so just to be clear - never test your missions
By
BackFire,
Posted on: 2009-04-11 12:36 in Mission Architect
Being an adherent to old-school writer ethics, I never make anything publicly available that I haven't done my best with.
Relevant here? Not really, more of an old habit.
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Being an adherent to old-school writer ethics, I never make anything publicly available that I haven't done my best with.
Relevant here? Not really, more of an old habit.
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/signed
I agree I find that even after several test runs I still get feed back that makes me aware of one or two small things that slipped through as I was adding dialogue, ect. Of course when someone points this out I go back in edit and republish because I want to have the best possible story I can. I'd never even consider just throwing the basic story together and then posting. Tickets, the real ones not virtual, are just not that hard to some by. I have already accumulated enough in the few days since I14 went live that I am running out of added maps, costumes, and enemy groups to buy. Soon I'll be using them like merits to but whatever else I feel I want.. so skipping a few while I make certain what I publish isn't full of typos etc is really not an issue.
�We�re always the good guys. In D&D, we�re lawful good. In City of Heroes we�re the heroes. In Grand Theft Auto we pay the prostitutes promptly and never hit them with a bat.� � Leonard
�Those women are prostitutes? You said they were raising money for stem cell research!� � Sheldon
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when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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Because..theres a whole slew of badges for test mode? >>
Want comedy and lighthearted action? Between levels 1-14? Try Nuclear in 90 - The Fusionette Task Force!
Arc ID 58363!
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when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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Because..theres a whole slew of badges for test mode? >>
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Or because...people actually take some pride in the work that they turn out? 
edit: sorry not a dig at you Cav, I realize that by quoting that it may seem like it was, sorry
I did that once. Published an unfinished, buggy thing and then got a rating from someone that was confused and thought it was fairly mediocre.
I seriously doubt this person will ever try the final version.
I use testing exclusively.
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when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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Because..theres a whole slew of badges for test mode? >>
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Or because...people actually take some pride in the work that they turn out?
edit: sorry not a dig at you Cav, I realize that by quoting that it may seem like it was, sorry
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Nah. Its okay. I agree with your point too. I tirelessly tested both of my arcs before publish simply because I wanted to be sure they werent buggy or typo filled.
Want comedy and lighthearted action? Between levels 1-14? Try Nuclear in 90 - The Fusionette Task Force!
Arc ID 58363!
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I did that once. Published an unfinished, buggy thing and then got a rating from someone that was confused and thought it was fairly mediocre.
I seriously doubt this person will ever try the final version.
I use testing exclusively.
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Exactly.
Publishing unfinished/unpolished work will likely doom it's rating quickly.
Of course, you could just unpub and reset it's rating, but those that have been burned by it once will likely not play it again...and those are the players who are actively playing new arcs, so it'll be that much tougher to get the ball rolling on your mish.
tl;dr version: Test your missions!
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
I published my test mission to get tickets to work towards my unlocks, it's stated as such very clearly in the mission description.
Got 2 5-star ratings, 1 4-star rating. Some feedback tells included "I played your arc, very fun ; I rated it 5 stars. If you want, come try my arc [ArcNameAndID]"
The kicker ? The map is an outdoor mission full of arachnoids, without any text. Definitely 5-star worthy. 
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Being an adherent to old-school writer ethics, I never make anything publicly available that I haven't done my best with.
Relevant here? Not really, more of an old habit.
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/signed...twice...thrice...infinity.
No way would I put something out there unless I knew it was "ready".
Dec out.
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Got 2 5-star ratings, 1 4-star rating. Some feedback tells included "I played your arc, very fun ; I rated it 5 stars. If you want, come try my arc [ArcNameAndID]"
The kicker ? The map is an outdoor mission full of arachnoids, without any text. Definitely 5-star worthy.
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Yeah, there are a couple of people doing this strictly for the advertisement of their own arcs. Pretty sure they never go further than just inside. 
Dec out.
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Being an adherent to old-school writer ethics, I never make anything publicly available that I haven't done my best with.
Relevant here? Not really, more of an old habit.
[/ QUOTE ]
/signed...twice...thrice...infinity.
No way would I put something out there unless I knew it was "ready".
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I'm hoping that the system balances into one of quality and reputation being rewarded, that a player who makes good arcs will get his/her other arcs played.
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Got 2 5-star ratings, 1 4-star rating. Some feedback tells included "I played your arc, very fun ; I rated it 5 stars. If you want, come try my arc [ArcNameAndID]"
The kicker ? The map is an outdoor mission full of arachnoids, without any text. Definitely 5-star worthy.
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Yeah, there are a couple of people doing this strictly for the advertisement of their own arcs. Pretty sure they never go further than just inside.
