MMORPG Public Test Realms Aren't Really Something I Have An Interest In, But Do You?

Public test realms or servers serve a unique place in the MMORPG landscape. Before a game launches, alpha and beta tests are held to work out the kinks and get feedback before the big launch day. Sometimes, "early access" ends up being an "extended" beta despite any price tags placed on your access. That all makes sense. However, after an MMO (F2P or not) is out in the wild, a team really only has two options to test content: keep it internal to Q&A teams and selected testers, or open up public test realms.

This weekend, Star Wars: The Old Republic pushed new content coming to their own PTR. It wasn't a huge patch, but they did open up the ability for players to mess around with the MMORPG's new Character Moderization tools with the Master Mode of the game's current Propagator Core XR-53 fight coming in early April. I don't want to specifically look at SWTOR all that much here, but seeing the news post made me think, "when was the last time I actually logged into a public test server?"

I get players checking out new content on public test realms to a degree. High-end raiders obviously benefit from getting an early peek at some of the bosses they'll be taking on and it's nice for them to make sure the mechanics work. Short of that, however, I'm not one that hits up these tests.

When it comes to early access, I'm not all that keen on playing through large portions of content only to have to play it all over again at launch. When you break that down to a smaller piece of content, say an upcoming patch, I'm even less inclined to download a whole second client (usually required for PTRs) to experience things I'll just have to do again.

World of Warcraft has been using test servers for years and years now and it seems to work for them. However, I've always been on the "why spoil it for myself" train, even when they hold certain things back from testing specifically to avoid spoilers. Final Fantasy XIV, on the other hand, doesn't run them at all. Both games seem to do fine when it comes to the quality of their patches. Sure, they may have the occasional snag here and there, but for the most part, things end up working out rather quickly.

A recent PvP overhaul in The Elder Scrolls Online made sense to me as one of the rare times I would consider jumping into a PTR. This was a revamp of how many players are in matches and the maps. This kind of "repeatable" content is the only real item I can see "normal" players wanting to try out ahead of time and not feel like they are just having to redo things when the update launches.

Upcoming MMOs grapple with the idea of test servers, too. Sure, many of them may already be a bit hindered by smaller development teams and smaller player bases to begin with, but audiences seem split. I remember Ashes of Creation fans having a spirited debate about this very thing a few years ago. Part of that debate was on the use of the work "public" when talking about an "invite-required" group, but the debate hit upon the concerns of the servers themselves, too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad there's a dedicated group of my fellow MMORPG players out there that do hop on these servers. I'm sure they do occasionally come across issues that may help the devs along. I'm glad this work isn't dependent on players like me though.

Are you among the players that actually hit up PTRs? If so, why? Is it just your desire to see things a little early? Are you testing your favorite game to be a pillar of your MMO's community? What makes you boot up something that will be gone in weeks and now you have to do it all over again? I'm genuinely curious. Let me know.