How to get a bug-free game

[lutorm]

The Trick: We get a bug-free game faster by writing effective bug reports for the Rats.

They get hundreds of posts and the easier and clearer it is for them to figure out what's wrong and how to reproduce it, the faster we get a bug-free game.

The basic idea is: We each take 5 more minutes to write a clear, concise bug report, so they don't have to take 5 minutes for each post to figure out what we mean.

Step 1: Look through the bug reporting forum to see if it's already reported. If it is, you're done. Don't just say "me too", it just clutters up the posts and makes the actual information harder for them to find. If you can add some information, like the previous post said it happens with an Nvidia card but you have an ATI card, then do so. But it's not a voting process.

Step 2: If the bug isn't already there, then report it. Title your post with the version of the code (1.31.0.23 as of 2/22, could be different 2/23) and a concise description of what is wrong. Then write a detailed description of what happened, what you did, and the exact steps to make it happen again. Make sure your description can't be misinterpreted. Read it to yourself and imagine reproducing the bug by following what you've written. Go the extra mile here, try different things to figure out how specific the bug is.

Example: "I shot someone in the top floor of the CP and the graphics went all glitzy on me." Does it always happen? Does it only happen on the top floor of the CP or everywhere? If it is only in the CP, which CP? Does it happen with different graphics settings? What do you mean by glitzy? Take a screen shot.

Remember: They need all possible information from us so they don't have to take time to try to figure this out.

Here are some other tips from How to Report Bugs Effectively

• The first aim of a bug report is to let the programmer see the failure with their own eyes. If you can't be with them to make it fail in front of them, give them detailed instructions so that they can make it fail for themselves.
  
• In case the first aim doesn't succeed, and the programmer can't see it failing themselves, the second aim of a bug report is to describe what went wrong. Describe everything in detail. State what you saw, and also state what you expected to see. Write down the error messages, especially if they have numbers in.
  
• Be ready to provide extra information if the programmer needs it. If they didn't need it, they wouldn't be asking for it. They aren't being deliberately awkward. Have version numbers at your fingertips, because they will probably be needed.
  
• Write clearly. Say what you mean, and make sure it can't be misinterpreted.
  
• Above all, be precise. Programmers like precision.
  

[gunspnge]

I used to work for EA as a quality assurance analyst. Basically testing and writing reports. Based on that experience, the one suggestion that I would make about the way in which they accept bug reports is to spend a little time creating a bug report form or application instead of allowing everyone to simply submit whatever they want into a forum.

For example: create a webform that must include several important pieces of information before it can be submitted.

Bug Grade:

A - Crash/Freeze; anything that absolutely cannot be in the release version

B - major graphics glitches/excessive loadtimes/FPS drops; any major issues that make the game almost unplayable and cannot be in the release version

C - graphics problems/misplaced buildings & objects - bugs that affect gameplay but are not game killers

D - text items/misspelled words/very minor graphics problems etc.

System Specs:

Steps to reproduce:

and any other necessary info.

just looking at the forums after 1 day I have seen the same bugs reported dozens of times. Apparently no one searches the forum to see if what they are reporting has been reported before.

[dandyman]

I'm a Configuration Manager and I agree that bug tracking needs a bug tracking database. It would be a lot easier to manage the player communities bugs with a tool than to sift through forum reports.

[GOPHUR]

I used to work for EA as a quality assurance analyst. Basically testing and writing reports. Based on that experience, the one suggestion that I would make about the way in which they accept bug reports is to spend a little time creating a bug report form or application instead of allowing everyone to simply submit whatever they want into a forum.

For example: create a webform that must include several important pieces of information before it can be submitted.

Bug Grade:

A - Crash/Freeze; anything that absolutely cannot be in the release version

B - major graphics glitches/excessive loadtimes/FPS drops; any major issues that make the game almost unplayable and cannot be in the release version

C - graphics problems/misplaced buildings & objects - bugs that affect gameplay but are not game killers

D - text items/misspelled words/very minor graphics problems etc.

System Specs:

Steps to reproduce:

and any other necessary info.

just looking at the forums after 1 day I have seen the same bugs reported dozens of times. Apparently no one searches the forum to see if what they are reporting has been reported before.

We have that for our closed beta but given our manpower it is a really bad idea to let everyone submit reports.

We do get some useful feedback from the Open Test forums but for the most part the bug reports are things we are alwready aware of. It is actually better for me to do it this way than to run through tickets created by others.

I get a report of EVERY post made to this forum and I read EVERY one. I can send it back for more info if needed or create a ticket if one isn't already made.

In essence this this forum is a ticket system, I just filter it out at an additional layer.

[jwilly]

I'm a Configuration Manager and I agree that bug tracking needs a bug tracking database. It would be a lot easier to manage the player communities bugs with a tool than to sift through forum reports.

Just in case it wasn't made clear by Gophur's comment, and so that other relatively newer players here don't get the wrong impression:

CRS has utilized a bug tracking database as one of their development tools since the game's early days. Rats have commented on it many times, and occasionally you'll see a four digit number in a link to it in a bug thread...except of course that naturally the link points inside the CRS firewall, since the database is for the developers rather than us players.

I noted, though, that Gophur pointed out that most of the issues that are seen in open beta testing have already been identified in closed testing and are already in the database. That would explain why relatively few open-beta bugs get ticket numbers assigned. Presumably the Rats get information that's useful in deciding exactly how to fix some kinds of bugs that are related to performance by letting a larger population interact with them.