09/10/2008    |    Devlog    |    Deqlor    |    Discuss

I suppose I should introduce myself. I’ll be going by the call-sign Deqlor around here, and I’m a new Mission Designer at the Lab. Though, I can’t really say I’m all that new since I’d been working for the Lab as a tester before taking a position in Content. When I started here, I wanted to work in Content, as writing and storytelling are where my passion lies. That said, I was surprised at how much I loved, and how much I learned, testing. I’d like to talk a little about making the switch from QA to Content.

There’s a big difference between QA and Content, as I’ve come to discover. As a tester, I handled reproducing bugs reported by customers, which was fascinating to me. It was detective work, sifting through a massive collection of data to find the one or two clues that would suggest to me what was happening. Then I’d test the hypothesis in-game, see if I could break it in the way reported. If so, I’d write up the steps I used to reproduce the bug, include the evidence supporting my theory, and file the bug. It’s very analytical and process-driven.

Testing is all about throughput. At least, that’s the case with the work I was doing. Getting the initial customer report, figuring the puzzle out, creating repro steps, and writing it up. Content, on the other hand, is about output. For each patch, I’m given tasks to accomplish, but they are more like raw material to form something from. I love to write and tell stories so I’m getting deep satisfaction out of the work. It takes creativity and communication skills, but I’ve discovered that the most useful tools I have are the ones I developed as a tester.

The tool set we use to build content for the game are not simple, and little mistakes like typos can lead to a lot of frustration and repeated head-to-desk impacts. Attention to detail, recognizing the cause-and-effect involved, and most importantly, willingness to ask questions.

After months of looking at bug reports from Beta and even into the live game, I’m already familiar with the common mistakes and pitfalls associated with creating missions and NPCs. You name it; I’ve seen it, or something similar. Skills not working? Check. Names coming up as reference strings? Check. Avatars with invisible torsos? Check. Now, when I play through my own material before releasing it to the testers, I catch a lot of the mistakes I’ve seen before, just by knowing what to look for and how to look.

Not everything that came across my desktop was a bug. One aspect of the job was reading customer suggestions, seeing if it was something we could do or something we were already doing, and filing those as feature requests. That gave me a whole different insight into the creation process. The majority of suggestions we received were things we had already planned for future patches, but some of the tickets were unique ideas for approaching things we hadn’t considered. I like to think I gained a better appreciation for what different players like and dislike. It’s easy to know what I’d like to see more of, but it helps to read what features and content other kinds of players want. Devising variations and departures from the usual encounter format has been one of the most interesting challenges so far.

A tester touches every aspect of the game. I was in regular contact with nearly every department on a daily basis, learning how we did things and what could cause different bugs. Even with all that information within reach, I admit that I only know a fraction of how the game works. PotBS is not a small game, and our team is not a small team. We are lucky to have worlds of knowledge spread out over many talented individuals. Someone knows the answer already; I would just have to provide the question. When I can’t get an encounter to load correctly or my NPCs aren’t respecting my authority as their creator and master, the fastest way to get it working is to ask the veterans. As it turns out, I’m not the first person to struggle with getting a parrot to stay put on his perch.

All in all, I’d be lost right now if it wasn’t for the time I spent as a tester. I know more of the game, more of the team, and, thanks to all of your suggestions, more of what the players want. I know that it’s impossible for me to expect my output to be 100% bug free, but I do my best. It gets easier every day as I learn new things and develop new processes for myself. I’ve only been in ConCo for a little over a month now but I love every minute of it. I cut my teeth on some of the holiday content for International Talk Like A Pirate Day, which was a whole lot of fun. That will be live September 17th – 26th. I hope you enjoy it!

09/10/2008    |    Devlog    |    Deqlor    |    Discuss