could we have the PTR in the future be private with guilds that want to assist with testing the raids with GM assist/walkthrough? this will help the server as a whole so we don't have guilds progressing on the first 2 bosses for months giving 0 bug reports/PTR feedback, who do not understand how the fights even work. this essentially puts a strain/high reliance on the guild/guilds who actually want to test everything on the PTR and ensure that it doesn't get released looking like a bag of murloc heads.
The current PTR state also diminishes, or quite possibly "ruins" the whole concept of raid progression/server first/competition if every guild can just progress on the Player
Test Realm whenever and start throwing their PTR progression status in their Live recruitment macros.
some history for the newcomers:The things we had in Open Beta "prior to release" (Exiled/Blacklisted can comment on it) was the lack of gear vendors/consumables/GM assist on broken/bugged mechanics/encounters. This essentially delayed any proper bug testing/reporting/finding during the time 40 members log on and actually choose to "test" the upcoming content/raids available to them. I really enjoyed doing AQ20 testing with dungeon set gear and 0 defense gear on the tanks (Sarcasm) because that's effective testing and a huge timesink on the player's part as well as the server staff.
I think everyone can agree that Nano has been a huge part of the BWL PTR testing and probably should be acknowledged for contributing as much. Having a Admin/GM watching multiple guilds PTR test BWL and being able to notify them on things to re-check/reconfirm so they can watch the encounters work or break entirely (all while being streamed/recorded for data mining for the developers) is a
HUGE help to everyone.
My recommendation:1. Have GM's/Admins or testing staff members assigned to guilds scheduled to PTR test so they have access to a staff member to monitor/assist with broken and bugged content. this will allow guilds more time to thoroughly test each part of the upcoming raid instance and extra time to try and exploit/break the encounters to remedy any issues/abuses on Live release.
1-A: Allow guilds/players allotted time slots during the week (similar to open beta) where the PTR will be up for 1 week to allow guilds to do a run through with GM assist, then compile reports on the bug tracker afterwards with the GM/Admin annotating anything noticed on the encounter during the test. afterwards, the corresponding GM/Admin will notify their assigned guild what needs rechecked/retested and schedule accordingly on the PTR.
1-B: Each of the testing guilds having an assigned GM/Admin that fits their raiding schedule and to be their contact for bugs found/issues during the test. the guild leaders/officers can communicate with this GM/Admin assigned to them and coordinate times that could fit their testing schedule.
Benefits:This will help speed testing along and provide more accurate feedback and data for the Developers to get ample crunch time on getting things fixed and researched. right now, BWL bug tracker would not be anywhere near as active and thorough as it is without those key staff members assisting the guilds in testing the raids. (especially since Nefarian broke a lot and had issues, without a GM assist, not many guilds would be able to check phase 2 or most of the encounter due to the random reset+15min respawn)
I think Nano has a good thing going by being there for the PTR testing guilds to help us get more accurate data and have time to exploit/break the encounters within the instance that could be fatal if released on the Live realm.
I don't want to see how the AQ40 and Naxxramas PTR testing will go. The way it is handled at the moment, Do not expect those raids to be fixed within 1-2months while having the majority of the guilds
progressing on the first couple of bosses/trash. Essentially wasting valuable development time instead of looking for things to check/break/exploit. This will in turn, delay content release even more. (I'm sure no one wants to wait 5+ years for AQ40 to be released)
TLDR, you won't have anyone really wanting to test your content on the PTR if we cannot get the basic tools to effectively test each trash pack/mechanic/boss fight/exploits at the start.
Hopefully this will help keep Nos ahead of the game, if not within the window of their proposed timeline.