May 12, 2016

PTR Bug Reports: A How To Guide

New Bug Tracker Section for Server Rewrite Testing!

Greeting from the Asylum once again. Cemaros here with some tips to help everyone know how to make the best report possible for the PTR, since the next phase of the server rewrite testing is about to begin!

What makes a good bug report?

A good bug report contains all the information needed for us to know exactly what you are reporting.  If it’s about a shop not opening, the we would need the name of the shop (if possible) and the location of the shop (NPC name, game menu, map, etc).  For an item, we need to know the item name and exact details of what is wrong with it.You can never give us too much information.  You can give too little though.

Got it!

How do I report PTR bugs?

PTR reports will be handled almost exactly the same now as reports have always been handled, so for those of you who know how, you can skip this section.  For those who don’t here’s a nice little walk through of reporting a bug.

First you need to get to the right place.

Start by clicking that link. This will open a new tab on your browser.  Go there.On that page, you will begin the very short process of making a bug report.

Choose AdventureQuest Worlds as the game being reported.

Then use the drop down menu to get to the right type of report. In this case, we want the AQW Server Rewrite. Click that and it will bring you to the report form.

Some of you will notice this form is much more open on the fields than other forms. That’s because this form will be in use for the rest of the PTR now and there will be times that we ask you to look at specific things. 

Please don’t skip your name.  We really do want your name!  REALLY!  It’s incredibly important to me to know who is reporting in case I need to ask for more information.  Or other reasons.  

It’s equally as important to know if this is on the PTR or PTR2 server.  

So, Bug Info!

The examples are just that, examples.  We are interested in anything that you think is not working right.  So if you don’t see a heading that is a perfect match, just fill in what you think it should say.  

We’ve left you a LOT of room for describing the bug.  Use all of it if you can.  The better description we have, the faster we can track things down to get fixed.  It’s also vital to know if it caused a disconnection or not.  Things that throw you out of the game go to the top of the list.

Screenshots are always welcome and at times we simply cannot determine the bug without them.

Since they are so vital …

How do I link a screenshot?

You can’t embed the screenshots into the forms sadly.  So you need to put them on a public hosting site somewhere and then copy the link to the form.  

So how do you even take a screenshot?  Here’s a very handy YouTube guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bnAoJXJXpY

I am incredibly partial to LightShot. With a very quick download, you can take the shot, make basic edits to it, and upload it directly to the internet with just a few easy clicks.  There isn’t even any need to save the screenshot on your computer if you don’t wish to. All of the screenshots used in this doc were made with LightShot and copied directly to the doc.  Nice tool huh?

Another really handy site is Imgur.

We prefer you not use Facebook and Twitter please.  Facebook often will not allow us to view the shots because of privacy settings, and Twitter pics are just too small.

If your screenshot link starts with  C:\ or Users:\ or file:\\, this means you have not placed the screenshot where we can view it.  These are files on your computer, and we do not have access to them.  Please upload them!

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I know the reports I will be reading will be the best ever. Right?  RIGHT!