pre-event in the beta servers, how about, never?

Pretty much this

[thilicen]

I think there might just be a very reduced PTR time for 7.0, maybe even not at all since most of the features that would go in are being heavily tested in the beta already.

[Pua]

I think there might just be a very reduced PTR time for 7.0, maybe even not at all since most of the features that would go in are being heavily tested in the beta already.

That's largely always been the case, however, and most notably with Mists of Pandaria; the expansion that had the largest beta participation to date, I'd imagine. They still had a PTR.

It's not just about the pre-expansion event, it's about getting the systems launched prior to the new content so that all of those problems (if there are any) can be solved first.

That said, I've just looked at it again - the release date is August 30th, which is closer to September, so we maybe have more time than I originally thought. The end of June, as mentioned by @Isheria, is probably about right.

[Tiphess]

A guy on reddit who leaked the actual date for wods prepatch leaked the 7.0 for the 19 july

take it with a grain of salt but it will surely be around this date

[Pua]

A guy on reddit who leaked the actual date for wods prepatch leaked the 7.0 for the 19 july

take it with a grain of salt but it will surely be around this date

Looks a little early, but yeah; around that date would be about right.

Oh, and @Malic - yes, I'd imagine the demon hunter starting experience will be part of this for those who pre-ordered.

[Paula Deen]

Mists PTR went live in early August. (1 Month of PTR) WoD PTR went live in September (1 and a half Months of PTR) Keep in mind both of these had much less content to actually test than Legion. So either PTR is starting after the Beta Event (Like Next Week), or they aren't doing it. If I was Blizzard and I was trying my hardest to present a good image for the playerbase and regain players after this abortion of an expansion I would actually go with the opinion that PTR is not happening. I say this because of a few things:

1. The Current State of Classes is a Mess
2. Despite being pretty damn close to release we are still seeing major bugs everywhere, this is commonplace in Beta, but not on PTR. By the time things hit PTR the game is expected to be in a state where the only bugs are on bosses in raids, not out in the world.
3. Optimization is messy in many areas, although, thankfully, this is contained to the Isles so this most likely would/will not be a factor.

The first two are huge HUGE HUGE reasons as to why it would be in there interest to just not do PTR. If they release Classes like they are or the game like it is to PTR people are going to get really cold feet and probably not bother coming back, which is something they really do not want. If I was Blizzard I would do something though, I would release the Beta as OPEN. I would do this on June 10th. It would generate publicity alongside the US Release of the Movie. It would also be "shielded" of "Criticism" because of its Beta status.

Thats just my opinion on the situation though, which I am sure many will find unsatisfactory.

[Tiphess]

actually i just hopped on the wow's reddit and apparently they're testing the prepatch (on the beta servers) on a server dedicated for this specific patch tommorrow

here's the battle.net thread

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20745254329#1

here's the reddit one

https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comment...t_test_june_2/

[Nevcairiel]

Would demon hunters be included in ptr?

Unknown. Blizzard may decide either way.

It would also be "shielded" of "Criticism" because of its Beta status.

Thats just your perception of "Beta", plenty PTRs have been utterly broken when they first launched and then got fixed. PTR is just "public Beta". Blizzard doesn't do open marketing-Betas like other vendors that show you a complete game like a demo (well not for WoW anyway).

Whats the point of a PTR if its already working properly? Its a test realm, not for players to "demo" the upcoming changes, but for Blizzard to get feedback from testing.

For your reason (1), there is still 4-6 weeks of pre-patch in which people would notice if they don't like their class, in which time they may decide not to buy legion. So that argument seems not to hold up much.

[Pua]

2. Despite being pretty damn close to release we are still seeing major bugs everywhere, this is commonplace in Beta, but not on PTR. By the time things hit PTR the game is expected to be in a state where the only bugs are on bosses in raids, not out in the world.

Are these bugs in the Broken Isles, or with systems that would come with the pre-patch?

It strikes me as a bit mental that they wouldn't have at least a small PTR to ensure people can download, install and play it properly before patching it live. But...

actually i just hopped on the wow's reddit and apparently they're testing the prepatch (on the beta servers) on a server dedicated for this specific patch tommorrow

That might be the reason why. Even then, I wouldn't have thought beta availability was wide enough for it to work properly - and it only seems to be concentrating on the event scenario.

I think releasing 7.0, not properly tested and fucking lots of things up, would potentially be more damaging than a few class-related issues.

[Tiphess]

yea i mean regardings classes at this point problems will be balance issues.

even if its quite sad for some specs that have really useless/imbalanced talents rows (looking at you mistweaver), right now only numbers will be modified til release im pretty sure

but then once mythic comes in and blizzard see shits they've done they'll just bandaid-fix everything as usual

[Nevcairiel]

That might be the reason why. Even then, I wouldn't have thought beta availability was wide enough for it to work properly - and it only seems to be concentrating on the event scenario.

Note that this special server is not testing another kind of patch or anything, its just supposed to test the invasion events, on the same game version that the beta is on.

[Deleted]

Would demon hunters be included in ptr?

Idk but i fucking hope

[Pua]

but then once mythic comes in and blizzard see shits they've done they'll just bandaid-fix everything as usual

I don't mean to sound dismissive, but I actually don't care about class-balancing or design any more. It's not that I don't want classes to be easy to pick up, hard to master and fun to play; it's that Chris Zierhut and his team simply don't have the talent to manage it and, as such, I've accepted that decent class design isn't happening.

And, yes. Hotfixes are viewed as "design and iteration" these days, rather than "a scramble to fix something we broke, despite being told about it multiple times during beta".

[MrExcelion]

Not at all is my guess since they're testing the pre-event today

[Jessicka]

I expect before the end of June, pre-patch will probably be mid July and having seen the hot mess that was WoD's launch stress testing should be pretty high on their priority list. Beta simply isn't big enough to stress test. PTR should get the numbers, if they hype it and call it 'open beta' rather than PTR.

Class balance won't be a thing until after launch, in the pre-raid period; same as with WoD. A horrible launch experience, lasting weeks like WoD would do far more damage than poor balance that no one would notice while they're not raiding.