Swordsman Archive

Hi you all,
For the combat balance there will be a special server "sandbox" where all of the changes can be tested in advance. It has been mentioned that each correspondent will get to choose 5 players from their community to partake in the testing. This is an exciting opportunity to be on the frontlines for some needed changes. It's also going to be a lot of work. This is NOT a time to go check out what templates are going to rock after the change!

I have a few names in mind for this but I'd also like to open up things a bit and let you guys apply to be a part of it. I will be looking for strong testers with a good knowledge about the game and good skills for testing and understanding the new systems. I'm not sure what the devs have in store for us but personally I would like to get people who I can ask to test very specific things to get as much data as possible. You will be expected to take directions not to just go wreak havoc on the new toys. That might mean sitting around and doing the same things again, and again ... and again -- until we understand exactly how they work. In other words, it's not all fun and games. That said, cool and interesting people are a bonus.

Did I pound home my point? This isn't a perk, it's a job!

I have been waiting on confirmation for all this but as I haven't received definitive word yet I thought I would just the ball rolling. I don't know of any timeline yet but I will go ahead and start accepting applications now.

If you are interested you can PM me on the forums. Please put "Sandbox App" in the title and please include your Station login name (not password ), i.e. the one you use to login to the game. Some things you might mention in your application:

• What are your experiences with Star Wars Galaxies and the Swordsmen profession?
  
• What skills do you have that would be particularly useful for this test?
  
• How much time do you realistically have to give to this testing? Are you flexible for dates given that we don't know when this might occur?
  
• Do you consider yourself more PvE- or PvP-oriented or do you play a roughly equal mix of both?
  
• What do you think about where Swordsmen are now and should be going?

For something like the latter, it's not really important what you say but just that you might show me that you can think about the issues confronting our profession.

Message Edited by StGabriel on 08-18-2004 06:42 PM

submitted.

i hope we get some good testers in there

Just click the little mail envelope in the upper right corner

Or, if you click on StGabes name one of the options you will have is send this user a private message

Message Edited by LordMaxx on 08-18-2004 03:01 PM

A very good suggestion. Of course I was intending to focus on both PvE and PvP but it might be good if you include in your application your preferences/interests in playstyle. I will try to select a mix.

I'll edit the original post.

StGabe.

When will you tell us who gets to go?

It's an open-ended timeline right now. I put this up just because I wanted to be prepared but I really don't have enough information right now to feel comfortable picking any dates. As soon as I get more info I'll post something here.

StGabe.

Message Edited by Noc-turnal on 08-18-2004 06:45 PM

Well I'm really flying by the seat of my pants here. The thing that popped up in the dev tracker was the first notice I had that this was happening at all. I still don't really have times or info on the specifics. What will be tested depends on what is changed. I imagine that we will spend some time crunching numbers and running tests to determine the underlying mechanics (even if these are described to us we will need to determine that they work as described) and a fair amount of time just finding out how things work in practice by PvP'ing and PvE'ing ourselves and with the other professions. Maybe this Friday Feature will shed some more light on where we are headed -- but my info at the moment isn't much better than what is available to you guys.

I've alluded above to a lot of the qualities I would like to see in canditates. In short I think it is important that the candidates:

...have the time to commit to this
...are able to see this as a time to help test and not just a chance to get information ahead of time
...can take directions well
...can express their findings well
...are creative about finding and anticipating problems, possible exploits, etc., with the system
...will represent Swordsmen well and put a good face on our profession and community
...are flexible and open-minded about the changes that we will see
...are patient with a process that will probably be bumpy, time-consuming and possibly quite frustrating at times
...and are fun to hang out with and discuss this stuff with

I would like to have an even mix of PvE- and PvP-oriented players if possible but I will go for those who fulfill the above criteria first as I think that good testers will be able to adapt and test all ends of things regardless of their personal preferences. I will definitely try to make sure that there is at least one hardcore PvP player and one hardcore PvE player.

Message Edited by StGabriel on 08-18-2004 10:32 PM

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LordMaxx wrote:
Just click the little mail envelope in the upper right corner

Or, if you click on StGabes name one of the options you will have is send this user a private message

Message Edited by LordMaxx on 08-18-2004 03:01 PM

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Thanks, but.....it still won't work Oh well, I'll just have to wait for it I guess