Are they going to continue updating the stories, then? I really liked this one, and I can certainly relate.
"Before we give you anything, tell us what you'll do with it."
"I don't know what I can do with it until you give it to me."
"Then we're not giving it to you!"
Aaaargh.
I don't even know how that trenches story could actually happen.
I would have said this to the manager slowly and loudly. Clearly speaking each word
"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO WRITE A TEST PLAN IF I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FEATURES NEED TO BE TESTED".
I think this is less of a F2P joke and more of a 'this is their punishment' strip. Remember how testing a million doors (sans-script) almost drove Isaac insane? Now the testing team has to test all of the permutations of hat-buckle combinations - a number so large that it is analogous to testing purgatory.
I think you're chasing a red herring if you're focusing on the fee-structure of this comic's imaginary F2P game.
I think I agree. The "Hat's off" comment was a sarcastic "Good job guys, now we have this beyond-tedious task to do". Which I guess would kind of be a good episode ender on a sitcom, but... meh, I dunno.
I just.. didn't chortle and wonder what the next season would bring. I instead scratched my head and wondered if the next strip would resolve anything or add any new information.
Just MO though (and I'm sure it stinks, yadda yadda).
*shrug*
Are they going to continue updating the stories, then? I really liked this one, and I can certainly relate.
"Before we give you anything, tell us what you'll do with it."
"I don't know what I can do with it until you give it to me."
"Then we're not giving it to you!"
Aaaargh.
I don't even know how that trenches story could actually happen.
I would have said this to the manager slowly and loudly. Clearly speaking each word
"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO WRITE A TEST PLAN IF I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FEATURES NEED TO BE TESTED".
I can confirm that this story is not only possible, but that it happens to me at minimum three times a year. Granted, I work outside the gaming industry but within the larger development space, bouncing between architecture and managing QA.
"We don't have a solid set of requirements for this, but basically it needs to be able to apply the business logic to the dataset and then display it."
"Okay, what's the schema look like?"
"We can't give you the schema. We don't have project approval yet."
"...so what logic needs to be run against the data? Maybe we can extrapolate from-"
"The stakeholders haven't finalized the functionality they'll need."
"So...it needs to display something, right? Do we have a look and feel or interface spec?"
"You'll have to talk to the designers about that, I have no idea."
"So we'll need to get this stuff ironed out before development can begin."
"No! The proof-of-concept has to be user ready in a week!"
Same basic conversation, same people having the conversation, over and over and over.
Are they going to continue updating the stories, then? I really liked this one, and I can certainly relate.
"Before we give you anything, tell us what you'll do with it."
"I don't know what I can do with it until you give it to me."
"Then we're not giving it to you!"
Aaaargh.
I don't even know how that trenches story could actually happen.
I would have said this to the manager slowly and loudly. Clearly speaking each word
"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO WRITE A TEST PLAN IF I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FEATURES NEED TO BE TESTED".
You have no idea how wrong you are there.
He would tell you again "I can't tell you that, give me a test plan". And since the manager is the boss, you either come up with a test plan, or a new job. Yes, it does get that stupid at times.
I've had this happen enough times at the bottom end of things.. "We need you to test this function!" - "We don't have the hardware to test this.." - "Yes. Please test this function right away". Er.. ok?
@Trenches: I dunno. I read the comic out of habit, much of the time I scroll down after reading it without any emotion whatsoever towards the current strip. I expect something to happen, but it.. just doesn't.
I don't feel particularly strongly about the comic either good or bad. I come here for the stories, which are hilarious. The comic ... honestly, it took me a couple updates before I realized the current strip wasn't changing. Not that I hate it - it's made me chuckle a few times, but I can't say I'm particularly invested in it, despite reading it consistently. Sometimes I have to go back and read the past few strips because I can't remember what's been happening in the story.
Even now - if you asked, I'd be hard-pressed to explain what's happening. Some guy got a new job as a tester and there's something wrong with the game? And that made the red-haired one really pissed and the 'hole with the douchey beard is being a douchey 'hole.
