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Help Keywords : Testers 'Beta Testing'.
Help Category : Information.
Related Helps : Buglist, Building, Todo, newtester, pfile refresh.
Last Updated : 2023-03-12 14:10:07.
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Almost all new Aardwolf areas, goals and code changes are put onto a
separate copy of the MUD for player volunteers to review and test before
they are moved over to the main MUD. Testing is an extremely important
role and helps keep the quality of Aardwolf high and bugs/crashes out of
the game.
How it works
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Players with the 'tester' flag will be notified via the personal board
when there are new items ready for testing and are able to login to the
test port to review those changes. Testers not only check if a change
works as stated, but if the change itself makes sense. Testers also help
with suggestions, balance issues, etc. Complex features may go through
several changes on the test port before finally making it live.
Players on the test port have separate copies of their characters and a
number of commands available to set their levels, stats, class, etc., as
necessary to test new changes. They can also refresh their pfile from the
live port at any time.
Tester Rules
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The test port is not a place to play around or use to gain information on
the main port (such as using the test port to hunt campaign mobs, solve
new goals, etc). Abusing these commands will at the very least leave you
without test port access. Having your character on live and on test at the
same time is completely OK.
Testers are privileged with advance knowledge of new features. As such,
they are asked not to share this with fellow friends, clan members, or on
public channels. Rumors about features on the test port that are there
just to try something out and may never even make it live have caused a
number of issues in the past.
Testers will also often have the solutions to goals before they make it
live and are asked not to share them. For some goals, based on feedback
from the builder and complexity of the goal, we may ask that you refrain
from completing the goal on the live port for some amount of time after it
goes live. If this applies it will be posted when the goal is announced
for testing. If you don't want to have to stick to this, you should not
test that goal and also avoid that area completely.
Am I qualified?
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You do not have to be an expert in Aardwolf or in software testing to be
a tester and absolutely do not need to know Lua (our scripting language).
Even players completely new to the game will try different commands in
different ways and their testing is valuable. If all you can do is review
new areas and goals for typos then that is a big help too. Don't worry
about being "qualified", if you want to help there will be a way to help.
Nobody is under any obligation to sign up to be a tester, but one thing
we do ask is that if you sign up to test then do spend some time testing.
If you feel up to the challenge, send a note to 'Imm' on the personal board
explaining you'd like to help out test new areas and Aardwolf changes.
Are there any rewards?
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There are no official rewards for being a tester, but the most active
testers are rewarded with donations in their name from time to time.
What are the first steps?
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Send a personal note to IMM requesting to be a tester. You will receive
a notification back with information. From there, please see Help Pfile
Refresh for more information.
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