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Indeed. Just logged in and now one of the same guys just 5-starred my french arc with the exact same message. I looked up his arc and noticed he has over 340 votes with a 4-star average. At this rate he'll be HoF in a week, exploiting the system seems as easy as some people were saying.
Well, what can ya do? It's a creative player base, even to creating and abusing exploits. Frankly, I wouldn't go do his arcs if he paid me if that's the way he's going to do it, but....PT Barnum WAS right.
Dec out.
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when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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I strongly, strongly disagree with this, on a few points.
First, you may not be getting XP or (real) tickets, but you are working towards badges. Granted, you and others may not be interested in the badges.
Second, why on earth would someone who actually cares and wants to invest time and effort in their story NOT test it? Testing something is very important in ensuring quality. You need to weed out the bugs and minor mistakes.
For example, I had a custom group with some 10-20 enemies and a single custom who is 1-54. I ran test, and, "Oops!" all of the enemies in the mission were that custom one since I was above the 10-20 range. If I hadn't tested this, I would've not known until it was too late.
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if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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As said above, I have too much pride as a writer/designer. I'd never make a work publicly available unless I either felt it was perfect, or wanted to get feedback from others.
That, and the badges.
I 2nd the badge thing. Too yummy to pass up. I test like crazy.
I guess I would feel pretty safe in publishing though...as was mentioned, just make a note in the description "this mish sucks right now! I'm testing!" And when you see how many arcs are out there...odds are no one will play it.
I personally am using the tickets to unlock stuff for creating...and as a rule of thumb for myself, no one reads my unfinished stories.
That likely won't change in the Mission Architect either. I prefer to have the criticism and feedback on what I see as a nearly finished piece.
It gives the critiquer a chance to make feedback that could lead to significant or needed changes in the story.
A published mission that's not in a good state to be release may still get rated, although admittantly, you can just republish to start over, it still had some poor exposure.
Also, frankly, it's alot easier to edit local copies than it is to edit published copies [I am getting annoyed at small touch ups not refreshing on the mission server unless I republish, go back into architect hit x, then go back into architect again for the changes to actually be reflected 
].
Of course, I didn't follow that guideline myself instead just putting my arc out earlier since if I'm going to be bugging my friends to help critic it, at least give them something out of it.
[ add / edit ] Point of clarity, friends who have just started playing CoH, and still aren't level cap. It benefits me too for them to get XP .
Let's Dance!
it is really simple to click unpublish, edit the local copy, then republish.
I really wish that publishing it ran a great risk that people would play it. I have 2 published arcs - one has been played once (and rated 4 stars) and the other never played.
And I put Test in the title if it isn't finished.
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it is really simple to click unpublish, edit the local copy, then republish.
I really wish that publishing it ran a great risk that people would play it. I have 2 published arcs - one has been played once (and rated 4 stars) and the other never played.
And I put Test in the title if it isn't finished.
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Hmm, mine has about 19 plays so far, admittantly, I know 7 of them explicitly [and only comment amongst the remainder].
Let's Dance!
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when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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Because..theres a whole slew of badges for test mode? >>
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I'm amazed by how many badges they added for AE. After about thirty minutes to an hour playing I earned something like 10 new badges. I was pretty surprised.
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when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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But then you don't get any of the delicious, delicious badges that come with testing.
As for putting unfinished stuff up for the public to view, I find that no one ever plays my arcs anyway unless I ask them.
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if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?
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As said above, I have too much pride as a writer/designer. I'd never make a work publicly available unless I either felt it was perfect, or wanted to get feedback from others.
That, and the badges.
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That would be my point too. I don't turn out half-ready crap. I'm not trying to get tickets or fame, I just want a good and polished story arc that causes a lot of fun to happen.
Btw I do all my creating and testing with my illusion controller so I can stealth around in the mission while testing without being noticed.
And you're not kidding about the badges, lol. After fully testing I'm still walking out with several new badges each time.
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Got 2 5-star ratings, 1 4-star rating. Some feedback tells included "I played your arc, very fun ; I rated it 5 stars. If you want, come try my arc [ArcNameAndID]"
The kicker ? The map is an outdoor mission full of arachnoids, without any text. Definitely 5-star worthy.
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Yeah, there are a couple of people doing this strictly for the advertisement of their own arcs. Pretty sure they never go further than just inside.
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I have a policy of never playing their arcs when they do this after some guy did it with all three of my arcs and left the same generic macro every time. Give me some real feedback and I'll take a look at your arc, but just giving me 5-stars does not obligate me into returning the "favor".
when you test a mission you get no xp or tickets.
but if you publish it and run it you get both.
So unless you already have 3 arcs published, there is no benefit to you to run a mission in test mode instead of publishing and then playing.
if you don't want xp - turn off xp. But why would you not want the tickets at least?