in my opinion ptr tests are a big problem. players can try everything what can find in the next season and a lot of players will try ptr and no longer have the motivation to level the character from the beginning when they see what awaits them. I understand that no one is forced to play ptr, but since it is available to everyone, you need play it to be prepared. on the other side Blizzard needs this ,because there are a lot of bugs that will be removed by this. personally, I would keep ptr but do it in the style like closed beta, where a small circle of selected players would participate, who would help remove these bugs. this way players keep excitement of the new season and happy from makeing their new builds.
Misconception here, not everything.
Not at all, if you want to be prepared and know what’s coming that’s your choice. Many players DO NOT play the PTR. For that matter many players don’t read patch notes either.
I disagree with this, mostly due to the fact they are also gaining feedback from a wide range of players who are testing out the PTR. From the sweaty streamers to the casual players. It’s also far better to get more people to test out the new changes as you’ll find more bugs and flaws within the system. Granted we won’t find every bug, but I’d venture a guess we’d find more then the developers do when they have their own testing just due to sheer numbers.
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Never closed anything, that only gets feedback from blizzard shills that will be picked … PTR is needed just imagine how bad this last season would of been without a PTR. Imagine getting this PTR as season 6 lol
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The problem with PTR for me is that I’ve lost interest in the current season after seeing all the upcoming changes. There’s also a lot of misinformation from the PTR since it’s not the final product, and I’ve come across countless videos and articles about these inaccuracies. I’ve been avoiding any videos or articles about this PTR and instead playing other games to pass the time until the expansion.
Turning the PTR into a selective invitation process would do farrrrr more harm than good with player perceptions, I promise you that. Better that it’s all out in the open. Everybody has a chance to play it and theorycraft, most won’t. It’s no different than the fact of anybody being able to come up with their own builds while only like 1% of players ultimately will. 
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From previous PTR’s it is pretty much what your getting, they might tweak a few numbers but overall this last PTR will mostly be s6
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No, you’re wrong on most accounts
Couldn’t disagree more with the idea of making it closed. If people are demotivated by PTR they shouldn’t play it. I’d be shocked to learn that there isn’t already closed testing that occurs prior to the PTR.
PTR exposes the release candidate to the widest possible variety of users and playstyles that you would never get in a closed beta. As other folks have pointed out who gets picked and who picks them?
In the age of Big Data and AI the sheer volume of data generated by an open PTR has massive advantages over a closed beta, and lastly these things need to be stress tested to the degree they can be i.e. a large number of people playing in one environment to put the infrastructure under load. it could be very easy to miss things with only a few users playing that could be catastrophic when pushed to live w/o testing under load first.
Two of the uniques from previous PRT have been adjusted, changing from build-defining to being useful only for leveling.
I personally find it exciting when everyone is learning / testing their build concepts during the first few weeks of launch.
With PTRs, these super builds are all planned out with detailed “how to” videos by streamers.
Which then get further tweaked after launch due to last minute changes they weren’t aware of. Also buggy interactions or over performing aspects. For those who actively follow guides or content creators they know by now that their theory crafting builds before a patch hits are never final.
Also I’d say you like the concept more so than the actual practice. To think that everyone would be figuring this out on their own when the majority probably just wait for a guide. In the end I highly doubt you’re asking players or conversing with them over whether or not they figured something out on their own. At least not on a grand scale, I’m sure you talk to your friends or clan mates.
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I saw a lot more of that in PTR than I ever have on live. If you enjoy that play the PTR
I understand that ptr is important for the game, but if we try new skills and new items and plan paragon, nothing new is waiting for me in live. I’m not just talking about the expansion, but the seasons before. I want the game to artificially surprise me and offer something. but all i get is a change in numbers .Blizzard is a billion dollar company with a huge budget. I don’t see a problem if we Have big bugs , send a lot of employees for a quick repair that would not affect the game as season before
Exactly. I’d like to see that phase via live. Not on PTR. lol
Then don’t play PTR or watch content creators. you can be fully surprised about everything.
Why do so many people think everyone should have to play the way they want to play? I don’t get it.
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I see what you mean but I don’t think it would happen that way. I mean did that happen on live before there was PTR?
Exactly they tweaked a few numbers and they will hopefully do it again considering we are doing more damage then ever on this last PTR.
Balancing a game like this is no easy task especially when large sections of the player base want totally different things. Some people want to be godly form the word go and blast through everything in a few days and go play another game till next season. Some people want everything to be difficult and challenging and are apparently fine with not being able to complete content or fully build a character in a season. Still others want a steady progression from struggling to win a fight way above their level on day one through finishing up the season with great power and defeating all content with.
For me personally it’s about the journey and the progression each session getting a little stronger. I don’t want to breeze through everything with no effort, nor do I want it to feel like a constant struggle to survive or finish a season with uncompleted content or a half-built character. I guess you can say I’m mostly in the third camp described above. the middle path as it were.
Math is real easy lol, no reason for us to be doing infinite damage other than bad math or nothing was tested to see where it capped out at. I prefer a challenge but I know not everyone is in that boat either
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Sorry, but Ptr is important, the more players their are, the more likely they find bugs or broken mechanics that dev will miss. I wouldn’t want the broken WW thorn Barb to hit live… thing like that I doubt dev would have every found on their own if it wasn’t for people being able tp push the new thing to their limits. An a lot of these bug are found as a team effort as well.
Plus by the time PTR is ready for us to test the season is usually near the end, and most people already done with the season.