April 26, 2016

Server Rewrite: Final Phases in progress

MORE Testing Needed! 

Hi, guys! It's been a while since our last update on the server rewrite progress... and it's time to fix that! The biggest hurdle we face NOW is getting enough testing to make sure we're launching a solid, stable new server.

Usually with these, I add a "XX% complete" note at the top of the post, but I'm not doing that today. We're at a point where we need to pin down as MANY of the bugs as possible to know EXACTLY what we've got left to focus on. We're in the ~9X% area -- we are CLOSE... but we've got to CRUSH THE BUGS before we can say exactly where we're at, and give a more solid idea of what the rewrite will release.

Getting that testing is going to come in two parts, and if you want to be a part of helping us make AQWorlds history, I'd like you to be a part of both! 

1) Pre-data save testing

Right now, on the testing servers, no player data is saved, because we have been testing the core game engine and fixing the issues you and the testers report. You can log in and test, and nothing you do will save on your account. Before we can move forward, we need more testing by a much larger group of testers (that's you!).

2) Final LIVE player testing

Once we are confident that the server is good and ready, we'll implement player data saving. THEN... we'll have mega boosts and some pretty wicked incentives (example: 0 AC Matrix Sir Ver bank pet to everyone who logs on and tests) to reward everyone who logs in and helps us test.

Here's how to help test!

1) Log onto either Testing Server or Testing Server 2 at www.AQ.com

2) Keep your handy, dandy "New Server Testing Checklist" (shown below) next to you as you play so you know what to do. Test out as many things as you can from the list

3) Report any issues you find HERE

4) Log back in and FIND MORE BUGS! /cheer

New Server Testing Checklist

Maps:

• Joining Maps, does this ever fail?
• Joining instance(/join name-#####)
• Are new instances properly generated? Are new instances destroyed?
• Do monsters load properly? 
• Do monsters respawn properly?
• Do clickable items for quests appear and disappear as they are supposed to?
• Do all special functions work? (Think wars, clickable items, unique effects, etc)
• Do players appear/disappear from the map properly? 

Chat:

• Test all chat channels (say, whisper, party, guild)

Combat:

• Test skills, effects, buffs, debuffs.
• Do monsters fight back, drop gold, exp, cp.
• Do items drop and get added to inventory? 

Player Saving:

• Check that your player's data saves properly after completing quests/killing monsters, etc (it will not save after you log off the testing server...YET) 
• Check that your items, gold, exp, etc are what they should be each time you kill a monster, complete a quest
• Do items equip and unequip properly? 
• Do Factions get added, and do points properly save?

Guild:

• Check that all commands work: add, remove, promote, demote

Party:

• Check that all party functionality works
• Check that players are removed from list when logging out

Quest:

• Do quests display properly?
• Check description, rewards, end text
• Check to make sure your Quest progress is saved as you complete stories/quets 
• Check to make sure story quests are completable

Shops:

• Test both shop types: regular and merge. 
• Check to see that Gold/ACs are gained/lost in correct amounts
• Check to see if items added to inventory
• Check to see if merge requirements removed. 
• Are Shop location checks working?

Inventory:

• Items display properly including preview (name, desc, enhancement, etc).
• Items can be equipped and unequipped properly.
• Items sort into the correct tabs
• Regular items can be removed 
• AC items should prevent deletion

Bank:

• Items show in bank correctly
• Items sort to correct bank tabs
• Items can be moved between bank and inventory. 
• Add to bank, add to inventory, and swap two items work
• Items are recognized as in bank when dropping.

Thank you so much to everyone who has, is, and will help us test! We say that we build our games for and with you, and it's TRUE! We could not create AdventureQuest Worlds' weekly updates or its server rewrite without you, and I'm so excited that we are all building this together.

TEST ON!