Build 3?

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Should we be expecting a build 3 this week? I've not been able to get into the previous two builds and was expecting this one to arrive either Tuesday or yesterday, but no sign so far and it would be great to know whether its worth keeping an eye out for a new build today or tomorrow.

[fmac81]

Should we be expecting a build 3 this week? I've not been able to get into the previous two builds and was expecting this one to arrive either Tuesday or yesterday, but no sign so far and it would be great to know whether its worth keeping an eye out for a new build today or tomorrow.

Someone responded in the main patch notes thread asking if they were taking more time because they are reworking the whole loot system for the instances, and someone else replied saying if not [yesterday] then likely Tuesday for next build .

Will there be a new BR build today? Last week it came up on Tuesday, and now it's Wednesday. Perhaps they're taking this week to fix a lot of things (and introduce the new loot/lock system for the instances)?

if not today then next tuesday

I'm in the same boat. Mac build was botched the first two rounds so haven't gotten the chance to see anything yet. Had been hoping for this week, but doesn't seem like it will happen.

Throllo

[Cordovan]

No, the next Bullroarer won't be for a bit, until we get closer to release.

[Geventh]

Might as well go live. Hotfixes are coming anyway down the road...

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

No, the next Bullroarer won't be for a bit, until we get closer to release.

Thanks for the clarification. While I'm eager to get on to Bullroarer and test the new areas, I'm interested with this departure from what SSG usually do with betas (3-4 rounds on Bullroarer, sometimes more, across about a month, then release).

I hope that this is because more time is being spent on polishing and fixing bugs which have been discovered and making sure that the instances and landscape are top notch - from my perspective, as long as this is the reason for the delay, take as much time as you need to release something with as few flaws as possible!

[Thurinuor]

I hope that this is because more time is being spent on polishing and fixing bugs which have been discovered and making sure that the instances and landscape are top notch - from my perspective, as long as this is the reason for the delay, take as much time as you need to release something with as few flaws as possible!

Totally agree with this. Take the time you need!

[ikse]

No, the next Bullroarer won't be for a bit, until we get closer to release.

Ok, take your time but.....
Why close the beta 2 ? Lots of people could not test it. Where is the problem of keep an open beta ?

[Skyfoot]

Ok, take your time but.....
Why close the beta 2 ? Lots of people could not test it. Where is the problem of keep an open beta ?

Maybe they've decided they need to do further internal testing and QA first and then release a near-polished product for people to try out.
A true BETA should only be about fine tuning numbers here and there, not the ALPHA build we've been getting.

[Daefareth]

I hope that this is because more time is being spent on polishing and fixing bugs which have been discovered and making sure that the instances and landscape are top notch - from my perspective, as long as this is the reason for the delay, take as much time as you need to release something with as few flaws as possible!

/signed +1 on this

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Just watched Cord of the Rings and heard Cord say that the next build on Bullroarer (due in a week or two) is likely to be the last, or last but one, build before U23 goes live.

Surely that defeats the point of putting the build on Bullroarer? If feedback is the goal of putting a build on Bullroarer, then surely once the updated changes are shown to players in the next build, you will then need to spend a fair amount of time editing and fixing things in response to that feedback? I know that a couple of weeks are being spent fixing things, but reports on the forum suggest that the instances were nowhere near ready (and therefore the versions that were tested on the last build were not finalised).

Essentially, isn't it a bad idea to plan on releasing an update 1 or 2 weeks after the last round of beta, if there's not been sufficient time to make changes based on feedback? Surely you can't know how much time you'll need to respond to this feedback this far ahead of time? I'm sure I speak for many when I say that we would prefer quality content over rushed content, and would prefer to wait to receive this.

[Skyfoot]

Just watched Cord of the Rings and heard Cord say that the next build on Bullroarer (due in a week or two) is likely to be the last, or last but one, build before U23 goes live.

Surely that defeats the point of putting the build on Bullroarer? If feedback is the goal of putting a build on Bullroarer, then surely once the updated changes are shown to players in the next build, you will then need to spend a fair amount of time editing and fixing things in response to that feedback? I know that a couple of weeks are being spent fixing things, but reports on the forum suggest that the instances were nowhere near ready (and therefore the versions that were tested on the last build were not finalised).

Essentially, isn't it a bad idea to plan on releasing an update 1 or 2 weeks after the last round of beta, if there's not been sufficient time to make changes based on feedback? Surely you can't know how much time you'll need to respond to this feedback this far ahead of time? I'm sure I speak for many when I say that we would prefer quality content over rushed content, and would prefer to wait to receive this.

Personally, the less we see of new content (until it goes live), the better.
It's worth pointing out that we are not SSG employees. The type of testing that the players do on BR is a little bit more than just "feedback". They are essentially doing a lot of the leg work for the company, such is the state of the build currently.

That needs to stop. Hold them to a standard of testing and QA and stop relying on the player base. Give us a mostly polished build a week or two before it goes live and let us run the content. Tweak some final numbers/adjustments in the following week and then send it live. Hold them accountable--after all, you are giving them money not the other way around.

[ZoneTripper]

Personally, the less we see of new content (until it goes live), the better.
It's worth pointing out that we are not SSG employees. The type of testing that the players do on BR is a little bit more than just "feedback". They are essentially doing a lot of the leg work for the company, such is the state of the build currently.

