Is it time for the return of the PTR? Especially with the Sombra and Hog reworks coming soon™. Always thought it was a good way to test new hero changes before they go live. Why was it ever removed?
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It would make sense to have the updates, especially maps, on a PTR for testing. I think they should be using the experimental more often for or before implementing balance updates at least 1-2 weeks first to test things. But I think players want them to be made in the official mode sooner and more frequent.
Unfortunately, it seems the way the game is designed, they either can’t or they prefer putting reworked heroes directly into the game as with all the work and effort behind it (lol?) they might just inevitably be implemented even if they did. Another way to put it is, they don’t want to waste their efforts with testing once it’s built, so it’s going in anyway.
Then, with the battle pass system, they can’t put new heroes earlier in advanced for testing. As they need/want the incentive for players to grind and unlock the character in quick play in the first two weeks for competitive in the early time period. So, we’re sadly going to be stuck with bug testing and experimenting in the main game.
Why can’t they test new characters in a PTR prior to release? Other live services do that. Dead By Daylight immediately comes to mind. You try out new characters and abilities on a PTR, the devs make adjustments based on feedback and stats, and new stuff releases a few weeks later with a price tag you need to pay before playing.
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They need to do it actually, since the launch of Overwatch 2, the number of bugs has exploded and is a major issue and it’s because there’s little to no playtesting and it goes directly on the live game.
Ramattra still has his big delay on his block since the mid season patch and it’s god awful
Console players wouldn’t be able to use the ptr. A handful of regions also have the ptr blocked.
I think they can certainly but I’m not sure if they have the incentive to do so, they haven’t done it all since the beta so idk I assume they would rather just throw it in the shop asap and get people buying battle passes (before making their meta judgements)
There’s nothing stopping them from releasing a PTR client on console. Other games have done it. Heck, Diablo 4 just did it. The beta/server slam downloads are separate from the final game.
They’d have to get greenlit from Sony/Microsoft first. Any changes has to go through them first. So the question is: is it worth it? It’s easier to just add changes to experimental than having to use an entirely different client.
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Console certification takes a day. As long as the download doesn’t brick the console or corrupt other files, they tend to greenlight anything.
Was there PTR on consoles in OW1?
No. We did have the experimental tab though.
I personally don’t think we need a PTR anymore. We should just use the experimental tab.
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No. There never was a console version of the PTR, which got a lot of complaints because not everyone could access the new stuff.
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Well its just a beta test tbh. If they had ptr in ow1 on pc, i dont see why they cant in ow2. Console has limitations, this is one of them
They stopped using it on PC as well because it ended up being an arbitrary step that just delayed patches to the live game. It was supposed to test changes and more importantly filter out bugs with some early reporting but it had a small sample size and no competitive mode so no one could take any data too seriously.
PTR was never intended for balancing.
Its purpose is to check the release patch for critical bugs.
The experimental was intended for balance changes.
Either way, hardly anyone even played any of those anyway.
Unless ptr is going to somehow increase their revenue….they don’t care
Definitely not! Testing and previews of content needs to be limited to a small group of content creators instead. No more trying out new heroes for you or me! Seems like a great plan.
You’re already playing the PTR.
It certainly would be the intelligent move to bring back the PTR, as bugs like Doom/Ram’s block being gutted would never have gotten to the live game (And still exist in the live game because Blizzard is incompetent).
But no
Battlepass and shop is priority babyyyyyyy!