Comments on: PTR: Fond Friend or Venomous Vixen??

By: jeffo

jeffo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:18:38 +0000

Shameless plug time: I had written my own blog post about the PTR here: http://lkingformore.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-ptr-is-here-new-ptr-is-here.html

Except for the Wrath beta, I generally don’t do PTR’s, but I do value information that comes out of them. Unfortunately, most of the info that comes out while the PTR is actually up isn’t that helpful. We get a lot of info about what the new zone/raid looks like, we here about new loot, and the fact that there are still no new dance moves, but we don’t hear about how the latest apparent nerf/buff to our favorite class works in the new environment. When 3.2 was in the PTR, I couldn’t find out any information about how the Illumination nerf was actually working out. That’s the kind of think I *really* want to learn from PTR’s.

Of course, it *is* nice to walk into an instance or raid on patch night and have some clue of what to expect. I just wouldn’t want it to be ‘ho-hum’ on Day 1 because I’ve done it ad infinitum on the PTR.
jeffo´s last blog ..Know-It-All Man

By: Professor Beej

Professor Beej — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:39:21 +0000

My concern with the PTR is that I absolutely hate having progress wiped. I don’t mind wiping for hours on raid progression. I understand that we all play, in the end, for the love of the game, but I have a big problem with working toward a goal with “nothing to show for it.” Even if that progress is only found in the form of a token or a meaningless achievement I can link, at least my progress is not totally wiped.

I have that problem with game demos, too. And trials. I like to have some sort of progress I can save or start over from if I want to.

Mainly, I don’t like repeating content, which is why I’m not an altoholic in WoW.
Professor Beej´s last blog ..Excuse Me While I Kiss My Bride

By: Matticus

Matticus — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:32:16 +0000

Personally, I enjoy the PTR and try to get on it as often as I can. I have players in my guild who refuse to “spoil” the feeling for them. You know, that feeling of awe and stuff when you reach a truly majestic boss of some sort?

I get that feeling before everyone else on the PTR. This way, when I see them on live, I can let everyone experience it while I’m busy setting out what needs to be done. I’d rather do the learning in an isolated environment where it didn’t matter as much. Remember, we only have a certain amount of time during raid cycles before the next content patch arrives. The bigger the headstart I can have, the better. This helps increase the odds that my guild and I will be able to complete the content within a reasonable amount of time.

I know it’s not going to be world first or server first or anything and I’m okay with that. But I know there are some guilds to this day that haven’t not been able to down the Keepers or Yogg or anything like that. I don’t want to have an organization that emerged too slow. We missed out on over half of the hard modes in Ulduar and some of that was was my fault. I’ll take every edge I can get from advanced learning.

Plus having detailed healing boss strategy on the day the raid instance comes out does wonders for blog traffic.