The Importance of PTR and the Secrets of Upcoming Content
Hello adventurers! The PTR (Public Test Realm) plays a crucial role in the completion of updates for New World. However, some future content remains a secret to surprise players. But how does the Quality Assurance team decide if an update is ready to go live? In this article, we'll give you an insight into the challenges of quality assurance and the journey of a patch note.
The Journey of a Patch Note in New World
Michael Corpora, QA Manager at Amazon Game Studios, explains the journey of a bug using the example of the Winterfest update on December 6, 2022. This update included the world event Winter Convergence, which was the first recurring world event since the launch of New World. During the development and completion of the content, the Quality Assurance team conducted various tests and identified and resolved potential issues. However, even after the update was released, problems arose that required a quick response and solution.
The Challenges of Quality Assurance
After the Winterfest update was released, players reported that the first three Winter Convergence quests were inaccessible for some of them. Investigations revealed that quest completion data for unrelated main story quests in the update had been reused for these new quests. This particular situation was outside the test coverage for the Winter Convergence update.
Identification and Fixing of Bugs
To fix the issue, the quality assurance team created characters with this quest completion data and verified that they were not offered the new quests. A solution was then implemented and test scenarios were created to ensure that both the Winter Convergence quests and the main story quests worked correctly for all characters. This solution was then inserted into a patch.
Verification of the Fix and Going Live
Before the patch could go live, the team re-ran all test scenarios to verify the fix in the actual build. After approval, the patch was released to players on December 8, 2022.
Your Opinion Matters!
Do you have any specific expectations or wishes for the New World PTR? Share your thoughts with the developers on Discord, Reddit, or in the YouTube comments. Thank you for your support and have fun playing! See you in Aeternum. And don't forget to visit Keyfuchs to get your Steam Key for New World!