Hmm. Maybe this comic actually does suck and I just haven't noticed. It's a story-based comic, but apparently I can't remember the story.
I mean, I can read crazy french comics with very weird stories and get them, but most of the time I read trenches I feel like 1) they skipped all the important strips and published only the side-joke strips, 3) you had to be there when they wrote the strip to understand it or 7) Only a very small and specific set of readers will be able to "get" the jokes and the story progression without help.
And God be my witness, I've been reading PA and PVPOnline comics and newsposts for their ENTIRE career! I've been there when Tycho ate horse chestnuts and died (not really died). I worked with games and I've dealt with QA and stupid decisions! I've been reading this forum for almost 10 years and been posting on it for around 7! I read about games all the fucking time! And I'm still not part of that set of readers. Then, let me ask, who the fuck are they writing for (other than themselves, but, then again, they already have their "writing for myself" comics).
OTOH, I feel entitled to exactly ZERO things here, I'm just curious and flabbergasted with regards to their narrative plan here.
Oh, and that story about "Make the plan without knowing what features" is 100% plausible and extremely common.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited November 2012
I kind of like this comic, but the writing and storytelling just aren't working out for me. Particularly with this arc and how it has jumped around from one place to another without the intervening bits. Potentially interesting conflicts and character development are glossed over or just not addressed at all.
There is definite potential to make an interesting comic here, I just feel it isn't being used to its potential. I do like the new art the comic has as well. I will give it a few more strips next "season" (whatever this is supposed to mean) before I stop reading it.
I have no idea why are they talking about combinations and stuff.
In test planning, most bugs appear as a combination of 2 or fewer factors (this is called "pairwise" testing or "all pairs" testing). Issac is talking about an exhaustive test plan which would test all possible combinations which is impossible with manual testing and probably impossible with automated testing.
Certainly not impossible with automated testing, especially if the verification is just "are the resulting stats correct given the math we expect for each hat". That being said, I would be shocked if any MMO even considered attempting to do exhaustive testing on gear. It's far simpler/cheaper to just wait for a bug to come in from the player-base. If your game has PvP I'm sure you'll hear about any issues with overpowered gear combinations quickly and loudly.
0
HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
y'know when gabe said they were going to make a couple new strips that deal with story resolution or whatever I guess I was expecting more story. Maybe people finding out Cora is the mole and dumping her or who knows what else
I certainly was expecting to see a strip set 6 months later where the game is making money, everybody is still there and friendly, and nothing established in the past 2 seasons has mattered in any way
I mean, I can read crazy french comics with very weird stories and get them, but most of the time I read trenches I feel like 1) they skipped all the important strips and published only the side-joke strips, 3) you had to be there when they wrote the strip to understand it or 7) Only a very small and specific set of readers will be able to "get" the jokes and the story progression without help.
And God be my witness, I've been reading PA and PVPOnline comics and newsposts for their ENTIRE career! I've been there when Tycho ate horse chestnuts and died (not really died). I worked with games and I've dealt with QA and stupid decisions! I've been reading this forum for almost 10 years and been posting on it for around 7! I read about games all the fucking time! And I'm still not part of that set of readers. Then, let me ask, who the fuck are they writing for (other than themselves, but, then again, they already have their "writing for myself" comics).
OTOH, I feel entitled to exactly ZERO things here, I'm just curious and flabbergasted with regards to their narrative plan here.
Oh, and that story about "Make the plan without knowing what features" is 100% plausible and extremely common.
I like what they are doing with the comic and read it every Tuesday and Thursday it is posted. So, I guess they are writing it for me?
Definitely feels like this is headed for a much bigger reset than the transition between "seasons" 1 and 2, which was the launch of the game with Q becoming a dev and the rest of the cast going from testers to ongoing QA.
Posts
I don't even know how that trenches story could actually happen.
I would have said this to the manager slowly and loudly. Clearly speaking each word
"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO WRITE A TEST PLAN IF I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FEATURES NEED TO BE TESTED".
