Bug Tracking tool?

Moving to a dedicated bug track tool?

from Demigod Forums

Instead of searching/posting in the general forum, is there any chance someone could setup a dedicated bug tracking system? Bugzilla jumps to mind because it's free, http://www.bugzilla.org/ , but any number of other tools would do fine as well.

Then testers/players would be able to easily search, create, update, and review the status of various bugs. All of which is rather hard to do from inside the forum here now. Trying to track multiple forums threads and changelogs, to determined which bugs have already been reported, which have been fixed, and which might be platform dependent is NOT helping motivate beta testers to help create an awesome game.

I realize as demigod is now within 6 months of release few people would want to put any effort in dev/qa tools, but since beta testing is a late stage process there really isn't any significant demand for it until the end of the game cycle. So even if staff aren't really interested in setting up a bug tracking tool now for Demigod, remember that you could use the same tool on your next game and reap rewards moving forward. As PC games run across a wider variety of hardware/software platforms, it's key to leverage community beta testers (or pay outside consulting services if you're EA or a big studio) as efficiently as possible.

 

Just tossing in my $0.02 to help Demigod be as great as possible...

 

 

 

 

1,415 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Demigod Forums Top

Did you, by any chance, look at the stickied post "Demigod Beta Feedback Roundup: READ FIRST" ? On it they have every bug that has been identified and verified as such by the devs, along with a link to thread where it was first brought up. Considering that bugs are fixed whenever there's a new release of the beta, that's a fairly complete system right there. I'm fairly sure GPG have some experience with this sort of thing.

Reply #2 from Demigod Forums Top

hold on one minute.

/BulletMagnet knows the problem with the current reporting system.

 

PEBKAC!

that said, bumping it to the top of the five announcements might help too. ...or even forcing people to read it (just the once, to make sure they're aware of it) before getting access to the forums?

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Reply #3 from Demigod Forums Top

Iapyx,

 

I agree that there is a basic system in place now, but I think you highlighted the issues I wanted to discuss.

 

> On it they have every bug that has been identified and verified as such by the devs,

So what about the bugs that haven't been identified and verified by the devs? 

 

> Considering that bugs are fixed whenever there's a new release of the beta, 

If that was true, or a sustainable model that'd be fine, but all bugs don't get fixed every release. Looking at the 10/3 entry it reads "Combat/damage text sticks on screen (unresolved in 1A)".

 

I'm sure GPG has plenty of experience with this as well, and I'd bet they are using some type of bug tracking tool internally (even if it's just a whiteboard in the office). I'm simply politely asking if public beta members could use something other than forum software for bug tracking. I imagine the change would benefit the public beta testers as well as GPG.

 

 

Reply #4 from Demigod Forums Top

I think this guy is right.  I have been rolling out packaged software for 15+ years.  Unstructued bug reporting doesn't help anyone.  Most of the tools, even the public domain ones allow for separate bug posting categories (qualified & unqualified) as well as structured data taggings that would allow for easy searching & screening by devs.

This is not an efficient medium.  It can work but it isn't efficient.

Reply #5 from Demigod Forums Top

A public bugtracker might be nice, but unfortunately it's overkill when you've got regular people involved. Most users are going to be more interested in playing than doing thorough "real" testing; you're lucky enough to get forum posts. Asking users to fill out actual reports with reproduce cases and in-depth details is just going to discourage them from doing anything at all, or confuse them and result in bogus reports.

Reply #6 from Demigod Forums Top

Good point on type of testing.  I know in the beta I would rather play - than test.  I have done enough of that in my life.  Not sure how many people are in the beta but I would assume volume will be a big headache as well.

Reply #7 from Demigod Forums Top

I agree that asking "most users" to use a dedicated bug tracking utility would discourage them from posting bug reports, but then "most users" wont report a bug unless it prevents them from playing the game. I think you'll find though that a significant percentage of bugs reports will come from a rather small percentage of over all users. It is for these users, and the developers, that a bug tracking tool will be really invaluable.

An idea might be to let users continue to post here in the forums, but then periodically round up all the issues posted in the forum and add/merge them in the bug tracking system. While adding/merging issues, someone at GPG could flag/prioritize various bugs as well. A report could then be easily generated from the bug tracking tool listing bugs, and their statuses, which could then be posed to the forum similiar to what is happening now.

You might be surprised by the number of software people already enrolled in the Demigod beta. 

Reply #8 from Demigod Forums Top

An idea might be to let users continue to post here in the forums, but then periodically round up all the issues posted in the forum and add/merge them in the bug tracking system. While adding/merging issues, someone at GPG could flag/prioritize various bugs as well.
End of quote

Er yeah, that much is already done :p