Forums! The Musical

Since we're going to be making some massive changes to some existing code, as well as adding a bunch of new code, I'm currently in the process of creating another copy of the game which exists purely for testing stuff before we push it out to the main server for all players to check out. By doing this, we hope to vastly reduce the potential for seriously buggy code going into production, and thereby further reduce the risk of needing to roll anything back.

Since it's never a great idea for the people who make the changes to be solely responsible for testing them, we're looking for a core group of, say, half-a-dozen players who have the time and inclination to test things on this server and let us know about any problems before we try rolling them out. Players in this group will not only be able to access new mechanics, zones, items etc. before anyone else, but will also have the ability (on the test server) to edit their own information, give themselves items, turns, effects etc. in order to fully test everything.

Sound like fun? Yeah, there's a downside as well. As part of this group, you will be expected to test things extensively and report back any issue you find, however small, to us, and to work with us on fixing the issues. You will also be expected to keep discussion of anything not yet rolled out to people within the test group and developers (no spoiling anything for non-test-group-members!) and... nothing you do on that server will be in any way permanent.

People who participate effectively will no doubt be rewarded at some point, but right now we're just looking for people to volunteer to offere their time for the good of the game.

If you're interested, please Pmail me in game.

Just an update... This is not just about testing new content, it's also about testing new mechanics and making sure old mechanics aren't broken before we push changes to the real game. Just thought I'd throw that out there, because you need to be aware that it's not all fun and games.

UPDATE: We are currently not taking any more applications for "official" testers. A smallish test group has been established and for the minute we believe there are enough people in it for what we need. If we need more at some point, we'll let you know.