Lately I've been almost irate over the way SOE handles their Test Center server. The major item in this chapter was the new smuggling system. The developers who worked on this system were actively communicating with people who were testing. They were trying to fix issues found during testing and kept people updated on the status of some item. But, that's where it ends.

Nobody seems to care about the little bugs anymore. The small things that seem to not be a "big deal." If it doesn't directly affect a game-play mechanic it seems a bug is destined to linger for at least a year. Yes, they are in fact trying to knock bugs out of the game, but what is the point if they can't even fix a bug fix that they broke after an update (I know, confusing isn't it). Now, I'm sure Smed or R5 would argue with me using the "what bugs you the most" threads Virrago and Garva have been running in the forums. I'm happy to see these threads and they aren't the problem. Where they fail is when we log into TC to test the fixes for these bugs, find issues with the fixes, report the issues, yet the broken fixes end up going live.

Let me expand on this just a bit by giving an example: the incorrect location of Dathomir on the planetary travel maps (ground game). This is a prime example of the level of utter incompetence SOE displays. It represents failure – plain and simple. If you're not familiar with this bug, travel to a starport and open the travel map from a ticket or starship terminal. You will be presented with a map of the various planets in the game. Look where you see the text label for "Dathomir." You'll see a planet there, but you can't click it. Look a little ways to the left. Oh! There's Dathomir! This would appear to be a fairly simple bug to fix, wouldn't it?

I've reported this bug many times, so have a ton of other people. The first evening Chapter 3 was loaded up onto test center I logged in and went right to that map. I was happy to see they had finally fixed it! I thought, "Wow! They really are starting to care about the details again." That night, they patched TC with a fresh build of chapter 3. The next day I logged in and was dismayed to see Dathomir reverted to its bugged location. I promptly went to the official SWG forums, located the bug/issue thread and posted about the problem.

Jump to Wednesday evening of this week. Chapter 3 is published to the live servers. Where do you think Dathomir is displayed on that map? In the wrong damned location! There are really two arguments here. The first is how did this even happen? I'm sure SOE is using some sort of code management solution, but my guess is they aren't very good at following procedure when it comes to checking out/merging in code. This sort of "we fixed it" then "now it's broke again" thing has been happening for SO long. The typical excuse is "MMORPGs are just so big it's impossible to predict these problems" to which I say bull ****. If you're using your code management software correctly this wouldn't happen except on rare occasion.

The second problem comes down to an inability to use the most valuable testing tool available, the players who genuinely want to help make the game great. The process for reporting bugs and issues is less than reliable. Sometimes the devs will start a "Bugs and Issues for Chapter x.x" thread in the forums, other times they tell you to post them in the publish notes (which are usually full of trolls and spammers). If I'm going to test something for you don't make me wonder if I posted in the right thread. Don't "forget" to create bug threads. Don't make it confusing. Most of all, don't ignore my post. If the items I report don't get fixed I might be upset, but not nearly as upset as I am when I have the feeling nobody even logged them.

I'll say it again – To me, this is a major failure on SOE's part.

How do I think Test Center should work? Eh, I'm no expert. I'll toss this out there though. Really, they should not even ask for our input on bugs and issues if they can't provide us a better means to communicate with them.

• People who are serious about giving feedback on all aspects of SWG can request access to a special testers only forum. This forum can be viewed by everyone, but only testers can post there.
• Anyone can become a tester, but some kind of rules would be set up to minimize the number of people who request access only so they can post in the forum. Perhaps they have to login on TC for X amount of hours per month, maybe 5-10?
• Testing forum members can volunteer to be moderators for the forum and moderation would be heavy.
• Bugs and issues would be posted using a specific format.
• Not only bugs can be posted, but also more general "usability" issue such as "this menu is confusing and should be reviewed again."
• Posts can contain brief thoughts or ideas, but must be kept short (maybe set a word limit on them). Using the previous example of an issue, you could say something like "the wording could be changed to …. In order to make it less confusing."
• Posts may not contain big ideas or long winded proposals.
• Each bug or issue thread would have a few rating categories where the original poster would specify on a scale of 1-5 how annoying the issue is, if it affects their overall experience, how important they believe a fix is, and/or if it breaks any game-play mechanics.
• Other testers can reply with their own ratings for each issue, but from the assumed perspective that they haven't yet tested the bug/issue.
• Thread can only be started by posting a new issue or bug.
• Each would contain a "Date logged" field which would show the date that item was logged by SOE.
• Additional fields could be included for SOE to post the status of items, like "in review" or "currently being tested with dev assistance."
• If a developer or QA tech would like to work with a tester on an issue they would do so via private forum messages or in-game chat on test center.
• While it would be nice, SOE would not have to explain why something was left unresolved when a publish is pushed out.

Like I said, I'm no expert, but wouldn't something like this help to rebuild the testing community? Hell, hire some people to be the Thunderhearts of the test center community.

The primary focus here is to officially get bugs and issues logged giving testers the feeling their work is at least going somewhere. Players who test games (and I mean really test, not just try out the latest and greatest new profession) do it because they enjoy it. They want the game to be better. They don't expect money or a free game account in return.

In my view, the reward for testing something is seeing your issue or bug get fixed.

Rather than embrace this, SOE nearly shuns it. That is why they fail.