I think I agree. The "Hat's off" comment was a sarcastic "Good job guys, now we have this beyond-tedious task to do". Which I guess would kind of be a good episode ender on a sitcom, but... meh, I dunno.
I just.. didn't chortle and wonder what the next season would bring. I instead scratched my head and wondered if the next strip would resolve anything or add any new information.
Just MO though (and I'm sure it stinks, yadda yadda).
*shrug*
I can confirm that this story is not only possible, but that it happens to me at minimum three times a year. Granted, I work outside the gaming industry but within the larger development space, bouncing between architecture and managing QA.
"We don't have a solid set of requirements for this, but basically it needs to be able to apply the business logic to the dataset and then display it."
"Okay, what's the schema look like?"
"We can't give you the schema. We don't have project approval yet."
"...so what logic needs to be run against the data? Maybe we can extrapolate from-"
"The stakeholders haven't finalized the functionality they'll need."
"So...it needs to display something, right? Do we have a look and feel or interface spec?"
"You'll have to talk to the designers about that, I have no idea."
"So we'll need to get this stuff ironed out before development can begin."
"No! The proof-of-concept has to be user ready in a week!"
Same basic conversation, same people having the conversation, over and over and over.
You have no idea how wrong you are there.
He would tell you again "I can't tell you that, give me a test plan". And since the manager is the boss, you either come up with a test plan, or a new job. Yes, it does get that stupid at times.
I've had this happen enough times at the bottom end of things.. "We need you to test this function!" - "We don't have the hardware to test this.." - "Yes. Please test this function right away". Er.. ok?
@Trenches: I dunno. I read the comic out of habit, much of the time I scroll down after reading it without any emotion whatsoever towards the current strip. I expect something to happen, but it.. just doesn't.
Contraindication of your assertions: myself. I think this is an decent comic and have sought it out in the wild when the roboposters have been broked.
Even now - if you asked, I'd be hard-pressed to explain what's happening. Some guy got a new job as a tester and there's something wrong with the game? And that made the red-haired one really pissed and the 'hole with the douchey beard is being a douchey 'hole.
Hmm. Maybe this comic actually does suck and I just haven't noticed. It's a story-based comic, but apparently I can't remember the story.
I agree there's very little storyline progress this season.
And God be my witness, I've been reading PA and PVPOnline comics and newsposts for their ENTIRE career! I've been there when Tycho ate horse chestnuts and died (not really died). I worked with games and I've dealt with QA and stupid decisions! I've been reading this forum for almost 10 years and been posting on it for around 7! I read about games all the fucking time! And I'm still not part of that set of readers. Then, let me ask, who the fuck are they writing for (other than themselves, but, then again, they already have their "writing for myself" comics).
OTOH, I feel entitled to exactly ZERO things here, I'm just curious and flabbergasted with regards to their narrative plan here.
Oh, and that story about "Make the plan without knowing what features" is 100% plausible and extremely common.
There is definite potential to make an interesting comic here, I just feel it isn't being used to its potential. I do like the new art the comic has as well. I will give it a few more strips next "season" (whatever this is supposed to mean) before I stop reading it.
There's huge text under the comic that currently says, "NEW COMICS EVERY TUESDAY + THURSDAY"
Perhaps in place of this text you could have "SEASON THREE WILL PREMIERE ON _______!"
Certainly not impossible with automated testing, especially if the verification is just "are the resulting stats correct given the math we expect for each hat". That being said, I would be shocked if any MMO even considered attempting to do exhaustive testing on gear. It's far simpler/cheaper to just wait for a bug to come in from the player-base. If your game has PvP I'm sure you'll hear about any issues with overpowered gear combinations quickly and loudly.
I certainly was expecting to see a strip set 6 months later where the game is making money, everybody is still there and friendly, and nothing established in the past 2 seasons has mattered in any way
I like what they are doing with the comic and read it every Tuesday and Thursday it is posted. So, I guess they are writing it for me?
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