Hello!
Ready for the test? Well, we are ready for you! Let's take a look at a few things to go over as we start!
Quest Revisions:
For many, the plaintive cry from a new player of 'Where can I find a patch?" was oft heard, and not easily answered. Likewise, getting trees to a "level" which you can't really see, until it just shows as complete in your quest list was frustrating for many. We've replaced the quests which were offered after the Soil Appreciation and Better Learning skills were completed to some that make a little more sense in the game today. There are even two that take advantage of collective work in digging. Even if you are already past those levels, you'll get the chance to do those quests and we’d love your feedback.
Butterflies and Chickens Lifespans:
The world can get overpopulated fast with butterflies and chickens hanging around and cluttering up streets. But, the Giants now grant them some sweet relief: once a chicken or butterfly has fulfilled its Glitchy destiny by providing sustenance and wisdom to enough players, it will ascend to a Higher Plane of Being. Salute these noble creatures, for they gave themselves for us to play!
Post Game Server Restart:
So, as many of you recall, last test there was a restart of the game server about 12 hours before we ended the test. We’ve fixed most if not all of the issues you reported. But, we’ve left behind a number of things to collect in many of the streets -- meat, grain, butterfly butter to name a few. Feel free to pick them up and add to your inventory! No need to report it, we know there's a lot there. Also, you may see items hanging above the ground in some spots. The underlying issues is fixed, so no need to report it back to us. You should be able to grab items that are there, so, go right ahead! (We'll evaluate things towards the end of this test to see if this is indeed a dead bug.)
East & West Spice:
There were many reports of problems in these streets. We found the issue (related to spritesheets in these locations) and fixed it. Should be waaaay better. Try it and see!
Lag in General:
There were many more reports of lag in the last test, and after it was all over our front-end client giants went to work with the information supplied by you folks. We think we solved most of the problems that surrounded it, but of course if you still see issues, let us know. For those who were stuck loading the game at 49% and no more, let us know if you still have problems. Before reporting, try to start from a fresh browser session, not one that you have had going for a long time, and try a couple different browsers as well to see if there is a pattern for you. And again, please use the debug Flash client while you are testing the game.
Rolling Restarts:
Ideally you won't notice this other than an occasional "reconnecting" message (or a complete reload) but we're going to be aggressively testing restarting live game servers during this test. The result will be that your connection to the game world will occasionally be passed from one server to another (as your initial server is stopped). This helps us ensure continued operation even in the case of bad hardware, network problems in our datacenters or the need to make critical patches to the lowest levels of our server code while the game is running.