Hey everyone!

I wanted to give you all a heads up that with every major Game Update, starting with Game Update 2.7, we will be wiping all characters on the Public Test Server. To get the best information we can from the PTS, we want characters to be freshly copied and as up-to-date as possible.

Instructions on how to copy your character will be included in every PTS blog, and will be available on the PTS forums.

Thanks!

- Tait

With this reminder, does that mean 2.7 update will soon be put on PTS?

We are aiming for February 24th. This, of course, is subject to change.

So this means our PTS guilds and guildbanks will be gone?

I guess it does not really matter. If I had known this when the PTS was still up, I could not have saved the credits and items somewhere anyway.

Still, I feel a little sad because on the PTS I bumped my Operative to level 55 when I was testing 2.0; now I first need to level my Imps on the live servers before I can test Imperial endgame PvE content on the PTS again.

Unless of course they brought back the instant level-up terminal. *hint hint*

Does this mean that Legacy Achievements opbtained through PTS character will get lost, too ?

Good question. I'm moving towards obtaining achievements tide to PTS characters (like title for leveling above 10 lvl, finishing first chapter, etc.). Are you trying to say that if someone didn't get them till now, only way after 2.7 will be to level new character between updates? Sounds a bit not thought through.

What about those of us whom tested before 1.3 and still have those characters on the PTS? I'm just saying... because we used to have a thriving community on the server before you screwed us over back then.

You can't get "screwed over' on the Test Server. :rolleyes:It is made for testing only... anyone who tries to stake a permanent residence there is just setting themselves up for a major disappointment and has no one else to blame.

You can't get "screwed over' on the Test Server. :rolleyes:It is made for testing only... anyone who tries to stake a permanent residence there is just setting themselves up for a major disappointment and has no one else to blame.

Yeah, it's funny how people don't quite understand the nature of a Test Server.

You can't get "screwed over' on the Test Server. :rolleyes:It is made for testing only... anyone who tries to stake a permanent residence there is just setting themselves up for a major disappointment and has no one else to blame.

This. You're not meant to be living on the PTS people.

When is this happening as to...

When should we transfer our new characters so we don't get caught in a rush?

Thanks looking forward to it

Hey everyone!

 

I wanted to give you all a heads up that with every major Game Update, starting with Game Update 2.7, we will be wiping all characters on the Public Test Server. To get the best information we can from the PTS, we want characters to be freshly copied and as up-to-date as possible.

 

Instructions on how to copy your character will be included in every PTS blog, and will be available on the PTS forums.

 

Thanks!

 

- Tait

Damm I will lose my 4 billion credits I am coming to take all your money from the live server Tait

TEST Servers are for.. TESTING.... LOL

Makes sense to me to WIPE & RELOAD. After all how can they get a good idea of how changes in the next release are going to be impacted w/o testing on a fresh load. (Lots of leftover strange things on OLD migrated accounts).

Maybe our CARGO holds will work this time and we don't get 60 emails again. LOL

I have a Smuggler that I created and leveled to finish Alderaan (ACT 2) for the solo purpose of getting the 'Cutting Edge' Achievement.

As of last PTS access, I still had not received my Title on my Live server. Nice to know all that hard work is going to be wiped away. Any news on a fix for that pre-wipe?

What about the characters that only exist on the test server?

I rolled a couple characters there back before transfers were available, that I've been leveling when the PTS is up in order to test content that is other than max level. Will those now vanish entirely, never to return (since they can't be transferred back)?

Maybe they can transfer my PTS character to live.. save my effort!

I'd really just be happy with the Title I work for.

I had a level 4 trooper still on pts from closed beta (all the servers except 1 were down so i rolled a character there until the other servers were up), that i leveled to 50 for 1.2 testing. It would be nice if i could keep that one. i dont care about the rest.

i like the idea of getting to copy my character to live server (you can empty the cargo bays, remove all my money and schematics), as long as i can kjeep the name if it isnt taken on the live server.

Good question. I'm moving towards obtaining achievements tide to PTS characters (like title for leveling above 10 lvl, finishing first chapter, etc.). Are you trying to say that if someone didn't get them till now, only way after 2.7 will be to level new character between updates? Sounds a bit not thought through.

Or copy a low level character you have now that is close to completing each of those achievements. I imagine that would be good enough to qualify as well. Since I don't agree with how BW is using the test server, I am just going to keep copying my toons at the level they are at for each patch to test how builds and leveling content.

@TaitWatson - From my perspective the testing environment should provide as close as possible to that of the production environment. Reason characters aren't wiped in production so wiping them in test and proving a copying functionality each time there is a release on PTS means that upgrades to the server aren't the same as production.

Testing the copy functionality. PTS is a difficult environment simply due to the numbers not on there in comparison to the live environment and therefore can only provide a limited smoke test.

I like it but I think there is the possibility to creation problems, thought I might highlight that.

To those who do not understand, prior to 1.3, the PTS server was for all intent and purpose a 'normal server' we level'd up characters (finding potential bugs, issues with quests etc) whilst also playing on the level 50's we had earned the hard way when we wished to do level 50 content... as a server, we were almost ready to start attempting operations for the first time.

The point of a test server is to test new content, under the same conditions as live. This means, level'd up and hard earned. Copied characters have unique coding compared to a generated and leveled character that has unforeseen bugs and problems of their own; whilst any problems a grinded character encounters will match the issues of their live counterparts.

Granted; the population was somewhat limited compared to live at the time - but we did have enough players on at all times to attempt 8-man content with little problem... and as a SWTOR community, drama and general hate was not apart of it. Much like other MMO's infact.

Since then, those of us who used to play on the PTS have been forced to play on live - because our community and our gameplay choice was destroyed by the gaming developers who don't quite understand how to get the most out of their testers.

I will agree on one thing - the cloning proccess is perfect for the questionable player crowd - the impatient - and casual tester. It is also perfect for testing the tool like LFG - despite there being level 50's in place at the time it was added to the PTS. It's also perfect for any new Warzones.

But there's things a fresh level'd character has gone through, found etc that a clone will not encounter and not contribute at all. They would also acquire all 'new' quests or rewards if they had not done them before. Those whom question why we played on the testing server, have little to stand on... as I have played on testing servers almost as long as I've played MMO's.

I can accept rollbacks or character deletions for a good reason; I can even understand we may lose a character, get trapped or just lose access due to bugs - I can't accept deleting them for deletion sake. The playerbase have delete buttons - encourage players to delete if you want some names freed up. You have plenty of avenues and incentives you can grant players whom comply.

Hey Devs,

ANY Chance you can throw the guilds a bone or a few scraps and add some guild content?

ANYTHING??

Here is a few suggestions / requests just in case you need them.

-Guild Calendar of guild events on left side of character selection screen at log on that leaders can add to.

-Guild Email to ALL in guild.

-Guild NPC Recruiter in game, you can search all guild names with a average size guild description, then when one chooses a guild an application is sent via email to the guild leader and they can accept without the person having to be online. One on the capital worlds and one on the Fleets.

-Customizable Guild Capital Ships for meetings (Guildhalls)

-Email to Guild leader when someone joins or leaves the guild

Feel free to take any or all and put them into the game (grin).

Hey everyone!

 

I wanted to give you all a heads up that with every major Game Update, starting with Game Update 2.7, we will be wiping all characters on the Public Test Server. To get the best information we can from the PTS, we want characters to be freshly copied and as up-to-date as possible.

 

Instructions on how to copy your character will be included in every PTS blog, and will be available on the PTS forums.

 

Thanks!

 

- Tait