One of the minor but constant problems in DAoC is that the test server has always had extremely low population, which doesn’t help Mythic to test the patches thoroughly. In the years they tried many times to encourage the players to play there and there were guys like Uriel who transformed this problem in some sort of personal crusade. But the results are rather poor and Pendragon is still not so useful as it should and could.

A while ago Mythic decided to encourage the players through special events, prizes and by hinting that they were going to listen feedback only from those who actively tested the changes before venting off. I think I participated to one of the first events, a few months before the launch of “New Frontiers”. I don’t remember exactly how it worked or what we were supposed to “test”, but it was in the form of a simple PvP siege to a keep with one realm defending and two trying to get in. It was kind of fun. DAoC’s “real” PvP is always plagued by specialized groups and arranged 8vs8 encounters or the alternative of *extremely long* downtimes while you sit at a keep waiting for leaders to decide what to do next. Having a “directed” experience with a set goal and all players focusing on it was fun, with no downtimes or dicking around.

Then the server crashed. But, again, it was some of the best fun I had in the game. And it crashed because we were a lot of players involved in a rather massive fight. Things that don’t happen often anymore, sadly.

Recently I’ve seen Mythic promoting every kind of awkward events, like “naked races”, and I really wonder what they are trying to test like that.

The problem of the “test server” and convincing people to play there is a general one afflicting every game. And it’s for this reason that it’s kind of interesting to see WoW’s test servers with the exact opposite problem. Queques going constantly above 5k. More than five thousands of players *waiting* to test, with another 3500 stuffed in. Plus all those who tried to get in but didn’t bother to persist.

Of course this is partly due to the scale of things. WoW has like more than 200k of contemporary users, while DAoC is today around 11k. But this isn’t the only reason. Months ago the patches were more interesting (like the addition of the Battlegrounds) but the test servers were relatively empty.

When things changed? When Blizzard started not only to allow server transfers (Mythic does this too), but when they also added premade characters at max level and even fully equipped, epics included. The test servers became suddenly “true” test environments. People started to flock there to test new talents builds and classes that they didn’t bother to level up, even raid content to be prepared when the patches will arrive on the live servers.

Now let’s see things nowadays. Mythic is going to add a new Battleground (Cathal Valley), with a 45 – 49 level range. Well, I’m interested in this. It’s Emain. The layout of the zone should be exactly as Emain in the “old frontier”. It should be a relatively small zone where the PvP could be quite intense instead of excessively slow as it is now on the “New Frontiers”. So I’d gladly test this, without the need for “events” or other oddities to motivate me. But I cannot. You are a fool if you think that I’m going to create a new character to level up to 45 and equip it just to test a BG. I cannot transfer my characters there either because they are at level 50. I cannot de-level to get in the BG, which is capped at 49.

The point is: are the players “not testing” because they don’t want to, or just because the testing environment offered is simply not appropriate?

Blizzard learnt this. They give you premade characters ready for the use and people liked this because they could finally “test”. For their own interest and the game. So I wonder. Why it isn’t reasonable to ask for a test environment where I can make characters and set their level manually, test skills, get all kind of equimpement from a “dispenser” without the need to farm for money, infinite respecs and all the rest?

If one game like WoW, where the character progress and discovery is the WHOLE game, doesn’t worry about spoiling the fun by offering premade characters, then I wonder why DAoC couldn’t do that and more. With a game where the fun is actually *crippled* by the mindless progression that the “Catacombs” expansion managed to stupidify beyond belief.

I’d be glad if I had the possibility to level up manually a character to 49, outfit it with decent equipment, spec it properly and running a few minutes later right in the new BG to have some fun. And maybe respec or try another class if I want to.

But there’s more to this. Developing such a system now would mean eating a significant amount of programming resources to a game whose support is being slowly eroded. Is this worth doing just to support a test server?

Not at all. Or maybe it is.

When the new Battleground will be patched on the live servers, I won’t be able to play there again. I wish I could, but the same problem on the test server applies here. I’m not going to endure to level another character and equip it up to level 45 and above just to step in the new Battleground. The grind is unsustainable even if leveling is absurdly fast nowadays. But it’s just excessively dumb and I don’t have access to dedicate powelevellers like the 90% of those who still play the game. I won’t bother even if I would have an interest to play.

And here’s the “revolutionary” idea, that could also excuse the work I suggested above on the test server: what about allowing the characters to “de-level” temporarily and access all the Battlegrounds in the game, from the first to the last, instead of getting locked in the current one only?

The implications of this simple idea shouldn’t be underestimated and the result could justify the use of those scarce resurces that the game still has. It is something similar to what I suggested for Warhammer and I think it’s something worth experimenting since it could have a strong, positive impact on both games.

I think it’s time to dare for DAoC. Which doesn’t mean about risking to ruin even what is left, but about pushing it closer to its real potential. This idea is just about giving the players a choice they don’t have currently. A change of rules that could be simpler and cheaper to implement but with a stronger impact since it’s about changing and streamlining structures more than adding tons of new content. Improving the accessibility for new and veteran players more than alienating those few who are left. I think the game needs an impulse, a push. And I think this idea could be a very good start.

I’ll return on this to explain better.