I would like to propose we simply boycut all official CCP tests, until we have unrestricted access to SiSi again.
1: There is a massive amount of undocumented Eve mechanics and items (fx warp bubbles, how far out do they catch you, how does a nullifier even work?), we need SiSi to make up for this lack of documentation from CCP. CCP have made no effort to increase the documentation, just cut us off from the source to find out for ourselves.
2: Only a few players having access to Sisi creates an even larger imbalance between players, than just the secret knowledge CCP devs have always shared with select friends.
3: CCP now spawn resources on TQ based on SiSi, this was always declared unacceptable by both CCP and players.
4: The disaster named Equinox, with all the fundamental game changes that just turns into massive nerfs with emergency “fixes”, that are as little thought through as the original changes that are modified were. Is clear evidence that CCP needs players to play their fast unconsidered ideas for weeks, before TQ gets infested with it (Fx instant respawn becomes slower respawn, even after CSM is repeatedly told, yes the instant respawn is intended, we want this and we are going to do this), and nearly no one is changing Sov system, showing it has the opposite effect than intended, and it is being changed constantly - all these things should have been done in test environment and 0 changes needed after release day. CCP are clearly incapable of doing it on their own, and they need Sisi.
Crap, I didn’t think of this. Thank you for the constructive post making me realize.
In the above, when I refer to Equinox as a disaster, it is from a planning and deployment point of view, not the gameplay changes it will end up being eventually. We can agree or disagree on the gameplay - and a test server will not make much difference in making us agree whether finished Equinox is good or bad. But the amount of changes made after deployment, is a fact (not an exactly known one, there are many stealth changes, some of us discover some of them, but we have no idea of the total amount of changes - but we know there are many, and that there should be 0. If they had missed a couple minor things, then we would probably barely notice, but these are major errors like resource spawning (example redacted EDIT: And fixed) and complete reversals (fx the instant respawn of anoms to 15 or 20 minutes)).
Technically, they are deploying software errors, having to delay deployments, and having emergency extended downtimes because the actual deployment also fails.
Design level wise. They are deploying things, that are so obviously wrong according to themselves, that they need changed multiple times within days after deployment.
Even 1 week on a test server, would have cut down the needed amount of errors and changes after deployment massively. Given a month, it would probably even have worked, and CCP would have been able to give dates for changes, that they were actually able to deploy said changes on.
Access to the test server was removed for several reasons. Groups were using a bug in the legacy POS code to figure out enemy citadel timers, station contents, what ships they had stored, etc. It was also being used by players who wanted to test out their bots in a safe environment so as not to get banned before putting it to use. You can thank nullsec residents for it’s removal.
As well as it being used to test bots (you conveniently left that part out), and players theory-crafting upcoming content and making moves based on that information on the live server before it was released. Players will take any and every opportunity they can to exploit.
CCP conveniently and historically does NOT document every mechanic. Its always up to the players to find out how some things work. That was/is part of the allure of EVE.
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