Design Notes

February 16, 2016

All-Player PTR Test Begins THURSDAY

Last Chance for Member-only Server Rewrite PTR Badge!

The server rewrite is making excellent progress! If you read last week's update post, you know that Yorumi is hunting down the last BIG bug, while M finishes building some functionality and they both crush the smaller bugs. But to get as many of the bugs fixed before we release the server rewrite, we need MORE TESTERS! And that means... opening up a free-player server so more people can run around on the new server and find issues.

So starting this Thursday, the current member-only PTR badge will go rare and the new server code will be added onto J6 server (which will temporarily be renamed Testing Server 2). Logging on to either Testing Server or Testing Server 2 will unlock the new PTR badge!

What We Need PTR Testers to Do

This one is REALLY simple - just play the game like normal! We need to make sure that all the code we've ported over and changes we've made are working as intended, and that the re-balancing we've done holds up until more stress and load.

Why We Need the Server Rewrite

We have a good deal of control over the game, but the current version of AQWorlds uses server software whose base we did not build ourselves (though we created all of our server-based game functionality)... and that means there are some things we cannot change.

This is one of the main causes of the random bugs some of you are reporting. It's also one of the reasons some bugs (like desynced friends/guild lists) have not been fixed and why some features (like the better botting detection, all-new class skills, and finished Guild cities) have not been released.

July 26, 2013

Break the Guild Cities!

Upgrade to help test Guilds Phase II: Guilds Cities!

When the world is falling to Chaos, it helps to have a few Good (or Evil) companions to battle alongside you... and THAT is why we introduced the Guilds system late last year! But every Guild needs a base to call home, headquarters to plan from and hang out in. So we built a way for YOU to build your Guild a City!

Link the first frame of your Guild City to many more!

Yorumi has been HARD at work on Guilds Phase II since last September (except when he gets interrupted, which is almost all of the time). Tonight, he's finally ready to release the Private Test Realm on Evil Sir Ver!

Guilds Phase II: Guild Cities Breakdown

Read on to learn what the Guilds Phase II: Guild Cities Private Test Realm is all about, and get ready to BREAK ALL THE THINGS (in your Guild City. Don't break the rest of the game)!

• Legends can join the Private Test Realm server on Evil Sir Ver to begin testing – and BREAKING – the new Guild Cities functionality.
  • This is the Alpha release of Guilds Phase II: Guild Cities, and we need your help breaking it to make it AWESOME!
  • More functionality and bug fixes will continue to be added to the Guilds PTR in the coming weeks.
  • Report all bugs to the Bug Tracker at Artix.com/Bugs!

Life's a beach, so build a Guild Hall on it!

• Guild Cities and Halls WILL break, Yorumi WILL fix them
• Guild Leaders can /join GuildHall to create the first plot of land in your Guild City!
• During the PTR, Guild Leaders and Officers can expand their Guild City buy purchasing more plots of  land for gold. When Guild Cities release to all servers, those extra areas will cost AdventureCoins.

• Each area of the City has a customizable path which allows the Guild Leader and Guild Officers to connect extra plots of land to it.
• All Guild Members (Leaders, Officers, and Recruits) are allowed to buy buildings for their Guild City.
  
  Things are heating up in THIS Guild City!
  
  
• All Guild Items (Buildings, plots of land, Guild Hall decorations, etc) remain with the Guild Member if they leave the Guild.
  • Guild Leaders can place Guild Items owned by their Guild Members, but will lose access to those items if the Guild Member leaves the Guild.
• During the PTR, Guild Cities may be reset, but Guild Members will not lose any items they’ve purchased.

• Ownership of a Guild cannot be transferred. Officers can continue to run the Guild, or it can be disbanded and recreated with a new Leader.

A peaceful town... until Guilds Phase III: GvG!

• Guild Leaders can view the Guild Inventories of their Guild Members. (Guild Leader ability only.)
• /Guildreset – only Guild Leader can use, resets Guild back to nothing. We're not sure what will happen... so if you do it, log and and back in to see what happens!
• Leaders and Officers can buy, place anything. Recruits can only buy and use shop items, cannot place them.
• May be some lag when clearing Guild Hall. Lag on PTR is NOT a bug, it is a test!
• If something appears to break in your city, 1^st log out, then re-log in and check your Hall.

This is the COOLEST Guild City!

• Testing parameters:
  • Try to connect Guild Hall paths in as many ways as possible.
  • If it breaks, try to re-create the problem. (Make it happen AGAIN!)
  • If you /join guildhall and your character disappears, it’s broken! Relog and try again.
  • When things break, tell us about it on the Artix.com Bug Tracker with AS MANY DETAILS as possible!

G-ARRRRR-d your Guild Hall!

• Aiming to release next week:
  • Decorating the insides of your Guild City buildings
  • Purchase NPCs for your Guild City with Guild-member exclusive shops and functionality
    • Anything you can currently do by talking to an NPC in the rest of the game, we can do with Guild NPCs!
  • Guilds Phase II: Guild Cities PTR rewards:
    • Guild City Founder Trophy! Show to all visitors that your Guild City was one of the first ever created!
    • Guild Hall Founder Shop! Exclusive Guild Hall decorations!

Remember: Please help us keep all the bug reports in one place. Post ALL Guild City bugs to the Bug Tracker at Artix.com/Bugs!

Be one of the first to found your Guild City!