beta-testing-101
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WoW Insider's guide to being a productive Mists of Pandaria beta tester
So you finally got into the Mists of Pandaria beta, along with all of the Annual Pass holders. You now have a chance to impact the final product, at least reducing the number of bugs it gets released with. But how do you do that, and what can you expect? We've got you covered in our Beta Testing 101 series. 5 things you should always report How to write a good bug report on the forums What to, and what not to, expect from the MoP beta Addons and the Mists of Pandaria beta Good group etiquette How to stream your beta sessions If you have further questions not answered in the above posts, you can always try The Queue. Or you can let us know in the comments what other beta guides you'd like to see. See you in the Wandering Isle! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Beta Testing 101: How to write a good bug report on the forums
If you're in the Mists of Pandaria beta, chances are good that you've encountered a few bugs by now. As a beta tester, it's not just your job to sit there and play through the game. You're also expected to report the bugs you happen upon in your travels through Pandaria. Blizzard has provided beta forums for feedback and bug reporting, so you've got a place to jot those bugs down. Once you've found and identified a bug, you should write up a brief report so Blizzard knows that there's a problem and can fix the problem before release. Before you scamper off to the beta forums, however, there's a proper way to write these bug reports so that Blizzard knows what you're talking about and can take appropriate action. If you write a bug report incorrectly, you're not helping matters any -- and in some cases, you can even confuse the situation and make it worse. So how do you write a good bug report on the beta forums?
Beta Testing 101: 5 things you should always report
Have you made it into the Mists of Pandaria beta yet? Being a beta tester isn't about simply playing through a free sample of the game. If you're expecting a completed product when you log in, you're in for a surprise. What you are playing is a not-quite-finished version of the game, and it's highly likely you'll run into your fair share of bugs as you're wandering Pandaria's gorgeous hills and valleys. As a beta tester, it's your job to report those bugs you find in game, so that they can be fixed before the game goes live. However, not every error out there deserves a report. Things like NPCs that are marked with a PC or NYI tag are things the developers already know about -- they're just placeholder models. Music isn't yet implemented into Pandaria yet either, but the developers know about that, too. So what makes a bug a bug, and what kinds of bugs should you report?
Beta Testing 101: Addons and the Mists of Pandaria beta
One of the most exciting parts of the big expansion betas for the WoW community is getting to preview all of the interface changes coming in the future. Addon developers especially appreciate sneak peeks at what is changing to be better prepared for launch day with new releases and up-to-date Lua code. As a Mists of Pandaria beta tester, it is important to test the user interface and how it interacts with the game. Here are some tips for dealing with addons and the user interface during beta testing. Start fresh. My first bit of addon advice for the beta is to start by using no addons at all. Piling on addons at the beginning defeats a lot of the purpose of seeing if the Blizzard UI itself can handle what it is being designed to do. Take a look at the UI in a bare state, see the new features with fresh eyes, and play in that mindset for your first run-through of the content. It's part of your duty, soldier.
Beta Testing 101: How to stream your beta sessions
I've recently gotten into livestreaming. If you visit my channel on Own3d, you can see some hilarious and heart-wrenching wipes that I've recorded in heroic Dragon Soul. If you're into League of Legends, you can see a few games there (900 ELO bracket, represent)! I'm making an effort to stream our raiding attempts and narrating as I go. Did you know WoW Insider has a livestream page over at Twitch? (Subscribe to that, too!) Today, I'll go over some of the tools and techniques for streaming so that your viewers can watch a polished live stream of you and your activities. I believe the best live streams are of players who are both entertaining and educational. I like watching different player perspectives so that you can see what's going on from their angle and gaining an understanding of what they go through. I highly recommend using Xsplit as the program to stream with. You don't have to buy any licensing, but it's not a bad idea to invest for the additional audio quality if streaming is an activity you think you'll get into. Once you have the program downloaded and configured, the next step is to settle on a streaming service. The two biggest ones out there are Own3d and Twitch. Either service will work. Both services have a revenue stream program making it possible to make a money on the side based on the amount of viewers your stream gets.
Beta Testing 101: What to, and what not to, expect from the MoP beta
In the most exciting World of Warcraft news of 2012, the beta for Mists of Pandaria opened up this week. Like millions of other players, I was not one of the lucky few chosen for the first round of beta invites. However, there are a number of diligent players currently hard at work testing some of the changes coming in MoP, as well as datamining glyphs and leveling monks. If you're one of the lucky players who got in this week or if you manage to get in in the next few weeks, there are some important facts you should know before you play the beta. For seasoned veterans of beta testing, these will be self evident. For the others for whom this will be the first beta ever, these are things you should read and consider. If you don't, you could turn into one of the disappointing trade chat trolls who rages about their warrior suddenly having a mana bar (and other fun beta mishaps). Oh yes, there will be bugs Above all else, the thing you can most expect from the beta of any video game ever is that there will be bugs. Bugs are one of the main reasons games go into beta; they're a way of allowing scores of players to scour every inch of the game world for bugs by doing everything possible that could possibly cause an issue. By doing this, Blizzard can isolate and treat bugs before they ever make it to live servers, allowing players on live a smooth playing experience.