That needs to stop. Hold them to a standard of testing and QA and stop relying on the player base. Give us a mostly polished build a week or two before it goes live and let us run the content. Tweak some final numbers/adjustments in the following week and then send it live. Hold them accountable--after all, you are giving them money not the other way around.

That'd be nice in a perfect-world scenario, but realistically, what's going to help produce a more polished product more than as many sets of eyes as possible? There are lots of players perfectly willing to test things out and give feedback. That's valuable and something that should be utilized. I say the earlier and more often we see new content, the better. SSG has repeatedly shown that they are willing to push content out to the live servers despite players' protests that it's not ready, very often with the result of them having to do extra work to correct things post-launch amidst angry players' reactions. I don't think I've ever seen a game where players beg the developers to delay new content as I have in LOTRO. Let's eliminate that as much as possible before things hit the live servers. The more, the merrier.

[Skyfoot]

That'd be nice in a perfect-world scenario, but realistically, what's going to help produce a more polished product more than as many sets of eyes as possible? There are lots of players perfectly willing to test things out and give feedback. That's valuable and something that should be utilized. I say the earlier and more often we see new content, the better. SSG has repeatedly shown that they are willing to push content out to the live servers despite players' protests that it's not ready, very often with the result of them having to do extra work to correct things post-launch amidst angry players' reactions. I don't think I've ever seen a game where players beg the developers to delay new content as I have in LOTRO. Let's eliminate that as much as possible before things hit the live servers. The more, the merrier.

I understand where you are coming from, I just hate the fact that there is such a dependency for player input in the first place. It will be interesting to see what Update 23 looks like when it goes live.

[forestguard122]

I understand where you are coming from, I just hate the fact that there is such a dependency for player input in the first place. It will be interesting to see what Update 23 looks like when it goes live.

A lot of companies seem to do this, with some form of beta server to test everything in a way the devs possibly can’t when developing. They can find bugs and loopholes that the devs might not be able to do. Granted, Bullroarer isn’t up for very long at one time, so that doesn’t leave much testing room.

I will say though, what was seen with the instances in the last cycle was more likely something they’d do on a private beta, like Palantir, with specific groups before showing it to the masses, and would’ve preferred that it be more developed than it was on BR (granted, I’m not there to test these things, just from what I hear). In the end, I agree that it should’ve been developed more than it was.

[Dinara]

Perhaps that's why they have opened up the Palenter server again?

[Lord.Funk]

I've seen and heard rumors spread by some players that there will be only one more beta on BR and then final release on live at end of september. Some even using a clip of the latest Cord of The rings. HOWEVER in that clip, they used, the only thin Cordovan did say was that they are working on polishing before the next beta on Bullrorarer. Should be on Bullroarer sometime after labour day and he wasn't sure if next week or the week after that. NEVER (in that clip) did he say it was the last beta nor that it would be on live in the end of september. Maybe he said it somewhere else, maybe he said it later or earlier in the stream (I haven't watch it all yet) but he definetly did NOT say it in the clip they used to claim that there is only one beta left and then live at end of september. Where they get that information from, I have no idea ???

No matter what the case is, I would like to chime in with the ones saying that I rather wait and get a working product/service with fewer bugs. Hopefully a really well working new loot system with favoured mechanics and all, working instances without exploits for the ones that rush to it will abuse. A fully working and tweaked new universal stat "blalance" system and not half done with some being underpowered and other overpowered. Not walking inside rocks all over or floating above them. The list can go on. I rather wait than get a stressed out release full of bugs, glitches and imbalances.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

I've seen and heard rumors spread by some players that there will be only one more beta on BR and then final release on live at end of september. Some even using a clip of the latest Cord of The rings. HOWEVER in that clip, they used, the only thin Cordovan did say was that they are working on polishing before the next beta on Bullrorarer. Should be on Bullroarer sometime after labour day and he wasn't sure if next week or the week after that. NEVER (in that clip) did he say it was the last beta nor that it would be on live in the end of september. Maybe he said it somewhere else, maybe he said it later or earlier in the stream (I haven't watch it all yet) but he definetly did NOT say it in the clip they used to claim that there is only one beta left and then live at end of september. Where they get that information from, I have no idea ???

No matter what the case is, I would like to chime in with the ones saying that I rather wait and get a working product/service with fewer bugs. Hopefully a really well working new loot system with favoured mechanics and all, working instances without exploits for the ones that rush to it will abuse. A fully working and tweaked new universal stat "blalance" system and not half done with some being underpowered and other overpowered. Not walking inside rocks all over or floating above them. The list can go on. I rather wait than get a stressed out release full of bugs, glitches and imbalances.

He said it later in the stream - I slogged through probably another 15 mins of the stream before he said this. Thanks for the doubt though.

[Lord.Funk]

He said it later in the stream - I slogged through probably another 15 mins of the stream before he said this. Thanks for the doubt though.

That's good with confirmation then. Yes I never accept things from simply rumors and such. I prefer to have it veriefied. I had not watched through the entire stream myself, as I also pointed out. However the video (by a youtuber) that I saw only used 1 minute of Cordovans clip and nowhere in that clip was that ever said or confirmed and still that cluip was used as confirmation, which I found weird. I even rewatched it a few times to be sure I did not miss something being said.

Thank You for adding this confirmation as that is what I like !!! Verified facts, not rumors and gossip. Well done !!!

I'm acctually planning to watch the entire stream soon with my dinner consisting of a sallad with tuna.