Wie ein Patchday bei SOE aussieht
Grimwell beschreibt in einem Artikel auf der EQ2 Community Seite, wie es an einem Patchday auf Seiten SOE`s so zu tun gibt. <br> <br><ul><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="85%"><tr><td width="100%"><div align="justify" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: ARIAL, VERDANA; color: #4F4F4F;">The Other Side of Patch Day <br>As the shadow of ´Patch Day´ looms heavily over the EverQuest II community, I thought it would be interesting to share a peek into the flurry of behind the scenes activity that takes place when we patch the game. It´s sometimes difficult to remember that there are people working at a frantic pace to ensure that a patch goes well, especially when you are staring at the launchers progress meter; so I solicited comments from people involved in a game update from the beginning to the end to give a bit of insight on how the day goes for them.</div></td></tr></table></ul> <br> <br><table border="0" class="normaltab"><tbody style="cursor: pointer;" onclick="Expand( 322, 321 );"><tr><td valign="middle"><img alt="More" name="321" src="images/expand.gif"></td><td valign="middle"><span class="news_subline">Klick hier um mehr zu erfahren</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br><div id="322" style="display: none;"><span class="content_text"><ul><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="85%"><tr><td width="100%"><div align="justify" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: ARIAL, VERDANA; color: #4F4F4F;">Most people, when asked to think about the people who make a game update happen, think only of the designers and programmers that make the core game. That´s not a complete picture though, as it leaves out all the other teams involved in a live game. Naturally the designers and programmers have an active hand in the process, as do the producers for the EQII team, but the scope of involvement is much broader. <br> <br>It is far better to let some of these folks speak for themselves though! Here are a few comments from the people involved in bringing a game update to fruition. <br> <br>"I work with the development staff and the respective game teams to identify any expected issues that affect Customer Service. Before we launch an update I have to work closely with development to create documentation outlining quest walkthroughs, and any commands that the CS Staff uses to assist with customer resolutions." <br>David Schmidt - Customer Service Training Specialist. <br> <br>"Since my main focus is on the Test server, I work on getting the update out for weeks at a time. Everything from player written bugs, running groups on Test and supporting the players on the server with testing, I and the players of Test work quite a few hours getting it ready. I owe a big thank you to all of them!" <br>Kris " Venos" Kleinow - EQII QA Test Server Liaison <br> <br>"I log into chat while the servers are still down as my GM avatar to talk with players and keep them entertained while we all wait". <br>Amy " GM Kimbial" Leo - EverQuest II Customer Service <br> <br>"Patch day? You mean that stuff I worked on a month ago? I´m already working on the next LU!" <br>Jeremy Gess "Jindrack" - Game Designer, EverQuest II <br> <br>"Sacrifice a ratonga." <br>Joel "Zliten" White - Game Designer, EverQuest II <br> <br>"By the time you´re reading this, it´s already too late! On the more serious side, I´m busy trying to squeeze in last-minute bug fixes these days, trying to get a nice, clean house before we head into spring and the next big thing." <br>Noel "Ilucide" Walling - Game Designer, EverQuest II <br> <br>"We coders fix bugs and work on new features, in addition to making sure the client and servers are stable even to the point of being on-call 24 hours a day." <br>Joshua "Autenil" Kriegshauser - Sr. Programmer, EverQuest II <br> <br>"I work with the QA dept to organize a final sweep over the build in an environment that is as close to live as we can get. I get any server configuration changes ready to send out just before we launch. I coordinate with our Operations teams, DBA´s and international teams to make sure everyone is ready and has what they need. I finish compiling the release notes, which involves a lot of emails back and forth with people pinning down what they changed and what that means. I try to review the test server forums, /bugs and /feedbacks in as much detail as possible to make sure we aren´t forgetting something big that our players have told us about. And then the fun part: Deal with anything that does pop up as a problem which has sometimes been known to happen <img src="images/smilies/wink.gif">" <br>Jennifer "Kirstie" Gerull Associate Producer, EverQuest II <br> <br>"Since the majority of my job involves making sure that Game Updates go smoothly, the days before a Game Update are very busy for me. At this point, all the planning and play testing has come together, so mostly I am monitoring the bug queues – and then racing around the office bugging, wheedling, and cajoling the developers to make sure that the right fixes are getting in and getting sufficient testing. I also review the update notes, make sure that the right tickets have gotten in for the Operations and Database teams, and generally coordinate and calm any resource conflicts and last-minute panics." <br>Sandra "srand" Powers, Live Producer, EverQuest II <br> <br>"It´s a good patch day when there isn´t anything other than reading update note revisions 100 times - to make sure that we don´t have anything in there that isn´t going in, and that we didn´t leave anything important out. Srand and Kirstie do such a good job running that part of the show now that I don´t have nearly the panicking that I used to." <br>Scott "Gallenite" Hartsman, Senior Producer, EverQuest II <br> <br>As you can see, everyone on the team has their hand in getting a game update together and out the door. As this is my first game update with the EQII team, it´s been a fascinating process of discovery for me to see how things move from idea/intent to delivered content and changes. While my primary focus on patch day is to make sure the community knows what´s happening with the patch, I also work hard to make sure Gallenite has to approve at least 100 revisions to the game update notes! <br> <br>Humor aside, I hope that these comments provide a little insight into the actions a great number of people are taking to bring an update to the game to reality! Also, please feel welcome to share a few words about what you do on patch day to get ready for all the new fun! <br> <br>--Grimwell</div></td></tr></table></ul></span></div> <br> <br>Link: <a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive.vm?id=1043&section=Community& locale=en" target=_blank>Zum Artikel</a>
